i can non-rev! educate me...

[Amanda]

Originally Posted by skibum515

ohhh i don't think john knows that. he told me it'd just be $12.50/leg for wherever.

So...how exactly is it taxable income? that part i'm confused about...

All I know is that it gets deducted from Nick's paycheck.. so he asked me not to go crazy with the travelling!

Like it has been mentioned, there are calculators on Coair that tell you how much it will be.

Emily- are you going to be my new travel buddy/roommate?! We can meet up with Kristie & Doug on one of their trips!

[Amanda]

Originally Posted by Kristie

hmmm early November, Expovina (BIG worldwide wine festival) in Zurich...can CAL get to Zurich? if not, we just might have to buddy it up...Amanda's been there before and i'm thinking she might like to go back for a longer period of time or if there's anyone else you can find to bunk up with, it would save some duckets!

Oooh I'm interested! We hardly got to explore all of the ships the last time! This time more Smarties and I think I'm buying something from that vending machine with the crazy stuff!

[spotty4]

Oh skibum, you are so lucky you get to ask for non-rev help. I went on my first non-rev travel before I found this helpful forum so I went for it w/ no prior knowledge. Even my honey couldn't provide much help b/c he'd been traveling for training on positive space.

My honey's w/ Mesaba (NWA). As far as we know, all domestic travel, married or not (I'm his registered Domestic Partner) is free. However, we have to pay tax on the ticket for international travel. My first non-rev was to Montreal to see him during training. So there will be tax deducted for the international portion (flew SFO-DTW, DTW-YUL).

My first go at non-rev was a little rough, but I made it! You have to have the attitude that you get what you pay for. My frustration was w/ how you are ranked in the standby list. Do not believe what the website tells you. When my honey listed me, I was #2. Well, turns out I was #2 for Mesaba listers. All NWA non-rev travelers get listed ahead of me, even if they listed later. When the gate agent explained this to me I felt kind of stupid. I was clinging onto that #2 spot w/ the hopes that I'd get on that flight to MSP. She essentially told me I was bottom of the barrel in seniority for listing of standby for that flight. I obviously did not make that flight to MSP. I was super disappointed and sad (since I'd not seen my honey for 4 wks (training)). But the gate agents were fabulous. They took me under my wings and gave me the 411 on non-rev travel. Then they listed me on the next NWA flight out of SFO (to DTW) that could ultimately get me to Montreal. Evidently traveling non-rev out of SFO is difficult. For the flight to DTW I got the 2nd to last seat.

When I arrived at DTW and found my gate, I felt a little better, armed w/ the knowledge the gate agents in SFO had shared. I did not bug the gate agents. I let them do their jobs. I was going to wait to bug them, if I didn't hear my name called, once boarding slowed down a bit. But the waiting area seemed slow and a bit thin, so I went for it. This time, rather than hoping there would be even one seat open for me, she asked me "Window or aisle?" I said "WHAT!? I have a CHOICE!?" I was soooo relieved. I was going to make it to Montreal! :-D My travels back home went very smoothly.

So, I usually approach the gate agents if they appear to not be busy and just let them know I'm non-rev and just curious about the standby status. Some will shoo you away and indicate they'll call you if you have a seat. Others will check out the status right then and even print a boarding pass if its clearly an undersold flight.

Wow, that was lots. Sorry for the book. I hope it helped some.

[CLErocks]

Originally Posted by spotty4

So, I usually approach the gate agents if they appear to not be busy and just let them know I'm non-rev and just curious about the standby status. Some will shoo you away and indicate they'll call you if you have a seat. Others will check out the status right then and even print a boarding pass if its clearly an undersold flight.

Good piece of adivce. Gate agents can be a real piece of work, if you know what i mean! Definitely go when they aren't busy. There are some very helpful gate agents out there too, don't get me wrong!

[flyershoe]

Originally Posted by Amanda

All I know is that it gets deducted from Nick's paycheck.. so he asked me not to go crazy with the travelling!

Like it has been mentioned, there are calculators on Coair that tell you how much it will be.

Emily- are you going to be my new travel buddy/roommate?! We can meet up with Kristie & Doug on one of their trips!

I've been nice and have been putting the charges on my credit card.

Amanda, can you comment on the tax stuff? I remember you saying something about it before.

And Emily - "taxable income" is just as it sounds... they put a dollar amount on the benefit, then tax it like they would any other income (bear with me here, this is a horrendous explanation!) i.e. if you made $10 an hour, the federal government would withhold $3.50 (just an example, I don't know how much withholding is) of that. If 10% of your pass comes out to $20, but you paid $10 for the pass, that is subtracted from the cost and you're left with $10 as the taxable income, so he would have to pay $3.50 in taxes on that ticket.

Of course, I could be totally off and taxes might not be charged for the non-related travel companion.

Maybe call the pass office??

[flyershoe]

Oh, I might also add that what I'm talking about is federal income taxes, not any kind of departure tax required for international travel or security fees, etc. The departure tax for the UK is high, I think 45 pounds for coach??

[Doogie]

At my airline, domestically, it's free for spouses, parents and (or? I'm not sure) children up to full-time college students.

But if it's a companion, there's a fee because of the IRS or something like that.

The only fees that I have to pay for Kristie are her international taxes, which vary from about $18 for some countries and up to $50 or so for places like Britain.

[lucky81698]

Emily,

If you are able to sign into coair, then go to the Pass Travel tab. You don't have to click on it, just put your mouse on it. Then go down to Pass Travel Information. You will find everything you need to know there, along with the pass travel calculator. I think flyershoe explained the taxable income thing pretty well.

[ccbegay]

Hey, I can use my aa/eagle bennies too!!

[Nadine]

Hi Skibum,

I have non-rev'd on Xjet pass privileges for about 8 years until husband got to Cal. Using the Coair site is easy just go to employeeRes and it walks you through how to look for flights. They just changed the site and it is much nicer to find things. Also it now tells you where you stand among the other SAs when you are viewing the loads and SA list. Good to know if you are trying to get on a flight with limited seats. The rule of thumb for us has been 20 or more open seats, and we are good to go (we have been doing mostly international lately and it can fill up at the last minute). Be prepared to be bumped and have an alternate route or a way to get back home.
Easiest to have direct withdrawl from the paycheck because they don't catch up with you for about a month.
Unfortunately for Xjet employees, they are about to change your pass privileges and there is rumor that they are either going to reduce CAL SA board dates for Xjet or make it a co-share which is even worse according to my husband. Hopefully it won't be too bad.
Let me know if you need any help.

Nadine