Note: About layover hotels (List Now Updated as
of Nov 2021) Lists are no longer accessible on the DeltaNet. The page is password protected for our PCN
group ONLY. Please use the password of pcnpilot
To
access the 2021 listing of layover hotels click here: http://pcn.homestead.com/Seniority.html
See FULL REPORT of our July London trip in this
section below:
++++++
Bad News –
Flight Cancellations and its impact on non-rev travel. It seems like there was
a time you just got a whim and decided to travel and things magically worked
out. Now, if we try non-revving we do
our homework, and with London a lot of
it was needed. Still, us non-revs did
not see a LHR restriction on pax totals of 100K/day being slapped on by the UK
government. We were over there for about
4 days before we saw any negative results from this govnt restriction. Then the flights started to be cancelled and
the pile of frustrated returning nonrevs began to mount and snowball. Things that looked so good, and promising
turned to crap in a hurry. So be
forewarned.
+++++
Good news in
this section of this issue. The US
government has removed flying with masks and CV19 testing for intl returns to
this country. See below article. Proof of vaccination status or testing is no
longer required for USA citizens returning to US from international
locations:
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-lifts-covid-19-test-requirement-for-international-travel-/6614463.html
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
“GET ME THERE” (New NonRev TravelNet Tool)
New 'Get Me There' feature shows additional routes for nonrev
travel
Published Date 5/26/2022 3:30 PM
Inspired by your feedback, we're excited to introduce the latest
innovation for pass travelers. "Get Me There" is a new Travelnet search tool showing all routes between a selected origin
and destination within 16 hours and sorts them by seat availability. For more
flexibility, you can select the 'Nearby Airports' option for your origin or
destination to search flights between all airports within a 50-mile radius of
your desired location.
Whether you'd like to improve your chances for an elusive open
Delta One seat or are nonreving with your pass riders, "Get Me There"
can help find lesser known (and less crowded) routes to your favorite
destination.
HOW TO
USE "GET ME THERE"
- Specify an origin and destination
city and select Both, From or To under "Nearby Options" to
expand your search to other airports within 50 miles of your selected
airports. This option can include flights outside of your usual cities.
For example, if your favorite FLL-LAX route is full, "Nearby
Options" will show you available seats on flights between MIA-SNA.
- Domestic flights will display
connection times of 4 hours or less and international flights will display
connection times of 12 hours or less. Both display a minimum connection
time of 45 minutes.
- Results are sorted by total seat
availability, first with nonstops then with connections. When total number
of seats are equal, flights will be prioritized by seats available on the
connection flight to reduce risk of not making it to your final
destination.
- Be mindful of summer flight loads
and how they will impact nonrev seat availability. Be aware of alternate
flights to avoid getting stuck or consider purchasing a confirmed seat
through Fly Confirmed for Less.
We know your travel privileges are important to you, and we look
forward to sharing more additions to the nonrev travel experience based on
employee feedback in the coming months. Your input has driven the development
of previous features including mobile check-in for nonrev travel, Go Anywhere and Fly Confirmed for Less.
"This feature is a direct result of feedback from employees
on ways we can make travel privileges even more valuable and
user-friendly," said Greg Tahvonen, V.P. of Global HR Service
Delivery. "We
are thrilled that it will be available for employees as we all navigate the
busiest travel season."
As we begin a very busy summer season, take a moment to refresh
yourself on pass rider rules and "jettiquete":
1. Pack your manners: Remember to be kind to your colleagues and other passengers when
traveling. Be patient, be respectful and never list yourself for more than one
flight at a time. Be sure to remove yourself from a listing as well if your
plans change. Take some time to remind yourself of what to expect when you're pass riding.
2. Remember your flight benefits can't be used for personal profit or business: Pass travel is intended for leisure or personal
travel, unless you are traveling on
Delta company business. You
as the employee are responsible for the actions of your pass riders while
traveling, and should only provide Buddy Passes to people you know.
3. Fly Confirmed For Less: There are no change or cancellation fees on any tickets
purchased through Fly Confirmed for Less Discount
Programs . Don't
forget: this also includes the removal of the change/cancellation fee for
Employee Award Travel positive space passes.
If you would like to learn more about pass travel, visit the Travel page on Deltanet.
*This new search tool is available on the desktop and
mobile-browser version of TravelNet.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
DAL Retirees normally S3B priority but you can use your 6 days
of S3A Priority, see below:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Our trip July Trip to
London – LONDON ON A SHOESTRING!
Hey PCN, we
just returned from an international non-rev trip to London and here is how it
went:
Barb and I
have been planning an international getaway for a while and with the lower
infections rates (in June) and the loosening of restrictions our choice came
down to the UK and London. We wanted to
visit for around a week, budget on a shoestring, do no driving (on wrong side
of the road), and spend $0 for flights and hotels. How did that go? Well, actually in the end, we pretty closely
met all of our goals.
Flights: we carefully and I am sorry to say
VERY CAREFULLY selected flights so that we would not be disappointed and we
traveled on retiree high priority of S3A (we all have 6 travel days of this priority per year
and we used 2 of them). Retirees are
normally S3B as you know and the only thing the S3A does for you is put you
ahead of other retirees who only use the S3B, which indeed I saw all the time.
Using this retiree higher priority is like an active employee (which is
usually S3) selecting their limited S2
vacation priority, and believe me they almost all use this on tight
flights. Gateway? We selected DTW for
outbound and were awarded Delta One in an A330 and that flight went very well. For the return we were came under a 100K Heathrow
outbound pax limit declared by the government, and it hurt big time. 3 days before departure we started to see the
Delta flights canceling because of this rule and the non-rev rollover began to
snowball into a tsunami. Even with all
of that, and the continual difficulty with HK’s, we chose an inbound to MSP and
made it as likely the last two onboard.
And because it looked quite grim we booked a positive space on Virgin
for $5200 on the next day (thru Delta.com) just in case with 24hr cancel ability. With minutes before we took off on the
non-rev trip we were able to cancel the $5200 flights for the next day with
full refund. Not only did we make it but
we sat together in the 2 seat window row.
So over all, the flights worked and got us in both directions and as far
as a dollar benefit goes over purchasing positive space, it was
significant. We did pay Delta a $384
international pass fee.
A word about
HK’s: Delta hands these standby coupons
out to oversell and cancelled pax like candy.
They use them for max effect on the Delta system on many many
international flights. All HK’s board
the plane BEFORE non-revs in coach, but the worst HK is the HK1’s because they
board the premium classes BEFORE non-revs.
What is our frustration? Well, two things. That these inconvenienced pax are prioritized
ahead of us, but the other thing that really frustrates us is not knowing the
amount of HK’s on the flight until flight day.
The don’t show up on listed, checked in, or assigned a seat until around
24 hrs before the flight. Now a group of
HK’s swarming your intended flight can RUIN YOUR WHOLE DAY! So what did I do? Well, in all honesty it is a crap shoot. But generally what I did was look at flights
for which hubs historically has the most HK’s and on which days of the weeks it
is worse. Once I determine which flight
runs lower in HK’s on board, then I can concentrate on the listed employee
non-revs that can give you a headache.
Hotels:
I have significant points on Hilton and IHG and so we booked hotels
(very nice ones by the way) on points.
We stayed at the London Tower Double Tree, that gave Diamond members a
free room upgrade with fabulous views, free breakfast, and open bar lounge in
their Executive lounge every night. Back to dollars and sense, if you add up
the benefit for room costs, free breakfasts and free evening drinks, then it
soon becomes real money. All hotels
were booked with a liberal cancel policy of only 24hrs before for flexibility. I also booked hotels just in case that one I
cancelled and one we ate.
Transportation:
I chose not to rent a car and do ANY driving. I do not trust my self in roundabouts that go
the wrong way. So Tour coaches, Ubers,
and public transit was the way we went.
All tours were very nice comfortable buses or large vans. Getting from LHR to downtown and back I chose
Ubers which were very quick, efficient and half the price of a taxi. (one could’ve use the train to LHR but hauling
bags with you gets ugly) And then for
getting around the London boroughs, we employed every method of TFL trains,
tubes, trams, water taxi, and dbl decker buses.
All these methods are paid for at location by a instant cashless
contactless cards. They want you to buy
an “Oyster” card and put money on the card but the problem with that is it is
like buying gas ahead of time on a car rental, you usually buy too much.
If you create an account with the TFL and “register” you contactless debit card it works exactly the same as
an Oyster and worked for us flawlessly.
7 days of multiple times on various public transit added up to less than
£65.30 for the 2 of us together. So yes, this form of transit is economical
and we loved the Tube when it was running because they often have work
stoppages.
Tours:
So you want to do the Imperial War Museum (Free) and the Churchil War
Rooms? Well, take your wife to Highclere
Castle on the Downton Abbey tour and she will let you spend that day. We did 2 full day tours and 1 half day tour
and enjoyed them all. All tours were bought
with a very liberal cancel policy for flexibility but because our flights
worked out I did not have to cancel.
Breakdown of
London on a Shoestring
Item Me Wife Tips Net $$
|
Delta Flights |
192.30 |
192.30 |
|
384.60 |
|
Hotels IHG, Hilton |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
|
Taxi |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
|
Uber |
51.82 |
76.60 |
9.57 + 15.04 |
153.03 |
|
TFL public transit |
78.23 |
78.23 |
|
156.46 |
|
Restaurant |
493.09 |
both |
100 |
593.09 |
|
Grocery |
50 est |
both |
|
50 |
|
2- full day Tours |
$234.88 Leeds |
319.82 Abbey |
53.87 |
608.57 |
|
1-1/2 day tour |
143.47 War Rm |
--- |
11.97 |
155.44 |
|
Admissions fees |
62.91 Tower |
38.21Kensington |
|
101.12 |
|
Souvenirs |
16.10 Abbey |
87.17 Queen |
24 for dbl dkr |
127.27 |
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
$2329.58 |
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