I was once a big advocate of getting people on the aircraft via the jumpseat. But now having endured two ULH sectors as a PX crew and their being F class seats available and not being upgraded by ISM. Those days have come to a end. Tired of helping cabin crew who have no problem spitting in your face when a favor is hoped for.
So just give up and become as rude, self centered and miserable to work with as the absolute worst of our Colleagues?
Alternatively, continue to treat others in the way which you would wish to be treated yourself.
We all need a j/s from time to time, and it take very little effort to allocate them.. even after the electronic system has been closed.
I do have a few issues with j/s requests.
1. I have found that on certain flights (beginning with the number 9), the Cabin Crew tend to input their requests like a stampede on the 18th. I ignore these for at least one week, since the majority of these requests are based on their published rosters. They subsequently swap the majority of this roster and end up traveling on different days, while not cancelling their awarded j/s. The requests made about a week later almost always seem to be genuine rather than just a tactical move.
2. I try and identify anyone traveling on Company business (e;g Cargo Revenue, Manager xxx) and ignore their request. If we all did this then CX would have to get more serious about their Duty Travel arrangements.
3. Keeping J1 open can really help a fellow Cockpit Crew out, when Crew Control change their roster and torpedo their travel plans at the last minute.
4. It is helpful when people who were awarded the j/s but were then allocated a seat in the Cabin, can let us know. I commonly end up chasing up the Traffic Staff to ensure that the "jump-seat passengers got on-board OK". A simple note or a word via the ISM saves me chasing this issue up. I am not looking for thanks, I just don't want empty j/seats with my j/seat passengers left at the Standby Counter.