Originally Posted by
WIMO
Hi, my friend just chose me as the person who gets her flight benefits for 2025 and I'm so excited planning trips right now!!! I see you can't book a flight from one country to another, it needs to have a US airport as either the starting or ending destination. My question is, could I book back to the US with a trip that has a stopover, but not get on the 2nd leg of the flight, is that allowed? For example, from Johannesburg, if I were trying to go to Frankfurt Germany, could I book my flight back to NYC with a stopover in Frankfurt but simply not get on that flight back to New York? I would ask my friend but she's traveling now... does here anyone know?
You can book it as either two one-ways, EWRJNB and FRAEWR, or a roundtrip EWRJNB FRAEWR. But I'm certain that the benefit of flying on a carrier other than UA is not allowed doesn't extend normally to a travel companion, only a spouse, so you would need a revenue ticket for the JNBFRA portion.
My only advice is never rely on just the information you ask here. Ask your friend to brief you on the rules, requirements, etc. because if they don't and you unintentionally violate any part of the program, flight benefits and the job of your sponsor could be pulled. All too many times an employee will give someone flight benefits and the travel companion/buddy pass rider isn't aware that they aren't flying standby, or that they don't get elite benefits, or it's not an automatic upgrade, or that the seat map isn't a good indicator of how many open seats there are....and so on, and then there is some news story how some unsuspecting traveler was a victim of racial discrimination because they were wearing shorts and weren't allowed to sit in First Class......and then it turns out that they were a buddy pass rider and need to follow dress code rules. And yes this did happen.
The employee should know that you know the ins/outs of the program; if there isn't that level of interaction then surely it won't end well.