benberg2013

Flying to Athens recently in business class, chatting to the flight attendant, she told me that when we land into ATH she is going to her car changing clothes and going straight to check in for her flight to Malaysia with Qatar airways. I ask in economy or business . she says business, because FA's get free flights in business with any airline, just they pay the taxes.
Is this only A3 who do this?

Jma12

I know that CX only has Y standby (10% of the ticket) for FAs and immediate family member. Not too sure about other carriers.

irishguy28

No!

This is a long-standing "perk" for employees of the travel industry, intended in part to make the job more attractive given the low pay.

Most airlines also have the concept of a "buddy pass" where they can nominate friends/family to travel on the same terms.

Travel is usually only in standby, though. Which means you might have a hard time getting away - or getting home.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/infor...uddy-pass.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/jetbl...dy-passes.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_staff_travel

As you're a KL regular, you probably will have seen the Delta Staff Travel counter at Schiphol, which handles their staff travelling through AMS on these tickets.

DrHalxx

Can they help with upgrades as well? I ve got all friend (more of an acquittance) who is an Emirates purser/instructor

irishguy28

If they are only an acquaintance, then they are unlikely to even want to help you with such a request [though it is questionable whether they would even be able to help].

Imagine how often they get similar requests - and then imagine how you would react to such requests if you were that person.

DrHalxx

Yeah yeah I now that, I'm only academically speaking, if they're actually able to.


I'm pretty sure that if they're on the flight you're flying with then yes, but when not?

irishguy28

If you want to talk about Emirates company policy, then perhaps a new thread in the EK forum would be more appropriate.

Given that EK is one of the growing number of airlines to allow instant on-board upgrades, this, taken together with other upgrade mechanisms (bidding/offers) and the high loads on some routes/services - the number of seats available for discretionary staff upgrades is presumably limited. I don't know if EK allows staff to perform such discretionary upgrades - you presumably are aware that the Gulf carriers have a reputation for setting very strict rules for staff and their conduct [on the ground as well as in the air] - so I would not be surprised if the answer is no.

Why don't you ask your acquaintance?

cur

it's not free and i doubt she pays $0+taxes. it's typically a nominal service fee plus taxes. this is typical for employees of iata airlines. i'm surprised a small airline like a3 could muscle a j agreement for non-management staff on an airline like qr. but yes it is possible and yes for sure an airline like a3 would have y agreements with hundreds of airlines.

see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zonal_Employee_Discount

http://seriouslyconnected.ca/pass_ag...Chart-2012.pdf
zl = zed low
zm = zed medium
etc

KLouis

During the last quarter of the previous century, one of my cousins was for several years the NY station manager of a, now, defunct major European airline. I remember both him and his wife flying entirely free to ATH for vacation, always sitting in business class, and using any carrier they wanted. They flew either non-stop using any of Olympic, TWA, PanAm, Delta or, as a second choice due to the duration of the flights, any airline going JFK-XXX-ATH. If there were no free seats available for airline personnel on a particular flight on their chosen day, they would be put on a special waiting list, or they'd travel with a paid, heavily reduced ticket. Obviously, he (but not his wife) would fly anytime using "his own" airline for business purposes, while I remember his wife being "stuck" for a week in Athens waiting for a free seat. They kept the privileges even after retirement!

DELLAS

It all depends on what airline you are working for and the agreements in place. Some cabin crew I know actually sometimes buy their tickets on the airlines website like the rest of us. Often there is not much difference on LCC. For long haul though putting aside error fares there are still some great perks to be had and often certain airlines will upgrade subject to availability. It also helps if you know someone at the station you are departing from . So for instance if you were based out of ATH and knew someone at QR in ATH then it would certainly be beneficial.

OA staff used to travel the globe for next to nothing and often got upgraded. They kept their staff travel as a retirement perk but lost them when OA was sold to A3. I remember some complaining that under MIG they could only travel on OA network and limited to a few tickets a year which of course was reduced to Domestic at that stage so of little use really.