International Jumpseating/traveling
 

Hey guys, I tried to do a search, but came up emtpy handed. What is the process for traveling on another airline international (Europe/S. America). Is it still jumpseating, or non-rev? Do I just go up to the counter with my passport and proceed as if it was a normal domestic flight? Also, do I have to arrange anything here in the US for my return flight or just show up at that airline's ticket counter abroad. Thanks a lot guys for your help, I'm just getting the hang of this stuff!

Well, if it's a foreign airline you only have one choice: non-rev. In that case you would want to check with your airline's pass bureau to see what pass options are available and what the procedures are for using them.

If it's a US airline you can jumpseat or nonrev. The only real advantage to nonreving is that you'll have a slightly higher priority code over a jumpseater. You won't be able to jumpseat in the cockpit, as CASS is domestic only, although this may change next year. You will, however, ride free as a jumpseater, except for the international departure taxes on the return leg.

Outbound the procedure is virtually identical to domestic jumpseating except you should show up plenty ahead of time, say 90 minutes prior. Some airlines are very strict on this. Present your passport along with your ID.

Coming back, you should show up at the ticket counter with airline ID, passport, and local currency or Visa card to pay your departure tax. Make sure you don't confuse the ticket counter with the check in counter, as these are in completely separate places at many foreign airports. The people at the check in counter will give you a blank stare when you say you want to jumpseat! Even at the ticket counter, your reception may vary; international jumpseaters are somewhat rare and not all station personnel are well trained on the procedures.

They'll collect the departure tax and issue you a boarding pass with seat assignment if the flight isn't full or standby if it is; that should get you through customs & security, although I'd suggest just presenting your passport as ID rather than your airline ID, especially if you're out of uniform. BTW, there's no reason to jumpseat in uniform internationally, it gets you treated with suspicion especially if your airline doesn't fly to that airport. Business or business-casual is the norm.

Most airlines don't let you list as an offline jumpseater. You may want to make a non-rev listing for the return leg just in case the station personnel are clueless on how to list a jumpseater, they may work around it by having an existing non-rev listing.

Hope this helps, have fun!

is jumpseating from Canada to the US the same way?

Well that's guaranteed to be less hassle as it's commonplace and everyone knows what they're doing. But generally yes. You still have to pay departure tax, although I've heard that Air Canada waives it if your airline is on their jumpseat list. And you still need an open seat in back, no sitting in the cockpit.

Canada is very easy to jumpseat from, and from my experience I always had to pay the airport taxes (usually $15-20). I would be very cautious about South America, Europe, Asia, etc. just because the person working the counter might be totally clueless. It would be a crapshoot every time. Its ALWAYS good to keep some extra ID90's in your bag for a rainy day. Theyre fully refundable if you dont need them when you get back from your trip. Never leave the country for a far off foreign destination without an ID90 as a backup in my opinion.

Also consider ACMI carriers like Atlas/Polar, Kalitta, Evergreen etc. They go to some very cool places (LAX-HNL, LAX-Sydney, EWR-Amsterdam, JFK-Brussels, ANC-HKG) and extremely easy to jumpseat with if you call or email them and list ahead of time.

I jumpseated to Amsterdam last week on NWA. Coming from BOS no problems just like jumpseating in the USA. Trying to Leave Amsterdam was another story. KLM does all ground services for NWA in Amsterdam. When I got to the airport I told them I was a pilot and that I wanted to jumpseat out to BOS, they sent me to their employee travel desk. The lady at the employee travel desk told me with out a listing she could not help me and she did not know how to list an offline jumpseater, so she sent me to ticket purchasing, they were no help. I had a friend from NWA list me on a buddy pass to get through security so I could talk to the gate agents. Security in AMS is at the gate but before the gate agents so you have to go through to talk to them, and they really grill you with questions. Anyway at the gate the gate agents told me it was not allowed for off line pilots. I tried to explain to her that it was allowed, and that I had come from BOS on NWA with no problems. She then proceeded to tell me that the people in BOS broke the rules and that it can't be done. At that point I just decided to use the buddy pass and get on the plane. I talked to the Capitan of the flight and he said that yes I was allowed to jumpseat as long as I sat in the back, and he said KLM guys do it all the time on them out of AMS. The Capitan went out and spoke to the gate agents and managers and even showed them in their Flight Opps manual where it says off line jumpseaters were ok, but they refused and told the Capitan they didn't know how to do it. The Capitan offered to make the listing on the computer for them but they would not allow it. So long story short make sure you have a back up. If you are going to jumpseat international, because although it is allowed, chances are the gate agents over there won't know what they are talking about, or won't know how to help you, also NWA does not allow off line jumpseaters to list, (I have called and tried), but I would definitely try to do that on another airline. I think if I had some sort of reservation it might have worked. Also thanks to that Capitan that tried so hard to get me on, greatly appreciated.

Excellent point about having a backup, TooTall. My first time jumpseating out of AMS, the KLM ticket agents were completely clueless about JS on NWA. I just turned around and walked over to the USAirways desk and they put me on a flight to PHL without a problem. The funny thing is that I've jumpseated out of AMS on NW several times since then without a problem.

Oh, one other thing - if the airline you're trying for uses paper JS passes, try to get one to bring with you in case the station is out of stock for on the way back. Yes, I've had that happen.

Too Tall, just want to make sure you were in the right place at AMS - you went to the ticket counter that's at the far left when you're facing all the KLM check-in counters?

Hey Junglebus,

looks like you are the one to ask. I just got hired by one of the freighters flying international. I used to work for a regional and buying an ID90 was never a problem. How do you go by buying one, let's say on UsAirways. Or for that on any other Airline? Can you also get an ID 90 on a foreign airline. Thanks for the answer already

I went to the staff travel counter at the far right side, as well as the counter at the gate. The counter on the far left is the ticket purchasing one right?