Over the weekend on my short little trip to Legoland, I flew Non Rev (or Non Revenue) for the first time. Heidi gets the occasional Buddy Pass and I used one to head down to San Diego. This is not a “O M G how can he complain for flying extremely cheaply somewhere” kind of post, but more a reality of using Buddy Passes kind of thing.

I had never flown Non-Rev before and I don’t really know if I would again. I totally understand the purpose of it, and I am sure for those who use them all the time, they love it. But for me… not again…. maybe. I found the whole process when it works as great. On the way down there were heaps of spare seats and we were at the bottom of the list of like maybe half a dozen people. No issues! Managed to score an exit row seat too! But coming back… lordy lordy.

Coming back from San Diego after a long weekend exploring, eating, having fun and getting royally sun burnt, was a new experience for me. I had never really been in a situation where I had no confirmed seats to get home. At all. The Standby Lists were long, over 20 on the our first option, and again on our next. Our last resort, the last flight of the day was wide open, but that was something I didn’t want to contemplate.

After checking in for our first flight, the ideal option, it did not look good. 9 open seats, 20 on the list and I was number 18 on the list. Not a chance! I asked about checking to see if there were other options to get me home via another city (There was a Portland connection that might work) but unfortunately that was no good. While the San Diego to Portland was wide open, the connecting flight up to Seattle was not, so that was out. Resolution, go for the later flight and suck up the extra 90 minute wait.

The second flight was getting closer and closer. 20 on the list, I am in space 15 and there was 16 seats. Dear god it is going to be close. What I didn’t want was a couple of paying passengers to get bumped from another flight. That would not end well at all as they would take priority over any non rev (including me!) and I would lose my spot. The flight boarded and as I waited, people started to clear the waitlist. I waited, and waited. People were making the flight, as people were called they somehow appeared out of no where, making the flight. It came down to the last few seats. Boarding was about to finish, they were getting ready to close the flight and send us on our way. But then they called me, I could go home!!! I scurried onboard with my bag (which they told me I didn’t have to gate check, they would find space onboard, and they did… in first class) and took my middle seat. Happy to be homeward bound.

So in reality flying on a Buddy Pass or Non Rev has it’s ups and downs. Often in comparison to full fares, it is a huge saving and it means you can go just about anywhere you want and may even score an Exit Row or Bulkhead. But the downsides are pretty big too. You may have to play Non Rev Roulette in the hope of getting home, you may end up with the seats no one else wants… the dreaded Middle or you may not end up at home at all! In this instance it was a good last minute trip, however in comparison to a trip booked on a heavily discounted fare, the savings would not be all that much. But hey… at least it would be a confirmed seat right?