Bump Protection: A Game Changer for Standby Flyers

By: Austin Harper (Guest Contributor)
Posted on October 18, 2019
3 min read

I know what you're doing. You hide it worse than the cellophane hides individually wrapped fruits at the airline clubs. Three hours through your day and like clockwork, your mind becomes transfixed with your next vacation.

Welcome to PERX.com.

As an airline employee, you love taking care of your passengers. However, you also live for your next non-rev flight to paradise. It has been a long and busy summer travel season. Overtime was mandatory, flight loads were too full to fly anywhere exciting, and the passengers who sit in 20C could never figure the logistics of putting an overstuffed bag in the overhead bin.

If you are like me, you frequent PERX.com as a way to motivate yourself through the day. Resorts, tours, and my personal favorite: cruises! Now, tell me if the following progression sounds familiar.

Go to work

Politely tell passenger this gate is for El Paso and not Omaha as shown on the monitor

Cry just a little bit on break

Bring up PERX.com and plan your hypothetical get-a-way. You even go as far as to check flight loads for the route you need to take. Dang, the flights already look half full with a little less than a month left.

Wait, why are you upset? It's hypothetical, remember?

Let's turn this into a real-life scenario now. You DO find a great deal at a luxury Riviera Maya resort and you DO have 7 days off in the upcoming month. However, the flight loads for your connection are as mentioned above, filling up.

This problem is prevalent to each one of us. We all have non-rev stories of how we were going to fly in Business class to Mexico, only to have the previous flight cancel. After a revenue passenger is re-accommodated into your Business Class seat, you are left to sleep in an airport with a scheduled tornado warning between 2-4 a.m.

Not only did you miss your flight, but you missed out on one full day at your resort and a planned walking tour of the Mayan Ruins. No refund, no sleep, and no way are you pre-booking reservations again. I used to think this type of situation could not be avoided but oh was I wrong.

PERX understood this problem facing thousands of non-rev flyers every day. These geniuses then introduced the industry-changing policy of: BUMP PROTECTION!

A recent PERX Instagram poll showed that only 39% of their followers knew what Bump Protection was.

While searching for resorts, just hit the "Bump Protection" box to filter for accommodations with Bump Protection as shown in the example below.

If you're flying non-rev, book a resort with Bump Protection in order to protect your reservation. If you are bumped from your flight, simply let an agent know and they can adjust the dates of your resort reservation at no additional cost. While other airline employees book the "Basic Economy" of accommodations, you are traveling smarter with changeable tickets. It truly is that easy.

This feature is truly a game-changer to your nonrev flying adventures. Believe me when I say I love the uncertainty of flying nonrev. The best stories come from when original plans don't pan out perfectly. However, I'd like to spend my extra couple hours in the airport without worrying about losing a couple hundred dollars on a resort stay.

WRITTEN BY

Austin Harper

My name is Austin and I have worked in the airline industry for a little over 3 years. Using my flight benefits, I have traveled to 5 continents and 19 countries through 67 airports on over 260+ flights. I love collaborating with other "Nonrev" travelers on their tips, tricks, and best stories. You can follow me on my Instagram @thestandbybystander and subscribe to my blog at thestandbybystander.com for nonrev tips, stories, and how to maximize credit cards for hotels and international airport lounge access.