Does anyone know if the EK staff pilots (off-duty) can travel First while Platinums and Gold are are not upgraded in a full Biz class flight?

i was on such a flight where all of Biz class was packed, while there was a "captain" in the First flying as a passenger.

Just curious.

Why would a Platinum/Gold be upgraded? They would only get an op-up if it's oversold - not because it's 'packed'.

Let me clarify -
Business was full 100% with business and upgraded economy passengers. 10 J plus 32 Y class passengers (total seats = 42 in 777). While not a single Skywards Platinum was upgraded but the "crew" was travelling first. Felt odd.

I am assuming that EK has special perks for its Captains.

Unlimited F standby travel for Captains and their immediate family form part of the benefits for those members of staff.

Revenue passengers do of course always take priority - I did see someone on F standby get denied boarding the other day

In the case that you mentioned, it seems that J was not oversold - indeed, J and Y were at 100% exactly, which is exactly what a revenue manager wants. The captain travelling in F would have been directly ticketed into that class.

Thanks EternalT! I learnt a lesson that day - never rely on on-board upgrades. As EK filled up all the J seats; i requested an upgrade to F using miles; i was told "yes you may, but we dont have meal service in F". Not that they would have charged me less miles for not providing full F service

That's always going to be a risk when you upgrade on board. You could always agree to have the J meal, which is part of the F menu as well.

Apparently it's catered differently but the choices are the same. Happened to me twice and I can't say I care for the food on Ek really. The starters and caviar are the best offerings.

Nope - same boxes, just plated differently

Staff travel will always have to board after paying pax.

But I'm sure pilots would get on above a pax wanting to upgrade to f with miles

Staff entitled to a particular cabin will trump op-up for an elite who is booked in a lower cabin.

Up to the controller at the time - and likely the exact timing on when the passenger requested the upgrade, what type of staff travel ticket was being used and when he/she requested a seat.

Also some of those travelling on F staff tickets are travelling on confirmed tickets, e.g. annual leave, so will generally not be offloaded (unless an iO wants the last F seat, but that's a different story )

I am little surprised that EK allows this. I was chatting with a SQ purser a few years back, and they said that even for top, top tier crew F is a extremely hard get AND it isn't free. They pay a % of the full F fare.

When I say unlimited travel, of course, it's not a completely free ticket, they are effectively ID90 tickets, that is, at a 90% discount to a full F fare (+taxes). If you want higher priority on the standby list, then you can pay more (e.g. the EK equivalent of an ID50).

How many times you get to do this depends on who you are, and who you are buying the ticket for - unlimited refers to the amount of tickets (or rather, sectors), that a person might be entitled for a particular concessionary ticket type. e.g. a person could have as part of their benefits, on an annual basis: on EK, unlimited Y full discounted standby for themselves, one confirmed J entitlement for themselves and 3 immediate family members, 10 full discounted standby to give away to nominated individuals and perhaps 4 half discounted confirmed tickets, but no entitlement to use other carriers. Other people might be allowed unlimited F standby on EK and 10 confirmed F, but only J standby on other airlines. There's a whole myriad of potential entitlements out there. EK generally keep it simple though!

Most airlines have their own internal booking portal for their own staff when travelling on their own airline, and a contact/booking system when ticketing onto other carriers - much like a travel agent, but one which has different fares to choose from and different availability depending on the user! Or one can be like a pax and go to the airport booking office and ask for ticketing

Note F is restricted to Captains (or Vice-Presidents etc.) - First Officers, Pursers, Station Managers etc. get J and everyone else Y. Of course, this is for their own travel - EK will of course send their staff when on company business in an appropriate class for their position and reason for travel. Note staff travel tickets are not, in and of themselves, eligible for any benefits like lounge access, chauffeur drive (although Captains already get that for work anyway...!), or mileage earning. You can though, guest in someone to a lounge on a staff ticket, subject to the usual restrictions for the guester. You may be surprised by just how many crew have never seen the inside of an EK lounge - and when they do get a chance to go in wonder why anyone bothers with eating full meals on board!

I think - with all respect - you might have misinterpreted what is being said here.

Other than duty travel and annual leave tickets, staff do indeed pay a (small !) percentage of normal ticket cost, and none of the previous posters have been talking about free tickets. References to revenue pax generally means 'full revenue' as distinct from heavily rebated - but not 'free' - fares available to staff.

As for First Class - rest assured that EK Captains are all too aware of the entitlement & privileges that comes with their job, and it is very rare that you would see them travelling as pax anywhere 'down the back' .....