BUDDY PASS

[OSFSCOTT]

I'm looking for advice reguarding the use of a buddy pass.My wife and one of her freinds are wanting to fly from Kansas city to Rome from July 10 to the 21 and she has been given 2 buddy passes by someone she goes to school with and he told her that he has booked her on a flight from MCI to PHL and onto FCO(Rome) and that it will only cost apprx.$60 for each pass.Is this possible and what are the chances of her getting on a flight since he has told her that she has to fly via US Airways which I believe there is only 1 flight to Rome per day what are the chances she will be able to even get a seat.If anyone can give me any advice on this I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks

 

[robbedagain]

make sure she and the other person realize that it is stand by but if she cant get on in PHL i dont think we have another flt like we do to LGW or FRA.

 

[CLT CS AGENT]

I'm looking for advice reguarding the use of a buddy pass.My wife and one of her freinds are wanting to fly from Kansas city to Rome from July 10 to the 21 and she has been given 2 buddy passes by someone she goes to school with and he told her that he has booked her on a flight from MCI to PHL and onto FCO(Rome) and that it will only cost apprx.$60 for each pass.Is this possible and what are the chances of her getting on a flight since he has told her that she has to fly via US Airways which I believe there is only 1 flight to Rome per day what are the chances she will be able to even get a seat.If anyone can give me any advice on this I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks

That amount is WAY off. $60.00 (companion pass) may be only to PHL and thats without tax. I recently booked a companion pass round trip to CDG and it was approx $325.00. Contact the pass bureau, they can give you more info. As far as availability goes, FCO can be tough, you wife can ZED there but the companion pass is only good for US. A quick check tells me that that flight looks pretty tight. Non-rev to Europe is tough in the summer even for employees much less for companion riders. Best of luck to you!

 

[2clippedwings]

After dealing with the last several days trying to get several companion pass travelers there and back, I've decided that I'll only offer them to people that are actually traveling with me.
It is a nice benefit to have, HOWEVER, most non-airline employees simply do not understand no matter how you explain it to them that they are traveling standby at the lowest priority to get on.
Please consider purchasing a ticket that entitles you to passage and possibly other amenities.
It took multiple days to get one party home....missing work, not good. Way too stressful for me too.

 

[tadjr]

That is not the right amount first off. Buddy passes are $100 each way to Europe plus the international taxes and then you have the MCI-PHL leg and taxes to add on. I would say more likely closer to $300 roundtrip (not sure of the FCO taxes so could be more or less).
Secondly, if they have lots, and I mean lots of time (or really good luck), then I would say sure go ahead and try Rome in July. Otherwise, say thanks, but no thanks. I've been watching several European cities and even now (during supposed slow time) they are fairly full. Of course, they may luck out and get a night of tstorms in PHL meaning misconx and they sneak on something, but coming home, they better have lots of time. ie- dont plan on coming back Sun to be to work on Mon. I've seen stranger things happen, but I wouldnt count on that as plan A in July.
It doesnt sound like you actually work for the airline since your wife is going to go on a buddy pass, so everyone suggesting Zed fares, it wouldnt apply here (otherwise she wouldnt be flying on a buddy pass!)
While buddy passes are a great benefit, they have to be used with a lot of time for sitting around and a lot of patience. They will be behind every and I mean every employee also trying to fly and behind every employees family member and they go by time of checkin so they may even be behind other buddy pass travelers.
Its a great deal, but it can be rather risky, unless she has lots of time to possibly sit and wait a couple days.

 

[exusairways]

I would strongly advise using the buddy passes. Rome is one of the most difficult destinations to fly to and from, and in the summertime, is almost always oversold. The idea of paying a fraction of the fare may be tempting, but consider the cost of finding last minute hotels in both Philadelphia and Rome (also consider the weakening dollar... today 1 Euro costs 1.57 USD) as well as the cost of wasted time.

 

[nycbusdriver]

I'm looking for advice reguarding the use of a buddy pass.My wife and one of her freinds are wanting to fly from Kansas city to Rome from July 10 to the 21 and she has been given 2 buddy passes by someone she goes to school with and he told her that he has booked her on a flight from MCI to PHL and onto FCO(Rome) and that it will only cost apprx.$60 for each pass.Is this possible and what are the chances of her getting on a flight since he has told her that she has to fly via US Airways which I believe there is only 1 flight to Rome per day what are the chances she will be able to even get a seat.If anyone can give me any advice on this I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks

Two points I'd like to make:

1. Your friend did not "book" anybody on a buddy pass to anywhere. "Book" implies that one has a seat reserved, and buddy pass holders never have that. What your friend might have done is "list" the buddy pass holders on those flights. Basically, all that means is that the agents are aware that the buddy pass holders are trying to fly on that flight. It is a waiting "list." And buddy pass holders are at the very bottom of that list.

2. I don't know if the policy has changed with the merger, but it had been prohibited for buddy pass holders to fly to Europe during the summer season unless the sponsoring employee (or employee's spouse) is riding with the buddy pass riders. The reason is that before this policy, often buddy pass riders might get to Europe and then get stuck there literally for weeks trying to get back home due to the high demand. Even though buddy pass riders have basically no rights to anything, tempers often flared after sitting in the airport for days at a time and spending extra weeks of hotel rooms and missing work back home. Rather than deal with it, the company prohibited such travel. An exception was made if the employee (or spouse) was along on the trip because that bumps the buddy pass riders up to the same priority as the employee (which is not great, but better) and the employee would be in a better position to get discounted hotels and keep their buddies from shooting off their mouths inappropriately. (Again, this may have all changed after the merger, but I doubt it.) If it has not changed, you cannot travel on those passes to Rome in July. The downside is that the agents in MCI may not tell you that and happily let you use that buddy pass to go to PHL before you find out that your vacation will be in PHL, not Rome.

 

[gizmo_sc]

Giving someone a guest pass to travel to EUROPE in JULY would be INSANE. the flights are always oversold. I checked the usairways.com website for grins and going MCI_FCO July 1-15 is alreayd 1430.00 round trip. By the time you pay the zone fares and the taxes a guest pass would be 350.00. With oversold flights and not knowing what is going to happen with fuel going SKYHIGH . I personally thing trying to stand by to FCO this summer in JULY would be IMPOSSIBLE. I sold a paid ticket for a lady and and infant last week USA to LGW. The infant fare being just 10% of the adult was just 8.80 cents but by the time fuel surcharges were added and taxes the price of the infant ticket rose to about $309.00 and the lady was going to have to probably hold the inf for the entire flight if it was full. Her ticket was just $569.00 I informed her she could pay the differnce just 269.00 and the child would at least have a seat. But she declinded. If this individual tries MCI-FCO I wish them the BEST LUCK and if they do get there... GETTING BACK OMG

 

[USCREW]

I give all my buddy passes out along with typed info. Just make sure that they know all about the process, have a back-up plan, and know that they can be stranded for a while. I have a classmate who is on one of my buddy passes and he hasn't been able to get back since Thursday. OTOH, I had a friend travel with his wife and two boys to FCO last summer with no problems! I'm sure all the stars were properly aligned for them! Good Luck.

 

[robbedagain]

you might also try to consider an ID90 or an ID95 I dont know if you work fro the airline or not but that might help. It helped my mom yrs agon going from CDG to AMS to DTW to PHL to ABE via KLM and NWA then US EXP Also dont know if you can but what about an SA1? that might help but not sure

 

[OSFSCOTT]

you might also try to consider an ID90 or an ID95 I dont know if you work fro the airline or not but that might help. It helped my mom yrs agon going from CDG to AMS to DTW to PHL to ABE via KLM and NWA then US EXP Also dont know if you can but what about an SA1? that might help but not sure

I do not work for the airline the person who gave her these passes is someone she goes to school with and my usderstanding is the he is retired military and has been refueling planes 3 days a week but has only been a airline employee for 3 years.

 

[OSFSCOTT]

Two points I'd like to make:

1. Your friend did not "book" anybody on a buddy pass to anywhere. "Book" implies that one has a seat reserved, and buddy pass holders never have that. What your friend might have done is "list" the buddy pass holders on those flights. Basically, all that means is that the agents are aware that the buddy pass holders are trying to fly on that flight. It is a waiting "list." And buddy pass holders are at the very bottom of that list.

2. I don't know if the policy has changed with the merger, but it had been prohibited for buddy pass holders to fly to Europe during the summer season unless the sponsoring employee (or employee's spouse) is riding with the buddy pass riders. The reason is that before this policy, often buddy pass riders might get to Europe and then get stuck there literally for weeks trying to get back home due to the high demand. Even though buddy pass riders have basically no rights to anything, tempers often flared after sitting in the airport for days at a time and spending extra weeks of hotel rooms and missing work back home. Rather than deal with it, the company prohibited such travel. An exception was made if the employee (or spouse) was along on the trip because that bumps the buddy pass riders up to the same priority as the employee (which is not great, but better) and the employee would be in a better position to get discounted hotels and keep their buddies from shooting off their mouths inappropriately. (Again, this may have all changed after the merger, but I doubt it.) If it has not changed, you cannot travel on those passes to Rome in July. The downside is that the agents in MCI may not tell you that and happily let you use that buddy pass to go to PHL before you find out that your vacation will be in PHL, not Rome.

how can I gind out if travel without the sponsor is prohibited to Europe during peak season

 

[nycbusdriver]

I stand corrected on the guest pass travel embargo to Europe. According to a company memo dated November, 2007, transatlantic travel is not embargoed. But, that doesn't change the fact that transatlantic travel on guest passes in the summer is very risky unless one has a lot of time to sit in PHL or Europe waiting to get space on a flight. Be ready to not just wait extra days, but possibly WEEKS to get home. It has happened many times before, so caveat emptor when it comes to guest passes, and especially to Europe (because you can't just give up and rent a car to get home!)

 

[Final Boarding Call]

Even as an employee I would not attempt to go to Rome in the summer. The only time I would reccomend a companion pass to Europe would be in the off or shoulder season. While they may get lucky enough to get out of PHL due to misconnects they will not have that oppertunity on the way back as most people are originators. People have been stuck for weeks trying to get back.

It's spring break now and I have seen S7's trying to get on flights for days and crying in frustration and not understanding how they can not make it on a flight. Employees really need to be careful about giving these companion passes out, and explain the priority system. I'm always amazed when they have no idea they are at the bottom of the list and can not understand how they can't seem to move up. And don't even get me started on the S7's that can't speak English!

 

[nycbusdriver]

Even as an employee I would not attempt to go to Rome in the summer. The only time I would reccomend a companion pass to Europe would be in the off or shoulder season. While they may get lucky enough to get out of PHL due to misconnects they will not have that oppertunity on the way back as most people are originators. People have been stuck for weeks trying to get back.

It's spring break now and I have seen S7's trying to get on flights for days and crying in frustration and not understanding how they can not make it on a flight. Employees really need to be careful about giving these companion passes out, and explain the priority system. I'm always amazed when they have no idea they are at the bottom of the list and can not understand how they can't seem to move up. And don't even get me started on the S7's that can't speak English!

I could not agree more. Given the prices for hotels in Europe in the summer, it would only take a few days of being denied a seat and paying for hotel rooms to make up for the "good deal prices" of the guest passes. Whenever I travel on vacation, I plan as far in advance as possible and purchase a ticket (on anyone else other than USAirways....Continental has SUPERB international service, even in coach.)

I think uninformed guest pass holders somehow believe that, since they "know an employee," they have an inside track with getting on a flight. It's sad that they often have to learn the truth sitting in a European airport wondering if they will get home before Labor Day.

I have a rule of thumb as far as any pass travel is concerned. If where you want to go is fun, exciting, interesting and/or exotic, NEVER try to pass travel because everyone else is buying tickets to all the fun, exciting, interesting and/or exotic places and leaving no seats unoccupied.