luv2ctheworld

Hoping some people here have had some experience with this. A few months ago, I was voluntarily bumped and received a "courtesy pass", G fare class. I have a couple of questions, one of which has not been given a straight answer by Aeromexico.

1) The vouchers are valid for 1 year. One rep I spoke with said A) those flights must be completed by the expiration date. Another rep said B) the flight has to commence by that date, and another one said C) the flight has to be reserved/taxes purchased by that date but flown after. Anyone have the 3rd option exercised?

2) I noticed on the voucher that I used that an $80 fare in addition to taxes were applied. The tax was around $88 dollars, for a total of around $168. I'm not complaining about a free "voucher" but I'm curious where the $80 came in... is that a fuel surcharge? Has anyone gotten this explained to them? I was told that was part of the charge for a voucher but couldn't get anything more specific from Aeromexico.

Any input appreciated.

Thanks.

Rojo

That will be a Miscellaneous Charge... AM and MX don't give anything for free (they need to pay raising fuel bills and high leasing prices). They also charge for FF redemptions about the same amount.

Next time you are offerd a voucher when you volunteer on AM or MX, make sure they give you $$$ (a voucher worth certain amount instead of a "G fare" roundtrip ticket).

Viajero Joven

For pure curiosity reasons, I 'm curious what the rules are on the voucher re. advance purchase, min. stay, transferability, and which destinations are allowed (Mexico domestic? to the US/Canada? Worldwide?) Also, did you get it on a domestic or international flight?

May be handy to know for future AM flights--- a $300 voucher hardly gets anything on them, anyways.

Thanks!

luv2ctheworld

Greetings VJ!

I'll discuss what I have been able to discover so far (please note this is for a "courtesy pass" and not any kind of monetary credit/voucher):

1) Per their ticket agent and reservation agents, these are only good for flights to Mexico, and MUST be on AM flight. All segments must be AM, no code shares. (I originally saw they had Brazil... YEAH! but no dice) They are NON-transferable... person's name on the pass must be the person flying.

2) The pass is valid for 1 year from the date of issue, but there is some confusion there (more on that later).

3) These "courtesy passes" are considered G class fares and only a handful of seats on each flight are designated G (one res. agent said maybe 5 or 6 per flight).

4) There is no advance purchase/reservation, except for the fact that if you don't book these "well" in advance, there's almost no chance of finding availability on popular days/dates (i.e. weekends, holidays), unless you try your luck closer to the date of departure, possibly even day of. According to them, if someone cancels their G reservation, it goes back into the system so you could be lucky and call on the day that had someone give up their reserved G ticket. So if a date you want is not available, I was told to call back daily to ask (why it's good to tell them upfront you're looking for G fares). As far as I know, there weren't any blackout dates but I did not check.

5) No min. stay required

6) You can actually disembark and not get on a connecting flight for 24 hours. This is nice for a quick hop into Mexico City before heading to your actual destination. I thought of arriving into MEX and having my second leg the next day so I can chill around Zona Rosa or make a day trip to Taxco.

7) Even if you are flying on a "courtesy pass", if you are presented with an "opportunity" to be bumped again, you can also volunteer. I was thinking how great it would be to get another pass, flying for free (almost, see below)on this one.

8) Taxes and fees... ouch! Per my original post, expect to pay over $150, so this isn't "free", but what things in life are? Except for this awesome website and it's members ^ (though I guess we do have paid version now).

9) You must pay this at the airport, or MAIL your voucher to HQ and have them process the fees/taxes. Personally, I feel much better going to the counter or ticket office to see a smiling, friendly face (no guarantees) then licking a stamp and hope it shows up in the right box.

10) The ticket/reservation can be changed after you paid for it but you'll have to go back to the airport or ticket center to do this.

11) I got this on a flight from LAX to PVR, so I don't know if a domestic Mexico bump will be equal or less.

As for clarification on the 1 year rule, like I mentioned in the OP, I've heard 3 different versions: finish travel by date, start travel by date, or make reservation by date but can fly whenever. I had already gotten a flight well within my expiration, but realized I couldn't make it due to another trip(happens to be the NWA $200 Europe fare, thanks FT! ) I made another reservation (past the expiration of the voucher) and then went to the ticket office and gave them the original paper ticket plus my new reservation. The agent didn't seem to have any problems with it and so now I'm set to be in Cancun for President's Day! :-:

Sorry, that's a bit long winded but it covers most of the details on the courtesy pass.

Viajero Joven

Thanks for the follow up. Hmm, sounds interesting. Re. the 24 hour connection, that's allowed on published, purchased fares, also.

So good for any AM flight TO Mexico? I wonder if FROM Mexico would work.... and if from MEX only or from any Mexican city--- say, Tijuana. To any destination worldwide, operated by AM-- like, say, GRU?? You may be able to get to Brazil yet, starting/ending in TJ. I suppose once ticketed, you can't change the destination easily, but you never know.

gelizon

My wife and I volunteered once for a bump on a MEX-BJX route, and they gave us courtesy passes too in july 2004. Two weeks before the passes expired I showed up at the AM ticket office and they said the passes were only valid on a "similar" route (meaning about the same distance). So instead of booking BJX-CUN-BJX like I wanted to I booked BJX-ZIH-BJX. We had a great time, and by the way "G" class was not available on the weekend that I wanted to fly, but the lady at the office just requested it to the flight controller and in a few minutes she issued our tickets. Plus I got FF miles on the flight