Help, I think I'm being scammed with Buddy Passes?

Question

We've paid her once, but now she says there are additional fees (four weeks later) and we still have no locator number. We thought we trusted this person at 1st, but after trying to call her for weeks with no response and then now having her suddenly re-appear but requiring more money, I know that something is not on the up and up. Our money is caught in the middle of this. She also has changed the story from her getting the tickets herself to not being able to get them because she was on medical leave and having her pilot friend get them for her. Would the pilot get a better rate or maybe get them for free and perhaps give her a bigger profit from us??? We haven’t paid the additional fees b/c we don’t know if we can trust her anymore. If we do finally get them, could she sabotage us at the last minute? Or could she have pocketed the money we first gave her and not used them to pay the fee and so when we get there, have the airline charge us the fees b/c they were never paid.

Answer 1

I was a flight attendant for four years with a major airline, and used buddy passes a few times.

The airlines' policy as far as those go is basically to give the passes on condition that the holder of the passes agrees to fly on standby. Airlines don't hand out concrete tickets; if you have a buddy pass, you need to be flexible. I didn't work for US Airways so I'm not exactly sure of their policies, but ask her for the locator number, and once you get it, call the airline's toll-free number and speak with a representative.

Best of luck!

Answer 2

Well, I've survived a few trips via Buddy Pass (my experience is with Delta), and you must be willing to accept flying standby, because it very possible that you may  get "bumped" at the airport or even at the gate.

  You should also be very sure you can trust that person working for the airlines, because she is in charge of either giving you access to her airline account to set up your own tickets, OR of arranging the tickets for you herself.  This acquaintance seems a little shady if she was really avoiding you and not providing the information you need.

  Although it's a bit late for this now, I'd recommend that you actually see your itinerary before forking over the cash.  If she has set up the tickets for you already, she should be able to email you a copy of your itinerary from the Airlines.  When you get to the airport all you really need is the conformation number and your ID's.

  From my experience there should not be any more fees when you reach the airport, but you can call the airlines to confirm the details.

   Hope that helps.

Answer 3

My mom used to work for Delta so we flew for free a few times.  As with what the others responded, because you are not paying full price, you can get bumped off the airplane if paying passengers buy a ticket at the last minute.  Also when we flew, we had to dress properly.  No blue jeans or shorts.  I had to wear tie.  Don't know if they relaxed the dress code but I would find out.  Delta told us we could be denied boarding if we do not dress properly.  What we did was we showed up to the ticket counter and told them our names and saw if we were on the list.  As for fees, we had to pay airport fees associated with international travel so whatever fees/taxes  there are, you will be responsible for.