ZED with United
 

Hello All,

Has anyone used EK ZED with United??...if so how do you list and if a flight is missed, relist....thanks...anudder

I didn't think united was on the list. I've tried before to no avail. I've used American and delta, but unsuccessful with united.

Be careful! Most of the US airlines operate at 90%+ load factors and with a staff of 50,000+ there are always a handful of employees trying to travel on any given flight. With a ZED ticket you are the last to board. I've spoken with EK crew that were stuck for 2-3 days in places like JFK/LAX.

Might be a better deal to just buy a ticket. Virgin America, Allegiant, Spirit, Us Airways, Alaska, Jet Blue, and SWA sometimes have good deals on certain city pairs.

United isn't an issue, it's on the list along with listing instructions. Just allow a few days for EK to issue the Zed ticket and ensure you list properly and have enough time at the airport in case listing doesn't work properly. I had a few issues and United's world class customer service agent (not) in IAD almost didn't let me fly saying she isn't there to help out other airline staff!

Anyway be careful with the loads as others have said, the listing tool will give a smiley face and even then, you can check the seat plan on united.com and also see how many of their staff have listed via their website nearer the time. One of my flights had 7 UAL staff but thankfully we got on.

I'm a furloughed UAL pilot, and I get to use my seniority to list as an employee of UAL (14 years) and we still get bumped regularly. Most of the time we have to resort to Kuwait flights just to get out. The loads look fine, but until it gets cooler, they weight restrict the flight or fill it with cargo.

Be really careful!

Re EK ZED with United
 

Thanks all....much appreciated....a

Some good advice here.

I booked a UA ZED fare earlier on this year and in the end had to buy a revenue ticket for both sectors as I wasn't going to get on both of the flights. On my first sector, I was number 14 out of 14 staff trying to get on a 737-800 with 11 spare seats available and everyone else was UA staff! :)

For me personally, the seats 'taken' on the seat plan didn't accurately reflect the loads on the day so be careful in how you use that.

I know we are not really supposed to call reservations with load enquiries but I resorted to calling UA reservations for the return sector but explained that in addition to the request for the loads, I had a genuine desire to purchase a revenue ticket if the loads were looking busy. That worked for me and after being told I had a pretty slim chance, I just sorted out a ticket over the phone and it was sound advice as even some UA staff were bumped off the return sector.

I had some issues with the airport staff insisting it was a paper ticket on my first sector but after politely but firmly assuring them that EK no longer issues ANY paper tickets, they made a few calls to UA and were more the wiser for doing so. Leave yourself plenty of time. :ok:

Good luck with the loads!