Jumpseating International, Which Class?
 

I am going to EZE soon and I wanted to know which carrier to choose. Since I have to connect, I can connect on all the American carriers which serve EZE (CO, AA, DL, and UA). I believe AA does NOT have international jumpseating reciprocation though - so they are out.
I dont know how international jumpseating works but, if at all possible, I would like to sit in First or Business class for the long haul. Anybody have advise or experiences to share?
Thanks!!

You are not talking about colgan on the regional thread? How can this be?

LOL well, I couldnt care to get caught up in the drama at the moment ...

If there are any seats in Biz Elite on DAL and there are no upgrades or non revs taking them all, then jumpseaters can sit there.

I took CAL recently and the guys were more than happy to put me in first. It was great.

And the FA's didn't throw a fit?

I have not had any luck with AA or CAL but every other US carrier seems to want to help you out with a good seat if there are any vacant.

Kinda what I was getting at. I've commuted on DAL, UAL, USAir, CAL, and AA. Although AA has been very limited. I've only rode DAL int'l as far as JS'ing goes, but I know guys that have taken UAL and had good experiences. But I thought I heard that UAL has a policy that JS'ers will ONLY get business class if open, but not first. And that's OK with me. It's a free ride, and Business class beats stearage ANYTIME. I'm just grateful for the ride and that the TSA hasn't taken it away (the JS) from us yet. Although they tried.

Everybody EXCEPT CAL is usually pretty good about putting you up front. Not all the time, but usually. Whenever I've JS'ed int'l it's been on DAL, it's automatic. Politely say high to the lead, ask to go up front and talk to the CA about a ride. Politely say high to the CA and the rest of the guys, and ask for a ride. When thats out of the way, he usually calls the lead up to make sure I get a seat in from if it's available. Done, over with.

The times I've commuted on CAL, eh, different story. After going through the same drill as riding on DAL, CA says they may have seats in first, calls up the lead and asks if I can be put there. Lead says no, to the back I go. Again, I'm just happy to have the free ride. But what a culture/cockpit crew-cabin crew interaction difference. Not picking on CAL guys, just the way it's turned out.

That's funny...all of my upgrades (Int'l and Domestic) have been thanks to a gate agent -- maybe a few times due to a great cabin crew. Not once has the CA offered anything but what I got at the gate. Thanks a lot guys LoL

I've gotten USAIRWAYS first class. Not that it's worth much... it's free.

I have been on United quite a number of times to Europe. I have never ever sat in anything lower than Business Class. Last time was ZRH-IAD in First Class. By myself. I don't think flying on a Gulfstream G550 would have been much nicer.

Dress nicely (for real, maybe even a tie). Be very polite. And humble. Always works for me.

I'd go with UA or Delta. United has always treated me so well; they are a class act. Delta is a good one to go with as well. American's always treated me well domestically, but I've never been with them internationally. I think you can jumpseat internationally, just not in the cockpit, but they may flat out not let you jumpseat internationally.
With CAL, I've never been in business. I've been on plenty of empty planes and literally gotten the last row, once a middle seat. I am thoroughly grateful for the ride, and the Continental pilots are always class act, it's just funny to see the difference between United and Continental in those regards.
Go on UAL if you can do it easily.

Thank You for the info guys!
I always am thankful for the rides that we recieve and I am always very willing to have a jumpseater on our aircraft!
As far as sitting up front, not a big deal BUT, it is definitely nice after finishing a trip and hustling off to a vacation (trying to snag an extra vacation day out of your schedule!!!).
My experience has been great with Delta Crews. I think I will try United though and change things up ;)
Thanks Again!

For the guys that got the upgrades, were you in uniform? Or just after getting on the plane asked to talk to that captain to thank for the ride, and they upgrade you on their own?

Also, how about checking baggage when you are jumpseating on a different carrier intl or domestic? You go about it the same way as if you were on your own carrier?

I am also interested about whether or not you guys were in uniform ...
My experience checking bags with DL was going to the counter and listing for the jumpseat there. Then checking a bag with the agent. There were no fees associated with the checked bags.

I think the bag checking rules change July 1st for DAL, but I'm sure about employees. How about getting back from EZE obviously you can't jumpseat so would you get a ZED or something?

Yes, you can ride using the jumpseat privilege, you just can't occupy the cockpit jumpseat.

And make sure you check in for the js at a minimum of 75 minutes prior to departure for TSA requirements

As a frequent international jumpseater I can tell you CAL and DAL are awesome. AA won't let you jumpseat internationally, period. Kinda funny how they can ride on us on the JS but we cant do the same. Don't count on jumpseating back into the US, you can only JS out. Requesting to JS back in will result in a confused foreign gate agent.

Hey Intl Jumper, K thats what I thought about coming back, so how do you get back? do you use your ZEDs ?

AA will let you jumpseat int'l, but YOUR airline has to be on their international reciprocal JS list. Most regionals are not.

Not sure what you're talking about. You CAN JS BACK TO THE U.S., JUST NOT IN THE COCKPIT JS. It's simple, and just slightly different than in the U.S.. You walk up to the ticket counter, or if applicable, the "staff travel" counter, and request a JS pass to ride on whatever flight. You pay whatever departure taxes apply, and head to the gate. I've never had a problem requesting a JS from a foreign gate agent.

You must be walking up to a LH, AF, BA, etc flight and asking for a jumpseat, in that case, yes, they will not know what you are talking about.

Simple, you ask for JS form. As long as it's not on AA, and there's a seat in back, you should get on. And the standard statement applies, it's always the CA's discretion.

It's always a good idea to have that as a backup.

To clarify, AA will only let you jumpseat if you are a pilot for a legacy carrier, or work for fedex or ups. There were 2 or 3 other small cargo carriers that I cannot recall at this time. But other than that, AA will not let you jumpseat in the cabin. I have heard about people jumpseating internationally from outside the US to outside the US. Not from outside of the US back to the US. I jumpseat internationally to go home every week. I jumpseat home on CAL to avoid landing fees, and non rev back into the US.

Never had a problem jumpseating from Brazil to the US or UK to the US (both on DAL and CAL). I know many others who have jumpseated internationally into the US - so I don't know where you get your idea that it can't be done. Just remember it is pretty much a US carrier only thing to use the jumpseat.

Don't know where you jumpseat to but if you can get there on CAL you should be able to get home on CAL. If the local gate agents haven't got a clue ask the Gate agents in the States where the local agent can look up Jump seat procedures in their system or get your jumpseat coordinator let the CAL j/s coordinator know there is a problem.

I commute from MMMY to ATL on a weekly basis. I tried to get CAL, specifically xjet, to let me jumpseat back, but apparently you can't. I have the jumpseat instructions printed I carry with me and show to the agents here stateside so they can properly put me into the system to JS to MMMY. It specifically prohibits jumpseating from outside the US back in. It is much easier to nonrev than jumpseat back into the US. In a year and half I have yet to miss a flight or have the need to buy a zed. I would love to know how to let CAL jumpseating coordinator where the problem is.... anyone know how to contact them?

You tell your JS coordinator and he does his job and contacts CAL's JS coordinator.

Sounds like an Xjet problem.

XJT doesn't let their own crews jumpseat back to the US. You would let XJT's jumpseat coordinator know if you think there is a problem. CAL doesn't own XJT, though XJT gets owned by CAL at least once per year.

i jumpseated to shanghai once from atlanta on DAL... very awesome business class both ways... leaving china was hard though because the gate agent had NO idea what we were talking about and barely spoke english... my friends and i ended up intercepting the flight crew through security and asking for a little help and they were more than happy to get us back home! im gonna be trying to go to Berlin for a week at the end of this month, any recommendations? only thing im worried about after my china experience is coming back! and how do u list as non rev rather than jumpseat? is that still free?

AA WILL let you JS if YOUR airline is on the international reciprocal list. Most regionals are not, but a few are. Also, SW is on it if I'm not mistaken.

FedEx and UPS being on there is nothing but pure irony.

That would be correct.

That would be incorrect. XJT pilots are now allowed to occupy the cockpit JS coming from a non-U.S. airport.

I wore my uniform to get through security. After that I changed into civilian clothing. As far as baggage goes, I got there early (like 3 hours before departure) in order to not have any hassles. I checked in my skis and boots to ZRH. Slick. No issues at all. But I was listed.

I listed myself in advance on their listing number. I know it because my carrier used to be a United Express carrier. I just called up and got an agent and explained my situation, listing as OMC. That's the key - OMC. That's what United calls a jumpseater and that is important for when you return. The agents overseas aren't really familiar with the jumpseating we do in the US. But if you go to the check-in and are already listed as OMC it is no problem.

Get to the check-in early to avoid problems with baggage. They may struggle with the OMC computer entries because they rarely use these.

I had no issues at all with United, but I also was listed in advance each time and this makes the gate agent's and check-in agent's job much easier.

Saab2000,

Great! Thanks for the info!!! Thats what I was looking for!