You could give a pilot $10,000 and without fail someone would complain.

As for travel, some people just don't have the know-how, flexibility, or temperament to nonrev. Indeed, it is not for everyone. Certain personalities just dont work well with the "may not get on" mentality. Some people have gotten burned and vow to never travel again. These are the people who are clueless about non-rev and when they click "create listing" assume they are booking seats in the back. They probably made no back up plans, bought extra ZED tickets, or watched the loads on a particular market.

Every transoceanic flight I've done I've gotten first or business class. 14 hour flight to asia sitting in flagship first class on a 777 is a pretty good way to pass the time - especially when we sat on the ground at ORD for 2 hours waiting to be deiced. Why yes, I'll have another cocktail.

My brother is starting a family out in DC and my parents (sadly, just my dad now) who were both retired were going out there almost every week. ORD-DCA is a super easy non-rev for retired people like my parents. They would not be able to do that nearly as often if they didnt have these travel benefits.