Let's try to bring a little objectivity to this here.

On balance, the AA WO privileges are probably a bit better, but not a lot better. I've traveled long-haul on 20 segments now in my time at Republic, and have gotten business or first on 18 of them and premium economy on the other 2. If you know what you're doing, it's not hard, even with an AAC/SA5X/S3C priority. D1s/D2s are great, and I wouldn't complain at all about having them, but I definitely would miss passrider access to UA and DL. As much as anything, simply having access to the loads makes commuting less uncertain, and therefore less stressful. Of course there are apps like Staff Traveler, but it sure is nice to make an evaluation with multiple airlines based on actual data.

There are lots of buddies and ZEDs traveling that the non-WO regionals with AAC have priority over, particularly to places like South America. Those are all people we'd be behind (or at even priority with) without our benefits on multiple airlines.

Somebody above also brought up the point of IROPS that I don't think was given enough weight. Flights are generally full (particularly pre-COVID), and it's not always as simple as waltzing over to a wide open flight on another airline with a ZED/jumpseat. I am consistently above multiple other people on both United and Delta, and that priority has gotten me where I needed to go where a lower priority wouldn't have.

That's not to mention the priority for the jumpseat I enjoy on both UA and DL, so when IROPS strike and there are a boatload of offline pilots trying to get on I have peace of mind knowing that I have priority over them for both seats up front and in the back.

Again, on balance these types of things don't happen regularly (though lately they seem to be happening more often) and the D1s/D2s would be incrementally more valuable, it's flat out wrong to say there's no argument for why non-WO flight benefits are more valuable. In every IROPS situation I've been able to travel, with a priority that is not at the bottom, on an unaffected airline (excepting widespread weather events, obviously).

I'll also add that in my 3 years I have watched a full flight leave without me exactly twice, both on the United side, and in both instances I caught a flight an hour later. So I think there's a lot of merit to the notion what we lose in priority we make up for with flexibility. Depending on where you live and where you're trying to go, that can be very useful.

 

Your thoughtful and reasoned post brings a lot to the discussion. Thanks!!

 

You make some great points. I will admit, in some situations it will be nice to able to have access to live data in terms of loads on all AA/DL/UA flights and the flexibility in the event of IRROPs as there were times where IRROPS mad me have to completely jump from Plan A to Plan E jumping on Fed Ex in the middle of the night because of the I knew I was getting on UA or DL either to get out of town. You are absolutely right, for the giving the priority, you have gained flexibility.

I will add, FedEx and UPS are the best kept secret in terms of needing to get somewhere depending on where you are going. If you live in place that has access to likes of DHL flights or Amazon flights as well, those are also options for jumpseatinf as well.

 

LMAO at these clowns thinking having WO benefits on only one airline is better than having slightly lower benefits (but higher jumpseat priorities) on 3-4 mainline carriers + zeds on everyone else.

Having mainline level benefits on AA isn't worth much when DFW/ORD is getting pounded by thunderstorms and AA is in total meltdown. Being able to instantly check loads on other carriers without having to call a buddy or get on staff traveler to be able to find a flight out of town and actually get on because you'll have priority over the WO schmuck who only has AA benefits can be quite invaluable.

 

Slightly lower is an inaccurate description. For the benefit of anyone else reading, AA nonrevrs are sorted as follows

D1 (employee “vacation” pass)
D2 (standard employee)
D2R (retirees)
D2P (parents)
AAC (republic et al)
D3 ( buddy passes)
ZED

Each of the classes above is fully seated before the next gets anything. AAWO employees have d2 standard and an annual d1 allocation same as all mainline employees. It’s not an inconsequential difference.

the point about flexibility in an irrop is well taken. But, for me, the “value” in nonrev was long-haul premium family travel. To get 4 lay flat seats to paris or Buenos Aires… AA mainline benefits are the way to go



The 4th mainline carrier is who?

 

Yeah now imagine having that option on multiple airlines, instead of just being limited to AA.

That difference in priority matters less on international as there are no free international upgrades.

And also, imagine being overseas and the one AA flight cancels and you gotta get home? Those UA/DL bennies make that a LOT easier. That actually happened to me.

the 4 mainline would be Alaska, which I’ll admit, pretty useless unless you live in SEA or PDX.

 

Flexibility is always the name of the game, and definitely more so when it comes to being a lower priority. Ironic that you used EZE as an example, I just got back from there and we (myself and my parents) had no real issues getting J on AA both directions (just don't tell anyone about the JFK flight lol).

I definitely have to sweat it out more that D2s do a lot of the time, but I've made it work!

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

 

That moment when one riff-raff thinks they are better than other riff-raff only to realize one day that they are all indeed riff-raff...

you remind me of the guys that put Airman first class rank on and then try to boss around other Airman hahahaha

as I said earlier in the thread, this is like trying to argue which hooker has the best herpes

by all means if you think that travel bennies are the deciding factor ya'll go for it !

 

Whatever. I offered my perspective.

we can all find examples of when a different toolset worked better.

Considering the totality of the circumstances, I find AA mainline nonrev benefits superior to those offered by republic.

(FYI that doesn’t mean I think Republics are bad or that WO is a better job/career)

 

I think you're arguing a strawman. This is a discussion board about a specific topic. I haven't seen anyone anywhere argue it's the most important thing, or even one of the top few things one should consider, but being that it is a part of our compensation package, and for people like myself who love to travel it can be especially relevant. If you don't care about travel benefits, that's your prerogative. But it's ridiculous to tell others that it shouldn't matter to them.

I'm not really clear what your point is or how you feel like you're furthering discussion here. Particularly when your premise that regionals have inferior privileges is demonstrably false in the case of AA and its WOs, which have the exact same travel benefits.