I’ve explained before that my family and I can fly for free on my airline for domestic flights, and for just taxes on international flights with my airline. My family and I can also fly for discounted prices on most major airlines. As a flight attendant, I have an additional bonus (known as a cabin seat agreement) which allows me to fly free domestically on nearly any carrier, and there are a few carriers that will let me fly for just the taxes on their international flights. (Emphasis on “few,” it’s quite limited!)
Here’s the story of using my flight benefits for the first time on another carrier. It’s extremely detailed and possibly extremely boring, and definitely a bit confusing, but I know a few people will be interested in hearing it. Here goes:
We used airline miles to book flights from Seattle to Osaka, Japan in March. We also used airline miles to book flights for Saign and L from Tokyo back to the US in April. We decided NOT to book a flight back to the US for me because I wanted to try and see if I could fly back to the US for just the taxes.
Here’s what it looked like:
In March, I started looking at flight options and came up with a strategy. Here’s the strategy I came up with:
Plan A: Use the Cabin Seat Agreement to get to the US…anywhere in the US…on 4/13. (This left me with 5 flights I could try for…one which flew directly to Seattle). If Plan A worked, I’d have to pay just the taxes for my flight. (This would cost <$50)
Plan B: List for Standby and pay for a direct flight to Seattle on another carrier (not through the Cabin Seat Agreement, but through regular airline employee benefits) that leaves on 4/13 AFTER the 5 flights that fit my Plan A. (This would cost $150)
Plan C: List for standby and pay for flights on any carrier to the West Coast for 4/14. Perhaps list for a whole bunch so that you can make sure to get home! (Depending on the airline and class, this could cost between $125-300).
I knew from the beginning that I’d hope to only have to fly using Plan A, but I’d follow through with listing per Plan B. I had to complete my listing per Plan B prior to leaving the US for Japan, because there was a risk they wouldn’t let me into the country if I didn’t have an outgoing flight booked. (When listing for standby travel, all but a few dollars are always refundable if you don’t end up flying with the airline you listed with).
As it got closer to 4/13, I started requesting flight loads from employees at other airlines so that I could list for more flights (per Plan C) if needed. The flight loads looked a bit nasty, with minimal seats open, and lots of people listed. But I was so overwhelmed with all the options that I decided to just wait to list for flights on 4/14 (for Plan C). The carrier that I could accomplish Plan A with does not release their flight loads to employees until 72 hours in advance, so I was learning about flight loads on other carriers before I could learn about flight loads for my Plan A flights. Most carriers require you to list 24 hours in advance, so there was some risk to not listing on these other carriers, but I was just overwhelmed!
On 4/11, I got some great news: The tax-only flights (Plan A) were looking a lot more open on 4/13 than the other flights! GREAT! There was a flight to Detroit that had 100 open seats! (While this was generally good news, sometimes there are weight and balance restrictions, so they wont put standby passengers on even if there are open seats, plus if another flight to the US cancelled, that flight to Detroit could get filled up quickly).
I had been told that outside of the US, ticket agents often are confused by the Cabin Seat Agreement (Plan A), so it’s best to arrive early to the airport, and to be ready to stand firm and communicate clearly about how it should work. (This was a bit intimidating since I had never used the Cabin Seat Agreement or flown standby with another carrier before).
I got to the airport 3 hours before the Detroit flight. I went to the ticket counter. As I had been warned about, they were confused. They told me to go to the check-in desk. I knew (per the written policy) that this was incorrect, and I was supposed to go to the ticketing counter, not the check-in desk, and I let the agent at the ticket counter know this, but then complied and went to the check-in counter. I waited in line for several minutes, and then ticket-counter-guy came and got me out of line and told me he’d “try” to figure out how to list me using the Cabin Seat Agreement.
And try he did…to the point that a line formed behind me. I politely suggested he take care of those guests and come back to me. He refused at first, and called a friend over to help him. Then they both tried to get me listed. The line grew longer. Finally, they had me move to the side so that they could help the other guests. But, after maybe 30 minutes, they had a ticket for me! Yay!
But then I looked. The ticket said, “jumpseat.” I’m not allowed to sit on the jumpseat on this airline. I had to go back and say, “You need to “flow me back'” to the cabin. (Again, this was verbage I had learned from studying the Cabin Seat Agreement). Thankfully, the agent knew what I was talking about, and gave me a “seat request” ticket. She told me to head to the gates. Yay!
There were no agents yet at the gates when I got to them, so I had to wait a bit. When the agents finally arrived, I went to speak to them to make sure I understood the process.
Me: “Hi! I’m flying standby. I just wanted to make sure I know what to expect. Will you be calling my name?”
Agent: “No. You have to wait.”
Me: ??
Agent: “When the crew arrives, we have to ask the captain.”
Me: “…but then will you call my name???”
So at this point, I was concerned that things might go awry as things were clearly getting lost in translation. So what did I decide to do? Watch for the captain and see if I had an opportunity to speak to him myself.
(To be clear: This is ridiculous. I am ridiculous. But I really didn’t want to get stuck sitting at the airport overnight, so I was prepared to be a weirdo if it increased my chances of getting on the flight.)
A First Officer arrived was standing by the gate, and I consider speaking to him, but I decide that talking to him by himself would be weird. Nope. I waited until the whole crew arrived, including the captain. Then I walked up and said, “Hi! I’m Becky. I’m a Seattle-based flight attendant with _______. I just came to introduce myself because I’m trying to use the Cabin Seat Agreement to get home, and the agent said she’d have to ask the captain. That sounds strange, but just in case, I came to introduce myself.” The crew was nice to me despite my awkwardness, and the First Officer assured me I’d get on and that there were no weight and balance restrictions.
Then I waited more!
I heard them start calling names, but I didn’t hear mine. After awhile, as boarding was winding down, I stood next to the other standby passengers, waiting for my name. As I chatted with them, I figured out that I would be the very last one called. When you use the Cabin Seat Agreement, you’re the lowest priority, and there was one other flight attendant using the agreement, but she was hired before me, so I knew I’d be last to be called. And…I was!
But, I was so happy when they handed me that boarding pass. Then I got on the plane, and found I was in Comfort+ (so a few extra inches of legroom) in an aisle seat with an open seat next to me! They did try to give me a nice place to sit!
The flight to Detroit went as well as a 12 hour flight can go.
As we got into Detroit, I looked at the flight options. My airline had plenty of seats available 4 hours later, but there was another carrier that I could try to fly home on for free (again, with the Cabin Seat Agreement). I went to the gate and asked if I’d be able to get on. The agent told me he couldn’t get me on, so I told him I’d sit by the gate just in case.
At the end of boarding, he had 1 seat left. He called over the couple who were at the top of the standby list. They didn’t want to separate!
He called the next couple on the list. They didn’t arrive!
He listed me for the flight, and gave me the boarding pass, telling me he might have to pull me off if the other people arrived. “Of course,” I told him, thanking him for all his help.
And then I was flying home several hours sooner than I would have been able to if I had waited to fly with my airline! š
22 hours after I arrived at the Tokyo aiport, I was home at Seatac!
Was it a hassle? Yes! Did Saign and L fly home directly to Seatac on an 8 hour flight? Yes! Could it have been way worse? Yes, WAAAAAAY worse!
Total cost for the flight to the US? $47.33.
And it gets better…taxes are only charged on the way into the US, so if I had used the Cabin Seat Agreement round-trip, it still would have been just $47.33
I LOVE BEING A FLIGHT ATTENDANT!
(It did REALLY REALLY make me want to work for an international airline so that my family could also get all these benefits!)
Adventure Fam 
Leave a comment