ryan182

Is that number public/something that should be posted?

jeff0000

Thanks. How do the PHX -> LAX flights tomorrow look? Not sure my roommate will be up for driving me to LA.

AAerSTL

Out enough other places. Besides you need a valid AA emp # to access anything or get transferred to someone who will not be very nice and try to get you off the phone.

slice

Now that made me laugh!

TWA884

Just buy a positive space ticket on Southwest.

For tomorrow, there are seats available on the 5:50 am, 4:34 pm and 8:40 pm flights for $172 and $262 on all other flights.

Today, the only availability is on the 8:15 pm flight for $262 and the 9:30 pm flight for $172.

Sunday, there are seats available on the 1:50 pm, 5:15 pm and 6:45 pm flights for $99.

SpinOn2

Very crappy lol so I hope you got out. I saw that one D3 guest snagged a seat on the 8pm Phx to lax flt it appears that you were going for, I hope that was you. The person I am seeing was apparently then going LAX to SYD so not sure if it's a coincidence or if that was you. Alas, if it was you seems you didn't make it out of LAX though? But hey if it was you and you got to LAX well awesome bc flt on Sat 2nd (today) you will make. Heck, have your sponsor of the pass list you for J at the very least, only $60 bucks more it and is 1million % worth it on such a long flt if you can get it. Just be sure to check with your passholder first lol.

mab631

do AA employees still have to have the D3 ticket amount deducted from their paystub or can it be changed to go on a credit card for reward points?

steve64

I'd suggest asking the employee who's providing the D3 buddy pass.
From AA's point of view, that's the person who will "settling the bill" so if there's a choice of payment methods, the employee decides.

FlyerTalk is a forum that's more for paying passengers maximizing their points and benefits. As a whole, we really don't know too much about the "non-rev" aspect.
Having said that, I was an AA employee for 19 years, walking away 14 years ago. My data points are old, but I feel still valid:

• passes are provided to employees on a last minute "seat available at departure time" basis. The physical "service charge" for this is just the very bare minimum to cover the additional costs. I doubt the airline would want to take on the credit card commission. Passes have always been "payroll deduction".
• For D3 "buddy passes", the largest amount deducted from the employee's check isn't for the actual service charge. It's income tax with-holding on the imputed income value for the pass. While D3 passes can result in a decent amount taken from a paycheck, most of that money isn't going to AA so why would they take on credit card commission on it.

soliloquy

Hello all.

I've been lurking on this forum for several years. I guess I should first say hello since this is my first post. I wanted to run something by you all.

I have a trip planned to Israel in fall 2017. I am a registered companion on AA as well. As some of you might know, AA discontinued their flights from Philadelphia to Tel Aviv recently so flying there on AA is a no go.

I have a tourism trip planned in Israel October 2017 and I wanted to use my AA D1 or D2 status to fly from CLT to FCO (Rome) and then catch a ticketed flight to TLV 2 or 3 days after arrival. I would do the reverse on the way home.

Other flight options to the EU include:

This would not be during the summer high season, but I would be flying with my teenage son and a friend who also wants to tour Israel with us. Using buddy passes would save on airfare obviously.

Historically, flights from CLT to FCO have not filled. AA 720 has also been a pretty consistent segment and I have been monitoring seat availability. There are usually 80 + seats available on this flight to FCO around this time of year. On the return flights, there are generally 30+ seats available. For example, today JetNet is showing 183/286 available (6 on standby) from CLT to FCO for tonight's flight and tomorrow it's showing 220/286 available (24 on standby) for tomorrow's flight from FCO to CLT. I know that doesn't tell you what will happen next year but that's roughly what I've been seeing after monitoring the site for the last few weeks. Son and friend would be flying on buddy passes on a Tuesday or Wednesday so this would help our chances, I think.

Do you think there is too much risk to make this a viable option? Are there things I have not thoughts about that could play into the decision?

I thought of flight cancellations which might make the next day's flights full, etc. I realize there's always the risk of being stuck in the EU afterwards and having to purchase flights home. We can afford to do that if we get stuck.

Any advice would be helpful.

The NRSA charges vs. an actual flight there would save about $1000.00 each for my son and my friend (assuming we didn't have any other unexpected events). I also would be able to take in at least a couple of sights in Rome before heading to TLV.

Thanks!

JY1024

Welcome to FlyerTalk, soliloquy!

Let's move this query over to the AA forum for further discussion. Thanks. /JY1024, TravelBuzz and AAdvantage co-moderator

hiima

I would say, horrible idea.

lovefly88

I've flown the world over on D1 & D2 passes. I would definitely take the chance, but then again I don't mind sleeping at the airport if I don't make it. I've slept in ORD, DFW, & LAX a number of times (they give out nice cots). MIA I hate being stuck at.
If I understand right you're trying to go CLT-FCO-TLV r/t? I would probably leave a day buffer in between other planned flights that are purchased (the FCO-TLV segments). If the CLT to FCO doesn't look good then try JFK to FCO or MIA to FCO.
Once I was trying to get back to NYC from MIA and all the flights were completely full. Literally was going to fly MIA-FCO-JFK. Then a flight opened up direct to NYC at the last minute.
It's a risk but I loved it.

SpinOn2

100% do it. To piggyback on lovefly88, I have been to London 3 times, Paris, Hawaii, Dublin, Australia, Rome, Venice, Cancun, and that is just for international for my passes (sorry to non-employees not trying to brag but rather help OP). I miss the hell out of my passes for this reason but I got a better job offer... but I digress.

Giving 2-3 day buffer is a great idea if you manage it, especially as there are enough FCO options to different US cities AA has. Just be prepared for last minute changes, be prepared to maybe rough it a time or two, and hope for the best. But as long as you can give yourself a buffer, definitely go for it, especially for international which I found so much easier than a lot of domestic non-reving.

I do want to ask though, is your son going to be using a guest pass like his friend is? I am not sure of your setup there. Anyhow, no point in using a D1 for you unless you would be willing to leave your son there or are hoping to try and get a more premium seat for yourself. Your guest pass traveler even with you, will not get your priority... so if you are using guest passes for those 2, I would suggest not wasting a D1 for yourself unless it's for trying to attain premium seating or that you would be willing to leave them behind.

Also, is LHR-TVL an option for you to purchase or is it too much? There are tons of AA flights from LHR to continental US. And if you can connect back from TVL-LHR and out to US within 12hrs on your passes, you can avoid UK passenger duty tax as a thru-flight (make sure to get GA to add thru status from TVL flt, yes even paid tickets can get it from OAL)

Dang I miss my non-reving ability lol.

soliloquy

Good point about D1 passes. Yes, my son would be on a D3 pass so going D1 status would be pointless since I don't want to separate from him if I can help it. Although, I will say..we were on a leg from SFO to CLT and we could not catch one flight out of the airport for two days. I just wanted to get us to anywhere on the east coast because worst case scenario...then at least it was feasible to drive if we had to. We ended up on a flight to JFK. All 3 of my D3 family members made first class and I sat in coach. And, it was one of those flights that must have been coming in from an intl flight because it had those lovely first class cubicles with the computer and games...not just seats with more leg room and width. But, after being with my spouse and the kids for 14 straight days in various hotels...I didn't complain about sitting in coach...alone.

Anyway, we landed at 11PM knowing there were no flights out till the next morning. My son packs light so we always are able to fit one of those self inflating high profile twin mattresses in his luggage so if something like that happens, he can just plug it in at the airport and sleep.

The AA employee is my cousin. One day she'll get married and all this will be over, but until then, I'll keep flying. I can always list us for first class even though we aren't very likely to get it. I think I will attempt to do this unless something changes.

Regarding LHR, my cousin said (before our conversation) that the LHR flight is almost always significantly delayed when it pushes out to or from CLT. She also told me the layovers in LHR are horrendous so I've been trying to avoid going there. She didn't give me any other details than that. I just took her word for it.

Thanks for your input!

Dianne47

Flying non-rev with a teenager and (assumed also teenage) friend is a bad, repeat bad idea. Non-rev travel for a single person is hard enough, 3 seats on overseas flights could end up impossible to secure. Then you would have to buy full-fare walkup tickets, at a HUGE cost.

I'm a former airline employee and I would never, never, ever try this trip. This is what your cousin SHOULD be advising you.