When travelling on Staff Travel (EK)

[jack schidt]

I am getting pretty fed up with the way that we as staff are treated by our colleagues (particualrly cabin crew) when on staff travel. If it be ALT and especially standby, the onboard attitude displayed towards staff by the crew is completely unacceptable.

There is a definite display of lack of respect for the staff member as if they are just cheap baggage who do not need to be shown any courtesy, respect or manners (CRM is taught is it not). The ignorance and defined attempt to not "serve" or pay attention to travelling staff is beyond belief. When a staff member is onboard, like other airlines, treat them as best they can as it is the staffs moment of happiness (going out of Dubai) or on return that mean to help them to appreciate that moment. I am nothing less than shocked as to how bad it "generally" is in ALL cabins!

Now, the staff travel counter in the terminal is not the best place to be and being told to go on standby for an hour and a half when there are ore than 100 seats free on the ticketed flight is a complete joke!!

Rant over but this is unacceptable....

J

[Trader]

I find the staff travel desk can be good or bad.

However, I find that when I travel on a staff ticket I always get treated well. Worst case I am treated as another pax! Very often the CC (or purser) will come up and ask which fleet I am on and remind me to ask them if there is anything I need!

[Nikita81]

I have to say that I have completely different experiences.

Besides the time (obvious nepotism :}) when I got a whole bag of presents from an unknown purser and her crew (she was of Serbian nationality and had the same name as I do, but never came to meet me. Her crew loved her, obviously), whenever I was travelling, crew paid special attention on me, whether by bringing me presents (chocolate, water, socks, toothpaste and brush), or by giving me a fast track voucher or by speaking with me and giving me complimentary things.

There was even one grumpy guy once, crew, who helped me put my bag up and he was reluctant to help other passengers (he didn't know I was staff at that time and he was clearly fed up with everything). He continued to behave in the same manner during the flight.

I never asked for anything during my flights. I didn't behave spoiled or ask for additional things and I always tried to ease their job in any way I could.

Regarding staff travel, as I was once working there - staff travel employees are not guilty for putting you on standby even if there are hundreds of seats available: it's a company rule. Check in staff can check you in, but system automatically puts you on sb. Flight departure control staff are the only ones who can on-load you.

There is one thing though: sometimes you don't get a seat even if half of the flight is available (economy class) as they (flight departure) lift pay load restrictions (flight gets additional cargo), so there is no room for additional passengers (staff). Happened to me with the flight to Rio (half of the flight was empty), and almost happened with the flight back from Nairobi (they lifted restrictions, but had the courtesy (?) to on-load staff).

[Panther 88]

Sorry Jack, can't agree with you on this one. Staff at the travel desk in DXB have always been accommodating. They don't have control over the timing on when we get cleared. It's the unknown voice at the other end of the phone.

When on the aircraft, I sometimes feel I am being treated better than the other pax. Compared with other airlines I've been with, the treatment I get is just plain superb.

[Hobo]

I I travel a lot on EK, as a BA staff traveller. Across the Tasman...BNE/SYD/MEL to AKL, but mainly one way PTH-DXB. Never make myself known to the CC, and have always been treated as a normal punter, with courtesy. Always been checked in with no bother at PTH. No probs or complaints. Haven't used EK ex DXB).

[777-200LR]

I have to agree with everyone here. I've always been treated very well and at the very least; a regular passenger. I have never made myself known during boarding, later on they come up and ask what department I work for and find out that way. As long as you don't go looking for attention, they will sometimes go out of their way for you

[highflyer40]

May not be the case so I apologise if I'm wrong, but by the tone of the initial post I think it may be more to do with his attitude of "don't you know who I am" (pilot) that just gets people's backs up.

[glofish]

Disagree completely.
Ground staff are nice and CC very nice!

(maybe schidt in, schidt out ...... sorry jack, couldn't resist!) ;)

[lospilotos]

Completely the opposite. As far as practical I always introduce myself to the purser, SFS in my cabin and the cabin crew working my side. I always get superb attention after doing so...

[Sheikh Your Bootie]

I must say Habibis, my experience on EK staff travel flights, has been nothing but very good, especially of late.
Yes the EK staff check in counter area is crap, and akin to a cow shed at times, but it is what it is. However, recently when the loads have been lighter, I have noticed being issued a seat when doing the online check in. No need to use the cow shed in DXB in that case!
Onboard, the staff have always in my experience been very nice, they know who I am as it says Capt on my boarding pass.. Colleagues onboard have always been polite and courteous to me at EK and me the same towards them.

You seem to be in the minority Jack??

SyB :=:=

[givemewings]

Generally speaking, there are a minority who seem to have missed the 'staff passengers must not detract from the level of service being given to full fare pax' memo.


Asking for the 12th cappuccino when the crew are flat chat serving the main meals is not the way to endear yourself to the ones serving you that day.

By all means ask for what you like but don't take the p!ss...

Example: wife of staff traveller (department not mentioned to protect the guilty) tugging on the skirt of a CC, who was talking to another pax at the time to take a meal order, to demand her children be given meals from the main menu when they had SPML ordered.

CC to their credit politely informed her they were taking a meal order and would be with her shortly. Staff waited about 20 seconds before repeating the action and CC then nicely said she would need to finish taking the orders as the flight was full and return after to let her know what was available. Staff then pulled a nasty face and loudly said "Give me steak I don't care about them". Lovely!

With people like that ruining it for the rest of you no wonder some of the CC are over dealing with it.

I've noticed the staff pax who beings with 'No rush, but when you get a minute....' seems to get whatever they requested in a timely manner. The ones behaving like the above... well... they do get it eventually....

Personally I get on, I sit down and I stick to myself. If they want to fawn over me, that's their choice. If they're busy, and I need something, I go to the galley and get it myself. I bring my own snacks and water and if something is wrong with my seat I let them know so they can put it in the book.

You almost always get what you give, I find...

[Gulf News]

You almost always get what you give, I find...

Quite right. There are many people in this part of the world too filled with their own self importance. My experience is the exact opposite of Dear Jacks. I treat everyone with respect and courtesy, demand nothing and try to help out whenever requested (ie change seat). I guess that I am just easy to please but in 18 years I have never had an issue with either ground staff or onboard crew tegarding staff travel.

The check in staff are overworked, underpaid and demotivated as with most EK staff. They are the just the public face of the crap policies, rules and facilities imposed from higher up. They have no authority to deviate from procedure and like us risk their jobs if they do so. Have a little empathy for them and you might just brighten up their otherwise monotonous and tiring day/night.

Jack, if you have a genuine grievance then there is a formal procedure to follow in the staff travel manual. If your issues are just a hissy fit at something inconsequential then be prepared to be told to go take a hike.

[Fack5]

Hold on a moment, GN, the HR manual says staff may be treated the same as regular pax and they are quite entitled to the service. Sad to see Jack being encouraged to report a colleague, there's more than enough of that garbage taking place as it is.

I've always found the check-in staff to be just fine and a few have gone well out of their way to help out but over the years there's definitely been the odd cabin crew member (now and then) with a chip who dishes out attitude no matter how polite the staff pax. Not many at all but enough to be noticed. It also happens to other cabin crew. Too many stories of CC sticking it to each other in the economy cabin for them to be "one-offs." Bad apples in every lot it seems.

As for me I still get the occasional "duty free" bag of bottled goodies when disembarking because I treat the crew the way I'd like to be treated and they dig it.

GMWs, your er, um.. how do I put it.... "dislike" of pilots' wives has been noticed in the past. Letting one or two isolated cases color your outlook, perhaps? Certainly not sour grapes......

[givemewings]

GMWs, your er, um.. how do I put it.... "dislike" of pilots' wives
I never said she was a pilot's wife... just the wife of a staff member.

in my observation, the women seem to have that bit more of a capacity for drama than the guys... certainly doesn't mean the men don't throw the occasional hissy fit but majority of problems I've seen unfortunately seem o stem from the Mrs of the staff traveller, not the traveller themselves...

(And before you all jump on me, I'm also a woman so I'm speaking from the p.o.v. of the 'fairer sex'. Yes, we are very capable of drama when we want to be)

I had actually considered mentioning in my last post how the flight deck wives particularly of late have been good on staff tickets... no fussing, appreciative of everything, nice to the female staff (some in the past seem to have gone out of their way to be 'difficult' but not to the male staff on same flight) :E

Perhaps a new generation who realise that staff travel is a nice perk and don't want to ruin it for anyone else? I didn't include that because I didn't want to stir up a debate but since you mentioned it... ;)

[Fack5]

Yes it could well be that all the hags have left and all the new wives are well-behaved. It's everyone else!
Or it could be your own perception is changing with age, experience, outlook......... imagination.

[nakbin330]

I/we have always been treated exceptionally well, without exception.

We are however, quiet and undemanding ...

[White Knight]

Staff travel has always been top notch... Even have First Class boarding pass awaiting my arrival at check-in at certain stations - followed by excellent service on board. My wife gets the same great service too...

[Nikita81]

in my observation, the women seem to have that bit more of a capacity for drama

in my observation, we don't. :)

[givemewings]

No, not imagination. In general staff (this includes CC, btw) behaving much better than they used to, or maybe I just stopped giving a crap when one acts like a jerk... ;)

As I said, behaviour as I described is not down to imagination, it was pure bad behaviour. I wouldn't poke *anyone* in a service position, let alone someone who is supposed to be my colleague.

If someone (staff or pax) is being difficult I just tell myself they must have a crap life off the plane so take it out on everyone else when they travel. (they like having 'servants' to boss around I guess) I do the required for them and spend my extra attention on the ones who act like decent human beings (i.e. the other 98%)

of course you get the bad apples in any place (airport, on board, on the phone, etc) but majority seem to do fine. Out of all the times I've travelled I've had issues maybe once or twice, one of those was a new staff in the check in who wasn't aware of a procedure. I nicely informed them of the policy, asked him to check, staff came back, apologised and rectified the issue, I thanked him, no problems or attitude on either side.

Seems perhaps Jack is just unlucky or...

(FYI yes staff should be treated just like any other pax... that also means there shouldn't be any over the top special treatment either, like getting items from other cabins, saving rows of seats or such. Yes we want to look after our colleagues but it shouldn't be at the expense of full fare pax or causing resentment from pax to staff because of perceived 'special treatment')

[givemewings]

Forgive me if I did chuckle a bit at that, Nikita. Perhaps I should say 'reacting emotionally' rather than drama. Whenever I've been screamed at by a pax, it's always been a woman, never a man.

[Capt Groper]

What about EK MEL staff, has anybody had a less than pleasurable experience. I. E. Flight has many unbooked seats, even 20 ton under load however told that there may be a payload restriction. At ETD - 1:30 FABs said that the 1 staff on standby accepted. Therefore EK DXB yield management have decided that there isn't a possibility of 20 last minute passengers nor 20T of last minute cargo. Approach the EK counter to politely ask if boarding pass had been issued, one EK staff in a rather turse voice said stand away from the counter, then another polite gentleman said oh yes here is your boarding pass.

[Emma Royds]

I would dare to say that very very few cabin crew resent us when we are on staff travel. On the days when the service is not as good as it should be, give your colleague the benefit of the doubt, as they are probably working their way through a ridiculous roster or perhaps can't get the leave that they want.

Whilst I have used staff travel on EK flights in J, some journeys have been excellent and some are at the other end of the spectrum and have been embarrassing. We can all have bad days at work but when you are looked after well, make a point to let your colleague know that it's appreciated. There are a couple of examples that spring to my mind when the service was light years ahead of what you normally see at EK and I have sent a quick company email to thank them afterwards.

If I am in J class and I choose to eat then I will always throw in a caveat that I am happy with anything on the menu, which is normally a bit of an ice breaker if someone seems to be having a bad day at work!!!

[MrMachfivepointfive]

Just checked my history on Trips. 400 sectors on staff travel. Downgraded? 4 times. Offloaded? Once. Best stations? In order of memory: BKK, HAM, FRA, ZRH, BOS, KUL, SIN, PRG. Bad stations: MUC, CDG, TUN, SYD, MEL, NBO. Worst station of all times ever: AKL.
Runner up: Still AKL.

Never had an issue with the colleagues on board ever. Quite the opposite.

[SOPS]

I always found nothing but excellence in my time using EK staff travel.:ok:

[Faaris]

I'm not management or crew, I'm in Airport Operations and as many of us, I have flown a couple of times on staff travel, everything was ok every time. Even though sometimes the flight was light (50+ available seats) I still waited but I didnt find that stressfull/frustrating/irritating at all.
The ground staff were always helpful and polite. Not only in DXB but also in other airports (I remember PER especially a couple of days ago)
As for the cabin crew, everytime they asked me if I need anything and they were all the time smiling at me. Its a a hard job, which impacts greatly your mind and body. Sometimes maybe they are not happy-happy joy joy, but to put them all in the same pot its just not fare.


Cheers

[burkster]

I have had no issues while travelling on staff travel either. Especially now with online standby check-in and all that, most of the time you won't have the need to visit the staff travel "shed" and staring at screen waiting for the green signal like an F1 driver.

There was even a time when I got a free upgrade to J class at COK, even though I was travelling on a Firm Y class ticket. And I work at a lower grade that never gets to travel J/F class.

[VLS with ice]

Never, ever had any negative experience with crew when travelling as pax.

However, I have had paxing colleagues on board (only a few) who were behaving like absolute pricks. Very embarrassing. Don't expect the "nice" treatment if you are being a **** yourself.

[Mr Boombastick]

Just a quick question regarding staff travel...

If you buy an economy id50 and are traveling with kids under 13 can you expect to be bumped up if there's space or do they stand by the rule?

The staff travel is one of the biggest reasons for applying so want to make sure I'm not going to spend the 10 years waiting for an upgrade stuck in economy!

Many thanks

[General Dogsbody]

Mr Boombastick

When travelling on any Concession ticket booked in Economy you will not be upgraded to any higher class of travel regardless of your status or children's age. The policy is NOT to upgrade staff, if the cabin is full Revenue Pax will be upgraded but never staff.. That is the policy.

Also they will not upgrade revenue Pax to accommodate Staff Pax on ID90 tickets.

Certain Staff groups can book tickets in the premium cabins, but they have there own rules, and you seem to know that as an FO one cannot book tickets for your children in J class until they turn 13.

These are the policy's, possibly on one very rare occasion an upgrade might have happened, but the system will catch up with the errant station and re-clarify the policy

[Nikita81]

The policy is NOT to upgrade staff, if the cabin is full Revenue Pax will be upgraded but never staff.. That is the policy.

True.

Also they will not upgrade revenue Pax to accommodate Staff Pax on ID90 tickets.

Not true.

[Mr Boombastick]

Thanks for the responses.

Can you travel in J on an id90 with the kids?

[General Dogsbody]

I will have to defer to Nikita about the upgrading of revenue pax to get staff on, however there are plenty of occasions where staff have been left behind even though there were seats in the premium cabin.

Yes an FO can travel on ID90 tickets with the Kids in J as long as they are over 13, the rules change for Captains.

Staff travel is good with EK, however the tickets have become quite a bit more expensive and you must bear in mind that very many flights operate at very high load factors and your chances can be very slim.

If staff travel is the deciding factor on whether to apply or not may I suggest you re-evaluate what is written on these threads and elsewhere about a Career in EK.

It is rare that staff travel is a point of complaint, but there are plenty of other issues which you should try and think about before you join.

[GoreTex]

are they still charging a fuel surcharge? it is on my DEWA bill!

[Nikita81]

however there are plenty of occasions where staff have been left behind even though there were seats in the premium cabin.


Well, first time I hear this, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Flight departure control should on-load everyone by priority (seniority) until there are available seats in every class, unless payload restrictions are lifted.

[burkster]

Revenue passengers get upgraded to accommodate for ID90 staff in Y. In DXB, this is automatically done by the system, which is why at exactly 60 minutes before departure, we know whether we are flying or not. I have tested this by constantly refreshing FABS at 61- and 60-.

Unfortunately this only happens at DXB, where the system chooses automatically exactly based on the priority rule in the staff travel manual.

In the outstations, the check-in agents and supervisors are supposed to follow the same rule of priority manually, but it doesn't happen all the time, unfortunately.