Long Haul JS
 

Can someone run me through the basics for how jumpseating on the ultra long haul routes work. Where are you physically sitting at different points during the flight and is it actually better than buying an economy discounted ticket? Is it a major pain in the ass for the crew or do they not mind?

You can't jumpseat on ultra long haul flights because the flight crew will be in them for takeoff and landing.

You can absolutely nonrev and sit in a cabin seat as per usual.

I’ll add that only United pilots can use the actual JS internationally… so if cabin is full you can’t ride (can’t get JS)…

If you are a United Pilot and JS is only thing available then most crews will let you sit in their rest/break seat for t/o and landing… but once in cruise you’ll have to sit in cockpit… but ultimately the CAs call.

Its a pain in the ass. The crew will probably smile and try to accommodate you but no one wants you there.

This^^^ if there is a seat in cabin (even middle Economy) you should take that seat over sitting on the JS. I personally won’t have a JS sit in cockpit if seat available in back unless it’s a new hire doing observation flights.

Actually, for the 787 and 777-300, non-working jumpseaters can occupy the Overhead Flight Crew Rest seats during takeoff and landing (FOM 10.50.2). The OFCR seats are physically about as nice as Premium Economy seats downstairs, but the privacy and space are great. There's one in the 787 and two in the -300. Trick is when crews come up to take their break, you might find yourself in the cockpit jumpseat for a looong time if they don't use the bunks. Even so, compared to basic economy I'd strongly prefer a flight deck jumpseat just to stretch out and shoot the breeze. I've never seen a JSer show up for an ULH flight, but I think very few CAs would say no.

the seat in the 787 bunk room sucks ass compared to the 777300.

United pilots only.

If someone is using the first observer sleeper seat on the 767, bathroom/meal breaks are a pain in the cheeks. We will get you home, it’s a seat, but consider it a middle seat between two people of size who had greasy breakfast burritos and coffee before the flight, and they snore.

Are you referring to the jumpseat that lies flat on the -67-300? Yeah- I get that but when I flew it I only had one instance of an offline pilot utilizing that seat fully (HNL-DEN and by a Hawaiian pilot who knew how to adjust it because they had these for actual rest years ago) and we had someone else in the jumpseat behind my seat and it worked fine. He knew when to get out of the way and we didn’t tip toe around him (and he wouldn’t have wanted us to)