Aug 4, 2014, 9:42 pm
Last edit by: beckoa
Still, as a posting in the "Information desk" forum, it could be helpful for future FT'ers/Newbies. Some things you could learn:
- As attractive as it is, buddy passes are for suckers in the summer to Europe.
- If you travel as a family, be ready to split up and go separate ways.
- Never buy a buddy pass from someone who is not a buddy. A real friend can help you if you need alternate arrangements. Also, (not in the thread) your buddy pass is refundable, so a "real" buddy would get your money back.
- Don't cheap out once you get in trouble. The poster should have found a good internet cafe and stayed online shopping until he had something. I would have started with Skyscanner and searched Paris to Everywhere, then looked at US and Canada options. Right this minute it found Aer Lingus CDG-JFK tomorrow for $1255.
- Do your research in advance. The OP somehow found Flyertalk AFTER having a problem. A Google of 'buddy pass" has the FT thread "When Buddy Passes go Horribly Wrong" on the first page. Some review before the trip would have saved a lot of grief.
Don't ever buy buddy passes or award tickets, especially from people who are not buddies. You risk being stranded overseas with no valid ticket to get home.
Don't leave home without one or more credit/debit cards (or other ready sources of emergency funds) that can cover the cost, in an emergency, of several days' local expenses and walk-up airfare home.
Before bringing young children on a trip, consider their welfare if things go wrong. If your plan for how to deal with difficulties is to spend days in an airport, don't bring the family.
Stuck in Europe for 6 days on Buddy Pass
Aug 9, 2014, 12:48 pm
#106
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But first-time posters would just hijack some other thread, which either has absolutely nothing to do with their question, or else necrobump a 12-year old thread!
Aug 10, 2014, 9:53 am
#108
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However, more generally I think people should think twice before dragging children along on complicated itineraries with tight connections or tickets using mistake fares. If there are problems, it's easier for healthy young adults to deal with sleeping in the airport, etc. compared to children, elderly, disabled, or people with health problems. OTOH, maybe having kids in tow makes agents more willing to bend the rules to help, so the children could almost be used as props in extreme cases.
Aug 10, 2014, 4:12 pm
#109
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hmm, I'm a bit disappointed he never got back to this thread to at least put in a little "thank you". From briefly scanning the replys after his last reply it seemed like some members were actually considering some very altruistric actions, very nice.
If it was a scam and the whole thing was made up then it still showed how engaged this community is so there's a silver lining either way.
Potentially he just got home and posting in online forums is just not part of his usual habbit so he simply forgot that there are humans behind the screens typing the words.
If it was a scam and the whole thing was made up then it still showed how engaged this community is so there's a silver lining either way.
Potentially he just got home and posting in online forums is just not part of his usual habbit so he simply forgot that there are humans behind the screens typing the words.
Aug 11, 2014, 5:49 am
#111
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I just read this thread for the first time in a week or so.
From the start, it seemed unusual, to say the least.
I have had at least 15-20 conversations with airline employees, usually with family, who have trudged to the airport to fly on standby only to be told "come back tomorrow."
From my perspective, we are living through an era of reduced award availability and fuller planes, so this gentleman manages to snare 4 seats from an Eastern seaboard city to a European capital at the height of summer travel season using buddy passes?
How fortunate!
With all the social media revelations about fictitious dating profiles, robot twitter accounts and manipulated news feeds to determine user responses, the notion that this was a lame psychology experiment popped into my head.
Subject: "Altruism among Strangers on the Internet"
Investigator created a fictitious profile on a frequent traveler website, emphasizing a dire (at least for a first worlder) travel circumstance. Included a lap infant for additional effect. Stranded for days in an airport! Sketchy wi-fi! Moving from city to city! Of the xxx responses, 10% came forward wth offers of tickets, etc, 40% offered routing advice, 20% admonished investigator for risking his family being stranded and so on.
From the start, it seemed unusual, to say the least.
I have had at least 15-20 conversations with airline employees, usually with family, who have trudged to the airport to fly on standby only to be told "come back tomorrow."
From my perspective, we are living through an era of reduced award availability and fuller planes, so this gentleman manages to snare 4 seats from an Eastern seaboard city to a European capital at the height of summer travel season using buddy passes?
How fortunate!
With all the social media revelations about fictitious dating profiles, robot twitter accounts and manipulated news feeds to determine user responses, the notion that this was a lame psychology experiment popped into my head.
Subject: "Altruism among Strangers on the Internet"
Investigator created a fictitious profile on a frequent traveler website, emphasizing a dire (at least for a first worlder) travel circumstance. Included a lap infant for additional effect. Stranded for days in an airport! Sketchy wi-fi! Moving from city to city! Of the xxx responses, 10% came forward wth offers of tickets, etc, 40% offered routing advice, 20% admonished investigator for risking his family being stranded and so on.