I didn’t know that. Thanks.
its called imputed income. this excerpt is from the first item on a quick google search.
“The definition of imputed income is benefits employees receive that aren’t part of their salary or wages (like access to a company car or a gym membership) but still get taxed as part of their income.”
So airline employee travel has a certain dollar value attached to it even though its not actually income. plus we pay for international fees and some countries charge an exit tax to pay for their airports or whatever they deem necessary. London Heathrow Airport is notoriously expensive. somewhere around $100 per person exit tax. most are way less. so the myth of free travel is exactly that. Its significantly cheaper but not totally free. maybe a couple hundred roundtrip from the USA to Europe instead of a couple thousand.