It depends where you go, how smart you are, and how flexible you are. You will get people who have are none of the above and will complain non-stop how useless non-rev travel is and if they want to get anywhere, they just buy a ticket.

In 2015 alone my wife and I: went to Grenada, Jamaica, Berlin (twice), Japan, Australia, Beijing/Shanghai, and Chiangmai Thailand. And then a handful of domestic stops that I wont bother listing. This year we have south america plans but Zika might steer us more to Asia again.

The next thing people usually complain about is that airfare is only part of the cost that everything else costs too. Well, duh. My wife and I are backpackers so we have no problem staying in hostels, eating street vendor food (Thailand...dear god so much delicious food), taking trains, and finding the "Free" activities which every city we have gone to has more than enough of. Does it cost money to travel? Sure. But when you can travel literally anywhere in the world, it will incur some costs.

I've said it before: There are usually 2 camps with non-rev travel: People who love it or people who hate it. And since we are talking about pilots, they will complain to no end.