On Friday, I revealed that American Airlines was cracking down on flight attendants operating lucrative side hustles that involve selling coveted international trips to their junior crew members.
The fact that American Airlines is threatening to strip flight attendants of their bidding privileges altogether is, however, only half the story, and I wanted to go into a little bit more detail about the different reasons why flight attendants buy and sell trips.
It’s also worth pointing out that while trading trips for cash is strictly prohibited at American Airlines, this isn’t necessarily the case at some other US-based carriers, so I’ll explore why it’s fine at some airlines and not at others and why that is the case.
The Underground Economy of Trip Swapping
First things first, let’s get into why flight attendants would trade their trips for cash. On Friday, I discussed how veteran flight attendants can sometimes take advantage of their long service to sell desirable trips to junior crew members–the seniority advantage.
Most airlines have bidding systems that let flight attendants request the trips they want to work and their days off for the following month. The longer you have worked for an airline has a direct impact on how likely you are to be awarded your chosen bids.
Senior crew members can, therefore, operate a side hustle by requesting desirable trips they don’t intend to work and selling this to coworkers who want to work the trip but don’t have the seniority to achieve their bid.
There are, though, other reasons why someone would sell or buy a trip, and one of the main reasons is that you desperately want a specific day off and need to pay someone to work a trip you have been assigned on that date.
Which Airlines Allow It And Which Don’t
As you can see from the table below, the Big Three US carriers (American Airlines, Delta, and United) all ban their flight attendants from trading trips for cash, but this isn’t the case at many other airlines, even though they have similar seniority-based bidding systems.
| Is swapping trips for money allowed? | Enforcement style | |
|---|---|---|
 | Yes. ✅ | No formal policy either for or against. |
 | No. ❌ | Bidding privileges could be revoked. |
 | No. ❌ | Formal disciplinary action, including termination. |
 | Yes. ✅ | Not policed. |
 | Yes. ✅ | Doesn’t police code words. |
 | No. ❌ | Formal disciplinary action, including termination. |
 | Yes. ✅ | No formal policy either for or against. |
 | Yes. ✅ | No formal policy either for or against. |
As you can see from the chart, airlines that allow trip trading for cash don’t have it written into their policies that this is a formally permitted side hustle, it’s just that they don’t actively police this activity.
In fact, code words like “cookies” are still a common tactic to make it clear to those in the know that the trip is being traded for cash, without being brazenly open about it.
Why are airlines against trading trips for cash?
One of the main reasons why airlines and flight attendant unions don’t like the system of trading trips for cash is because it overrides the seniority system that has so much control over a flight attendant’s life and career at an airline.
The ability to get the very best trips and a near guarantee that you’ll hold the days off you want is a privilege only afforded to those flight attendants who have been at an airline the longest.
In order to protect that seniority system, airlines don’t want to make it normal behavior for junior crew members just to buy the trips or days off they want.
What can go wrong?
It’s not just about protecting the seniority system, however. There are tales of flight attendants being targeted by scammers who have managed to steal significant amounts of money from unsuspecting crew members through the trade trips for cash system.
At some airlines, there have also been problems with groups of senior flight attendants taking control of the trip trades for cash process, taking a cut of every transaction in what was referred to as ‘cartels.’
Matt’s take – Could more airlines outlaw trip trading for pay?
Could more airlines try to stop flight attendants from trading trips for cash? Well, many crew members certainly hope not. While it might sound like this system primarily benefits senior flight attendants, there are many who think that, on balance, trading trips for cash benefits everyone, including the airline.
After all, surely an airline would rather than flight attendants who are happy to be at work working the trip they have been assigned?
What do you think about trading trips for pay? Is this something you have already done – either to earn extra money or to get a trip you want?
It’s tough to see this in a favorable light if money or something else of value is being traded. As an employer if I offer certain of my people benefits that I do not offer to everyone then I’m going to be pretty angry if they thank me by selling off the thing I specifically gave them for personal use.
Interesting that airlines think it’s ok to make money from their customers by charging for basics like adjacent seating for friends and family, but want to prohibit their staff from making extra money .. good luck to the crew, and shame on the companies!
Many years ago during the HP and US merger, a friend of mine who work for HP Inflight Services was sent to a US base to co-manage it. She was a friend of mine when we worked together at another airline. HP heard about US Air flight attendants selling trips and it was brought up to them to stop it. She was basically told, this is (east coast base). We know people and you can’t make us stop selling trip.
This process sounds fine unless you are one of the flight attendants whose seniority is just outside of being able to hold the better trips because more senior FAs are loading up their schedule with the best trips to only sell them. One other factor regarding the companies themselves is whether IRS would take a dim view of money being exchanged for what is technically the property of the company.