Quote:
Originally Posted by Pilot_135
I am at a defining moment in my life where I could go with airline or fractionals. With the state of the industry, the only airline I'm seriously persuing is SWA, but several of the fracionals look really good. My wife is concerned about the lack of travel privalages with the fracs. We love to travel and would do alot of it on my time off. My question is, if I were blessed enough to have the choice, which direction would offer the better vacation/family travel? Does the pay rate at the fractionals outweigh the lack of travel privs?
Thanks. i'll post the same question in the "Major" section to get a balanced oppinion.
I'll try to "steer" this thread back to your original question reqarding travel perks.
I'm still an FNG at NJA (hired Jan '06) so hopefully, my perspective will give you a better idea of what to expect the first year on property should you decide this is where you want to be. Of course, I can only shed light on what's available at NJA -- hopefully someone from SWA will highlight their benefits to provide the "balanced opinion" you desire.
1. Flight Perks: the company airlines us around A LOT. I've only been here 10 months and am already up to Elite Status on both Delta and US Airways.
So far, I've earned 3 round-trip tickets on Delta, one round-trip on US Airways, and another on SouthWest. I don't live in a hub city for either of these carriers.
I should point-out that these are guaranteed seats. I played the "Non-Rev Travel Game" at the airlines for nearly 10 years -- in my humble opinion, this is a much better way to go!
2. Hotel Perks: just like the Frequent Flyer programs, we get to keep all the hotel points for our overnight accomodations. I've accumulated over a quarter-million points and am a Diamond VIP with Hilton. (their highest award level) I've earned enough for a FREE week and a half at any 5-star Hilton property, one week FREE at any member of the Priority Club network (Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, etc), 2 days FREE at any Hyatt property, and 1 day FREE at Marriott.
The cool thing about hotel points is you can convert them into airline miles, redeem them for cruises, or use them to buy products. (flew with a guy the other day who bought a brand-new Bose QC2 headset with hotel points)
Most Airline employees enjoy siginificant travel-industry perks like reduced-rate hotel accomodations, but there isn't a program out there that can compete with FREE.
3. Time off to actually Travel: I'm on the Flex/Reserve schedule at NJA. (I can hold the 7/7, but I'm still on 1st year pay, and like the bigger paycheck) Even on the FLEX/Reserve schedule, I spend more time at home that I ever did at the airlines.
To be fair however, I was a commuter with the airlines, and now reside in my domicile with NJA. Not having to fly-in the night before, and always having a guaranteed airline ticket home on the last day (as opposed to playin' the non-rev/ get bumped game) really makes a difference. I never have to use a "day off" to commute.
The 7/7 guys know what their schedule will be more than a year or so ahead of time, so they can actually make travel plans well in advance. (as opposed to the airline system of monthly bidding where you find out your schedule a few short weeks out)
For travel planning, 7/7 is the way to go, but guys like me on the FLEX/Reserve schedule still have it pretty good. FLEX/Reserve guys are given 4 "Hard Days" (ie: guaranteed) off each month in addition to 10 or so company-assigned days off. We get to pick these Hard Days 3 months in advance.
This system has allowed my wife and I to buy concert tickets 2 months out (since I knew I was guaranteed to be off those days once I picked 'em), and has given me the freedom to RSVP and attend 2 weddings so far this year.
By bidding my Hard Days all 4 in a row, my wife and I have been able to take a couple of "weekend" mini-vacations by burning-up hotel points. (ie: FREE) We've been to the Keys, Myrtle Beach, and Savannah. (we live in the SouthEast, and drove to each of these locations)
4. Vacation: Probably the nicest travel perk is the amount of time they give us to go on vacation. For every "calendar week" of vacation awarded, NJA also adds "lead-in days" before and after that week.
Pilots on the 7/7 schedule, are awarded 7 lead-in days prior, and 7 lead-in days following their vacation award. In other words, one "week" of vacation for us equals
21 GUARANTEED days off on a row. (with pay)
Pilots on the FLEX/Reserve schedule (like me) are awarded 4 lead-in days prior, and 4 lead-in days following our vacation award for a total of 15 days off in a row. By placing Hard Days on either end of the lead-in days, I was able to create a vacation period equalling
19 GUARANTEED days off in a row. (with pay) -- I've never worked at a job where I was given nearly 3 weeks off in a row my first year.
Calendar weeks are awarded as follows: (remember each of these is a 19 or 21 day block of time off)
1-4 years of service: 2 calendar weeks
5-9 years of service: 3 calendar weeks
10+ years of service: 4 calendar weeks
That's about it in a nutshell!! Hope this helps!! Good luck with the job search!!