What is ZED travel? A plain guide for new airline employees

If you just joined an airline, you have probably heard colleagues say they flew "ZED" on another carrier. ZED travel is how airline staff fly on airlines other than their own at a reduced fare, under an agreement between the two airlines. You usually fly standby, you pay a fare set by the distance of the flight plus taxes, and what you get depends on what your airline agreed with the other one.

This guide explains the pieces in order, so the next time someone says "I'm going ZED Low on standby" you know exactly what they mean.

What ZED is

ZED stands for Zonal Employee Discount. It is one half of a framework run by the ZED-MIBA Forum, the body that administers it. The forum describes two parts: ZED, which is for leisure travel, and MIBA, which is for duty travel. MIBA is the version used when an airline sends an employee somewhere for work. This guide is about ZED, the leisure side.

The forum's public site describes the arrangement as a staff travel agreement for "own employees and other eligible persons", built on fixed fare levels for different distance zones. As of October 7, 2026, it says 310 airlines are associated with the forum.

Two words you will hear around ZED:

• Non-rev (short for non-revenue): travel that brings the airline little or no revenue, such as staff travel. Non-revs fly in seats left after paying passengers are accommodated.
• OAL (other airline): any airline that is not your employer. ZED is the most common way to fly OAL.

How ZED works between two airlines

Signing up to the forum's staff travel agreement does not by itself let you fly every associated airline. According to the forum, each airline then negotiates what it calls bilateral concurrences with other members, for leisure travel, duty travel or both. A bilateral concurrence is a one-to-one agreement between two airlines.

In practice this means:

• You can fly Airline B on ZED only if your airline and Airline B have agreed to it.
• The terms (price level, cabin, whether seats are standby or confirmed) are set for that pair.
• Agreements can be added, changed or ended. A partner you used last year may not be a partner this year.

This is why the most useful sentence in staff travel is "check your partner list before you plan." Your staff travel office or booking portal shows which airlines you have agreements with today.

ZED fare levels: why your price differs by airline

Guides for staff travelers commonly describe three ZED fare levels: Low, Medium and High (Passrider, April 2025). The level is not your choice. It is part of the agreement between your airline and the operating airline.

So two colleagues at different airlines can pay different amounts for the same flight, and you may pay one level on Airline B and another on Airline C. Some agreements also treat different family members differently. A parent may not be eligible on the same terms as a spouse, for example. That is set by your employer and by each agreement.

The fare itself is set by distance band. The forum describes "fixed fare levels applicable to differing distance zones". A longer flight falls into a higher band, and the band, not demand on the day, sets the base fare. That makes ZED very different from buying a ticket, where the price moves with the date and how full the flight is.

Standby, almost always

ZED travel is almost always standby. Standby (also called space-available, or subload outside the US) means you are listed for the flight but not confirmed. You learn at the gate whether a seat is left once paying passengers and higher-priority travelers are accommodated.

Confirmed seats exist in some agreements, so ask your staff travel office whether any of yours include them. Plan as if you will be on standby unless your ticket clearly says otherwise.

Being on standby also shapes the rest of your trip:

• Have a backup flight. If you do not get on, you list for the next one.
• Travel light. A carry-on bag goes wherever you go. A checked bag can end up on a flight you are not on. Our packing guide for two-airline days covers this.
• Connections are on you. Two ZED tickets on two airlines usually make you a self-connecting passenger, with no protection if you miss the second flight. See Separate tickets: what non-revs need to know at a connection.

How people usually buy a ZED ticket

ZED tickets are bought through your own airline, not through the operating airline's public website. Depending on your employer, that means your staff travel office (some airlines call it the pass bureau) or an online booking portal your employer gives you access to. myIDTravel and ID90 are booking tools many airlines use. Which one you use, and how you reach it, depends on your airline.

The general pattern looks like this:

1. Check which partners and levels you have.
2. Choose the flight and buy the ticket through your employer's channel.
3. List for the flight if the operating airline requires it. Listing means adding your name to the standby list.
4. Check in and go to the gate, following the operating airline's rules for staff travelers.

Each airline sets its own steps, cutoffs and fees. Check your ticket's validity and refund rules before you travel, since they vary.

What a ZED fare costs, in principle

There are three parts to think about.

• The base fare comes from the distance band and your agreement's level.
• Taxes and fees are added on top. They depend on the airports and countries involved, and on some routes they are a large share of the total.
• Booking or service fees may apply, depending on the tool and your employer.

This is why the same trip can cost noticeably different amounts in each direction. If you are leaving from a country with high departure taxes, the total can surprise you.

Verify before you fly: fares, taxes and refund rules come from your employer and the operating airline, and they change. Your staff travel office or booking portal shows the price before you buy. For the framework itself, see the ZED-MIBA Forum.

Tax

Some staff travel benefits can have tax effects. Your employer's benefits team can tell you how yours are treated. In the US, see IRS Publication 15-B; in Canada, the CRA's guidance on employee benefits.

Who in your family can use it

Eligibility is set first by your employer and then by each agreement. Benefits often extend to a spouse or partner, dependent children up to an age limit, and sometimes parents or retirees. The details vary by employer.

As one public example, Southwest Airlines' careers page lists a spouse or committed or registered partner, eligible dependent children under 19 (or up to 24 if full-time students) and parents for travel on Southwest, and mentions pass agreements with other airlines (Southwest Airlines Careers, as of October 7, 2026). That is one airline's benefit on its own flights. It does not tell you what any ZED agreement allows, and other employers set different rules.

Ask your HR or staff travel team two questions early: when do my travel benefits start, and who can I add?

Related topics you will meet next

• Reading availability. The numbers next to the letters on an availability display are not standby seats. See How to read standby availability, and why it stops at 9.
• Booking class letters. J, Y, B and the rest are fare buckets, not seats. See Booking class letters, decoded.
• Priority. On another airline, its own staff and their families often board ahead of ZED travelers, and the order varies by airline. A full guide is coming.
• Separate tickets. Two staff tickets do not make one protected trip. See Separate tickets.

What this means for you

1. Ask when your travel benefits start, and who you can add as an eligible traveler.
2. Get your partner list. Note which airlines you have ZED agreements with, and at which level.
3. Plan for standby. Pick a backup flight before you leave home, and travel with carry-on only when you can.
4. Check the operating airline's rules for staff travelers, including dress code and check-in. They are its rules, not your employer's.
5. Read your ticket's refund and validity rules before you buy, so an unused ticket does not cost you.

Rules differ by airline and change. Your employer's staff travel policy always wins.