Jumpseat to Europe and back...

[Burt Reynolds]

Anybody do this recently? I know that you have to sit in a cabin seat, but how did you set it up? More importantly how did you set it up for the return trip?

I'm looking to go from ORD-LHR and back on United. Anybody have any idea of what the taxes run coming back and whether you have to pay taxes on the way over? I bought a ZED fare for AA as a backup and it ended up being $198 of which $57 was the ZED fare. Can I expect that jumpseating would cost me $141 in tax?

Did I mention that I was cheap?

 

[purduej]

Try coming back on Delta out of London Stansted, that will give you three destinations, JFK, CVG, and ATL. It's a little more expensive to get to by train, but is only $40 or so in taxes. American also flies out of there to RDU and USAir to CLT and PHL. Good luck.

 

[DashTrash400]

Great Britain just doubled their departure taxes, fees+taxes now tend to run around £80 out of Heathrow and Gatwick. Yikes! Stansted has fewer airport fees BUT still the same high int'l departure tax. GB is definately one of the more expensive places to nonrev these days... departure tax out of AMS or FRA is only like €40-50. You typically do NOT have to pay tax on the way over...do it just like a domestic flight.

NW, US, UA, and DL all offer international jumpseat. AA and CO offer it only to the chosen few, ie majors.

By "set it up," do you mean listing? I don't think any of those carriers allow OAL pilots to list for the jumpseat... you just show up. The procedure at european airports is to go to the ticket counter (NOT check in counters!) to list & pay your departure tax. They'll run you through CASS even though you can't sit in the cockpit.

One final note. Be early, as many agents are unfamiliar with international jumpseating and it may take some time. Delta in particular is very strict on time...if you're not checked in 90 minutes prior to departure, you're not going.

 

[Burt Reynolds]

Thanks for the info!

 

[OverTorque]

I jumped from LAX to LHR on UA and the experience was actually pretty easy. Got a business class seat both ways. (Loads were light.) Going to LHR worked just like listing for a Domestic Jumpseat. i.e. Just walk up to the gate, introduce yourself, show ID etc. (Note: LAX TSA made me get a UA-issued standby pass before passing though security. I dont know if this is just an LAX policy or UA's. Just go to a reservations desk and they'll give you one.) Coming out of Heathrow just involved going to the UA customer service desk and they took care of me. They charged me 30 pounds airport tax and I was on my way home! Definitely show up early and be prepared to check your bag. I don't know if heathrow has relaxed its carry-on policy yet. As of September, you could only carry on a Laptop-sized bag and you had to check everything else. Even though I was Jumpseating, the checking process went pretty smoothly. Both the UA customer service people and crew treated me very well! (Candy helps.) Good luck.

 

[Oakum_Boy]

Dress nicely. Goes without saying, but I've seen some weird shat lately.

 

[doug_or]

NW, US, UA, and DL all offer international jumpseat. AA and CO offer it only to the chosen few, ie majors.
.

I was able to jumpseat to BRU on AA for free and from ams on CO for less than $50 as a piedmont employee (maybe I counted as US?).

 

[EDUC8-or]

Try coming back on Delta out of London Stansted, that will give you three destinations, JFK, CVG, and ATL. It's a little more expensive to get to by train, but is only $40 or so in taxes. American also flies out of there to RDU and USAir to CLT and PHL. Good luck.

USAirways flies to Gatwick and the RDU flight on AA is also out of Gatwick.

 

[SYX328]

STN is Maxjet and EOS. DL only flies to LGW.

 

[ShyFlyGuy]

Try coming back on Delta out of London Stansted, that will give you three destinations, JFK, CVG, and ATL. It's a little more expensive to get to by train, but is only $40 or so in taxes. American also flies outof there to RDU and USAir to CLT and PHL. Good luck.

I didn't believe it... had to check for myself. What's up with that? Very interesting!

Shy