As a regional airline pilot, do you only get free airfare between cities served by your airline?

Same with major airlines?

Pilots at airlines (121 carriers) get jumpseat benefits on other carriers. In addition most airlines have decent travel benefits (non-rev) for immediate family members (spouse/significant other, kids, parents).

Most are free travel on your own airline, significantly reduced travel on any immediate affiliates (IE United for United Express guys), and reduced benefits on other carriers ($15 one way to 90% off a full fare ticket and everything in between).

Travel and jumpseat benefits are definately something that makes the airline world distinct from other careers, and something that I definately miss now that I'm out in the corporate world. It really sucks having to pay for airfare when I used to fly to Europe for less than $50 round trip.

If you fly for a large 121 carrier, IE probably any of the airlines listed in the pay section of this website, you can fly for free. If your airline isn't CASS then unless your captain is a cowboy you won't be able to sit in the cockpit.

Some airlines are a lot more restrictive than others. Some only offer up one seat and if a pilot from their airline or a regional affiliate wants it, you'll be SOL. Others like ASA are more generous and will give all their empty seats to jumpseaters until the plane is full.

Either way as a 121 pilot you'll get unreal travel benifits

The only prob is, with the airlines currently reducing capacity by as much as 30%, there is hardly anymore seats for non-revs, which also means that everyone is fighting over the jump seat.

Travel priveledges are getting to the point of being useless.

Also, you have to pay taxes for overseas non-rev travel, me and my wife went down to D.R. last year and it was $175 in taxes for the round trip. What a f'ing rip off.

And you gotta love the increase in use of the weight restricted rj's.


A good rule about jumpseating is if you absolutly have to be somewhere just buy the ticket. It sucks that it has come to this.