I have a family member who works for American Airlines and has been an employee for almost a year now. She really is still learning and trying to understand all the rules concerning the buddy pass. About 3 weeks ago she went thru a training and was told the rules are changing concerning the buddy pass.
I recieved a buddy pass from her to travel to Denver in May. She put my info in the system for the buddy pass at least 3-4 months in advance. I was originally told the price would be $150 round trip. As the time got closer to my departure date she called me and said the price has changed. I was confused because I thought I had a set price but she explained in the training class they said the rules changed. She said now if the price increase as time gets closer to departure date the buddy pass price increases also, so than it was 2 weeks before my departure and my amount went up to $325 instead of $150.
I couldn't believe it, I thought she was just trying to get extra money from me. So I decided to look at other airlines 2 weeks before my departure and found it to be at least $100 cheaper using 1 airline going and a different coming back. I felt traveling from Chicago to Denver round trip and paying $350 was just like paying a regular fare and so not worth it if I have to sit and wait to find out if I will have a seat on a flight or not.