Standby travel

[Hufty]

I wasn't sure where to post this but at my company the cabin crew know far more about travel on standby tickets than anybody else so here goes....!

I plan to travel from EDI - LAX via LHR. I understand that if I buy the most expensive of the standbys available (BA usually, so I am told) I can get it endorsed so I can use it with the other carriers on that route. In this case, it is BMI and BA on the way to LHR and BA, AA, UA and VS on the way to LAX.
So then, when I get my ticket, do I have to go to the BMI desk at EDI to get it endorsed and then when (if) I get to LHR, do I have to do the same with AA, UA and VS? Do you know if I can do this in advance in case I'm in a hurry when I get down there?

Do you know if that endorsement will be valid for the return trip too and if I travel (say) with BA to LAX, can I travel with somebody else on the way back?

Sorry if these seem like basic questions - I'm a standby virgin :eek: and want to avoid getting myself into a mess before I start!

Thanks....

[pinkus]

Why don't you just get a zed ticket that covers all alliance carriers on that route? A little more expensive but advisable especially given that your journey has more than one sector.

[Hufty]

I don't know what a zed ticket is :confused:

I will do some research and try to find out though. I have heard about ID90s too but I'm not really sure what they are either! As I say, I don't use staff travel at all and at my place they are only accessible by email so you can't have long discussions with them.

[agent x]

Yes, ZED tickets do cover the majority of airlines, however they may still require the ticket to be endorsed. Say the ticket is closed to BD and you want to use it on BA, BA may still require the ticket to be endorsed before they accept it. This is only because BA set their own standby fare levels as ID90 tickets which are more expensive than ZED tickets, even with an endorsement it is up to the BA ticket desk if they will accept them or not for this very reason. BD would have no problem accepting the ticket closed to BA without endorsement because the BA sby fare is higher. Take note though...just because the ticket is endorsed does not mean that any airline operating that route will accept it, this especially applies to your LHR-LAX-LHR flights. It may be worth checking with each one if they would accept a sby ticket that is endorsed before you travel. Otherwise you may need to buy individual standby tickets for each airline in advance before you travel. Just ask your staff travel to put VALID ZED CARRIERS in the endorsement line on the ticket (which im sure they will do any way! I always make sure I put that in when im issuing staff tickets) and ask the nearest ticket desk of your own airline that issued the ticket to pop an endorsement stamp on the ticket for you. It can be a complicated business eh!?

PM me if theres anything else you need to know..or if ive confused you entirely..i can ramble on sometimes!

Hope this helped!

AXx