Question concerning travel benefits
 

I am sorry to start a new thread for such a small question. I am hoping it will get answered quickly and then fade away.

I am vaguely familiar with how travel benefits for say Piedmont and Envoy work, but how about other carriers. I am in no way going to pick an airline based on travel benefits, but I would like to be informed. I have a lot of family based in the Philippines and ideally it would be nice to be able to travel there. I am aware american does not offer flights there. So please can anyone shed some light without to much criticism. I read the forums all the time and have not seen any in depth talk about how this works.

Travel benefits are generally pretty similar across regional airlines. You will get travel benefits on those mainline carriers your regional airline flies for. In addition, you will have access to ZED fares on a wide range of airlines, both domestic and foreign, allowing you to travel for a greatly reduced price on a standby or "space available" basis.

The above post is very misleading because it doesn't address your priority on the standby list.

Most Regional pilots when flying on mainline are bottom of the list. Behind every ramper, gate agent, mechanic and their families.

At Envoy we get equal priority on AA...equal to any AA pilot. There is no distinction and our travel benefits extend to our family and friends as well.

Is there any regional that gives you free actual tickets? If so which ones do this.

Why would they? Most regionals don't sell tickets.

Poo choo express.

Is there any that offer a discount?

i also have a similar question about this. My wife hates traveling standby and i was wondering if i were to buy a reserved seat what kind of discount would i be looking at if i worked for skywest

Same question same airline except no wife. Could I buy a ticket for my friend at discounts?

Is there w way to pick up extra flights and get some sort of reward tickets as compensation?

We can get what are called "AA20s" at Envoy (and all AAG WO carriers). It's 20% off any confirmed fare. Even web ones. You just go to AA.com, search a flight you want, make the reservation and "hold" it for 24 hours. You then call the non-rev desk and they can give you the 20% off. Also includes 2 free checked bags/person.

No.

Filler.

No.

Filler.

Some of the mainline carriers will extend this to the regional partner on a limited basis. This would be a question best asked at the interview when they ask if you have any questions for them.

No.

Filler.

At envoy with no wife you are permitted one travel companion. Who would be eligible for AA20.

The best advice is go somewhere that pays you enough to just buy a ticket (at least for family if not yourself too) Flights are way too full to try risking a vacation on several open seats and that gets worse with every flight on the itinerary

Get a credit card for each airline you like to fly on as a passenger. Spend money, collect miles, redeem miles. Profit!

Let me try this again. I understand envoys scenario. I'll be honest I am interested in Envoy. I am also interested in Endeavor. As i previously said I have family in the Philippines and want to know if there are any delta carriers that have good benefits and if so what exactly does that entail.

Flying nonrev is like playing Russian roulette. Flying Nonrev with your family is like putting an extra bullet in the chamber for each family member traveling with you.

He said "friend", not "designated travel companion".

I've flown standby to Manila twice and to Bangkok once within the last year. United to Dubai, then ZED ticket on Emirates to MNL / BKK.
Works also the other way around, United to Hong-Kong, then ZED tickets on Cathay Pacific.

Another option is to ride on supplemental Cargo carriers such as Atlas with a "confirmed" seat.

Listen, with a few exceptions (Envoy being one of them) all the regionals are about the same with regard to travel benefits. TYPICALLY (emphasis on "typically". There are some differences at some carriers and YMMV) it breaks down like this:

• You, your parents and a spouse OR partner can travel on your mainline partner and their regional affiliates, space available and usually at a lower priority than mainline employees and their pass riders.
  
• You, your parents and a spouse OR sometimes a partner are eligible for ZED fares/interline discounts on other airlines, space available.
  
• You, your parents and a spouse OR a partner are eligible for confirmed, positive space/confirmed tickets at a discount (usually 10-20% off the lowest quoted fare for the flight).

Fees for this stuff will vary from carrier to carrier.

No one that I know of gives out free positive space/confirmed tickets for working extra or as a bonus. About the only time you're going to get an employer-provided ticket would be a deadhead to or from an assignment or rarely and only on an extreme case-by-case emergency basis and that usually has to be approved by a higher-up (chief pilot, DO, VP-Flight Ops, etc).

Generally, you can not buy the discounted fares for just anyone. Usually they must be one of your approved pass travelers. Otherwise every regional pilot would be running their own travel agency.

Outside of these guidelines, your other option is your jumpseat privileges, which are hit or miss out side of the States.

I'm not sure about anybody with Delta benefits...maybe endeavour.

Another point to remember about Envoy: Since our travel benefits are mainline benefits we also get priority boarding on all One World airlines. Among the One World airlines are Cathay, Japan, and Qantas. All of whom have a very strong presence in the Pacific region.

How it works for Envoy/AA pilots on other One World airlines is that your priority is below their own employees but ahead of everyone else. So a Delta pilot trying to board Cathay would get bumped by an Envoy pilot who showed up last minute.

Just another thing to keep in mind.

He speaks the truth! Another point to add is that many times the people who travel non-rev as spouses, friends etc do not understand the system or the privilege. So the last thing you need is for someone you designate for travel to have an attitude while traveling. Until those doors shut, they can ask you to deplane if a revenue passenger shows up. It will get back to you and may negatively impact your travel benefits. It is obviously easier when traveling alone and as you add members to the party, it can get dicey at times. For times and places that you absolutely "have to be there" just buy a ticket or leave with plently of options.

United bennies suck......flights are always full, your priority is dog**** and they are pricey. Delta is descent and the price is fair for the whole travel list you supply to your carrier. Plus if there are no upgrades (there almost always is) you get the highest boarding priority.

DH

Just to clarify, an envoy pilot has standby privileges on all of the airlines that are a part of the one world alliance? Is this significantly better than using ZED fares with another regional?

There is no way this guy is for real

If you pump a few kids you can qualify for extra food stamps on that FO pay. Does that help?

Yes, you are ahead of anybody else on ZED fare.

Each carrier has their own names for their stand by list and it can get a little tricky to remember them all. But yes, if you bought a ZED ticket on a oneworld carrier you have a slightly higher boarding priority than an employee of a non-oneworld carrier.

We travel on BA as much as we can because of that fact as well as because their service onboard is excellent even in coach and if you go through London, you can basically get anywhere in Europe on BA. Plus their ZED tickets are considered "Low" so it is a slightly cheaper ticket (all oneworld carriers are considered "low").

Side note: Many carriers have a different way to call what we call "non-rev" travel. For instance, one time flying on swiss air we went to check in. We said we were checking in as ZED passengers. They were greatly confused. After looking us up they said "Oh, you are rebate travelers. Okay. Here is your boarding card." Lesson learned, we go fly on BA. "Hi, we are checking in as rebate travelers." They looked confused. After looking us up "Oh, you are staff travel. Okay. Here is your boarding card." Other carriers call it sub-load, space available, etc etc.

Thanks for the clarification guys. I think I may have confused myself bringing up the ZED fares. Forgive my ignorance on this but I'm not exactly sure how to articulate what I'm asking really. As an envoy pilot can you non-rev on any member of the one world alliance without a ZED fare? Are you able to non-rev with them just like your own airline for free(other than taxes) or are some form of passes required? The way I read it is that a wholly-owned pilot still has to buy a ZED on a one world alliance airline and that the main difference on an airline other than your own is the priority of boarding. Is that correct?

Envoy benefits will be the same as AA's
Endeavor will have the same zed benefits as DL, but they will have a lower priority on DL metal than DL employees, but still higher than other regional carriers, EV, YX, ect...

with regards to ZED benefits, those benefits tend to be better at the independent regionas EV, YX, YV...because they operate for more than one carrier.

I've been reading that non-revving on United domestically sucks. How about internationally?

My pass riders and I have been extraordinarily lucky. There has been an issue only once in ORD. Of course, he was also trying to go to a spring break destination during spring break on a weekend. Domestic can be a challenge for sure especially in ORD.

I'll keep it simple, Envoy, Piedmont, PSA have the best travel benefits. Everyone else is in the same boat. Get on with those three, or it doesn't matter.

Can you list for business class on a ZED ticket?

I've got to say, I never thought it would be that easy to travel with my flight benefits because I always heard the stories from friends... But working at a wholly owned is nice if you like to travel. Having priority is nice.

Not as an AA carrier. We do not have J/C ZED agreements with other carriers so we can not even buy a business class ZED - only Y. Other carriers have ZED agreements with other airlines that allow F/J/C ZED tickets. I think if a carrier has W ("Main Cabin Extra" type or "Premium Economy") you can be put in there with a Y inventory listing.

Otherwise a Y listing ZED you can only sit in Y - even if J/C is open.

I was 56th on UA LHR-IAH and #1 on US LHR-PHL

depends on the carrier
EV had business on LOT Polish
UA has business on all Lufthansa carriers
YV has business on no one
DL has business on no one

that's all I know. I am interested in hearing about this from an AA wholly owned standpoint.




FTR: non AA wholly owns, YV, OO, EV, YX do not get premium cabin space on AA after Oct. 16.