Before 9/11 I never had any trouble getting a jump seat ride when I was a paying punter. Just showed my ID to the FA and 5 minutes later I was strapped in at the pointy end. As many have said before me, benefits all round. Since then, I have not even bothered asking. We do however have a structured famil program here in OZ, (too much paperwork) but the way things are at the moment, the changes of a spare shift to allow it to happen are Zero.