Our last Midwest Airlines Non Rev adventure

Cami on the shuttle bus

Today marked our last trip as standby/ non rev passengers on Midwest Airlines. Two weeks ago Dana received a letter from Republic Airlines, the new owner of Midwest Airlines, telling her that they are terminating every furloughed Midwest employees flight benefits.

Originally, the flight benefits were suppose to last until September 30, 2010. We are thankful that her letter was in the second batch that were sent. The first batch was terminating flight benefits effective December 31, 2009. The second batch will have flight benefits terminating on January 15, 2010. We are thankful that our entire family was able to travel to California to spend time with Ma and Pa and with Mike, Allison, Austin, and Kylie. Dana enjoyed time with friends in LA for the People's Choice Awards for a few days. Justin and the kids ended up flying from Milwaukee to Phoenix since the LA flights were oversold. They rented a car and drove 6 hours to California. They made a stop in Irvine so the kids could play and spend time with their cousins before heading up to LA to see mommy.

We enjoyed time together in LA seeing Mann's Chinese theater, where the kids and Justin saw Alvin and the Chipmunks the Squeaquel while Dana slept in after her night at the People's Choice Awards and After Party. Dana met Sam Waterston in our hotel.

We were all excited to head to Irvine after our stay in LA so we could spend time with Dana's mom and step dad and Mike's family. We took the day to go to Disneyland. We are thankful for Clairol's $500 American Express gift card that was part of the prize for spending money while in California. We were able to use that to pay for a day at Disneyland. The kids LOVED being at Disney with Aladodo and Papa and with their cousins. We went on rides, took lots of pictures, and enjoyed a long day together. We also ran into the Boppre family who was spending the day at Disney. We all had a great day. The kids even came home with a few souvenirs.

After our last family vacation on non rev tickets, we headed back to the airport. Dana had a paid ticket from her winnings and thankfully Justin and the kids made it on the flight non revving back to Milwaukee. The 12+ years at Midwest has lead us on many flying adventures. We have enjoyed flying for free or reduced fairs all over the United States and three times to Korea. We will miss our flying benefits. The kids have never known flying without a Plan B and Plan C to get to our destination or to get home. It has made them very easy going and flexible travelers.

Although the airline industry does not pay well, I enjoyed my job and the flying benefits that came with the job. We are proud to say that we utilized our flying benefits and thank Midwest for the time that I spent there. I am sad to leave after flying over 6 million miles working and several hundred thousand as a non-rev. For my children flying was an adventure they enjoyed...

107,962 miles Ben has flown; 71,372 that Cami has flown; and 25,649 that Ian has flown all as a non rev.