Have you ever had a wonderful vacation almost ruined by the stress of finding that all your airline's flights home have suddenly overbooked?
While rare, cancellations due to maintenance delays or the like can fill several subsequent flights with bumped revenue passengers leaving non-rev travelers in a nasty fix.
Here are a couple of tips that can help you get home.
First and foremost, it is important to research and print alternative ways home on your carrier and have that information handy at the airport on your return. If your carrier has more than one hub, there is likely more than one way back. An extra ten minutes research prior to your vacation can save you a lot of headaches on your way home.
How about free non-rev insurance? Often it is possible to purchase ID-90 (or equivalent) tickets on another carrier which can be returned later (unused, of course) for a full refund. If a competing airline flies out of your destination, you can have that as a back up in case you do get bumped. Even though these passes are more expensive than flying your own carrier, they are far cheaper than most last minute options for a stranded traveler. Keep in mind that should you need to use an off-line pass, it may be cheaper to fly a short leg to a station your carrier serves where you can finish your trip with them.
Finally: don't panic. When a flight is cancelled, there will already be an abundance of agitated passengers swarming the gate agents. Agents in these cases really have their hands full. Nevertheless, more often than you might think these overbooked flight leave with one or two empty seats. It is not rare to have verified revenue passengers take off for one more cigarette or beer. More than once I have made the last seat on a over booked flight after all non-rev passengers have been notified that there is no chance they will get on. The secret here is to be visible, respectful, while not getting in the agents way. Be charming, it never hurts and goes a long way with agents who often deal with an abundance of rude customers.
So be the savvy non-rev: plan ahead for the worse case scenario. If it happens, you'll be glad you did.
