Nonrev on Delta
 

I would like any advice on nonrev travel on Delta. Any experiences or tips on getting the most out of nonrev travel would be great. Any tips on using Travelnet.

Well, what do you need to know? TravelNet pretty much walks you through every step.

What is your experience with seat availability? Travelnet lists seats available and seats authorized. Are there only so many seats available for nonrev travel or will they give you a seat as long as the flight is not full?

It lists the seats available on the airplane. If you click the logo at the right of the column it lists the non revs in order of seniority (aka meal list), so subtract that number from the original 'seats available' number to give you an idea how full the flight is.

The first number is available seats (number of seats on aircraft - number of seats sold). The second number is authorized seats (number of tickets to be sold on flight - number already sold). 2nd number doesn't mean too much really. When looking at your chances to get on a flight, compare the number available to the number of standbys listed.
At flight time, at the gate, they will continue filling the aircraft until it is either full or overweight, whichever occurs first. Just because a flight might be oversold (negative seats available) doesn't mean you won't get on. There are misconnects, no shows, cancellations, etc. I've seen a flight at -25 depart with open seats.

What are your experiences with nonrev? Do you usually get a seat or do you find yourself seating around the airport?

That really depends. The nice thing about travelnet is it lists many different ways to get to where you want to be, and the availability at that time. However, those seats can fill up quick sometimes, especially if there is some kind of cancellation or something like that. It can almost be as much of a crapshoot as jumpseating on another carrier that you don't know the loads. So far I've had pretty good luck but it requires a lot of flexibility and patience and sometimes going through some cities completely out of the way.

Yes, you do have to get creative at times, especially during the busy travel periods. I once found myself in MCO trying to get to CVG, had to do MCO-BTR-ATL-LEX-CVG.
If you're a pilot commuting, then you'll get to know many options. If you're trying to go on vacation, then you'll just have to be flexible with where you're going and how you'll get there.

Another thing to mention is that on the list on travelnet they are not listed as in order of priority. A person senior to me might only be an S3C whereas I am an S3. You wont know that until they check in and you look under the removal list. In a year and a half of commuting and a few pleasure flights I have never not gotten on an airplane. *knock on wood*

Also the seat available is not really accurate either. Click on the little icon on the right, it lists all the nonrevs, then click the active standby list. It lists all the standby folks who have checked in but is says seats actually remaining, and it always way more than orginally posted. I really don't know why. Maybe someone here knows why...

But as far as nonreving, its really a game. Always have a backup plan too. Or just don't go.

It has to do with how many seats are actually sold, versus how many seats are actually assigned. Some people buy seats but don't actually have a seat assigned yet. I used to think they were seats that other companies purchased but a lady for the pass bureau told me differently.

Delta's Travelnet is a phenomenal tool, and I wish other airlines offered it as well.

Do other airlines offer similar programs (if you work there) to check seat availablity ahead of time?

US Airways has "The Hub" which is pretty much like Travelnet, but the only differences are you can check in for your flight four hours before departure online, all seats listed not hidden, and you don't have to pay for buddy passes when you book them. It offers the choice to either pay when you book or the buddy pass rider can pay when they check in at the ticket counter or kiosk. It became a big pain in the arse before AAA/HP merged res systems.

What is the difference between the NRSA/meal list, the airport standby list, and the removal list on Travelnet?

The NRSA list shows people that want to be on the flight. If you click the removal list it shows people that are activated and at the airport for that flight. If someone is not on the removal list, they have no chance of being on the flight.

ALways got to where we wanted-Travelnet is a great tool-just pick flights that are not to full. Of course you will sit at the airport for awhile from time to time. Anytime i was sure we would get on a flight it was either very tight or even full. Other times when i was positive we wouldnt get on we did. I was once 32nd on the wait list from CVG-MCO. There was one seat left.The gate agent started calling names. Several people were ahead of me but were traveling together. I got on the plane. My only wish would be that people would make their reservation on travelnet as soon as possible. Just as a courtesy to all. A few times I would check travelnet and there would be a few seats, then get to the airport only to find a number of people trying to non rev. Once coming from Kallispel Mt travelnet showed 5 seats on a 50 seat RJ with no one else listed. There was three of us. Got to the airport and were waiting to see if we get listed. Waiting at the gate area and here comes a pilot with his wife and two kids coming back from vacation. They got on -we didnt. Not that that is bad, just that he knew he was going to try and get on that flight-If he had listed-I would have seen he was more senior and looked to other flights rather than sit at the airport all day waiting for another open flight. I found that alot of the more senior people would not list-just show up because they knew they would get on. Just made it more difficult for the lower numbers-I think they should make everyone list prior to the flight and have a cut off time-Say 12 hours before the flight-The list is locked at that time except for say emergency flights or company business. That wold make everyone list on travelnet rather than have some just show up at the airport

Yeah, I love the seat assignment list on travelnet. I can usually tell an hour or so before a flight if I am going to get a seat or not by looking at it. It will list every standby in order of their priority, both revenue and non-rev, and how many seats are left for all of them. You can actually watch the standby list and the number of seats remaining shrink as they assign seats. When my friends and family travel, I can see if they got on by looking at travel net. It will even tell me what seat they got. Pretty cool!

I think everyone's done this at some point. Maybe not while going to/from vacation, but there have been times that I have missed one flight while commuting and then ran up to a completely different flight a few minutes before boarding, possibly bumping someone.If you had a rule about listing 12 hours prior, people would probably end up listing for every possible flight they could use to get where they were going, such as the 4 leg MCO-CVG example used earlier in the thread. I agree, it sucks when someone brings their family up at the last minute and all the commuters get screwed. But I also like the ability to switch around which flights I am to take at the last minute if I need to.

I wish I could say the same thing. I try to go to MCO or TPA all the time to visit my folks and often don't make it. My wife tries to go to FLL alot to visit her's and she often doesn't make it. However, it seems that flying to LGA and then to Florida is never a problem (if you can make it to LGA).