Yea I will jump seat international to save a few bucks sometimes, but the hassle of coming back in certain countries that may rarely see jumpseaters has been problematic in the past enough (Rio de Janeiro) that I would rather just buy a zed check in and walk through security. A good resource is jumpseatinfo.org as I have used it to show agents that we can actually jumpseat and it also has good information regarding procedures for international jumpseat with each airline. Have fun out there!

You’re right. You are prohibited from using KCM for international personal travel.

I used my company iD badge and went through a normal security line. It’s a pain to downsize all of my toiletries, but it’s worth it to not have to check a bag and deal with what you dealt with in EWR.

United used to upgrade even OAL jumpseaters to C class automatically as long as there were seats open. On international flights. Yes, the gate agents would do that. Did that policy change?

That was United’s policy before the merger with CAL. Now OAL jumpseaters are listed in Y and your only shot at business is the benevolence of the captain or purser.

It’s very hard to get an upgrade on UA for even the staff of United these days.
I work for a UAX carrier and I see the nonrev mainline guys listed in the business but they are way below the list.
There are tons of Mileage plus members listed as upgradable stand by on every flight and these guys are holders of the United plus Visa card.

So lots of stars have to line up in order to get an upgrade on United these days, it is almost equal to winning a lotto..

But if there is a rare chance of an seat open, an exceptionally good gate agent (rare breed) or a crew might extend the courtesy...

All reasons I’ve just stopped traveling internationally. How and the hell people sit in coach on ocean crossings is beyond comprehension. I’m not an animal! The last time I had to do that was from Rome to EWR and I said never again.

I've jumpseated back from lots of places on UA and DL. The key is to find the one check-in agent who actually works for the airline, usually the manager. They will have some semblance of how to do the listing. It took 4 guys in Beijing and it seemed like they were re-typing the communist manifesto onto the keyboard, but they were able to figure it out. Same in Mexico, Singapore, Taiwan, and Europe. Plan B is always a zed ticket. But why pay $100 for something you get for free?

There's a lot more going on in planet earth than Walmart, Trump, and etc. One of the best things we can do is travel to different countries. 200 years ago, people sat on boats or covered wagons for weeks... sitting on a seat for 8 hours with a tv in your face and free food isn't the end of the world.

Let me find a politically correct way to ask, are you a person of size? I've traveled a bunch internationally including Rome to DTW nonstop and never had any issues in steerage class. Longest flight I've done was Dubai to Houston that was over 16 hrs in coach. No problems at all and it was actually comfortable.

I used a ZED on Lufthansa from Munich to Paris earlier this year and when all the seats were full they gave me a flight attendant jumpseat. Staff travel in Europe is very relaxed compared to here in the US