Staff travel
Heavily discounted, usually standby, flights for airline employees and their families on their own airline and partner carriers.
Definition
Staff travel is the concessional flight benefit airlines give employees: tickets on their own network for a fraction of the fare or just taxes, plus discounted travel on other airlines through interline and ZED agreements. Almost all of it is space-available — you board only if seats remain after every paying passenger — with priority decided by a loading order that ranks employee categories, seniority and fare type. US crew call it non-rev.
What it means for you
It is the benefit that makes commuting possible and holidays cheap, and it is also a privilege that can be withdrawn: dress-code breaches, selling passes or arguing with gate agents have ended it for people. Its real value depends on the airline's agreement list — a flag carrier's reach covers the planet, a small low-cost carrier's may cover only its own network.
In practice
Emirates crew get concessional travel on the airline plus ID90 tickets on interline partners; British Airways crew use standby staff travel to commute from cheaper UK cities to Heathrow.
Go deeper
Related terms
4 terms- ID90Pay & benefitsAn industry discount ticket at 90% off the full published fare, the classic standby staff fare on your own or another airline.
- Buddy passPay & benefitsA discounted standby ticket airline staff can give to friends or family, flown space-available and under the employee's name.
- JumpseatPay & benefitsThe fold-down crew seat at each door or on the flight deck; as a benefit, the right to ride it free when commuting or travelling.
- CommutingRoster & schedulingLiving somewhere other than your base city and flying in on staff travel before each trip, common at US and European carriers.