Going to DXB - DL or UA?
 

I am planning a trip to Dubai in about 3 weeks and my wife is accompanying me. I was wondering if anyone has experience J/S on either UA from IAD or DL from ATL?

My plan is to have her on a ZED and J/S myself. Where do I list for UA and DL and does anyone recommend one over the other?

Lastly, is there any problem with her being on ZED and me J/S? We have no problem taking whatever seats they offer and understand we may not be able to sit together so this isn't a problem. Reason I ask is once I J/S on Southwest with my wife on ZED and the agent told me it wasn't allowed. I had done it multiple times before but this particular agent wouldn't budge. I ended up sending my wife on the Southwest flight while I just J/S on another carrier to the same destination.

Not sure, but on a four man operation at DAL all cockpit jumpseats have to be occupied by crew members for take off and landing.

Currently there are no US airlines that can allow a offline pilot to ride in the cockpit so the 4 man crew does not change anything. You will be boarded at Delta if there is a seat in the back and no weight restrictions. Your wife flying on a ID90 has no bearing one way or the other.

Do not attempt to take DL on this flight unless you have another plan, and I would also consider UA as a backup plan as well.

Get a ZED pass to FRA/AMS/CDG/LHR etc. and take DL or UA or whoever from there.

I was almost bumped from the DL flight and there were 80 seats open that night on a 777-200LR.

Do not let anyone including a 777 pilot tell you that the LR is any better than the ER, either. It might have more range but the issue is entirely about cargo. Ask any manager on duty at the ticket counters at these places if you are curious.

You are correct, Sailingfun. I just tried to book the jumpseat for personal travel, and it allowed me to do so. Maybe Timbo can fill us in.

I don't know if the JS computer program is smart enough to know that both cockpit jump seats will be filled by working crewmembers, but if there is a seat in back, you can book the JS, and not be bumped by wt., and flow back to an empty seat.

We've had F/A's trying to non-rev home on wt. restricted (lots of cargo) flights out of DXB who had to book the F/A jumpseat to get out.

Delta Pilots (only) can also book a F/A J/S if all the real seats are taken. But then you'll be sitting on a F/A j/s all the way home! 16 hours! :eek: Off-line pilots can also J/S (flow back) if there are seats and we are not wt. restricted. It really depends on the night you go, I've seen it at max allowable climb limited, and I've also seen 30,000lbs pad with reduced power, so....?

It's a crap shoot, but the jumpseat is more reliable than trying to non-rev. I don't know any way to check to see how much cargo they intend to put on the flight, and the LR carries a whole lot more than the ER, so hope for the LR.

Also, there is no way for an off line pilot to "List" for a Delta Jumpseat, so show up plenty early at the ticket counter, it's about a mile long walk from there through security out to the boarding gate in DXB (gate 113).

I don't work for UA, DL, nor WN. Because I don't live in the big hub for my airline, I am constantly nonreving offline. In 7 years of jumpseating while my wife traveled on a zed, I have never encountered a single gate agent who had a problem with that setup. That includes worldwide travel on both UA and DL and domestic trips on WN. Like sailingfun wrote, the fact that your wife is on a zed and you're "jumpseating" to get a seat in the cabin should not have been a problem. In fact, if you are that paranoid about that setup, you could always make separate listings for each of you. You are both entitled to travel alone on a flight.

To echo contrails post, have several backups. Even when you think all looks good, we all know things can fall apart quickly. I would have some zeds to some European cities and a few zeds on Emirates back to a few U.S. cities.

I am going to dxb in less then two weeks on United as non rec with my wife. Likely we will route via KWI and ZED on Emirates into DXB and not worry about any of that nonsense with DL. KWI usually seems wide open out of IAD for what it's worth.

Buy a ticket on Emirates, you'll tick off Purple Drank and there will be another tirade of not hiring back the American pilots at Emirates.

Just curious, what the he?? kind of cargo is being shipped in mass quantities from DBX to ATL?
After visiting DBX a few different times, I personally don't see the allure at all for tourists (other than the novelty of skiing in an indoor shopping mall which get's old after the first 30 minutes) and surely did not see an export that was worthy of mass import unless there is a shortage of sand, heat or humidity in the US.
Aloha,
LUV