Nonrev Correspondent - ZED Travel

Hello everyone!

I am pleased to now be the official correspondent to this forum on ZED travel issues ... yeah me! I have worked for American for almost a quarter of a century (wow that makes me feel old) in various areas. I have been privileged, thanks to the awesome perks we get as airline employees, to have traveled all over this wonderful world of ours (missing only one continent) on AA and various ZED partners. That does not make me an expert on the subject, by any means, I'll have to call on some of my experience on the job to provide you with information on the subject.

I'm happy to answer almost any questions you might have about ZED, how it works, what it is, why it is, etc. In fact, I wrote an article on the subject, see link below, which I hope you find useful.

What is ZED

Happy ZED Travels!

Welcome aboard.

great article and thnx.

If a Non rev guest violates prior to me listing him, am I liable for his / her screw ups although he is in my guest list ?

If non rev asks me to cancel his standby listing on AA and I cancel a few hours later in the meantime he / she contacts AA to purchase a full fare ticket...is that a Violation and do I get into trouble ??

If yes, what is the length of suspension as it does not state on the trip book and who determins this...base manager or HR ?

Thanks

FAAAA

FAAA - check PM

Hi! I just have to add this because I had to laugh when I was reading the 'What is ZED' article and got down to the very last line regarding 'What you might expect from the ZED carrier: to be accommodated in a higher class.'

I recently purchased and flew DL JFK PSA (only OW as the return ended up being So FULL!!!) The outbound, however was WIDE OPEN - Business AND Coach! Apparently, my husband and I were the ONLY standbys on the entire flight. The agent put us in coach. (?) I asked her if business class was available as that is what we had listed for, and she proceeded to lecture me on what AA's agreement was with DL and carefully had to point out to me how my ticket read 'COACH' - :-) (I am a retired 26 year plus with RES and TKT background, thankyouverymuch)

We were delighted to be onboard - had a wonderful time in Italy - (of course, never saw F on any AA segments (2 each to get to JFK, D1 priority to boot - even ended up having to take a train to FCO and took 2 more days to get out of there!)
What really surprised me the most I suppose, is the DL agent in NY took it upon herself to change our meal-listing from Business to Coach on our return trip. Now that, I thought, was going a little over the line. (Doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things as it is a moot point; just enough to get my silly goat! :-)

My big lesson in all of this is to remember to read the FINE print: 'MIGHT' being the operative word - AND - AT THE OTHER CARRIER'S DISCRETION. At least now I know not to ever have HIGH expectations and I won't be so disappointed! I still love DL, though, and even in coach, the trip was great!

I still think, however, that ZED tickets are more expensive than the old ID90's.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ohmiss

Hi! I just have to add this because I had to laugh when I was reading the 'What is ZED' article and got down to the very last line regarding 'What you might expect from the ZED carrier: to be accommodated in a higher class.'

I recently purchased and flew DL JFK PSA (only OW as the return ended up being So FULL!!!) The outbound, however was WIDE OPEN - Business AND Coach! Apparently, my husband and I were the ONLY standbys on the entire flight. The agent put us in coach. (?) I asked her if business class was available as that is what we had listed for, and she proceeded to lecture me on what AA's agreement was with DL and carefully had to point out to me how my ticket read 'COACH' - :-) (I am a retired 26 year plus with RES and TKT background, thankyouverymuch)

We were delighted to be onboard - had a wonderful time in Italy - (of course, never saw F on any AA segments (2 each to get to JFK, D1 priority to boot - even ended up having to take a train to FCO and took 2 more days to get out of there!)
What really surprised me the most I suppose, is the DL agent in NY took it upon herself to change our meal-listing from Business to Coach on our return trip. Now that, I thought, was going a little over the line. (Doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things as it is a moot point; just enough to get my silly goat! :-)

My big lesson in all of this is to remember to read the FINE print: 'MIGHT' being the operative word - AND - AT THE OTHER CARRIER'S DISCRETION. At least now I know not to ever have HIGH expectations and I won't be so disappointed! I still love DL, though, and even in coach, the trip was great!

I still think, however, that ZED tickets are more expensive than the old ID90's.

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I don't understand your continued complaints about expectations of upgrading on your trip on DL to Italy. If you want the written policy about your privileges and rights as OAL standby on DL, I will be happy to send them in a PM. I'm sorry you misunderstood and aazed's statement was not indicative of DL policy. I have no idea why you had a meal listing for business class since your ticket was correctly marked as coach. You keep saying it's "moot", but apparently not.?

I'm sure DL will be pleased to host you in their prescribed manner. I can only hope that any OAL will host us as welcoming, and to their specifications and policies, considering the minute amount we pay for that privilege.

Our next zed will be for Plan B coach for 8 hours on Ek from JNB/DXB, if we don't get DL metal--we have no expectations considering our fare wil be $110 OW /pax. BTW--the similar fare on an ID tkt would be approx $400. I think I like zed a bunch! Until the merger, we had very few options for zeds--this is HEAVEN to us.
Cheers!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ohmiss

I still think, however, that ZED tickets are more expensive than the old ID90's.

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Cannot agree with that comment..ZED are cheaper 99% of the time and can be used on OAL without any endorsements. Much. Much better.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ohmiss

My big lesson in all of this is to remember to read the FINE print: 'MIGHT' being the operative word - AND - AT THE OTHER CARRIER'S DISCRETION. At least now I know not to ever have HIGH expectations and I won't be so disappointed! I still love DL, though, and even in coach, the trip was great!

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You are absolutely right, MIGHT is the operative word. Since most airlines exchange ZED travel in economy class only (AA agreements are definitely only Y class) an upgrade should be a pleasant surprise. I, personally, don't even ask as I think it puts the OAL agent in an uncomfortable position. Some don't want to be rude to an another airline employee but may simply not have a choice in the matter. I am personally aware of a couple of airlines that will reprimand their agents if they find a traveler accommodated in a cabin to which he is not eligible for travel.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ohmiss

I still think, however, that ZED tickets are more expensive than the old ID90's.

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Definitely not in most cases. Even ZED high is lower than ID90, especially on point-to-point pricing. There is a possibility of finding a lower ID90 on a through itinerary, but most often not.

It appears that some nonrev travellers think they can use the rules and conditions that apply to travel on their own carrier in the same way when travelling on other carriers. Different the rules and conditions exist when travelling on other carriers using ZED or other reciprocal travel agreements.
Whether this is their ignorance or arrogance I leave for you to decide !!!

THIS THREAD IS CLOSED TO ADDTIONAL POSTING!

ID90 is most definitely more expensive.
The last ID90 I purchased was a MIA-CPT-MIA on SA and it was just under $400.
I don't have the fares in front of me but am thinking that the same routing on ZED would not be more than $200.

too bad I only get ID90 on DL with SkyWest, even though OO services DL flights, but I don't work with them personally so I don't get such great deals :(

I've done DL JFK-NCE as an OA (when we were Northwest) more times than I can count, and have been upgraded many times and ALWAYS found the JFK DL staff super!


Thread Closed!