I tried jumpseating to SYD on Delta in the summer of 09. I got a lie flat business seat and even made it on the airplane and stowed my bag. About five minutes prior to push the gate agent came back on and said they were overweight and needed to pull one person. To make a long story short I didn't go, and spent the night in LAX. So yeah, be careful of weight restrictions!

DALFA, thank you so much! I appreciate you checking with the person familiar with the route, and also for the time you took to pull open the loads. :D

Sounder - that sucks! Exactly what I hope to avoid . . . thanks for the consideration about weight.

FYI, It's winter time in SYD right now, and our loads look realllly good right now (prob get a seat no worse than econ comfort). Now, i can't say what's gonna happen in couple months, but I believe you can still get some good deals on the web about 3 weeks before departure. So that may be your indication should you get a real ticket or non-rev.

Not always.

They can upgrade at the gate too.

Thanks rvr350 and contrails - both good tips . . . . thanks to everyone who is replying - very helpful!!

Not on international flights. An upgrade must be done over 24 hours before departure, the only time someone is upgraded to business from coach at the gate or at the counter is if coach is oversold and that person gets involuntarily upgraded or if he/she decides to pay for a full fare business ticket at the gate ($3,000+).

One person???? 180#'s out of 400k+ REALLY? Too bad you couldn't talk to the Capt. Almost sounds like a ****ed off Gate God....Sorry to hear. Hopefully things have changed since then.

Baja.

That is why I always peek my head into the cockpit and introduce myself.

TEN

The sad thing was that I did introduce myself to the skipper, but when I got the boot, everyone was already up front all tucked in. It didn't help that the gate agent was terrible and was an absolute a-hole.

Sounds horrible :/ Thanks again to everyone who weighed in!! Let me know if you have any more tips, still can't decide.