Airline pilots: How much do you use your "travel benefits"?

[RoAF-Mig21]

Hey,

For those of you working for carriers that have "travel benefits", how much do you use them?

For me, it's a defining factor in working at a company and the number one reason I became a pilot. It's more important than the salary itself, not to say that the salary is not important. I use my travel benefits quite often, usually travel to Europe at least 3 or 4 times a year, to Australia once a year and of course weekend getaways in Canada / USA.

I mostly use Air Canada (in North America) and Lufthansa to fly overseas, but I have flown often on LOT, Austrian, Swiss, Scandinavian, Air Dolomiti and a few other European carriers, via myIDtravel. In the US I tend to use United or JetBlue. In Australia I use Qantas to fly between Melbourne and Brisbane.

If I was to give them up and buy my ticket's I'd say I would have to pay at least $25K a year to cover my "travel addiction". Of course, after a while you learn how to work the system and make sure you have a stress free travel. For example, I never fly to Europe in July or August, I don't travel around Christmas or during March break. I find that taking my vacation in November (to go down South) or May / June for Europe works wonders.

The best part of having these travel benefits is that I have the freedom to move and see the world, not only for a significantly reduced price, but also I have the ability to change, cancel or book last minute, which is an amazing thing to have. I remember coming back once from Greece to Canada and ended up in an oversold flight out of Zurich (to YUL) but I got the FA jumpseat and the ladies at Swiss went out of their way to make me feel welcomed (a bit too generous on the wine if I am to admit it). It's an amazing thing to have and by far my favorite part of being an airline employee.

How much do you use your passes?

[rando]

I would give up my pass travel for better pay.

[digits_]

I only worked a job that got them for a couple of years. Didn't use them very much. I was just happy to be home on my days off. Travelling would have had to be with my wife, which cancelled out the benefits a bit, and made it harder to get a spot (need 2 empty seats instead of 1).

I used them a couple of time by myself for travel within Canada, and it was quite the adventure getting where I needed to be. Not a lot of available spots. It only made me decide never to commute on my own time....

Perhaps I would have learned more tricks if I tried it more, but for me it was nice to have but no deal breaker.

20 years ago, I would have killed for them!

Note that some of my colleagues did travel the world with them.

[TalkingPie]

Not an airline pilot (yet) but I have been working for an airline for 15 years. Coincidentally, I've also been given an FA jump seat on ZRH-YUL with Swiss and have flown with them a few times. Agreed that they're extremely nice to pass travellers.

I used my passes quite a bit in the first few years - flew to Vancouver to mountain bike in Whistler one weekend, did Peru a couple of times, Australia, Thailand, Germany, Switzerland, Barbados, long weekend drinking in Dublin, various little trips to the US: San Francisco, LA, NY, Chicago, Philadelphia, Fort Lauderdale, Miami. Nowadays, though, I'm happy to be home when I'm not working. This past spring was the first time in four years that I used my passes at all. I do admit that my spouse uses them a good bit more than I do and my parents have benefitted from them a few times as well.

Pass travel is a very nice perk, but over time it's become harder to get seats as the airline I work for gives out higher priority to all kinds of different workgroups, regardless of seniority, and loads have trended higher. Besides, work already has me on board aircraft and then I fly small ones for flight training whenever I can, so at some point it's nice to spend a little time on the ground.

These days I'd rather have more time at home and money in my pocket, but that could well be a symptom of approaching middle age.

[flyingcanuck]

I should use them more, probably one to two times a year. Only having the 12 days off a month or 2 days in between a couple 4-day pairings leaves you with no time to travel for fun.

Also the airlines have slowly clawed back alot of benefits for aircrew, the cost keeps going up and perks diminish so its not as easy as it used to be imo.

[all_ramped_up]

When I worked for a carrier with benefits (was in Ops / Dispatch) I used them a couple times a year when I could around working all the time. Had passes on WJ and PD and cheap fares on company routes.

Now I'm at a smaller op in Maintenance with zero travel benefits.

[Ash Ketchum]

I have a wife and young kids so don't really use my passes at all. I would 100% trade them for a liveable wage and better working conditions.

[dumbbell daddy]

This is a good thread. We’re a family of 5. Whenever we’re going on “vacation” I always book confirmed. I don’t want my little ones separated from me sitting beside some weirdo. I always say passes are good for fringe trips if you have a family. Stuff you wouldn’t normally book but can. Like going out to see a buddy in Texas for a couple days. Having the Mrs tag along on a layover ect.

[ant_321]

I used to use them a ton until the second kid came along, now travel is more complicated. Probably use them 5-6 times a year now. I’ve been to about 30 countries and have only bought one airline ticket in my life. My oldest kid was on 20 flights to 8 different countries before he turned one. Then covid happened…

[Inverted2]

Travel once or twice a year. Hardly ever use the passes. Buying a confirmed seat on a LCC is often not much more expensive and you don’t have the headaches of standby travel.

[McKinley]

Hardly ever…

I’m either working or my ex is. Either way, one of us has the kids…

Money is tight and I’d trade passes for a schedule that was conducive to a life and wages that provided some level lifestyle… aside from the one hunting for OT and working a second job.

Commuting yes…but I’m not going far and it’s not like I’m going on a vacation .I’m going to work.

[flying4dollars]

Used it to go to Thailand twice, Sri Lanka, Europe, and all over North America. Flown AC, WJ, Frontier, United, Cathay, Dragon, Transat. My parents are retired and use them a ton as well.

[Eric Janson]

When I worked for an Asian flag carrier I used the travel benefits to get home/ see some of Asia - was really nice.

Now I work for an Airline that has zero travel benefits - although there may be possibilities through our clients. I've never looked into it.

Because my schedule is 20 days 'on' 12 days 'off' - I'm happy to spend my off days at home. I'm normally living out of a suitcase for the entire 20 days.

With the ongoing travel chaos at my home base (March is the estimate for resumption of normal service) I avoid anything but travel to/from work.

[FOD_Vacuum]

I’m very fortunate to be able to use my wife’s flight benefits from Westjet. I work for SW and unfortunately our passes are terrible (just myself, can’t add family members or anything). Westjet has tons of airlines available that her, myself and her parents can use. We have used them a ton in the past, and still use them every time we have a few days off.

Every time I talk to a pilot at SW and mention how amazing Westjet flight benefits are, they seem to shrug off the fact and not give a dam. If they only knew how much of a lifestyle change it would give them and their families, then more pilots would root for them. I’ve travelled to Africa, Europe lots (got business upgrades almost every time), all over North and Central America, Australia, South Pacific etc. The whole reason I became a pilot is because I love to travel. I truly think flight passes are by far one of the biggest perks this industry has to offer. I’ve probably saved $30k a year on flights had I paid for them in full out of pocket.

[YC87DRVR]

Before the kids came along fairly often, now almost never. End up paying almost full fare now, the stress of stby travel with a family is not worth it.

[fish4life]

The last thing I want to do on days off is travel, pretty much never use them unless the wife wants to go somewhere and if we do then it’s either discounted confirmed flights or high priority stby passes we get.

[braaap Braap]

To each their own, I highly value my benefits and am trying to use them as much as I can before the next chapter of life of settling down comes. I can't tell what I enjoy more: the flexibility or the price.

[rigpiggy]

The last thing I want to do on days off is travel, pretty much never use them unless the wife wants to go somewhere and if we do then it’s either discounted confirmed flights or high priority stby passes we get.

I absolutely despise travel now. I used to commute 2-3 times a month yvr -the outside of that in 8 years 3 trips to see parents, and one shitshow to Europe. Pay me us wages, and I wouldn't need travel benefits.

[Donald]

Family trips requiring airline travel are getting pricey between flights, hotels, meals, car rental, etc.

IF we were to do such a trip, it would be planned in advance and not subject to the whims of standby travel.

At this time, there are better/closer options.

Maybe when the kids are gone, we'll consider standby travel again.

[RoAF-Mig21]

It's interesting how many pilots don't use it. I wasn't expecting that to be honest. I completely understand though. With inflation and the increased cost of living, it's hard to justify "frequent travel".

The increase in cost for airport taxes and fees is also getting ridiculous. For example it costs $70 to fly from YYZ to LHR (a $6 increase since autumn 2022). That's $5.00 for the fare and $65 in taxes and fees (sales tax, air security tax and airport improvement fees for YYZ). What's messed up is that coming from LHR to YYZ it costs $235. The UK imposes an "air passenger duty" tax of $139 and a "passenger service charge of $92, even though the fare is only $5.00.

That's $300 in taxes just to go YYZ - LHR - YYZ. I know it's peanuts when you compare it to regular fare, but if you have a family of 4, that's $1200. Still a big chunk of change in today's world, when it costs over $100 to fill up at the pump.

I flew Warsaw to Toronto recently on LOT and it was cheaper to fly business class from Poland to Canada that it was to fly economy from Heathrow to Toronto. Absurd. That's why I try to stay away from England as much as I can.

Also hotels have doubled in price, especially in North America. Europe is still fairly affordable, but if you want a weekend getaway to New Orleans or Nashville you're looking at around $250 - $350 a night for a decent hotel.

Even with all this being said, I can't help but travel. It's something that I can't live without. When I got my Canadian citizenship, it was my key to freedom, in a sense that I could use my passport to travel the world and for the most part nobody would prevent me (visas, etc). Having lived under the iron curtain for the better part of my childhood, (imagine North Korea) for me, there is no better sense of accomplishment than to see the world. I couldn't give two sh*ts about the car I drive, the size of the house I live in (so long as it's big enough to sleep in it) or any other material things.

The day my airline takes away my travel passes is the day I quit. It's probably the nr. 1 reason I'm still in this industry and not going back to the office job.