When you are assigned to an aircraft to start your tour, you will most likely have to fly on an airline to meet up with the airplane and the rest of your crew. This often times can be the one of the more frustrating aspects of being a fractional pilot depending on which airport you fly from.Due to the dynamic nature of the fractional business, the company will typically purchase a last minute one-way ticket which may occasionally leave you stuck in the middle seat if you fly out of an busy airport with high load factors. In addition, the ticket will more than likely be a last minute one way, so it meets the criteria to be flagged by the TSA for "special screening".
Special screening is an additional screening process (denoted by SSSS on the boarding pass) where they search through all of your belongings thoroughly and run tests to see if there is any explosive residue on any of your property.
Most of my flights out of California are on Southwest Airlines and thankfully I am rarely stuck with a middle seat and almost never get flagged by the TSA leaving my home airport. For some reason, Rapid Rewards members seem to rarely get flagged on Southwest.
Riding on an Airline every other week also has it's advantages. We get to keep all of the airline miles or credits earned for the trip. These miles add up quickly and usually equate to a couple free round trip tickets a year which can be then used in conjunction with your free hotel rooms you will earn from all the reward points to go on vacation.
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2 comments:
You said quote "the company will typically purchase a last minute one-way ticket which will almost guarantee you a middle seat if you fly out of an busy airport with high loads. In addition, the ticket will more than likely be a last minute one way, so it meets the criteria to be flagged by the TSA for "special screening". "
I'm on year eight at a fractional and I hardly EVER get a middle seat or get The "SSS" super-man symbol. I know I'm pretty typical, so your observations on these two points are WRONG!
I am a four years at a fractional and I hardly ever get a middle seat or a "Full House"(SSSS) by the TSA either. I said that in my post "Most of my flights out of California are on Southwest Airlines and thankfully I am rarely stuck with a middle seat and almost never get flagged by the TSA leaving my home airport."
I think it really depends on the airport you depart from.
My experience is that most pilots based in the Northeast have this problem. In fact, I just asked my F/O who lives in Boston if he gets flagged and stuck in the middle seat and his response was "all the time".
However, I do see your point. I'll change it to...." Due to the dynamic nature of the fractional business, the company will typically purchase a last minute one-way ticket which may occasionally leave you stuck in the middle seat if you fly out of an busy airport with high loads. In addition, the ticket will more than likely be a last minute one way, so it meets the criteria to be flagged by the TSA for "special screening"."
The TSA special screening comment is correct. A last minute one way ticket does meet the TSA's criteria for special screening, so my point was valid. Whether or not you actually get chosen is a different story.
Like you, I hardly ever get chosen, but I know many pilots that unfortunately go through the special screening on ever tour.
Thanks for the feedback.
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