but you still pay to fly, and make no income.
Ah... No.
If you are employable, you should be paid to work. Now I will admit that in my early days, I did ride around right seat during some corporate single pilot operations for no pay, but I certainly did not pay to fly! it was a bit of a get to know you thing, and it worked out really well. I was offered a job shortly after, and got some great experience, but do not pay out of your pocket. Pilot employers need to be reminded that they must pay fairly for competent pilot services, and charge their clients/passengers accordingly.
You do not work for nothing to subsidize a cheap pax who is looking for a deal to visit grandma! I would not want to work for a company whose business model relied on free labour, they're not good at business, are they any better at aviation? I flew Ryan Air - once.