Flying non-rev on an Alaska 737-900ER….. hopefully

My real day job is a travel agent, and I have performed this job (with different companies) for the last 10 years.  I have spent those 10 years planning and organizing other people’s vacations.  When I make a booking for a client, it means that when they go on vacation and there is no stress for them. From the moment that they wake up on the day they leave, until the day they return, all their bookings are handled.

Being an AvGeek helps with this job, so much so that I thoroughly enjoy finding the best routing and deals for people, and I have to admit, while I spend all that time doing other people’s vacations, I can spend as much time planning my own.  This planning phase to me is as much fun as going on vacation (sad, I know).  So how is it that I found myself, the ultimate vacation planner, going on a weekend away with no plans?

Well, a friend of mine had access to some buddy passes and there were due to expire before the end of June. What does one do with expiring non-rev buddy passes? You use them, of course!

I had never flown on a standby ticket before.  Sure, I have tried to stand by for a flight change or something similar, but never have I entered an airport for a flight without at least some form of seat for my journey.  My friend told me that rather than commit to any plans for the weekend, we would pick a general destination and then as soon as we knew we had a seat on the flight, we would only then book a hotel, car, etc.  I was about to become the person I dreaded the most in life — an on the fly kind of guy!