Thread: Are buddy passes any good??

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Horsefeathers @ Oct 24 2007, 09:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

So I&#39;m looking at using one of my Buddy passes to bring a couple of friends over from the other coast, and if I&#39;m not mistaken, it&#39;s going to cost almost as much as a regular ticket! One of which was my &#39;registered travel companion&#39; and the other would be her daughter - am I reading the cost right? I thought we got so many allotments a year before it started to rack up the cost?[/b]

If NW is the same as AA; there is a service charge (mileage based); plus, taxes, charged to all of our 24 annual buddy passes. With AA, the registered companion has a lower service charge (same as employee&#39;s service fee) and the same boarding priority as an employee - where the other "buddies" get a lower boarding priority and do pay a higher service charge. Although, given that it&#39;s low travel season right now (so lower fare classes are wide-open), I would guess that, yes, your service charges for buddy passes, plus taxes, might be very close to the cost of a revenue ticket.

On AA - Registered Companions / Employees - service charge + tax SAN-ORD-MSP (ONE-WAY) :
$26 / $49-First

Other buddy passes: $112 (ONE-WAY)...yikes!

If it were me, I would non-rev your reg. companion; have the others buy tickets.

Hopefully, someone from NW will reply here, too.

-L

ETA: Just re-read your post; I guess you don&#39;t want to non-rev mom and have a paid ticket for her daughter! Good luck!

UA&#39;s prices are as follows:
SAN-ORD employee, spouse, eligible family $34 (1st class)/$18 coach. Companions $45.

ORD-MSP employee, spouse, eligible family $16 (1st class)/11 coach. Companions $53.

So, companions would be $98 o/w SAN to MSP.

My "Friends & Family" only use them for overseas travel, and we all go together in BIZ CLASS.

There are alot of urban legends floating around about buddy passes. One of them is that those that have them, usually tell others it is not worth using them because they can secure a cheaper fare and not have to deal with the standby situation. I mean to tell you. I don&#39;t think you can find air fares cheaper than traveling on a buddy pass.

I will however, tell you this. As a non-rev buddy pass traveler, you fly at the lowest, (Lower than whale sh...) if you know what I mean on the priority standby list. Buddy passes are NOT FREE and they cost at least more than fifty bucks each way and you are STANDBY. You can be stranded for days playing the non-rev standby game.

I don&#39;t like giving them out because I don&#39;t like chasing the money, nor do I like them taking it out of my account. If the person is stranded, next thing you know, is you get these phone calls wanting you to somehow PULL STRINGS. I won&#39;t give them out unless they have a credit card it can be charged to. They can screw you up too if they make a scene, therefore, I only give them to family members or somebody else working in the airlines I know. And its not really GIVING buddy passes, but rather SELLING it. You have to charge them the going rate otherwise, YOU GET STUCK WITH THE BILL because, again, BUDDY PASSES ARE NOT FREE.

So one must find their "Golden mean". Is it worth playing the standby game as a buddy pass rider, or just fork out the cash and owe noone a thing? If you are on a tight budget and on welfare, I can understand using the passes, but if you got the cash, though you wish you could spend it on better things, just plan ahead and get the cheapest full fare ticket you can buy.

What I would do is check with your buddy first, ask them to check the booking situation, if its tight or "Iffy", just get your own ticket. If your buddy says its WIDE OPEN for the dates you wish to travel, give him your credit card number and see if he can list you.

I guess United&#39;s "buddy pass" system works differently than most airlines. We get 24 a year. They are per-segment, so a non-stop roundtrip for one person takes two of the 24. They are basically the same price as an economy ID90, regardless of the class of service flown. They are electronically deducted from the employee&#39;s bank, and the charges are automatically taken out of our next paycheck. So we can&#39;t charge it to the traveller&#39;s credit card. My personal strategy is to collect the money up front before travel begins. I usually only give them out to immediate family members not covered under my employee benifits (ie siblings and nieces/nephews) unless I am travelling with the person.

Buddy pass users can travel in First without the employee on domestic flights. On international flights, they can fly Business if over age eighteen or if over age eight accompanied by an adult. Travel in First on a three-cabin international flight must be over age eighteen AND MUST be accompanied by the employee.

Ouch. I was doing the same thing, taking the money up front, but then my airlines added a payment by credit card option you can enter. So if the buddy pass traveler gives me his credit card number, I just put it in the section so he gets billed. Don&#39;t know why your airline doesn&#39;t do this. It works real well. Saves us the hassle of taking money up front or getting deducted. No buddy can fly on first class at all in my airline. Only way possible if the buddy is flying under my pass classification WITH ME. Domestic or Internationally. (How does a buddy pass traveler get first class on your airline without you flying with them?) Buddy passes at my airlines travel SA5C which is about the lowest classification I can think of. Aint no first class in those letter/numbers combination. I&#39;m like you. I only give them out to family members not covered under my eligible pass riders.
I think you must mean that buddy pass riders can travel domestically IN COACH without being accompanied by the employee or eligible pass rider. However, while traveling overseas destinations, they must be accompanied. And when they get ACCOMPANIED, then they usually fly on some vacation pass along with the employees pass classification, therefore, can ride up front. (Maybe not airlines are the same, but this is how we at CO do it.)

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (uainhnl @ Nov 2 2007, 11:13 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

I guess United&#39;s "buddy pass" system works differently than most airlines. We get 24 a year. They are per-segment, so a non-stop roundtrip for one person takes two of the 24. They are basically the same price as an economy ID90, regardless of the class of service flown. They are electronically deducted from the employee&#39;s bank, and the charges are automatically taken out of our next paycheck. So we can&#39;t charge it to the traveller&#39;s credit card. My personal strategy is to collect the money up front before travel begins. I usually only give them out to immediate family members not covered under my employee benifits (ie siblings and nieces/nephews) unless I am travelling with the person.

Buddy pass users can travel in First without the employee on domestic flights. On international flights, they can fly Business if over age eighteen or if over age eight accompanied by an adult. Travel in First on a three-cabin international flight must be over age eighteen AND MUST be accompanied by the employee.[/b]