What is Continental airlines buddy pass cost them, my friend told me who works for them it was $200 per flight

Question

My friend who works for the airline who is so cheap told his stepson it was cheaper for him to buy his own ticket. He went on to say would cost $200 per flight if he got one for him. Maybe he is right however I feel he is just not wanting to help the boy out. He wants to go from TUS to DAY so he was saying it would cost $400 since it would end up a round trip ticket.

Answer 1

He's probably right.

Every airline has different rules, but United, what they do is if it would cost, say, $600 to buy the ticket, they give the employee the ticket for free but record on their paycheck that they got a $600 bonus, so therefore the employee has to pay an extra $200 in income tax.

Edit:  When I said if the ticket was $600, I was referring to the Y-class fare.  That's the fare a person would pay if they bought the ticket the day before the flight.  So yes, buying the ticket outright, a month or two before the flight, may well be cheaper than the buddy pass.  But like I said, what I'm saying is relative to United, and also from several years back.