Half the reason I started this thread was that I knew MiddleAgedBoyCaptain couldn't resist. Yep our little "boy" is 40.
100% of guys that jumpseat do so to save their personal money. Doesn't matter if you are going to visit your old girlfriend or going on vacation. The only reason I didn't buy a ticket was to keep from taking my Personal cashola out of my pocket.
I told the Jet Blue guys what I was doing and they understood completely. When I am going to use my personal money it's not business travel anymore. So I don't see any ethical or moral problem with using one of the many great benefits we have as pilots.
The old "boy" was telling me it was written somewhere and I just wanted to see if it was.