For those working over the Holidays - S2B Q&A
 

This is my first time trying to bring my spouse with me on my holiday layover (within the S2B 'windows') and have some questions that others may have as well.

1) Which is 'better', S2B -v- S2? (I.e. S2B=extra, S2=limited number available each year.)
2) Actual boarding priority, S3 -v- S3B: is the S2 higher than S2B? Do the GA see the difference? Does the system 'prioritize' the S2B differently? If I have sufficient S2s available should I use them instead of the S2B?
3) Layover tips and hints...company provided transportation and hotel rules. For me, I'm looking at HNL. I'm sure international experiences would be appreciated by others.

Note: Both the company and ALPA have put out in their weekly updates some of these topics (hotel rules and vans), I just thought that having some real-world experiences would be nice.

TIA

1) if "better" you mean higher prioroty, S2 > S2B

2) S2 > S2B > S3 > S3B

3) varies....I believe some international places have rules about only flgiht crew, but I've taken my wife on three different Int'l layovers and never had problem taking her on hotel transportation.

1). S2B is pretty useless. If the seats are tight, all the S3s will start playing the S2 game, forcing your wife to do the same. I guess slightly better seating / better chance at upgrade (if that's even a player) make it worth using--since it's free--but don't count on it getting your spouse on if there are a bunch of non-revs vying for the last seat.

3). Be sure to generously tip the driver for any "extra" pax you bring along.

If you have plenty of S2s and/or don’t plan on using them another time, I would have your spouse check in S2 (unless the flight is wide open).

It’s common to see entire standby lists of S2 nonrevs, particularly around the holidays. The holiday S2B travel policy is a joke IMHO. The company would authorize S1B if they actually cared about the program’s stated purpose.

I was trying to get a family member to AMS a couple days ago (they were always going to be the last one on the list, we knew that going in). The day of the flight, there were 44 non-revs listed, maybe 37 of which could have chosen to use an S2. 35 did, and the only two who didn't had the most recent hire date and it wouldn't have helped them anyways.

Which just means that S2's are completely worthless and it boggles my mind that they're giving people more and calling it a benefit.

Yeah it's super lame. When I read the email I thought, cool that's better than what regular non revs get. Then i realized it's worse. So i bought tickets

Live a little, buy a ticket, arrange own transport, take the pressure off. Goes a long way in a relationship.

Your spouse shouldn’t have issues riding with the crew to the hotel. There’s a few extra seats open on the van.

Lol I don't know why you quoted me because I did exactly that and 'lived a little'

This is the way……as long as you don’t get rerouted. Can get refund in the form of future credit though if you use fly confirmed.