Keeping it real: thoughts on non-reving

SO, anytime I tell people that Mark is a pilot they think it is soooo cooooool and do I get to fly wherever I want for free?????? And the answer is, yes, sometimes, on Wednesday and Fridays of odd months, when the sky is pink, and an empty seat on the plane.... I might make it on the flight I wanted to take as a non-rev (a non revenue ticket, meaning if there is an empty seat, and no one else needs it, they MIGHT give it to me...) otherwise known as stand by.

So, yes, I can get on most flights and go where I please, but these days it just isn't that easy. There aren't as many flights a day as their used to be before 9/11 and our economy went crashing down, meaning less open seats for people like me. I shouldn't complain because for the most part I have made flights I wanted to take. But then there are the times I haven't made it on...

Once I was trying to get on a flight to Houston to go on a trip with Mark to Tulsa Oklahoma (I think...). I spent around 6 hours sitting on the floor of the terminal waiting to get on ONE of the zillions of IAH flights that day, and never made it on. Got my bag, paid for my parking and went back home. Another time I flew to Houston to see my parents while Mark was working one weekend. We ALWAYS check the loads before I leave to ensure that it makes sense for me to go somewhere, to make sure the odds are in my favor for getting home. At midnight the night before, the flight that was only half booked at 9pm was now overbooked by like 12 people... no way I was going to make any flight that day. So guess what? I got to pay $200 to rent a car and drive home so I could be at work Monday! Yipee!!!

What have we learned here? Just because you have a pilot or airline worker in the family doesn't mean you can jet off all over the world on your own schedule at any time... It takes lots and lots of patience and a drive to REALLY want to get where you're going! (because sometimes you will find yourself waiting our 3 or 4 of 5 flight options to try and make it happen!)

It's not all bad though, this past Thanksgiving we flew into Newark, and somehow I got first class both ways (while my amazing husband sat back in coach!). We're hoping to go visit a friend in Arizona in January so hopefully that goes just as smoothly :)

All in all though Mark has a great job and he loves it! Most days :) I love that he has the job he always dreamed of having, and I also love that we're going to Vienna the day after Christmas because of perks of said job :)