SkyWest Travel Bennies.....

[indianboy7]

Just wondering what the travel benefits were for immediate family members at SkyWest. . . .especially international travel on either Delta or United....thanks

 

[SKYW Pilot]

We fly Delta for free in North, Central, and South America (including Hawaii and Carribean). Three free international travel days per year (determined by Delta). Other international destinations are extremely inexpensive. United is pretty darn good... SFO to Beijing roundtrip in business class for my mom was $200. Hawaii coach class around 60 roundtrip. Other domestic destinations on United are a fee based system but aren't expensive by any means. Plus, you get actual jumpseat privleges on both United and Delta and a better priority which helps out greatly for commuting. We also have all the other travel bennies of many other airlines including Southwest and many ZED fares on tons of other airlines. Hope this helps!

 

[indianboy7]

Thanks....couple questions though....is the free north american travel for the employee or his parent, for example?...also, when you say 3 free international days per year, is that for anyone or just the employee?...thanks again

 

[SKYW Pilot]

I believe the three free days are for just you. United benefits are for you, spouse, dependants, and parents. Delta benefits are for you, spouse and dependants. Delta offers parents a "yield" fare which I'm not familiar with. My parents use United all the time. You can request "buddy passes" good for travel on any Skywest flight which you can give to anybody. They're $30 one way.

 

[roadrunner]

Parents travel ID90 on Delta. Kind of pricey, the UA deal isnt bad though...if you can get on a flight that is.

 

[indianboy7]

thanks guys......

 

[Vicman]

When?

At what point after one gets hired, do these travel benefits (for parents/dependents) become effective?

Thanks

 

[propsarebest]

OO is from day one, UA is 14 days, and DL is 30 days, or whenver they decide to activate your PPR.

DL is a $50 per PPR per year charge, and UA is a base plus per mile charge.

Don't even bother with the buddy passes, they are $30 PER leg, you are looking at $120 per trip at a min.

 

[Weasil]

Don't even bother with the buddy passes, they are $30 PER leg, you are looking at $120 per trip at a min.

If it's $30 per leg then wouldn't it be $60 per trip min (assuming 1 leg each way)?

 

[ReportCanoa]

Parent benefits and buddy passes are more stessful for the employee than they're worth. My parents have the best benefits in the industry (for now), and have spent more money on full-fare tickets trying to get home while non-revving than they would have buying a regular ticket to begin with. Enjoy them yourself, and with your significant other.

 

[Dave Benjamin]

Parent benefits and buddy passes are more stessful for the employee than they're worth. My parents have the best benefits in the industry (for now), and have spent more money on full-fare tickets trying to get home while non-revving than they would have buying a regular ticket to begin with. Enjoy them yourself, and with your significant other.

Agreed.
I would trade all my travel benefits for a 3 or 4 buck an hour raise in a heartbeat. We routinely drive the 11 or so hours to visit friends and family. It's almost always quicker than non-revving.

 

[Spicepilots]

There is sort of an art to non-rev travel. It only works when you don't need to be somewhere at a specific time or date and if you have a lot of patience. Forget travel during spring break, most of the summer, and immediately around the holidays. That being said, I recently sent my parents to Kona, and the airplane was half empty both ways. They did have to purchase a Frontier ticket to get to SLC first, though. It takes careful planning and a backup plan or two.

 

[Weasil]

I have to agree with Spicepilots. Non-revving is a skill, it takes practice and you must not be in a hurry to get somewhere. We have always planned our trips by doing research into travel schedules, and peak travel seasons. Last March we made it all the way to Auckland and back using Zed fares - cost $600 bucks for me, the wife and the kid round trip! It was two flights each way and we got on the first flight each time by choosing flights at a time of year, time of day and day of the week that were routinely not sold out. granted there is some luck involved but this is the way I have always done it and it works quite well.

 

[Dave Benjamin]

I have to agree with Spicepilots. Non-revving is a skill, it takes practice and you must not be in a hurry to get somewhere.

If you don't place much value on your time it works out.
My parents have found that it makes more sense to just buy a ticket as a couple of extra days on either end of a trip doesn't pencil out too well.

Back when we used to get buddy passes on mainline a friend needed to travel from Australia to SFO. It was about the same rpice to just buy a ticket on EVA as opposed to a buddy pass. Same friend made the mistake of using a buddy pass to go from SEA to SFO. Took him 4 days.

 

[rickair7777]

It kind of depends on where you live and where you want to go.

My parents have had tremendous luck non-reving in the US (on several airlines, dependong on who I worked for), never got stuck longer than the next flight.

My wife uses a combination of revenue and non-rev to get around, depending on circumstances. She plays it pretty smart and doesn't get stuck very often at all.