Wesjet / Standby / Zed Fares

[jeollanamdo]

WestJet/Standy and the ZED Fare Program

WestJet has really grown in the area of Employee Standby. With more than 50 signed employee-interline agreements, we as employees now have various options to choose from in traveling internationally. Some agreements are much better than others; however we can say we have many options to choose from.

My only concern with these agreements stems from the administration and process required to apply for them. Some require you to request a pass 3-weeks in advance, then you receive and authorization that requires you to go the Airlines Ticket Office, sometimes in a different city than where you are currently located… After all is said and done, it is a lot of work for a Standby ticket…

In my previous place of employment, we were members of the ZED Fare program. For those of you who don’t know what this is, it is a forum of Airlines of have agreed on a standard scheme of pricing, ticketing, and general rules for Standby travel. Just being a member of ZED does not mean that you can fly everyone, as with all employee-interlines you must have an Employee Interline Agreement in place (of which WestJet has over 50). So once you join ZED, you approach the airlines you currently have agreements with and you then workout a ZED agreement.

What is the benefit to this extra work? First off, standardized pricing. If you look at our current pricing for KLM or JET Airways you will see they charge zonal pricing. You find out how far you are going… the approx mileage, and wazam you have your fare… no more calculations. For example on an ID90 you take 10% of the higest economy fare. So from Vancouver to Tokyo the

Instead of applying for this weeks in advance, you simply would go to a WestJet ticket counter and request a ZED Pass and the agent would book it for you, you pay the agent for the pass (including taxes) and list yourself on the flt you want by using a ZED Website. Once that is done, you walk up to the ticket counter of whatever Airline you are flying, give them your listing ID, and hand them the pass… All done? Not quite… Lets say you decided to fly from Atlanta to Amsterdam. These two city pairs are served by KLM and Delta Airlines, of which we both have employee travel privileges with. Now lets say that we listed with KLM first, however at the gate we find out they have no space! Oh no, all is lost you say? Not quite! With that nifty ZED Pass you got earlier from you WestJet ticket agent prior to starting your trip, you can go to Delta (hypothetically saying we have Zed Agreements with both) and list with them and your off as long as they have space! With a ZED Pass you can travel from A to B using any Airline that flies between those two points (must be same routing), as long as you have a ZED agreement with them….

So my question is, why is WestJet not a member of the ZED Fare program. Canadian North and First Air are even part of the ZED loop. There are so many benefits to make Employee travel easier, accessible, and administratively cost effective. Our current system of Employee Interlines is rather time consuming and antiquated (and by no means am I being negative towards our pass office). Some of our agreements are also expensive in terms of standby. Who would pay $750.00 to travel from YYC to LHR when you can get a confirmed seat for a couple hundred more. Zed Fares would be fantastic here at WestJet...

Does anyone else have experiences with ZED Fares prior to WestJet?

[stickontheice]

I was just talking to a woman in that department and she said to me, "Stay tuned". Apparently there's some good things coming down the road in the not so distance future.

[ravensrule]

That's exciting news. Going through the destination desk is a process and if we have to make any changes during our trip, we are suppose to go thru them..

[jeollanamdo]

Will be great to see the new things on the way... The Destination desk currently does a great job, however the timeframes and processes are not always realistic.