What perks do pilots get?

[Mama Steph]

Dh is a contractor and is doing some work for a woman who is a pilot. I mentioned to him that he should ask her about bartering but I don't even know what she would be able to barter. I am guessing/hoping that she could offer vouchers for airfare. I think I remember hearing that they are often for standby flights which would be ok with us. It would just be great if we could get free airfare for our adults only trip.

 

[dfchelbay]

Dh is a contractor and is doing some work for a woman who is a pilot. I mentioned to him that he should ask her about bartering but I don't even know what she would be able to barter. I am guessing/hoping that she could offer vouchers for airfare. I think I remember hearing that they are often for standby flights which would be ok with us. It would just be great if we could get free airfare for our adults only trip.

If your husband feels comfortable enough with her, perhaps he could just come right out and ask her if she's comfortable with doing something like that, if she's allowed to do something like, etc. Just see what she says. She may just say something great like here's two tickets, with no expiration dates, etc.

 

[3boymthr]

It probably varies by airline but IME you're probably not going to be able to get anything.

While not a pilot my brother is an executive at a major national airline. He flies anywhere for work for free not on a stand-by basis and does so three or four times a month as he commutes from his home back and forth to the airline's hub which is across the country. He then gets up to 24 flights per year to use for free on a standby basis for anywhere in the country to share between him and his designated first relation relatives this includes his wife, children and my parents for recreational use. Which translates into 12 round trips. He has to provide documentation that the people he is giving the vouchers to are relatives and he had to name the people at the time employment began. He and his designated relatives are subject to all the inspections and rules of airline travel such as body searches, inspections of luggage and limits on number of bags. He personally must pay all taxes and fees (airport fees and airline fees) for all the stand-by flights that the he or his relatives utilize.

In addition he gets 20% off standard airfare for flights for other relatives - this is 20% off rack which is a horrible discount - you can better this discount any day on priceline.

Most pilots are part of a union and may get something better, but I'm betting a lot of the same restrictions apply as part of my brother's job is implementing and monitoring the computer system that puts these restrictions in place.

HTH

ETA - my brother does not get "vouchers" he must log on to the airlines computer system and input the information for the flights he wishes to book and at the time of booking must enter his employee number. At the time of flight my parents must show their ID at the reservation desk at the airport to claim the tickets.

 

[princesspeach]

My dh works for a major airline. We fly for free anywhere. Our parents and his siblings fly for almost nothing. We get a 90% discount on other airlines all standby of course. We get no discounts or passes for friends. Whenever I tell someone my dh works for an airline they ask. I think some airlines give buddy passes. Southwest might be on.

 

[bgbodnar]

My daughter works at a airline, family can fly free, but its stand by. They do have so many buddy passes they can give out each year--on buddy passes, you still pay something, sometimes its cheaper, and sometimes you can get a better price online--and buddy passes are still stand by--so sometimes you might get on a flight and sometimes not. Sometimes you have to break up the party your with and all take different flights. And buddy passes are the last people to get a seat, after misconnects, employees and employee families. There has been a few times, we ended spending the night at the hotel, but not being able to get out till the next morning.

 

[emma'smom]

My brother is a pilot and his family (and my parents) fly free on stand-by. He also gets a limited number of "buddy passes" that he can give to others each year. This number is limited though, so he hates it when the go unused (but we always use them in my family)!

There are different categories of stand-by though---and these passes are one of the lower levels of standby (so others on standby for different reasons can take priority).

Also, his pilot number is linked to the tickets which just means that we are always extremely careful about following all rules/protocol, keeping the children very well-behaved, dressing professionally as we are essentially his guests in his place of work (even if he isn't there).

They are really fun though and the airline is always gracious and as helpful as possible.

 

[jennyf2]

She should have X number of buddy passes that can be given out. I've worked for an airline for almost 16 years & we always fly standby... If she does give them to you just remember you are "standby" & will only get on if there is an open seat. We've been doing this for a LONG time & have great luck! I think we've been bumped a hand full of time!

Good Luck