ZED'ing in Europe

**DashTrash** · 20-Mar-2006, 07:10 PM

Hi all! Brand new to the forum, although I've lurked for a while.

My wife and I are going on a 2 week trip to Switzerland in the middle of July. Yes, I know that's the very worst time to go, but it's the only time my wife and I could get vacation at the same time. So the plan is to give ourselves a few days to get to ZRH, buy a crapload of passes (they're refundable, might as well...), and fly out of whichever US city has the most semi-open flights. However, this is my first time going transatlantic using ZED, so I have a few questions.

In a perfect world, I could buy one zone seven ZED pass for PDX-FRA on Lufthansa, and if the PDX-FRA flight wasn't looking good I could try SFO-FRA or LAX-FRA (both zone 7 routes) or even JFK-FRA (zone 5). In this perfect world, I could also use this ZED pass on LAX-ZRH on Swiss or LAX-LHR on AA, since they're medium-fare ZED carriers.

According to our pass bureau person, ZED is supposed to eventually function this way, but it's not there yet, with various airlines allowing various degrees of flexibility. My question is this: for which carriers is my "perfect world" scenario valid? Which airlines would accept a PDX-FRA pass when flying out of an airport other than PDX? Which would accept a ZED pass that had another carrier's code on it?

I suspect there is no definitive answer, but if anybody knows how their airline handles this, I'd appreciate the info. For that matter, I'd like to hear your own experience using ZED to get across the pond.

Vielen danke!

**DashTrash** · 20-Mar-2006, 07:35 PM

To be specific, carriers I'm looking at include AA, BA, KL, VS, LH, and LX (Virgin, Lufthansa, Swiss) although *any* ZED carrier that goes between the US & Europe is a possiblity.

**frapos** · 21-Mar-2006, 01:40 AM

Hi
I'd be careful with basing your choice of carrier and route solely on the ZED principle as its a concept that isn't as entrenched among European carriers as it is with N. American airlines. Speaking for LH, they'd also accept a ticket issued for PDX-FRA on the SFO or LAX to FRA route as theses cities are all on the west coast, so the ID ticket fares are all the same. Your best bet may be to have back up tickets for each alternative with the respective carrier endorsed on the ticket. Nonetheless as you're flying out of the USA, those European carriers, or moreso their staff, may be more in tune with the whole ZED process.

**osflyer** · 21-Mar-2006, 05:29 PM

i would say your perfect world plan should work. as long as its all within the same mileage zone and the same zonalfareagreement it should be fine to go with an pdx-fra on an sfo-fra or sfo-lhr

**DashTrash** · 22-Mar-2006, 10:40 AM

Thanks both for the replies. Frapos, I actually am looking at carriers other than ZED, ie Northwest, Continental, etc. However, at my airline you can buy these passes on the spot, wheras you need to apply for ZED passes a week or two in advance, which is why I'm interested in figuring out in advance how ZED works in the "real world."

It sounds like both of you agree that different airports within the same mileage zone is OK. That's good to know. I guess the question that there's likely to be the most confusion on is whether I can fly LAX-LHR on BA or Virgin when I have a ZED ticket for LAX-LHR on AA. It sounds like OSflyer is saying "yes," but it'll all depend on how each airline's ticketing staff interpreted it.

Anybody else had experience with this?

**BRITSKI99** · 23-Mar-2006, 02:56 AM

When BA issue ZED tickets specifying a primary carrier they are additionally endorsed with a comment saying which other ZED carriers the ticket ( fare ) is valid on. Perhaps you should contact your Staff Travel bureau and see if they will also do this or something similar.

**Igna** · 23-Mar-2006, 03:54 AM

As Paul said, my airline (CO) would print on the ticket:

For example: LHR-CDG Valid on AF/BA/BD

**DashTrash** · 24-Mar-2006, 04:44 PM

I just talked to our pass bureau lady, and she was able to give me a little more definite of an answer than last time. If the routing is the same, different carriers WILL accept any ZED pass, ie LAX-LHR is good on BA, VS, and AA. Different routings are where it gets sticky. From the sound of it, though, LH allows different routings within the same fare zone, ie PDX-FRA and SFO-FRA.

**DashTrash** · 25-Mar-2006, 09:50 AM

Paul, I have two BA-specific questions, if you don't mind.

-Does BA apply the £30/segment fuel surcharge to nonrevs/ZED?
-In your experience, is BA a stickler about routing for nonrevs? IE, if I get a ZED pass LAX-LHR (Zone 7), would it be possible to use it on SEA-LHR (Zone 6)?

Much thanks! -Sam

**BRITSKI99** · 31-Mar-2006, 05:54 PM

Sam,
BA does not charge its own staff the fuel surcharge but I guess you'd need to check with a non-BA member herein to see if they got charged it or not on any interline BA tickets.
Normally BA would accept a ZM7 for a ZM6 route however it often depends nowadays if the handling is done by genuine BA staff or handling agents / other carrier staff who are less flexible.

Thread: ZED'ing in Europe

LinkBack

Thread Tools

Display

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions