Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Airlines and Mileage Programs > American Airlines | AAdvantage
Reload this Page >

Am I being Scammed? (Stranger offer to gift MCE)

Am I being Scammed? (Stranger offer to gift MCE)

Old Jul 22, 2019, 12:48 pm
  #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?
mxzebrax is offline  
Old Jul 22, 2019, 12:51 pm
  #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.
C17PSGR, chitink, Kannai and 6 others like this.
GNRMatt is online now  
Old Jul 22, 2019, 12:53 pm
  #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
Originally Posted by mxzebrax
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?
If someone is on the same flight with you, they might be able to "link" your PNR to theirs as a traveling companion.

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.
chitink and JDiver like this.
C17PSGR is offline  
Old Jul 22, 2019, 12:58 pm
  #4  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: LAX
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold but PlatPro thanks to LPs
Posts: 4,438
Originally Posted by mxzebrax
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?
I would ignore it.
no1cub17 and AA100k like this.
QueenOfCoach is offline  
Old Jul 22, 2019, 12:58 pm
  #5  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,361
Originally Posted by mxzebrax
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?
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.
JJeffrey is offline  
Old Jul 22, 2019, 1:01 pm
  #6  
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Programs: AA-EXP
Posts: 606
Originally Posted by JJeffrey
... although they really couldn't do much harm if any with that info.
Are you sure? I think they can cancel your entire reservation with just that info...
lowfareair and LINDEGR like this.
Uzzar is offline  
Old Jul 22, 2019, 1:04 pm
  #7  
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Programs: AA PLT, SPG Gold
Posts: 2,401
Curious if you saw my reply to your post. If you're considering spending $500 for MCE, you might as well call and ask how much it would be to upfare to premium economy.
no1cub17 is offline  
Old Jul 22, 2019, 1:07 pm
  #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
Originally Posted by JJeffrey
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.
I suppose they could do that but if AA found out about it, they would audit the account.

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
C17PSGR is offline  
Old Jul 22, 2019, 1:08 pm
  #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
Originally Posted by no1cub17
Curious if you saw my reply to your post. If you're considering spending $500 for MCE, you might as well call and ask how much it would be to upfare to premium economy.
Is MCE that expensive on a longhaul flight? Didn't realize that.
C17PSGR is offline  
Old Jul 22, 2019, 1:18 pm
  #10  
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Programs: AA PLT, SPG Gold
Posts: 2,401
Originally Posted by C17PSGR
Is MCE that expensive on a longhaul flight? Didn't realize that.
Yeah that's what the poster said it would be for 2 people rt to Paris. I can believe it.
no1cub17 is offline  
Old Jul 22, 2019, 1:29 pm
  #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.
Often1 is offline  
Old Jul 22, 2019, 1:32 pm
  #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.

Last edited by enviroian; Jul 22, 2019 at 1:49 pm
enviroian is offline  
Old Jul 22, 2019, 1:40 pm
  #13  
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: DFW-In Plano & CDG-In the 11th
Programs: DL Diamond, AA revenue negative, Bonvoy Titanium +, Avis likes me
Posts: 3,206
I wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot Pole, or a 9 foot Romanian. Delete, delete, delete.
Dallas49er is offline  
Old Jul 22, 2019, 2:02 pm
  #14  
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: YYF/YLW
Programs: AA, DL, AS, VA, WS Silver
Posts: 5,950
Originally Posted by Often1
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.
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.
ashill is offline  
Old Jul 22, 2019, 2:10 pm
  #15  
 
Join Date: May 2017
Location: DFW
Programs: AA Plat Pro, HH Gold, National Exec
Posts: 41
Sure seems like a scam to me. I wouldn't touch it.
Whiskey_bravo is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.