standby staff travel

What it's really like to fly standby as an airline employee

Free travel is one of the most enticing perks of working in the airline industry , but there's a major asterisk involved. Airline employees have access to non-revenue travel, meaning you'll only get a seat if there's space available. For those who like a good gamble, showing up to the airport without a confirmed seat can be thrilling yet incredibly nerve-wracking.

Back in summer 2019 — also known as the golden year for air travel — I was an intern at JetBlue Airways . One of the perks was standby travel, and during those 10 weeks, I wanted to take full advantage of my (short-lived) benefits. Overall, it was a success, as I flew more than 30 times that summer, with seven of those flights on the coveted JetBlue Mint business class .

During my internship, I learned a lot about standby travel and the airline industry as a whole. While standby travel is certainly not for the faintest of hearts, there are ways to get good at it and mitigate stress from all of the uncertainty.

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How standby travel works as an airline employee

Whether you're a pilot , flight attendant , gate agent or even an intern, you may have standby travel privileges that get you free flights on the airline you're working for and (potentially) on partner airlines. While you can travel for free within the 50 U.S. states, any international taxes and fees will apply if you're flying out of the country.

While most airlines rank employees based on seniority and role, JetBlue full-time and part-time employees were ranked on a priority list based on their check-in time. Occasionally, JetBlue employees could get one-time priority passes and jump to the top of the standby list, bypassing other employees on the ranking.

However, as an intern, I was on the same priority level as seasonal employees, which meant that we were grouped under all full-time and part-time staff but above partner airline employees. Regardless of your place on the list, all non-revenue travelers must show up at the gate and wait to be issued a ticket. If the flight was considerably empty, the gate agent may go ahead and ticket you at the start of the boarding process. But if the flight only had a few seats left — or was completely full — all non-revenue passengers must wait until the end of the boarding process for standby seats to clear.

With this much uncertainty, it's essential that you only travel with a carry-on or personal bag, as you never know which flight you'll end up taking that day. Since I only had free time to travel on weekends, this wasn't a problem as I never needed to check a bag in the first place.

Since JetBlue only offers paid upgrades to its passengers, it was easy for non-revenue flyers to snag Even More Space (EMS) seats or even Mint seats on qualifying routes. Interns only had access to JetBlue-operated flights, but full-time employees could fly standby on partner airlines as well, widening the opportunities for international trips.

Finally, in terms of dress and behavior, you're supposed to blend in with the rest of the crowd while looking neat and polished. For example, you're not allowed to wear flip flops or sweatpants as a non-revenue passenger.

Your standby benefits extend to immediate family

At JetBlue, your standby benefits as a full-time employee extend to your immediate family (spouse, dependent children and parents). Airline employees will also get buddy passes throughout the year, handing them out to extended family or friends.

As an intern, I could extend my travel privileges to my parents and one designated travel companion. I brought my mom with me on several trips that summer, and I think she enjoyed the standby privileges as much as I did.

How to work the odds in your favor

Now that I've given a brief rundown, here's how you can work standby travel in your favor. While some of it's luck, there's actually more strategy involved.

First, I had access to a separate website where I'd book non-revenue tickets and monitor flight loads in real time. For example, my new intern friend, Peter, and I wanted to start easy. That means we weren't interested in flying a competitive route such as New York (JFK) to Los Angeles (LAX) from the get-go.

Instead, we picked New York (JFK) to Nantucket on the first flight of the day — 7:10 a.m. We checked the flight loads the night before, and since there were 60+ empty seats, we knew we could hop on this flight with no issues. We were ticketed as soon as we arrived at the gate.

A perk of standby travel that I hadn't considered before is that you have flexibility in your travel plans. We did a quick day trip in Nantucket, and there were plenty of flights going back to New York that day (JFK and LGA). While we were initially intending on leaving around dinnertime, we decided to hop back on the flight around 4 p.m. so we could get back to Manhattan earlier.

On my way home from San Diego, I wanted to try out Mint for the first time, but there were only a few seats left and a long list of standby passengers. Instead, I decided to book a flight to Boston-Logan International Airport (BOS) to snag a Mint seat and then jumped on a flight from Boston to New York (LGA).

Related: The Mint experience from London: What it was like flying JetBlue's inaugural flight from London to New York

What happens when there's not a seat available

Out of the 30+ flights I took that summer, I was denied boarding only once. Those are some pretty good odds, especially since the summer is the busiest travel season and full of bad weather delays .

My mom and I wanted to fly to Los Angeles, so we picked the first flight of the day that had about 15 seats the morning of. With other higher priority employees on the list, there was only one seat left. My mom took the last seat while I hopped on standby for the next flight that left just an hour later, and we finally met up at the airport.

There are several other instances where seats may fill up last minute. For example, delays and cancellations can lead to rebooking on later flights during the day — so that flight with 30 seats available might be snatched up by revenue passengers. That's why it's important to monitor the flight loads religiously, check the forecast and see where the aircraft is coming from or going since numbers can change last minute.

Standby travel is also a game of exercising patience, as gate agents are often overworked when it comes to delays and cancellations . We were advised to never go up to the gate until boarding has finished, as you'll want to stay out of the way as much as possible.

Several interns and I flew to St. Martin at the end of the summer. To ensure that we'd all get back to New York, some of us took the earlier flight home while the others took the later flight. No matter how many seats are available, it's always stressful not to have a confirmed ticket, so splitting up helped us travel together without leaving one of us stranded.

Spontaneity is the spice of life

Thanks to JetBlue offering free in-flight Wi-Fi, I could then plan the rest of my trip once I got a confirmed seat and was en route to my destination. Depending on where I was going, I would only bring enough clothes for a day trip. I would look at last-minute hotels or Airbnbs on the flight.

On the ground, I would spend most of my time walking, spending time on the beach or exploring restaurants in the area. Standby travel is an entirely different way to travel than I've ever experienced.

Bottom line

As someone who's quite spontaneous already, I loved the thrill of non-revenue travel and exploring a new destination for a fraction of the cost. However, as I returned to a "normal" paying passenger, I also enjoy the peace of mind that comes with a confirmed booking and the ability to earn points and miles and work toward elite status .

What Is Non-Rev Travel? Breaking It Down for Newbie Standby Travelers

If you’re new to the airline industry, you’ll quickly find these terms thrown around everywhere. What is non-rev travel? How does flying standby work? We’re breaking everything down for all our newbie standby traveler friends. We’ve been at this non-rev travel thing for several years and want to share what it’s like for any beginner non-revvers out there.

First, what is non-rev travel?

Let’s start with the basics. What is non-rev travel? The term stands for “non-revenue”, which means you only pay a fraction of the actual ticket cost, if any. In many cases, the ticket may be free. The airline is not making money from non-rev tickets. In some cases (especially international) you may pay a small amount for taxes. Non-rev is a benefit of airline employees. And the term is used to describe how airline staff travel.

Who can take advantage of non-rev travel benefits?

A long list of people. If you’re not an airline employee, don’t count yourself out. Non-rev or staff travel benefits often extend to spouses, children, and parents, often called “pass riders”. Even family and friends can use some portion of the benefits. It may be slightly different airline to airline, but for us, spouse or domestic partner, kids under the age of 26, and up to two parents qualify to receive the non-rev travel benefits. Sometimes family and friends can also receive perks, using a buddy pass.

What are buddy passes?

For friends and family who want to use employee travel privileges, they use a buddy pass. Employees are typically given a certain allotment of buddy passes every year and they can disperse them to close friends and family. I say close, because it’s VERY against the rules to sell them or give them to random people who you don’t consider close friends or family members. Buddy passes cost more than what employees (or employee immediate family) pay, but they are a way to extend some airfare deals to family and friends.

What’s the catch?

It sounds a little too good to be true, right? Flying around the world for free (or very close to free). Well, it does come at the price of convenience. Flying non-rev means you’ll also have to fly standby. Another fun term. Flying standby means you don’t get a seat on the plane…unless there are leftover seats after all paying customers have boarded. Unoccupied seats can come from the flight not selling out, or people missing their flight. And standby life is not for the faint of heart.

It’s like a game. A twisted game. The Hunger Games. You’ll likely be able to access your own airline’s flight loads to get an idea of how many seats are open. But additional seats sell the day of travel. Sometimes people miss flights and seats become available. Sometimes the airline oversells flights. It’s really really hard to predict what will happen when you arrive to the airport. And that’s why non-rev travel can be a guessing game. And you may want to come prepared with a backup plan…or ten.

We created another article on flying standby about how we choose our destinations. It also has some videos of our standby experiences.

Can you fly non-rev international or on different airlines ?

I don’t want to provide a blanket statement here because it could vary for every airline. But I’ll talk about our particular experience. The answer to both questions, for us, is yes. You can fly international and on different airlines.

Related: The Ultimate Guide to Flying with a Buddy Pass

Flying non-rev internationally.

Flying non-revenue on international flights works largely the same as domestic except you’ll likely have to pay international taxes. You still put yourself on the standby list and you still only get to fly if there are empty seats. In our experience, international flights are bigger and often are easier to find empty seats. And from a cost perspective, international taxes and fees don’t run very high so it’s still pretty affordable. We’ve traveled non-rev to Paris, Brussels, Buenos Aires, London, Cancun, Tokyo, and Barcelona to name a few. And for each person, international taxes are usually only $100-$300. Not bad for international!

Flying non-rev on other airlines

Reasons for flying on other airlines:

• Your airline doesn’t fly to a particular destination
• Your airline looks pretty full on the day you want to travel

Many airlines have agreements with each other to extend non-rev travel privileges. So you can fly on other airlines. And other airline employees can fly on your airline. The downside? The cost is usually a bit more expensive than flying on your own airline. And you may not be able to access the flight loads, which makes planning difficult. Luckily, there are sites like Staff Traveler that can help with finding seat availability on other airlines.

How does the non-rev process work?

Now that you know what non-rev travel is, let’s talk about how it works in practice. You’ll have an employee system (often pass riders can access this system). Once you determine your destination and flight time, you put yourself on the standby list. You’ll get a standby ticket to get through airport security. And then you show up at the airport like a normal passenger. At this point you cross your fingers and hope the gate agent calls your name.

There are many, many factors that contribute to standby success. We won’t go into too much detail as it varies wildly from airline to airline. But there will be a prioritized list of all the non-revvers trying to get on the flight. Your priority on the list will be determined by things like how long the employee has been with the company, if you’re traveling with the employee, if you’re a buddy pass rider. Other airlines do it differently and base priority by when you listed for the flight. There are also dress codes for some airlines.

And a story about our first non-rev experience

That was a lot of information thrown at you. So, it’s time for a little fun. This is the story of our very first non rev travel experience.

It was about 2 months into working for the airline. And we were anxious to start using travel benefits. One Friday at work, I called up Nick and said “what do you think about going to Brussels?” Yes, Belgium. After a few seconds of silence, I followed up my original question with “also, how fast can you pack our bags?”

Nick went home on his lunch break, packed our bags and passports, and went back to work. About 5 hours later, the workday was over and we were making our way through airport security. I had noticed earlier at work that Brussels was wide open. Being our first standby flying experience, we wanted to wait for a flight that was a sure thing (or at least as close to it as you can get as an airline employee). Brussels fit the bill, so there we were. Waiting and not really sure what we were doing. One of the coolest parts of non-rev travel is you can decide last minute to take a trip, pack your bags, and go.

Related: How Does Flying Standby Work for Non-Airline Employees?

There were only a few people ahead of us on the list, so we got on the flight. Not only that, but first class seats were open. So we shelled out a bit of additional money and had one heck of a luxurious first non-rev experience. We got so filled up, we almost had to turn down an ice cream sundae. Almost. Yes, that sounds snobby AF. And I’m only saying it here because most of you reading this have access to the same experiences with your travel benefits. So I don’t feel that guilty. Also, I was pregnant at the time so I didn’t get to partake in the adult beverages.

Once we got to Belgium, it was Saturday morning and we were there less than 24 hours. We had to come back on Sunday so we could be back at work Monday. We booked our hotel using the secret hot rate hotels on Hotwire. When we got there, the hotel was closed so we had to roll our bags around everywhere for several hours. We had some Belgium chocolate. Waffles. Mussels. And since it was December, we visited the Christmas market. Ok, so we ate the whole time. I was pregnant and hungry.

The next day, we went to the airport and were cleared once again from the standby list. Like I said, we made sure before we left the flights were very wide open. At first, we were super terrified to take any risks. But that’s no longer the case.

How’s that for satisfying a chocolate pregnancy craving?

Family on Standby

That story painted kind of a rosy picture. But most times, it’s nothing like that. Especially adding kids (and extra travelers) to the picture. If you’re still appalled by the ice cream comment and flying first class, here are some of our other non rev travel experiences that didn’t go quite as smoothly:

• We once sat at the airport for an entire day after trying 7 different destinations and didn’t board a single flight. We tried flying on President’s Day.
• When flying home from Barcelona, there was an unexpected taxi strike. We had to find a public bus last minute and just barely made it to the airport on time.
• Flying home from Buenos Aires, it took us 3 flights, an Uber in between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, and a surprise overnight hotel stay. Sometimes that happens.

At the end of the day, whether lounging in first class or sleeping on the airport floor because you can’t get a flight out, non-rev travel is an adventure. And it comes with some hilarious, fun, and bittersweet stories.

Are you new to non-rev travel? Or do you have your own story?

Let us know where you are in your non-rev journey! We love hearing stories from other non-rev travelers. And if you have your own interesting non-rev travel experience, we want to feature your story. Tweet us at @FamilyOnStandby , leave a comment with your story below, or send us an email to hi (at) familyonstandby.com so we can feature you!

If you don’t yet follow our Youtube channel Family on Standby we film all of our standby adventures. The good and the bad.

6 thoughts on “what is non-rev travel breaking it down for newbie standby travelers”.

Hello. I love reading your experiences of traveling non rev with your family! Traveling is such an amazing experience for our young ones to have. And, talk about quality family time! Our family also travels nonrev. My husband started working at an airline just 2 years ago so that our family of 6 could travel the world. We have already had so many amazing travel experiences and some crazy ones too. Thank you for sharing your experiences with us! Happy Travels!!

Hello, so my wife and I are new to ID90 this was her first time using it, so after she gets her tickte and the flight takes off I think everything is fine, but after she lands she told me the flight attendant asked her if she was “N2” she went on to explain that I was the airline employee for another airline and that she was my wife, after they asked her if she could watch a child so she spent her whole 9 hour flight taking care of a kid. Is this normal this was our first time using ID90 and she isn’t the airline employee I am just confused.

Do you ever check your baggage when taking standby flights?

What happens during the boarding process of a Non Rev passenger that requires mobility assistance ? Do they receive an earlier boarding pass or still need to wait it out ?

Great breakdown of the non-rev experience! It’s helpful to see someone with a family navigating the process. Right now, it’s just my husband and I flying standby. It’s great to see that it is doable, with some patience, when you have a family.

I had these benefits for >10 years since my family member started working for an airline. We have various types of tickets, and the queue order is based on ticket type and date of joining the airline.

Here is a recent story:

2022/12 – First trip since covid. First holiday season after HK opened up, so flights out of HK were full during the Christmas period, especially to Japan. Ended up going HKG -> KIX (with miles) -> HND, arriving three hours after the direct HKG -> HND. For the return leg, I had to depart on Christmas Day due to precious engagements, while the rest of my family planned to leave three days later, listing for the first flight out. However, I had my pick of a flight back as all of the five flights out of Tokyo were wide open on Christmas Day, and went for the last one out of NRT to maximize my time. My listing actually saved the whole family.

Our chances for the 28th got slimmer. Instead of making backup plans, we cut the trip short and all of us left on the last flight out of NRT on Christmas Day.

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StaffTraveler 17+

Non-rev flight loads & deals, stafftraveler solutions b.v., designed for ipad.

• 4.9 • 4.9K Ratings
• Offers In-App Purchases

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Description.

Get reliable flight loads for the flights you wish to staff travel on. Staff travel, Non-rev, Interline, ID90, ZED travel, call it what you want... We, airline crew, love to travel! StaffTraveler gets you the seat availability for the flights you wish to staff travel on. Making staff travel easy and stress-free! - Get the loads for the flights you want to non-rev on - Stay in the loop with live flight status updates - Exclusive hotel deals, only for StaffTravelers - Rental cars anywhere. Easy & fast - Insider city tips from the worldwide airline community Here at StaffTraveler, our mission is to make it easier for you to find and keep track of your best flight options. Please note that you need to be eligible for staff travel to use StaffTraveler.

Version 2.27.20

Bugfix release Some minor bug fixes and speed increases.

Ratings and Reviews

4.9K Ratings

A non-rev passenger’s dream

I never leave app reviews but this app is so amazing I felt compelled to. We were recently scrambling to get out of Honolulu after our plane broke and caused a snowball effect of all the other flights filling up. This app helped us easily and effortlessly ID90 back to the mainland. Since then we’ve become addicted to helping others by submitting loads and gaining credits. This app is extremely helpful and well designed. I do have two minor criticisms though and they both entail working with the newest iOS on an iPhone XS Max. The bottom icons (tips, loads etc) are illegible and hidden with the “swipe up bar.” The same goes for the scroll wheel when adding loads - it’s too easy to scroll and accidentally swipe up switching apps or worse, closing the app. And lastly, at the very top left near the back arrow under the time, if you are using any other app (phone for example) it’s nearly impossibly to hit the back arrow and not the inactive app. This becomes frustrating when you are multi-tasking and trying do things quickly. These are just simple fixes of the UI and would make the app work even more seamlessly. Overall I am very impressed with the robustness is this app and am so thankful something like it exists.

Developer Response ,

Hi there! Wow, thank you for the incredible review and the positive feedback! Great to hear we were able to help you get back home safe and sound! We are looking at improving the app especially for iPhone X Max and XS max users. When we designed the app, these phones weren't out yet and we're going to make some changes in the near future to make it easy to use on all phones! Thanks again, feedback like this makes us more dedicated to making this app even better for all non-rev users!

Multiple flts

I think this is thee absolute best app for flt crew ever!!! It requires us to help each other, what a concept!!! This is the way we should operate! Just one suggestion, that there be a way to apply a multi-leg segment option when it’s time to find the flt info for crew. When someone Send a request and it’s time for u to load in the numbers, we can only submit the load for one flt but what if the requestee has a connecting flt there’s no space for us to enter info for their 2nd segment. We don’t always get to take nonstops. Also can u explain why when I’m answering a request, many times I will hit the request and it opens up as if I got it, but it will disappear seconds later saying someone else got it first. Then why would it open on my screen as if I got it? Otherwise I LOVE STAFFTRAVELER!!!!

Thank you for joining and for your awesome feedback! You can already search for multi-leg flights by unchecking the 'Direct flights only' on the search results screen when searching flights. I wish you many happy flights!

Lifesaver for Commuters

First of all: Don’t expect to get loads on DL. They never respond, or (if you’re lucky) they respond just hours before departure when you’ve already made alternate plans. AA is bigger, and I always get responses from them, so I don’t buy the “They’re just inundated with requests” excuse. With that said, this app is essential for commuters. It has saved my bacon many times. In todays climate of crew shortages and cancelled flights, you need to be able to check changing loads on the fly so you can quickly move to plan B, C, or D to get to where you need to go. Yes, answering requests is very competitive, but if you put the time in you’ll be fine.

Hi! Thank you so much for your elaborate feedback! We really appreciate it! Besides the fact that DL is known to respond slowly, DL members also only get access to the loads 72 hours before the flight's departure. So that is as well a reason why they tend to let your request wait. Glad you are enjoying the rest of the app though. Feel free to message us at [email protected] if you have anymore questions. have a wonderful day! ✈️

App Privacy

The developer, StaffTraveler Solutions B.V. , indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .

Data Linked to You

The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:

• Contact Info
• User Content
• Identifiers

Data Not Linked to You

The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:

• Diagnostics

Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More

Information

• 10 credits $5.99
• 5 credits $3.49
• 1 credit $0.99
• 30 credits $15.99
• 50 credits $24.99
• 100 credits $44.99
• Developer Website
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How to read loads?

You've posted a request and got a response. What do these numbers mean?

Let's start with the classes:

Have a look at this example:

On this flight,  FIRST class is fully booked. There are 8 seats available in  BUSINESS  class, 3 in  ECONOMY PLUS and 58 in  ECONOMY . There is one staff traveler listed. This can be any standby passenger.

The green bar at the left indicates that your chances of getting on board are relatively good.

If a class is  overbooked , you'll see a red number preceded by a minus sign:

This flight has no FIRST and ECONOMY COMFORT  class.  ECONOMY class is overbooked by 9 and there are 3 other standby passengers. Because the odds of getting on board of this flight are not favourable, the bar on the left is red.

If the number of standby passengers per class is known, this can be indicated too:

On this flight, there are 7 standby passengers which are all seated in  BUSINESS  class.

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Perks for Air New Zealanders

We want our people to live their best lives and access great benefits that support their lives outside work. We offer Work Perks and discounts to help them get the most out of family time, holidays and retirement.

Staff Travel

Our people enjoy generous travel discounts on Air New Zealand and can access standby travel on lots of other international airlines. Staff Travel can be shared with friends and family too. Travel is in our blood and it's a great way to explore the world.

Flexibility

We know having balance in work and personal life is important to everyone – and it's important to us too, so we've built flexible working practices into the experience at Air New Zealand.

Flexibility comes in different forms depending on the type of role people do at Air New Zealand. For our office-based roles, hybrid working is available and how it works best for a team is agreed with the leader and wider team.

Grow as we grow with learning and development

We want everyone to reach their full potential. The way we work means people learn and grow faster while making a greater impact for our customers and people. We offer experiences that will advance our people, development opportunities and numerous on-the-job learning opportunities.

Supporting health and wellbeing

We care about the wellbeing of our people and aim to support the mental and physical wellbeing of everyone, no matter whether they're struggling and not at their best, just going ok or thriving. Our Wellbeing Hub is a great source of wellbeing information, tools and resources, and we also have our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), Peer Support networks and other support offerings for our people.

Our people have the option to purchase up to four extra weeks of leave every year to do whatever they want with – whether it's to study, spend more time with family, do some community work, go on holiday or anything in between.

Parental Leave

We're proud to support our people with Parental Leave benefits over and above our statutory obligations, including a top-up equal to 80% of usual pay or a matching payment equal to the value of the government-paid Parental Leave for up to 26 weeks, whichever is greater. We also offer two weeks of paid partners' leave and continue to pay annual leave as if the individual had not taken Parental Leave when new parents return to work.

Long Service Leave

After 10 years of employment at Air New Zealand our people receive 10 days of Long Service Leave and a further 10 days every 5 years after that.

Superannuation

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Life Insurance

Permanent New Zealand-based employees are provided with $100,000 of life or terminal illness insurance cover (while you are under 65 years) plus they can apply for additional life, income protection and trauma insurance at discounted rates.

Medical expenses cover

Koruhealth is a non-profit Healthcare Provident Society providing low-cost medical cover that is only available to Air New Zealand employees and their families. A wide range of medical expense assistance is offered including cover for pre-existing conditions and it can be used in conjunction with other medical insurance. Employees pay a small fortnightly amount and claims can be made for GP visits, prescriptions, surgery, optical, counselling, physiotherapy and more.

Southern Cross also offers permanent Air New Zealand employees and their immediate families access to private medical insurance at a group discount rate.

Our people have access to discounts and offers from all sorts of providers, including hotels, activities, banking packages, insurance, retail stores, gyms and much more.

Staff travel rules – what you need to know

Who here likes to hear about rules they have to follow? Anyone? Uhm, anyone? Maybe Jim in the back? Nobody?

As I expected, no one is fond of rules. I get it. Things that suppress your freedom are not the best in life.

But knowing them will help you a great deal in life. And this also applies when you enjoy the staff travel benefits.

While knowing how to behave on a standby flight and being a pro at planning your trips will get you far enough, without knowing the rules, your success rate of attempts versus flown tickets will not be so big if you don’t use and know the rules.

Also, a complete guide to using staff travel benefits won’t be able to cover everything you need. So I figured I should take the bull by its horns or eat the frog first (I have been to too many time management workshops lately) and start writing this piece for you.

How to address the priority factor?

1. know your priority and the rules.

Before you even think of traveling standby, you have to know the rules by heart. You need to know your priority status, so you can assess what’s your chance of making it on the flight.

The priority system may depend from airline to airline but usually is decided based on your seniority and/or role in the company. The smaller the priority, the more obscure places or flights you need to target.

And while you’re the new one your priority is crap, and this may discourage you from using your benefits, remember not everyone is interested in going to the same place as you, on the same flight.

We have traveled standby since I got the benefits. By the time I’m writing this, we have a 100% success rate (meaning we weren’t kicked out of any flight by now) and our destinations include:

• Stockholm -> a month after I started at my workplace
• Berlin -> 5 months seniority
• Brussels -> 6 months seniority, using a different company than mine
• Tokyo -> 8 months seniority
• Barcelona -> 9 months seniority (just my husband though)
• Bucharest -> about 7-8 times, two of them being Christmas time

So, it can be done. Continue to read further to find out how. And/or look at this awesome infografic that I have created, that can help you make a decision in an instant. Don’t worry, you’ll be able to also download it at the end of the post, and you can also pin it.

2. Know all the companies you have benefits on and the priority you get.

If you can use multiple airlines, you’ve struck gold, right? Well, sort of.

If you want to leverage the power of options, you need to know the benefits system. I would draw you a chart if I’d be better at drawing than I am at writing.

Usually, your benefits map (see what I did there?) looks like this:

• You have the highest priority on your company’s flights (and then based on internal priority, see point above).
• You have the second-highest standby priority on subsidiaries of your company.
• You have the third-highest priority on other airlines within your group/alliance.
• You have a very basic priority on other airlines within the global benefits system (called myID in my case).
• You are no one on the airlines not in the ID partnership.

Here’s the deal: for each of these options, you also have to take into account the other people.

For example, if a subsidiary of your airline does not have lots of employees, this means it’s not too bad for you priority wise, and you can use them almost like your own company.

On the other hand, if the company is within your group, and it’s the leader in the group, they probably have 5000 employees that automatically have a higher priority than you. Even if you’re in the industry for 20 years now, you’re lower on the priority list than the twenty-five-year-old that just started his internship in HR.

When deciding the destinations and/or flights you want to use, always make your priority list based on the priority you have for all the options you have to get there.

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Staff travel rules – how to address the visa requirements?

3. know the visa requirements for all countries you may end up in.

As you may know, you may be offloaded at any point in time during your journey (except for, you know, while you’re actually in the air). Also, based on the seats available, you may decide to change your destination last minute. Which is okay, flexibility is your strong suit when it comes to standby travel.

But don’t forget that in some countries you need a confirmed return ticket to be granted a visa. Confirmed being the keyword here. So, you either buy a confirmed ticket, or you try to get the visa beforehand.

This is entirely your responsibility, so you must do your homework, or you may end up stranded at an airport somewhere in South-East Asia, without being able to enter the country, while your checked-in baggage is rolling around at the luggage belt.

It goes without saying that this applies to your whole party. You may think they’re adults and know the drill, but do you want to risk having your second cousin being denied entry somewhere in Sri Lanka?

4. Some countries also need a visa for transit

If you don’t have it, do not use these countries as hubs. Ever. You can blur them from your maps, it ain’t gonna happen.

Usually, they don’t allow you to board, but they might make a mistake and allow it. But at the destination, they WILL check your visa out. And in this case, you may even get in trouble with the law. Now, that’s what I call a #travelfail.

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5. If you do have a visa for one of these countries

DO use them as hubs. Anytime you’re in the area and cannot get a non-stop flight, use this as a hub.

Not a lot of people get through the pain of getting a visa for a place they don’t intend to visit after all. So you’ll have less competition for those flights, even considering the full-paying passengers.

I’m not sure if it’s worth the trouble to get the visa specifically for this reason, especially if the visa granting process is not that easy, but if you got it for other reasons (a previous trip maybe), keep it as your secret card.

6. Some countries require a visa only to enter the country

If you don’t have it, but you don’t need a visa for transit, you have 2 options:

• If you get offloaded, you can stay in the airport and either enjoy a hotel in there (best case) or enjoy a hotel in a darker corner of a waiting room. No one’s judging.
• No matter how empty your second leg might look, do not risk it. It just takes a canceled flight, on any airline, to make your flight overbooked 4 hours before take-off. Or the flight may be canceled exactly because it’s too empty.

I know people that have been denied boarding while they were traveling for business. They managed to fix it with the checked luggage (being duty travel and all) and paid for the overpriced hotel with the company’s credit card.

But on private travel, you won’t have the same assistance. So don’t risk your vacation and peace of mind and choose another option.

Want this information in a more compact way? Get your FREE infographic here!

Bottom line

As I said, I know people don’t like rules. But if you know the rules for staff travel benefits, this can be your superpower. You can start using your benefits right away, with proper planning and some common sense suspicions. In the end, if it doesn’t cost you money, it has to cost you something.

Want to know more? Read the rest of this series to find out how to properly plan your trip when using staff travel benefits, how to behave so you’re granted access on the flight, and other super useful tips!

• Pilot – How to fly standby like a pro
• Part II – Plan like you know what you’re doing
• Part III – Behave like a gentleman/lady

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• StaffTraveler
• Download app

How to Staff Travel?

The best perk from working with an airline are severely discounted rates for flights (if not free!) on your airline. What if your airline doesn’t fly to that amazing island in the Azores? Luckily, you know that one of your ZED partners probably does.

In this guide, I’ll show you how to fly on another airline to your dream destination and how to be a StaffTraveler!

What is staff travel?

Staff travel is when an airline employee flies using their staff benefits. It is also known as non-rev travel. There’s an article here explaining some of the terms that you may come across.

Where should I go?

What an excellent question! This is a difficult one. It really depends on your hobbies, your timeframe, etc. Personally, the one thing I like to draw inspiration from is Instagram . Instagram allows you to explore photos from locations and by some popular tags.

I follow a few travelers who frequently post about trips they’ve taken. Usually, I draw my inspiration from them! Also, I love hearing about places that my friends and co-workers have gone to. Word of mouth is also a very good way to find some inspiration for locations you travel to.

The final place I like to draw inspiration from is my life goals. For me, this was my trip to Thailand. I spent some time in an animal rescue sanctuary near Chiang Mai. Being near rescued dogs, elephants, and buffalo was such an amazing experience. Even better, I was able to camp among them! That memory of being in Chiang Mei will be one I cherish forever. This is why I encourage you to chase your life goals.

The final place I like to draw inspiration from is my life goals. For me, this was my trip to Thailand. I spent some time in an animal rescue sanctuary near Chiang Mei. Being near rescued dogs, elephants, and buffalo was such an amazing experience. Even better, I was able to camp among them! That memory of being in Chiang Mei will be one I cherish forever.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bubbleroom (@bubbleroom) on Jul 7, 2019 at 10:45pm PDT

When should I go?

Just as before, this is is a difficult question to answer and depends on you! Being a StaffTraveller on standby could be difficult. So given the location and time of year will determine how hard of a trip it’ll be!

The three main things I try to do when I Staff Travel are:

• Avoid the peak season
• Avoid flying on the weekends
• Aim for the first flight of the day

For some, this isn’t as difficult, especially who can take the jump seat. I am not able to fly jump seat but I wish I could!

How do I get there?

This is where the real fun begins.

The first thing I like to do is to determine what airports I’d like to fly into. For example, If I wanted to fly from Amsterdam to Hong Kong, a quick search in the StaffTraveler app tells me that I should fly to HKG and that I might have multiple options. 

The next thing you’ll want to do is check with your company website to find a list of airlines you can fly on. These airlines should be part of your ZED Agreement. You will have to find these agreements through your airline.

Chances are, your airline uses myIDTravel as their staff travel booking system. In order to access myIDTravel, you’ll need to go through the employee website of your airline. Below, I’ll walk you through how to check which airlines you can staff travel with on myIDTravel. Your airline might use a different (or their own) system.

Which airlines can I choose from?

I’ll be honest here, myIDTravel is not the friendliest of systems for research. Once you get the hang of it, you can navigate it with minimum tears. To begin, enter your desired departure, destination and airline, select the date of departure, and let it roll.

Once you land on the next page, you’ll see some smiley faces to indicate your chances of making it on your desired flight. Let me be the first to tell you, this is not the most effective tool to gauge your chances of spending your weekend in Hong Kong. Rarely accurate, the smiley faces are green (happy), yellow (meh) and red ( no-way-Jose-you’re-not-making-this-flight ). Personally, I’ve rarely found these to be reliable, and don’t trust them when making plans.

Meet StaffTraveler

To make my staff travel experience as painless as possible (who among us hasn’t slept in an airport before?), I use the StaffTraveler app . Thanks to this app, you no longer need to rely on the mercy of 3 old fashioned emojis. Instead, you can have a vast network of airline employees at your disposal cheering you on! StaffTraveler provides you the most accurate flight availability for flights; some call it “the world’s best non-rev app”, yep, shameless plug.

Checking the flight loads on other airlines Let’s go from Hong Kong to Bali (Denpasar)!

To get started, download the StaffTraveler app in your App Store (iOS & Android).

Inform yourself

There’s too much to know about staff travel to cover everything in a single blog post. Luckily, there’s a wealth of information in the StaffTraveler Insider Knowledge Base . Also, every airline has it’s own quirks. Make sure you inform yourself thoroughly about the particularities of the airline you wish to travel with. You’ll find everything you need to know to non-rev like a pro in the StaffTraveler Airline Notes .

Are you ready to go? Check your flights with StaffTraveler, pack your stuff and have a wonderful time!

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Non-rev travel hacks: 9 insider tips from airline employees.

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Frugal Traveler

Standby Cruising: A New Option for Bargain Seekers

Are you a flexible traveler? Holland America’s standby cruises may be for you. The cost: $49 a day, excluding fees, taxes and extras. The catch: It might be a hair-raising, last-minute scramble.

By Elaine Glusac

Elaine Glusac is the Frugal Traveler columnist, focusing on budget-friendly tips and journeys.

In February, Barb McGowan took a seven-day cruise on Holland America Line, visiting the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, and the Dominican Republic for just $343, or $49 a day, excluding taxes, port fees and extras. By comparison, Holland America currently lists a seven-day Caribbean itinerary in October from about $700.

The catch: She had just 48 hours’ notice.

Ms. McGown, a 64-year-old from Naples, Fla., who runs a restaurant franchise, took one of the line’s new standby cruises , which are aimed at travelers who live near departure ports and intended to fill ship vacancies.

“I look for deals, and this was an especially good experience,” Ms. McGowan said, praising the food and entertainment. “I was impressed enough to put down a deposit on a future cruise.”

A way to keep ships full

Holland America introduced its standby program last August to maximize ship occupancy, knowing that cancellations are inevitable. So far, the rest of the cruise industry has not followed its lead.

“If cancellations are within a week or two of sailing, it’s difficult to resell that space in the open market,” said Dan Rough, the vice president of revenue management at Holland America.

In the same way that airlines oversell seats, cruise lines may compensate for cancellations by overselling staterooms. Filling in with standbys, however, reduces Holland America’s reliance on overselling, which runs the risk of bumping passengers to distant departures or potentially offering generous cash incentives to coax volunteers to cancel.

Though the company does not heavily promote the new practice, it has attracted a following among the thrifty by dangling a bargain rate — $49 a person, whether sharing a cabin or traveling solo, before taxes and fees — on a web page that lists available departure dates to attract flexible travelers. Standbys should expect an inside cabin, according to the company, though ocean-view and veranda cabins have been assigned. (The company declined to say how many standby cabins it has offered.)

“Forty-nine dollars per person, per day is pretty exceptional,” said Colleen McDaniel, the editor of CruiseCritic.com , a website that reviews cruises, noting that the price covers all meals and entertainment. “You can’t find a cheaper rate at a land resort for what’s included.” (In 2023, the average nightly rate for a hotel room in the United States was nearly $156, according to STR, a data analytics firm that monitors the hospitality industry.)

To participate, travelers choose an itinerary from the standby list on the website — current embarkation ports include Boston; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Montreal; Quebec City; San Diego; Seattle; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Whittier, Alaska — and pay for the trip in advance by calling Holland America or booking through a travel adviser.

There are no refunds for standby cruisers who want to back out. However, if the gamble fails to pay off, and the cruise line cannot offer a cabin to someone on the standby list, it issues a refund.

The company says standby offerings are added on a rolling basis and usually lists itineraries within two to three months of departure. Current offerings include seven-day sailings in Alaska’s Inside Passage from April through September and seven-to-11-day trips cruising the coast of New England and Canada’s Maritime Provinces between May and October.

Proximity is a bonus

Standby cruisers don’t learn of their acceptance or denial until a week to two days before departure, complicating transportation arrangements.

“Last-minute airfare could offset the savings on a cruise,” wrote Crystal Seaton, the owner of Road to Relaxation Travel , a travel agency based in Raleigh, N.C., in an email. Though she has not booked a client on a standby sailing yet, she surmised that it is intended for travelers who can drive to a port.

“We were lucky; we found out Tuesday we were going on a Friday 3 p.m. sailing,” said Sheila Valloney, 66, of Clermont, Fla., who with her husband spent nine days aboard a Holland America ship in the southern Caribbean in February by going standby.

Before being cleared, she reserved a parking spot near the ship dock in Fort Lauderdale, which would have set her back about $6 if she canceled. She also kept their vacation clothes ready to go at the last minute for the three-and-a-half-hour drive to port.

Booking a refundable airline ticket — or at least one that guarantees a credit in loyalty points or cash in the event of cancellation — is one way travelers who must fly can take advantage of the deal.

For her standby sailing, Ms. McGowan drove 90 minutes from her home to the ship in Fort Lauderdale. But her travel companion was coming from Indiana, so when she joined the standby list a few months before the departure date, she booked her friend a Southwest Airlines flight using frequent flier points that would be refunded if the last-minute cruise didn’t come through.

Avoiding extra charges

Once on board, charges for extras like cabin upgrades, Wi-Fi, alcohol and shore excursions can inflate the bill, though the thriftiest travelers try to avoid them.

Ms. McGowan sprang for the $17.50-a-day charge for an upgraded drink package (basic nonalcoholic drinks are included in the cruise) and took one shore excursion, focused on coffee growing, which she deemed a good value at $89.

On their Caribbean cruise, the Valloneys asked around for recommendations for good beaches, where they went to relax on port days, and waited until they were on land to check emails, in order to avoid paying for Wi-Fi on the ship.

“We didn’t miss it at all,” Ms. Valloney said. “For beverages, we would wait until happy hour, when it was buy one, get one free.”

Will other companies follow suit?

To date, no other cruise lines have adopted standby programs.

Princess Cruises said it did not plan to offer cabins on a standby basis, but noted that it already offers last-minute deals , which tend to run about $50 to $60 per passenger per day. For example, a seven-day Alaska sailing from Vancouver to Anchorage departing on May 8 is listed at $399 a person in a double-occupancy cabin.

Several other major cruise lines did not respond to inquiries about potentially adopting standby programs, though operators like Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line also offer last-minute deals on their websites.

“We would be surprised to see many mainstream cruise lines begin to adopt a similar model” to the standby system, wrote Kimberly Coyne, the head of sales and content strategy for Cruiseline.com , a cruise review site, in an email. She said the standby fares might be financially unsustainable for cruise lines and cited the potential that travelers might become too accustomed to late-booking deals.

More ways to save

With the recent surge in cruise bookings, companies are discounting less, said Ms. McDaniel of CruiseCritic.com.

She identified more reliable ways to get a deal compared with going standby, such as booking during “ wave season ,” a sales period that generally runs January through March, or taking a repositioning cruise, in which a ship relocates from one region to another seasonally. A repositioning itinerary might sail in the fall from Alaska to the Caribbean via the Panama Canal.

“It’s not unusual to see a repositioning cruise at less than $75 per night,” Ms. McDaniel, said, noting that other expenses such as an airline itinerary into one city and returning from another may cost more than a standard round-trip ticket.

Repositioning cruises tend to stop at fewer ports and add more shipboard enrichment programs, such as lectures and activities like cake decorating classes and craft spirits tastings.

“For a lot of people the ship is the destination and this is the perfect activity for people who like to be on the ship,” she said.

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram and sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to get expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places to Go in 2024 .

Come Sail Away

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 Cruise Ship Surprises: Here are five unexpected features on ships , some of which you hopefully won’t discover on your own.

 Icon of the Seas: Our reporter joined thousands of passengers on the inaugural sailing of Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas . The most surprising thing she found? Some actual peace and quiet .

Th ree-Year Cruise, Unraveled:  The Life at Sea cruise was supposed to be the ultimate bucket-list experience : 382 port calls over 1,095 days. Here’s why  those who signed up are seeking fraud charges  instead.

TikTok’s Favorite New ‘Reality Show’:  People on social media have turned the unwitting passengers of a nine-month world cruise  into  “cast members”  overnight.

Dipping Their Toes: Younger generations of travelers are venturing onto ships for the first time . Many are saving money.

Cult Cruisers: These devoted cruise fanatics, most of them retirees, have one main goal: to almost never touch dry land .

'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?

ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.

When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.

ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form .

How to use StandBy Mode on iOS 17 (and which iPhone models support it)

When Apple first unveiled iOS 17 and all the new features coming with the latest iPhone software, all eyes were reasonably drawn to StandBy mode, which transforms the smartphone, when docked, into a smart display.

Also: Apple's mysterious iOS 17.4.1 and iPad OS 17.4.1 updates are actually very important

With the latest version of iOS officially released, setting your iPhone horizontally (or in landscape orientation) on a MagSafe , Qi-based wireless , or wired charger activates StandBy mode, turning what would typically be a blank lock screen into an interactive, glanceable window of widgets.

Here's how you can start using the feature.

How to use StandBy mode on iOS 17

What you'll need : StandBy mode is available now on the  most recent iPhone models . You'll also need to have  iOS 17 downloaded . Any software after iOS 17.0 will work. 

1. Turning on StandBy mode

By default, StandBy mode is turned on in iOS 17.

If it's not, or should you want to turn off the feature, open up Settings > scroll down to StandBy > and switch the activation toggle.

Also: Let the iPhone sideloading begin! iOS 17.5 lets EU users download apps from the web

There are two other settings within this page for turning on Night Mode, which shifts the color tint from vibrant to red when the environment is darker, and notifications. 

With the latter setting, you can have critical notifications displayed in StandBy mode, and you can also tap on them to expand to the preview, similar to the iPhone's lock screen behavior.

2. Charging your iPhone

StandBy mode works with any compatible iPhone that's charging and rotated to a horizontal orientation. You can power the iPhone with a MagSafe charging dock, a standard Qi-enabled wireless charging pad, or even a standard lightning cable.

Also: This $20 wireless charger is so useful I bought two of them for my iPhone

StandBy mode will automatically turn on when both requirements are met, and your iPhone lock screen will change into a widescreen status hub with the time, date, and temperature.

One notable advantage when using a MagSafe-certified charging dock is location awareness. If you plan on docking your iPhone on multiple MagSafe accessories -- say you have one for your work desk, one by your bedside, and another for the kitchen -- the iPhone will automatically display the StandBy mode configuration you set for each.

StandBy Mode has different display options, including a quick view of HomeKit devices in use. 

3. Customizing StandBy mode

Swiping sideways on a docked iPhone cycles between three StandBy mode panels:

• The first panel displays two columns of interactive widgets, similar to those on the iPhone home screen. A tap and hold on this panel allows you to add or remove widgets, move them around, and turn on Smart Rotate and Widget Suggestions for a more personalized experience.
• The second panel is a photo clock, displaying the time and your choice of existing photo albums or photo categories (i.e., pets, nature, people). A tap and hold on this panel allows you to select the pictures you want to display.
• The third panel shows a larger clock with different styles to choose from.

4. Notifications and alerts

If Show Notifications is turned on in the iPhone's StandBy settings, incoming messages and alerts will appear when the device is docked. 

Also: Siri's finally reading my messages in the right language thanks to iOS 17.4

For more privacy, you can toggle on Show Preview on Tap Only, so that you have to unlock the device via Touch ID or Face ID to view the notification in full.

What iPhone models support StandBy mode?

All iPhones that are upgradeable to iOS 17 will support StandBy mode. That level of support spans from the most recent models to the iPhone XR. Here's the full list of compatible devices .

Will StandBy mode always stay on?

StandBy mode will only stay on for iPhone models that support always-on display, meaning at the time of writing, the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro series. For older models, StandBy mode will automatically turn off after 30 seconds of inactivity.

What charging dock is compatible with StandBy mode?

StandBy mode works with  MagSafe-certified chargers , traditional Qi-enabled wireless chargers , and wired chargers -- the iPhone just needs to be horizontal and propped up on a stand or against something to trigger StandBy mode. If you want to take advantage of MagSafe location awareness, you'll need MagSafe chargers.

8 Apple Watch settings I changed to dramatically improve battery life

Ios 18 wishlist: 5 features i'd like to see apple bring to the iphone, how to send and receive imessages on windows.

I visit Universal Orlando several times a year. Here are my top 10 tips for first-timers.

I’ll never forget walking out of Universal Islands of Adventure in 2022, drenched from head to toe after riding Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barge . 

It was my first trip back to Universal Orlando Resort in years, and I learned some things the hard way, which I gladly shared with fellow travelers, hoping that they’d avoid my mistakes .

Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to visit the Florida resort several times a year. And while I stand by my earlier tips, I’ve learned a few others.

Here are my top tips for first-timers visiting Universal Orlando.

1.  Stay on property

From RV parks to vacation rentals, there’s no shortage of places to stay in Central Florida, but it can pay to stay on property when visiting Universal Orlando. Not only are prices comparable to off-property hotels with Endless Summer Surfside and Dockside starting at $99 a night, but all of Universal’s resort hotels offer 30 minutes of early entry to select parks, which vary depending on time of year. 

They also provide free resort transportation, so you can get back to your room fairly quickly after a long park day or for a midday break. That free transportation can be clutch in the mornings, particularly at pricier Loews Sapphire Falls , Loews Royal Pacific , Loews Portofino Bay , and Hard Rock Hotel , which offer water taxis that drop you off closer to the parks than you can get arriving by car or bus. Cabana Bay Beach Resort and Aventura Hotel guests can walk over to Sapphire Falls for water taxis, but the extra time and steps added may make it not worth skipping the resort shuttle bus.

Walking paths are also available to the parks from every resort hotel except the Endless Summer ones. Cabana Bay guests also have a dedicated walking path to Universal’s Volcano Bay water park.

Guests staying at Royal Pacific, Portofino Bay and Hard Rock also get free Universal Express Passes , which dramatically cut waits for most rides and normally start at $79.99 per person. Free package delivery is also available to all resort hotels, if guests don’t want to lug park purchases around all day.

Epic Universe details revealed: What's coming to Universal Orlando next year

2. Buy a popcorn bucket

Snacking at the parks can get expensive. Guests are welcome to bring their own snacks, but there’s one crowd-pleaser that won’t break the bank. 

A plain popcorn bucket costs a little over $12, and you can keep getting refills throughout your trip. Refills cost around $2 each, making popcorn among the cheapest, most shareable snacks on property. On our last trip, my family and I got multiple refills for the price of one pretzel with cheese dip.

3.  Bring a light, refillable water bottle

Staying hydrated is always important, particularly on hot park days. 

You can fill water bottles with free ice-cold water at any of the many Coca-Cola Freestyle machines across the property. Cups of ice water are also available for free anywhere dispensed soft drinks are sold.

Leave big double-walled stainless steel tumblers at home. Not only will they feel heavy, carrying them around all the day, but if they aren’t leak-proof, they’ll make a mess when you tip them on their sides to fit in lockers for thrill rides.

4. Bring a medium-sized bag to carry your stuff

Numerous attractions, from Jurassic World VelociCoaster to Men in Black Alien Attack , require guests to store loose articles in lockers provided for the duration of the ride. 

I previously recommended keeping most of your things together to avoid having to empty every pocket each time. That’s still true, but I want to add a caveat on size. 

The free lockers aren’t very big. They can fit a Loungefly-style mini backpack or empty popcorn bucket, if you squish them down, but they’re not large enough for packed full-size backpacks. Keep that in mind unless you want to pay for larger lockers.

5. Bring ponchos

Ponchos don’t take a lot of space and can save you from getting soaked like me on Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barge, Dudley Do-Right’s Rip Saw Falls , and Jurassic Park River Adventure .

Even if you skip water rides, ponchos are good to keep on hand for rainy park days.

6. Use single-rider lines 

Many attractions have a single-rider lane. If you’re traveling alone or don’t mind your party being split up, you can save time using the single-rider lane, if it’s open. They’re not always offered.

It doesn’t guarantee a short wait, but it’s usually shorter. On our latest trip, my middle schooler still waited at least 45 minutes for The Incredible Hulk Coaster and an hour for Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit . That was about as long as the regular standby wait for Hulk but shorter than the standby wait for Rip Ride Rockit.

The following attractions have single-rider lanes, though availability varies.

Universal Studios Florida

• E.T. Adventure
• Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts
• Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit
• Men in Black Alien Attack
• Revenge of the Mummy
• The Simpsons Ride
• Transformers: The Ride-3D

Universal Islands of Adventure

• Doctor Doom's Fearfall
• Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls
• Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure
• Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
• Jurassic Park River Adventure
• Jurassic World VelociCoaster
• The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man
• The Incredible Hulk Coaster

7. Use child swap 

If someone in your party doesn’t meet ride requirements for an attraction or simply wants to sit it out, you can ask for a child swap. It’s particularly helpful for families with young children because it allows parents and caregivers to take turns riding the ride and staying with whoever is sitting it out.

On our most recent trip, my youngest didn’t want to ride Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure , so we all waited in line together, but then she and I peeled off to a designated waiting room while my middle schooler and mother-in-law went on the ride. When they were done, my mother-in-law stayed with my youngest while I went on the ride. My middle schooler lucked out, getting to ride it twice.

Not all attractions have waiting rooms, but they all offer swaps. Just let team members know you need one.

8. Take breaks

Theme parks can be exhausting. Not only are you on your feet all day, but they can be loud, crowded and overstimulating. 

When possible, I like to plan for at least one sit-down meal in the day. This way, I can take my time and recuperate in air conditioning away from crowds. I’ll typically splurge on one table-service meal, but there are several medium-priced, quick-service restaurants across both theme parks where you can grab a lighter snack and relax.

Really, any cool spot where you can sit down works. Knockturn Alley in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley at Universal Studios Florida is always refreshing, though dark. Jurassic Park Discovery Center in Islands of Adventure is a great place for kids to explore while adults unwind. 

9.  Watch the shows

Rides get a lot of the love, but Universal Orlando’s live entertainment is top tier. You can find showtimes on the free resort app or simply stop to watch performances you stumble across while roaming the parks.

The only year-round shows with dedicated seating are at Universal Studios Florida: Animal Actors On Location! , The Bourne Stuntacular , and Universal Orlando’s Horror Make-Up Show, which is more funny than scary.

10. Let little ones stretch their legs

There are several play areas across both theme parks for little ones to burn off energy.

This summer, a new DreamWorks Land will open at Universal Studios Florida with a “Kung Fu Panda”-themed play area.

At Islands of Adventure, kids can explore Camp Jurassic in Jurassic Park, If I Ran a Zoo in Seuss Landing, and Me Ship, The Olive in Toon Lagoon. There are also splash pads and water features across Toon Lagoon; just make sure to either bring swimsuits or backup clothes for those.

Bonus: Don’t sleep on Volcano Bay

You’ll definitely want to pack swimsuits if you’re heading to Volcano Bay, which regularly ranks among the best water parks in the country and adds a completely different experience to vacations.

It’s themed like a tropical paradise, with plenty of trees and an iconic volcano that houses multiple water slides. The water park can get crowded, but you never spend too much time standing in line because every guest gets a Tapu Tapu wearable bracelet that lets them join one virtual queue at a time. 

Single-day tickets start at $80, which is considerably less than the $119 starting price for guests age 10 and up at Universal Studios Florida or Islands of Adventure, but still not cheap. However, if you’re already planning to buy multi-day tickets for both theme parks, tacking on Volcano Bay is not much more.