UncreativeUser

Hello all, first time user on the form

I’m coming up on my hours to qualify for the regionals and I was wondering in your opinion, which airline has the best travel benefits? I am completely new to that process as nobody in my family has ever been an airline employee or a pilot.

Your input is greatly appreciated!


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TheWeatherman

Travel benefits are really not what they used to be no matter who you fly for. Flying nonrev domestically just sucks period. Internationally is a different story because each flight usually has empty seats, but that is not the case domestically. Nothing like showing up for a flight with 1 empty seat and 16 nonrevs fighting for it.

If you have a family or several people you want to travel with, most people just buy tickets now. It is just not worth the hassle. If you are alone it is a lot easier, especially with your jumpseat privileges.

I work for a Regional that has privileges on all three of the mainlines, so that makes it easier and gives me a lot of options to get to places. I think that is your best bet when working for a Regional.

IDIOTPILOT

There’s two ways to look at regionals for travel benefits. One is joining a wholly owned regional that gives the same or close to the same priority as mainline. The other is joining a regional that serves multiple mainline carriers and allows for multiple travel programs.

I think the biggest factor of using your benefits is where you and your travel dependents live. If you live in ATL, obviously you’re gonna want Delta. Having only American travel living in ATL can still be useful but your options are limited and may have to connect to another American hub to get to places.

Also, if you work at a regional flying for multiple carriers, there’s caveats for who qualifies for each travel program. Some of it is dependent on base and equipment type. Most regionals are ranked on the lower end of priority for non revving vs mainline travelers. Some give a little preference when traveling on your own regional.

bigtime209

AA WOs have identical travel benefits as mainline AA pilots. I'd personally rather have that then low priority travel benefits on multiple carriers. And even with with an AA WO, you'll have access to ZED, which is low priority travel on other airlines. Having said that, travel benefits shouldn't be a huge decision making aspect in picking a regional. Pick one that has a domicile you'd be willing to live in and drive to work. Beyond that, EDV is the place to be right now. Best pay, good QOL, great schedules, and a guaranteed interview at Delta.

Blackhawk

I would hardly say travel benefits suck. They are what you make of them. In the last few years I have:
1. Taken my son to London. Business class both ways.
2. Taken my daughter to the Christmas Markets in Germany. Business class both ways.
3. Taken my son to Puerto Rico.
4. Taken my daughter to St John.
5. My son went to Rome this past summer on an exchange program. He did have to travel coach.
6. Last summer my son did an exchange in Germany. Business class both ways.

Now if you have a large family and need to get to a specific location at a specific time, yeah, they aren't great. 1/2 people, flexible on where you go? They are pretty nice.

TheWeatherman

Unless you are fine with starting mid summer or later, everybody missed the boat at EDV. They are turning away some applicants right now because classes are full through June.

KelvinHelmholtz

Classes are full here through April, not June. They are turning people away who don’t meet hiring standards for whatever reason since there is no lack of good applicants after our new TA passed.