Thread: Where can I go ?

Start domestically, something simple, but realistically any "wide open" flight (especially coming home!) is worth considering. Just have a few backup plans, and remember that anything can happen (if a flight cancels, people will have to rebook. If you go to Honolulu, you'll get a pile of nonrevs within 24 hours of departure - both directions). Did I mention that HNL is a terrible starting point? Not that you mentioned that, it's just that places you want to go, other people probably want to go to as well.

Without knowing what kind of things you're interested in, I'd suggest my hometown: MSP. Take a train in one direction, and you're in downtown Minneapolis. I think they also opened up a line to St. Paul, otherwise it's coming soon. Take that train from the airport the opposite way, and you're at the Mall of America 15 minutes later. Good day trip, though you may want to stay overnight so you have more options to get back. Sometimes those hub-to-hub flights can be tricky (MSP and JFK are both hubs for DL, but PHL isn't) since they're commonly used when people need to be rebooked, but they also have the advantage of intermediate stops. If JFK-MSP looks hard, consider JFK-ORD-MSP, JFK-DTW-MSP, JFK-BOS-MSP, even JFK-PHL-MSP. Or others. If you're lucky, you may even keep the same plane on your layover. Hop off, stretch your legs, and hop back on (once you get a seat assignment). If you need inspiration, check the wikipedia page for any airport, and scroll to the airlines and destinations section.

And just remember: When in doubt, first flight out. Especially flying *from* a hub, would you rather be on the flight where passengers misconnect from an earlier flight, or would you rather compete with them for seats later in the day?

If you're going to go to Europe, winter is definitely one of the better times to go. Just don't go during Spring Break (generally March-Easter) or over holidays.

Hubs shouldn't necessarily be avoided, but it's good to understand some of the basic dynamics of how people fly. Usually people fly into the hubs in the morning to make a connection, and out of the hubs later in the day after they connected from other places. Doesn't happen 100% of the time, but I'd be more optimistic about earlier flights from a hub than the later ones. But numbers are more important. Maybe that early flight is on a smaller plane, or something like that. And really, 99% of flights are to or from a hub. It's the hub-to-hub flights to watch out for. If a flight from Cedar Rapids, IA has 10 seats the night before I leave, I'll feel pretty good about it. Same number of seats at the end of the day on a hub-to-hub I'd be more worried about - people may get rebooked on it, nonrevs get carried over, stuff like that. Really, my main point is to include some kind of a cushion when looking at loads, for regular passengers and other nonrevs.

"Wide open" = lots of seats - like UA's first ORD-MSP flight most days. Sometimes they'll have an Airbus 320 leaving at 6 or 7:00AM from ORD, before most people would be able to arrive to ORD. The only reason they have a plane that size is to bring people back from MSP to ORD (or DEN or whereever). It may leave with 50-100 seats = wide open

Who knows: does a Delta parent have S2's these days? FIL was paranoid about standby so he wouldn't use pass unless with my hubby to be. (didn't like that either) That's when I took the companion role on his pass until marriage.
Are there Delta grandchildren (nondependents) in the picture? If not, you have 6 S2s/year and they are helpful for newbies and popular destinations.
Winter in EU is great--just watch out for holidays and the Christmas markets. Many EU cities are seasonal--Pisa, Malaga, Prague, IST, etc. Oh yeah--they can be VERY cold.
The key being flexible and having a Plan B (or C)

My advice would be to check with the employee before starting any journey. Make sure there are tons of open seats and, for your first few forays, go for a destination with a lot of flights to choose from to maximize the potential seats. This will help you get comfortable with the process before you venture further afield. The first few times you nonrev on your own can be a little intimidating - after which you just learn to go with the flow and have a plan B, C and D just in case.

Remember the cardinal rule of trying to get on the first flight of the day to your planned destination.
If you wait till later all the delays over sales snafus and what mother nature can throw into the mix
will have to be contended with. The last flight of the day (night) is almost certain to be a disaster in the making !
And beware of the situation where the last and first flight "IS THE ONLY FLIGHT" !

That being noted careful about hub to hub city travel. You have more here than meets the eye ---
Rerouted passengers from one hub to another - same for non-revs in higher classes of passes -
dead heading crew members - sure the fight is open to the first hub "BUT" then does the next flight have
the same open condition?
There are times of the year when it is best to stay at home - "Spring Break" - Thanksgiving - 10 days before
Christmas (Christmas Day exception if flights are operating) - Presidents day weekend - travel during these
times plan on alternatives and overnighting in out of the way places.

AH - HA - THE THRILL OF BEATING THE SYSTEM AND ACTUALLY GETTING A SEAT IN PRIME TIME !
Well Good Luck with that !

But don't be too discouraged - sometimes one does actually fly over cuckoo's nest !

PLANNING - AND MORE OF THAT - think "Positively" - after all if Phileas Fogg can get Around the World in 80 days
one should be able to get anywhere on Delta in 80 hours - Just don't be Don Quixote and Dream the Impossible Dream !

Well enough of that banter - like the Flight Attendant says the nearest exit may be behind you - the best way to travel
is with a paid revenue ticket - pay attention and know when that is the case - sometimes a ticket with reservation is a
better deal than over nighting in a hotel in a "I told you so" scenario.
The Buddy Passes are best left to when the flights are at no more than 80% full.
Pay close attention to the weather - realize that other airlines may reroute their passenger in your planned direction !

Another thing to consider don't put all of your travel plans into one (city) basket - - -
West Coast - think SAN-LAX-SNA-LGB---SBA -X- SFO-OAK-SJC---MRY -X- SEA-PDX (Strangely YVR)
East Coast - BOS-JFK-LGA-EWR -X- DCA-BWI-PHL---IAD (And AMTRAK connecting all these) plus small rural out of the norm airports
Midwest - ORD-MDW-MKE (AMTRAK and Chicago Metro connections)
Florida - MIA-FLL-MCO -X- TPA-RSW
All these are close enough to consider for an travel alternative !

Even if you use the abomination touchable Windows 8 there are ways to get you where you need to go without touching much.

After all if Delta can't be "The World's Most Trusted Airline" ! - "We Love to Fly and it Shows" ! - So "Keep Climbing" !
Delta for the most part "Delta is Ready When You Are" !

But if you don't come out and standby for a flight Delta may not fill a flight that you could be on - "Give it a try at least !
Strange things happen at the last moment at the gate portal to your travel destination - fly over the cuckoo' nest - put one over on good ole Delta !

R.M. you forgot “Delta gets you there“.

Delta Gets You There TV commercial - YouTube

Originally Posted by Razorian

Coming back though from ATL to PHL; we got on our intended 5:50 PM flight; even though it was completely booked when we showed up at the gate. (encouraging)

Congratulations J and along the way you learned
Non-Rev Rule# 10- Never leave the gate until pushback (cause you never know)