Note about layover hotels: The layover hotel info IS STILL AVAILABLE in a couple of locations including Inflight (IFS) section of Delta net. Login to DeltaNetDepartmentsIFSHotels.

Top Nonrev Travel Questions Answered

1. How do I read TravelNet seat availability?
AV is shorthand for "available" and indicates the number of seats not yet sold in a particular cabin. AU is shorthand for "authorized" and signifies the total number of passenger reservations Delta will accept for the cabin. Capacity (Cap) indicates the actual number of passenger seats in the cabin.
The Authorized (AU) inventory for a cabin is generally higher than the Available (AV) inventory. This allows the cabin to be overbooked, and Delta's revenue to be protected, in the event of no-show passengers and passengers with unexpected last-minute travel changes. Subtract the AV amount from the AU amount to determine the allowed overbooking level for a cabin (AU minus AV = overbooking level). Any cabin may be overbooked.

Flight Example:

Seats Available in Both Cabins

• Total Capacity: This aircraft's capacity (CAP) is 16 First Class seats and 133 Coach seats.
• First Class: Actual availability (AV) in First Class is 4 seats and 4 seats remain authorized (AU) to be sold. 4 minus 4 = 0, indicating First Class cannot be overbooked on this flight.
• Coach Class: Actual availability (AV) in Coach is 22 seats and there are 30 seats still authorized (AU) to be sold. 30 minus 22 = 8, indicating the Coach cabin may be overbooked by a total of 8 on this flight.

Flight Example:

Overbooked in Coach

• Total Capacity: This aircraft's capacity (CAP) is 24 First Class seats and 156 Coach seats.
• First Class: Actual availability (AV) in First Class is 8 seats and 8 seats remain authorized (AU) to be sold. 8 minus 8 = 0, indicating First Class cannot be overbooked on this flight.
• Coach Class: Actual availability (AV) in Coach is -4 seats, meaning there are currently 4 more passengers booked in this cabin than there are seats available. 5 seats are still authorized to be sold. 5 minus -4 = 9, indicating the Coach cabin may be overbooked by a total of 9 on this flight.

2. I often see a large number of "HK" and revenue standby passengers appear on the airport standby list before a flight, which, in many cases, showed plenty of available seats the day or even hours before. Who are these passengers and where do they come from?
HK passengers are customers who have confirmed reservations but were not assigned a seat when they purchased their ticket or checked in – they are placed on the waitlist and assigned seats at the gate. HK passengers do hold a confirmed reservation on the flight, and the seats they will occupy are already accounted for in the available (AV) seat total in TravelNet.
There are several reasons why you may see HK passengers listed on your flight. For example:
• They may have purchased a Basic Economy fare which does not allow advance seat selection
• They elected not to purchase a Comfort + or other premium seat, which may have been the only seating options available at the time they purchased their ticket.
Revenue standby passengers are passengers who are confirmed on a specific flight but are choosing to standby for a different flight. They are represented on the airport standby list by standby codes like B1, SDSB and SDSC. Unlike HK's, the seats these standby passengers will occupy are not accounted for in the available (AV) seat total in TravelNet.
There are many reasons why revenue standby passengers may appear on the airport standby list close to the flight's departure time. For example, they may have been rerouted on to the flight by Delta's automatic rebooking tool, VIPER, if their earlier flight was delayed or cancelled. Or they may have also taken advantage of the flexibility and convenience of Delta's Same Day Travel/Same Day Confirmed program, which allows them to change their flights or standby for another flight without paying a fee.
3. Oftentimes a single flight will show many seats available on one day, but few to no seats available on the next. What causes our passenger bookings to change so often? Does Delta offload seats at online booking sites?
Delta does not offload inventory to online discount booking sites. The following are some common reasons why passenger seat bookings may change on a given flight:
• When an irregular operation occurs due to weather or other circumstances, revenue customers are rebooked on whatever flights are available to get them to their final destination.
• The aircraft type scheduled to operate the flight may be switched for a number of operational reasons, and the new aircraft type may have less (or more) passenger capacity than the original one.
• The flight may have been given passenger weight restrictions for a number of aircraft performance reasons, or may have been payload optimized to ensure that important revenue cargo can be accommodated.
• Revenue customers may have changed their travel plans to take another flight.
4. I was listed as a nonrev on a flight that showed plenty of available seats, but I wasn't allowed to board because the flight was "Payload Optimized." What does this mean?
Delta's payload optimization program ensures that flights maximize revenue for the company. When a flight is "payload optimized," revenue passenger bags and revenue cargo are given priority boarding on the aircraft over nonrevenue passengers and bags. When this happens, even if plenty of seats show available, nonrevenue passengers may not be boarded and, in some instances, may be removed from the flight so that revenue bags and cargo can be accommodated.
5. In the past, Delta used to enforce a dress code for Nonrevs. Will we return to this dress code in the future?
No. Delta trusts your good judgment and expects you will always be good and gracious hosts to our customers, whether on the job or flying for pleasure. Our relaxed pass travel dress code gives you and your pass riders the flexibility to decide what to wear on your nonrev flights. The standard, which applies to all classes of service, is based on respect – for our customers and for you. Remember – a sloppy appearance is not acceptable and you should never wear unclean, revealing or lewd garments, swimwear or sleepwear on a flight.
6. If I can't fly to my desired destination directly, how can I find an alternate route?
When searching for flights on TravelNet, select "All Flights" in the "Time" box.