Buddy pass fuel surcharges

Did yall see that there will be new "fuel surcharges" to buddy passes?

They are becoming so they are just not worth it!

"There will be three different surcharges depending on the itinerary: a $25 surcharge each way for travel within or between the 48 contiguous United States and Canada; a $40 surcharge each way for travel within or between Alaska, Hawaii, the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America and the 48 contiguous United States and Canada; and, a $50 surcharge each way for all other travel. Itineraries with stopovers will include the applicable point-to-point fuel surcharges."

Well, I disagree.
We have 4 buddies flying to BKK via NRT with likely upgrades to biz. An extra $100 on a $700 RT ticket with a value of $2-9 thousand dollars is worth it!
Do you actually want those costs borne out of your profit-sharing?
If a buddy wants to fly w/flexibility to upgrade, change return city/date with small fee and cover the fuel charges, why not? Can they get a flexible ticket like a buddy pass for the same price?--I think not.
Our buddies just got the news and they emailed back, "thanks for what we can with those passes".
I have another already in Chile who will pay up another $50 IF he changes/reissues. If you can't afford to travel, you can't afford to travel--pass or ticket. I'm pretty sure DL is in the business to make money. Do you own any stock?

Wow I didn't mean to offend you!

For me though, I have had more buddy passes have to buy a same-day ticket since they couldn't get out, so in my case it was not worth it at all. Congrats, it looks like it's worked out for you nicely!

I just rarely see buddy pass upgrades, either on flights I work or flights I non-rev on... and I fly on shoulder season! When I do see them, it's for someone hired in 60's-80's. When you have less than 5 years versus 20+, that can make a huge difference for buddies, so that might be why others have better experience than me. Sometimes it's just easier to buy them (domestically)

No offense taken at all. It's the diff between apples and oranges and right now needs money for gas!
Our buddies hardly ever fly domestic except to connect to gateway. They always choose the big-ticket destinations! Not that I blame them!
I've been upgraded on CVG/JFK alot but those pesky medallions...you know how they are! I've seen 50 UP requests on one flight--JFK/ATL--funny that few of them will move forward, either. I'm frankly surprised they didn't do the surcharge between first time and now. With the combined employees, that's a WHOLE BUNCHA nonrevs (adding the step kids and extended family, same sex spouses, etc...somebody has to pay for all of US...

Yes that's a good point, that has to be a ton of non revs. I actually gave out only one buddy pass last year since so many people were burned by it...

I think I should do like you and send buddies internationally!

The domestic buddy passes have worked out for me only if it's point to point, and sometimes if they have to stop in Atlanta. The directs are the way to go.

I know what you mean, FADelta. We're losing our UA benefits at SkyWest at the end of the month, so I used up a few to send my neighbor and her parents to Florida this past week. The neighbor made both flights as planned, but got the last seats. I ended up using up some buddy passes on US that we also get to prevent them from getting stuck, and even those were a little tight (but at least they made it)

Doesn't help that ORD weather has been horrible the last couple days, which threw a lot of things off, including a TPA-ORD cancellation that filled a lot of seats.

Man sounds tricky! Yeah, then you end up playing travel agent for a few hours till they make it. It's always nerve racking!

I only ever gave out 2 domestic buddy passes in my life, and both times I flew with them, and of course both times some reroutes and flexibility were required. Almost never are domestic buddy passes worth it.


[QUOTE=mrs767er;62806]
I've been upgraded on CVG/JFK alot but those pesky medallions...you know how they are! I've seen 50 UP requests on one flightQUOTE]

Those damn medallions!

I know what you mean with the medallion upgrades. About 1/3 of the time on an a/c w/ an F cabin, I don't get upgraded, but when I do get upgraded, there are always a few left behind, so I know that no nonrevs are getting the upgrade (For those who don't know, I've been a platinum on DL for a couple years now)

Of course I'd gladly trade the ATL-VPS upgrade instead of sitting in Y looking at empty J seats on ATL-BSB........I need to take a flight in BizElite again sometime..

O, and speaking of those damn medallions......those damn res/gate agents playing by the rules instead of using common sense! When I was a gate agent I used to get everybody out as early as I could, as you never know what kind of issues the next flight will have. I found it kind of funny the other day when I was 4 hours early to the airport and the gate agent informed me that I can't hop an earlier flight, even though it's wide open. So I sit around 4 hours, and board my original flight, giving a smile to the gate agent as she calls for volunteers and hands out DBCs.....I think DL lost some money on that deal