Am I being Scammed? (Stranger offer to gift MCE)
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 5
Am I being Scammed? (Stranger offer to gift MCE)
I recently posted in reddit about whether MCE is worth the upgrade for a 10 hr flight. I got this in response:
Hello! Saw your post asking about MCE for AA. I flew AA a lot last year and have their highest status and get free MCE for myself and companions - happy to move your seat gratis to the orange colored seats if youd like. No funny business, just trying to be helpful since they charge a whole lot for this on international itineraries. I should be able to do it with just your name, fight number and date of travel if youre interested. And totally understandable if not since Im a random stranger, but its a nice perk and Im not going to requalify with them again (moving to delta) so trying to make the most of it before end of year.
Is this possibly legit, or too good to be true?
Hello! Saw your post asking about MCE for AA. I flew AA a lot last year and have their highest status and get free MCE for myself and companions - happy to move your seat gratis to the orange colored seats if youd like. No funny business, just trying to be helpful since they charge a whole lot for this on international itineraries. I should be able to do it with just your name, fight number and date of travel if youre interested. And totally understandable if not since Im a random stranger, but its a nice perk and Im not going to requalify with them again (moving to delta) so trying to make the most of it before end of year.
Is this possibly legit, or too good to be true?
#2
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Programs: AAdvantage Exec Platinum, Hertz #1 Club Gold Five Star, IHG Platinum, Marriott Gold, HHonors Silver
Posts: 2,020
Scam. While status people do get free MCE for themselves and their companions, they can't just give it to anyone on any flight.
#3
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: SLC/HEL/Anywhere with a Beach
Programs: Marriott Ambassador; AA EXP 3MM; AS MVP, Hilton Gold, CH-47/UH-60/C-23/C-130 VET
Posts: 5,234
I recently posted in reddit about whether MCE is worth the upgrade for a 10 hr flight. I got this in response:
Hello! Saw your post asking about MCE for AA. I flew AA a lot last year and have their highest status and get free MCE for myself and companions - happy to move your seat gratis to the orange colored seats if youd like. No funny business, just trying to be helpful since they charge a whole lot for this on international itineraries. I should be able to do it with just your name, fight number and date of travel if youre interested. And totally understandable if not since Im a random stranger, but its a nice perk and Im not going to requalify with them again (moving to delta) so trying to make the most of it before end of year.
Is this possibly legit, or too good to be true?
Hello! Saw your post asking about MCE for AA. I flew AA a lot last year and have their highest status and get free MCE for myself and companions - happy to move your seat gratis to the orange colored seats if youd like. No funny business, just trying to be helpful since they charge a whole lot for this on international itineraries. I should be able to do it with just your name, fight number and date of travel if youre interested. And totally understandable if not since Im a random stranger, but its a nice perk and Im not going to requalify with them again (moving to delta) so trying to make the most of it before end of year.
Is this possibly legit, or too good to be true?
I don't know of any status at AA that allows you to upgrade a friend to MCE for a flight they are not on.
#4
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: LAX
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold but PlatPro thanks to LPs
Posts: 4,438
I recently posted in reddit about whether MCE is worth the upgrade for a 10 hr flight. I got this in response:
Hello! Saw your post asking about MCE for AA. I flew AA a lot last year and have their highest status and get free MCE for myself and companions - happy to move your seat gratis to the orange colored seats if youd like. No funny business, just trying to be helpful since they charge a whole lot for this on international itineraries. I should be able to do it with just your name, fight number and date of travel if youre interested. And totally understandable if not since Im a random stranger, but its a nice perk and Im not going to requalify with them again (moving to delta) so trying to make the most of it before end of year.
Is this possibly legit, or too good to be true?
Hello! Saw your post asking about MCE for AA. I flew AA a lot last year and have their highest status and get free MCE for myself and companions - happy to move your seat gratis to the orange colored seats if youd like. No funny business, just trying to be helpful since they charge a whole lot for this on international itineraries. I should be able to do it with just your name, fight number and date of travel if youre interested. And totally understandable if not since Im a random stranger, but its a nice perk and Im not going to requalify with them again (moving to delta) so trying to make the most of it before end of year.
Is this possibly legit, or too good to be true?
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,361
I recently posted in reddit about whether MCE is worth the upgrade for a 10 hr flight. I got this in response:
Hello! Saw your post asking about MCE for AA. I flew AA a lot last year and have their highest status and get free MCE for myself and companions - happy to move your seat gratis to the orange colored seats if youd like. No funny business, just trying to be helpful since they charge a whole lot for this on international itineraries. I should be able to do it with just your name, fight number and date of travel if youre interested. And totally understandable if not since Im a random stranger, but its a nice perk and Im not going to requalify with them again (moving to delta) so trying to make the most of it before end of year.
Is this possibly legit, or too good to be true?
Hello! Saw your post asking about MCE for AA. I flew AA a lot last year and have their highest status and get free MCE for myself and companions - happy to move your seat gratis to the orange colored seats if youd like. No funny business, just trying to be helpful since they charge a whole lot for this on international itineraries. I should be able to do it with just your name, fight number and date of travel if youre interested. And totally understandable if not since Im a random stranger, but its a nice perk and Im not going to requalify with them again (moving to delta) so trying to make the most of it before end of year.
Is this possibly legit, or too good to be true?
Of course that seems like an awful lot of trouble for a random stranger on the internet to go through, and whether you want to give you name and flight details to said random stranger on the internet is another story, although they really couldn't do much harm if any with that info.
#8
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: SLC/HEL/Anywhere with a Beach
Programs: Marriott Ambassador; AA EXP 3MM; AS MVP, Hilton Gold, CH-47/UH-60/C-23/C-130 VET
Posts: 5,234
It could be legit and it's certainly not something that's too good to be true. If that person has PLT or higher status, they could book a dummy reservation on your same flights, then call AA and say that you're flying together and have them move you next to that person in MCE for no charge.
Of course that seems like an awful lot of trouble for a random stranger on the internet to go through, and whether you want to give you name and flight details to said random stranger on the internet is another story, although they really couldn't do much harm if any with that info.
Of course that seems like an awful lot of trouble for a random stranger on the internet to go through, and whether you want to give you name and flight details to said random stranger on the internet is another story, although they really couldn't do much harm if any with that info.
As for harm, seems like that might enough to get your ticket number, PNR, and maybe some other info. Can't say I'm on top of the latest in scams to know whether they can monetize the ticket number ... maybe cancel and try to refund to some other credit card or change for a different trip?
The other sign is that he's not asking for a PNR and doesn't say he's a CK or an EXP. I have a couple of ex-girlfriends who aren't the "highest" status on AA but who still know to say ... I'm going to XXX, not sure if you have any extra upgrades, but if I send you my PNR, can you see if anything is available? And I met one at an Admirals Club ... but that's a different thread
#9
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: SLC/HEL/Anywhere with a Beach
Programs: Marriott Ambassador; AA EXP 3MM; AS MVP, Hilton Gold, CH-47/UH-60/C-23/C-130 VET
Posts: 5,234
#11
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
At best it is a well-intentioned person who thinks they can do it,but can't. At worst, it is a scam or just a plain dirty trick.
With the information requested, one could simply cancel the tickets. While that won't do the bad guy any good, there are all kinds of bad people out there.
For all the people here who think that they can invent some way for someone to do this, they really can't and they have no reason to do so.
In this day and age, anyone who supplies information such as is requested over the internet to an anonymous person is part of the cyber security problem, not solution.
Do Not Do This.
With the information requested, one could simply cancel the tickets. While that won't do the bad guy any good, there are all kinds of bad people out there.
For all the people here who think that they can invent some way for someone to do this, they really can't and they have no reason to do so.
In this day and age, anyone who supplies information such as is requested over the internet to an anonymous person is part of the cyber security problem, not solution.
Do Not Do This.
#12
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 29,760
I wouldn't touch that with a 10' barge pole. Too many people out there with less than genuine intentions.
Ignore.
Ignore.
Last edited by enviroian; Jul 22, 2019 at 1:49 pm
#14
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: YYF/YLW
Programs: AA, DL, AS, VA, WS Silver
Posts: 5,950
With the information requested, could one cancel the ticket, pay the $300 or whatever it is change fee, and use the residual value to buy a new ticket (and then sell it to someone else for $500 so that person gets stuck with a ticket that AA would probably cancel when the OP calls in)? That's my best guess for what a fraudster would be trying to do here.