qukslvr619

Really? You used to work for an airline and are suggesting cost cutting by something that is one of the main reasons people work for an airline?

For one thing, UA or any airline isn't going to save bundles of money by eliminating an inflight perk that is pretty much a fixed cost. The kits are provisioned by a/c capacity and not necessarily on how full the flight is. If the plane has 30 J seats there probably will be 30 J kits give or a take maybe an extra 1-2.

Secondly....and I don't know how many times this has to be repeated on FT....non revving really isn't free. Unless you are using a vacation pass, sitting in F/C/J is going to cost something.....the airline is making money off of a seat that would have gone empty. The notion that an airline is rewarding an employee by giving something for free is not really true.

Thirdly....I don't know if its a matter of people feeling entitled but in other situations do people make an issue about employees receiving some sort of perk or corporate discount from their employer? Is there AutoTalk or FashionTalk where people complain about how car manufacturers or clothing companies should reward their best customers by giving them discounted cars or free clothes and that somehow they prioritize their employees by allowing them to have discounts? There would be no incentive for any company to be able to charge a premium on a good or service if they just give it away.

I've been on both the customer side and employee side. I've also encountered situations where agents have gone so far as to remove confirmed employees in F (positive space/non rev) to then try and sell those seats as upgrades, which was absurd and against policy. But overall I think people who gripe about nonrevs might feel quite differently if they were the nonrevs. For one realizing the pay is crappy and the benefits, even having to pay ridiculous fees, somehow make it worthwhile. And how many times we've been lined up at a gate waiting for the last seat, getting it, the door closed, and then pulled off because the person showed up late but pitched a fit because a nonrev got their seat.

I just think a lot of the nonrev angst on this site is merely folklore or people making assumptions about something that isn't the whole story. Yes there are situations where paying customers have been shafted, but it also goes both ways.

boycruz

original poster
i am not bashing non revs at all
i was just CURIOUS

seems that this has been taken the wrong way
it was just a question and curiosity

EmailKid

As I mentioned upthread, about third of the cabin in Biz on LIM-IAH was non-rev yesterday. Just got to choose the right routes @:-)

But agree on domestic routes. The next leg had an upgrade list about 25 long, and I watched about a dozen non-revs walk past me to coach, mostly in uniform.

qukslvr619

I'm not excusing bad behavior, but had they not been non-revs, would it have made a difference or would you then be claiming that UA wanted win an award for obnoxious passengers?

DENviaLAX

Exactly. And the costs incurred by the employee are called service charges. Meaning that they're essentially being charged for the service items they receive. Amenity kit and food/drink being the main ones, I'd assume.

runner450

I think you're forgetting about J

pretty close. 8 out of 30.

not really much expectation of space available front cabin travel when flying domestic

Kevin AA

Straw man argument. Have there ever been obnoxious passengers who successfully chatted with the FA at the seat or in the galley for an extended period of time? Normally that would get you threatened with arrest!

PaulInTheSky

Definitely. Glad you got back LIM-IAH safe and sound!

Not easy to see non-revs on the J that I usually frequent, SFO-TPE/HKG, ORD-HKG, EWR-HKG, especially during peak travel times. Although EmailKid is right, you need to understand that their standby list will be way behind even the kettles with miles+copay from Y to J, but not too many people waitlist J to ON(F) on 3-class aircraft. I am perfectly fine with non-revs waitlisting behind all the rev passengers, but prioritizing non-revs over revenue passengers by putting them all to the nose of the aircraft, while giving us all the crap on:

1. Awful changes on award rules.
2. Ridiculous CSC in local stations.
3. Indifferent UC agents.
4. Hating the customers in call centers.

is just sickening. As long as this move is prioritizing customers over non-revs I am good.

Time traveller

I believe most Asian, European and Middle East airlines do not have such a generous non-rev benefits for premium cabin seats.

However on legacy US carriers, before UA/AA started eliminating International First on 3-class aircraft in favor of 2-class International flights to many markets, a large number of seats in International First were non-revs.

PaulInTheSky

+1billion.

I know CX, JL, and NH for sure won't put employees to F. Employees in UA/DL/AA are VASTLY spoiled.

g-code

I know LH and most Euro carriers do at least C. EK as well. Not sure how filling an unused business class seat qualifies as vastly spoiled...

If you ever encounter egregious non rev behavior, report it. It's that simple.

malgudi

Except in situations when non-revs are sometimes prioritized ahead of paid customers aka shenanigans.

Other than that, we're good.

GateHold

Yes.

It's distressing how many amenities kits get thrown onto the floor and left behind as garbage. I wish carriers recycled them.

fastair

they are. I've seen the USO sorting boxes of thousands of them, shipping the items to troops overseas. I know this isn't just at my airport but at numerous airports

Wayside

I believe EK captains are allowed F while first officers can fly in J. Not sure about cabin crew.