US Airways Buddy Pass
 

I will be traveling from Aruba to Orlando, FL, stay in Orlando for 3 months, and then from there go to Europe. Someone I know (US Airways employee) is getting me a buddy pass for the trip.

Is it possible to get a buddy pass for a multi-city trip? Or would I need two separate buddy passes? Especially since there's 3 different continents involved and 3 months apart.

I will be traveling to the states with the Visa Waiver Program which requires me to show to the immigration officer when I arrive there a return ticket out of the US to prove that I intend to leave the states within 90 days. When I get my ticket/boarding pass on the day I leave to Orlando, will it show the flight for US to Europe which would be 3 months later? Or would I get the whole ticket or something?

I intend to leave on Tuesday May 11th. When I check the US Airways website for flights from Aruba to the Orlando on that day it seems like there are not many seats left, only a few exit row and choice seats. My friends says that there are many seats available though which he would have seen on whatever system employees have access to. Are there any US Airways employees out there that could give me an opinion or confirmation?
I was considering traveling on Thursday 6th May since according to the US Airways websites there are a lot of open seats for that day but I would rather not have to rush to leave if there are open seats on the Tuesday after. Can I base my decision on what the US Airways website says or is the seat info on there not actual?

1. you really need to sit down with your "sponsor" at USAir and have a LONG talk. These questions should be discussed with him/her.

2. I am pretty sure it's a couple of tickets. The trip to MCO is one and the trip to Europe a few days later is two

3. Generally buddy passes don't show the return flight. You show back up and do this all again.

4. Website seating plans are NOT valid indicators of anything.

He/she is right, I fly on my friends Buddy pass with US and all you get is a record ID. You just show up anytime you want to go a flash your locator number and then they will give you a ticket to clear screening. You should be able to print an itinerary however I don't know if this is acceptable for customs. You need to call Homeland Security and explain your situation. If you get turned around in custom the airline gets fined for sending passengers without the correct documents. You wouldn't want to get for friend/family in the hot seat over this. On the flip side US air shouldn't send you less you have the right paper work to clear customs.

Good luck on the Europe buddy pass, its very possible you could get stuck for days as those flight are usualy full with non-revs. Just getting to PHL from MCO can be tough. Trust me I live in MCO and avoid PHL like the plague with the buddy pass.

Thanks for the tips :)

I wish I could sit down with my friend to discus it all over, but he is in the states and me in the Caribbean. I try emailing him but he is horrible at responding to emails. So I gave him a call today but could only talk for a bit since he was just leaving to go out of town and won't be back till Saturday.

So that's why I decided to try asking here since by the time I hear from him the day to leave will be closer and I need to start getting ready. He has given me buddy passes in the past when I was in Orlando and had no problem then since we could speak in person.

Moving to US Airways forum for more feedback.

BAMAT
Moderator, Budget Travel

For something like this I would also go to the departing Airport in Europe and ask them exactly what documentation is required for buddy pass travels originating in Europe.
They will know that probably much more then your friend, unless he works there too.

You should be able to get one buddy pass. With US passes (buddy or employee) one pass is good for either a one-way or round trip back to the departure airport. The only portion I'm not sure of is whether the system will let you build a PNR with up to a 90 day gap between flights since I've never done it. However, since buddy pass prices are based on a zone system there shouldn't be much difference in cost if you do it with 3 one-way passes.

When I get my ticket/boarding pass on the day I leave to Orlando, will it show the flight for US to Europe which would be 3 months later? Or would I get the whole ticket or something?[/quote]

You won't get a ticket. If the system allows up to a 90 day break between flights, you'll get what amounts to a PNR which includes your name and travel details. You don't even get a boarding pass till just before you get on the airplane - there's no way to get one in advance for a specific flight, nevermind for a series of flights up to 90 days in the future.

[qupte]My friends says that there are many seats available though which he would have seen on whatever system employees have access to.[/quote]

The number of open seats can and does change up to the time you get on the flight. As others have said, the US seat chart isn't a reliable indicator. Also remember that those using buddy passes are at the bottom of the pecking order for getting on a flight. There may appear to be a lot of seats available, but other non-revenue passengers (employees, their families, express employees, their families, etc) could fill them leaving you at the gate with no seat.

Also as someone said, getting to/from Europe during the summer is difficult for employees and can be nearly impossible for buddy pass holders. So if you undertake this adventure, leave yourself plenty of spare time. You don't want to be trying to get to Europe the day your 90 day visa waiver runs out only to not get on the flight and exceed the 90 day limit. I'd leave at least a week or two leeway to Europe so at worst you could get back to Aruba within the 90 days.

Jim

Help
 

Daughter qualified for National meet but having difficulty finding a reasonable flight. Seeking buddy passes from either RDU or CLT to Wichita, KS July 27-31. If you can help we would really appreciate it. Thank you.:)

Buddy Passes are no good if you need to travel on specific, set dates.

+1000 imo for the most part they're worthless.

See my previous post & don't expect any employee to give a buddy pass to some one they do not know, far to many risks involved. Otherwise welcome to Flyertalk.

Welcome to FT mmouzzon20^

I'd suggest going to kayak.com, making an account, and setting a daily price alert. Being a week out, I don't think you're going to see much change.

So ...
I guess I will be that guy, and have to point out the US Airways does not fly to Wichita at all. They dropped the station from PHX a few years ago. :)

YOU DO NOT WANT YOUR DAUGHTER FLYING ON A BUDDY PASS. Flights are very full and you do not want her to have added stress for a "meet". You want what is called "positive space" in industry. Try to find a friend who can book you a dividend miles ticket or fly another airline but do not fly buddy pass

$413. Doesn't seem like a bad fare at all for a last minute trip.

Flying on a US Airways buddy pass to Wichita could take a while--you'd have to wait for them to start service there again. (Anyone else remember the glory days when US Airways Express had a ton of EAS routes in Kansas?)

Charlotte (CLT) to Wichita (ICT) - Tue, Jul 26
Charlotte (CLT) to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) - Tue, Jul 26
American 585 Dep: 7:05AM Arr: 8:40AM 2h 35m MD-80 Coach (V)
Layover in DFW 0h 55m

Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) to Wichita (ICT) - Tue, Jul 26
American 471 Dep: 9:35AM Arr: 10:45AM 1h 10m MD-80 Coach (V)


Wichita (ICT) to Raleigh/Durham (RDU) - Tue, Aug 2
Wichita (ICT) to Chicago (ORD) - Tue, Aug 2
United 6469 Dep: 6:32PM Arr: 8:20PM 1h 48m Canadair Reg. Jet Coach (G)
OPERATED BY UNITED EXPRESS/SKYWEST AIRLINES Layover in ORD 1h 35m

Chicago (ORD) to Raleigh/Durham (RDU) - Tue, Aug 2
United 3465 Dep: 9:55PM Arr: 12:45AM 1h 50m Embraer RJ-170 Coach (G)
OPERATED BY UNITED EXPRESS/SHUTTLE AMERICA

Yes, as does my rear end from sitting in those Beechcraft 1900D seats. It was fun the first time I did MCI-ICT in one to watch the radar (no cockpit door, the first officer did the safety briefing, but then I was less amused with the lack of comfort. And even less amused when I wound up on a project that had me doing PHL-MCI-ICT-MCI-LIT-MCI-PHL most weeks for about two months.

This was before US was allied with, well, just about anyone - pre-UA or Star alliances. I remember being jealous of the UA 737-500s at ICT heading to DEN, thinking how maybe I should say to hell with the US miles and ditch my intra-Kansas flying for better comfort, even if it was a backtrack. But I went with the miles.

On the buddy pass issue: earlier this week there was a guy nearly in tears at a southeastern airport I frequent who was told that after several cancellations and resultant persistent overbookings in the near future, the GA had literally no clue when he could get him to Europe, but almost certainly not in the next several days, at least out of that station. With time to kill flying on maybe Saturday nights, Sunday mornings and the occasional Tuesday (with some luck) I guess they can be of some use, but I don't think they otherwise are. And US just reported one of its highest load factors ever in the Q2 results, with a 83.8% systemwide LF.

As I've said before a buddy pass is pretty much worthless on domestic but to attempt to use one to Europe come on, beyond stupid imo.

Hello all and happy holidays. I am looking for some advice regarding using a buddy pass to travel to Europe during the winter. I have a friend who is a USAIRWAYS pilot. He has offerred my these passes in the past but i have never used one. Next winter (2015) i want to take my son (who is graduating from college) to europe. I plan to travel with my friend (the pilot), my son and one of his friends. I figure that by traveling in winter (we like to ski) that i better my chances of actually using the pass. I want to go in early January. Although i have read that seating charts arent valid indicators of availability, it would seem reasonable that if i check the website and for example the flight to zurich from Philly has plenty of seats showing, my chances are good. What does anyone think? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

No, the seat maps online will be of no use to you for this. Assuming it is the same as when I worked for US in 2009, have your friend log into the employee travel website. This site will show exactly how many seats are available and is reliable.

Welcome to Flyertalk. I don't mean to be rude, but ask the person giving you the buddy pass.

+1

The employees have much better visibility into loads than anyone on flyertalk does (well, except for the employees who post here), and have a lot more experience with what you can reasonably expect to do with those passes.

I've got a couple of friends who work for UA and any time I want to accept their offer of a buddy pass, it's a long discussion including what behavior and attire is acceptable when you're flying on a buddy pass, and what I can expect should something go wrong (like another flight getting cancelled and me losing my non-revenue-generating seat to a displaced but paying customer). We also review where I want to go and what flights work best (so I often end up at the airport at 5am for the first flight out, which is most likely to have space for my non-paying butt).

If your pilot friend isn't giving you all this information then you may want to re-think accepting that offer. Especially if you're trying to get 4 non-revenue passengers all on the same flights. Granted, winter to Europe is probably the best time to try it, but make sure you know of all the down-sides of pass travel before you sign on for it.

I have spoken with him about it but i dont think he has used them much. I was interested in whether or not i could make this happen if i went in winter time. I dont think my friend has any experience with this. Figured someone out there has tried this in off-season. Would like to fly out of Philly.

Also, with the merger there's no way to tell what will happen with buddy passes between now and next winter. Since these are space available (after all the revenue passengers are boarded) and at US have the lowest priority among space available riders, even if they continue being available you'll only get own after all the US and AA employees, retirees, and their spouses/families are boarded. Since buddy passes aren't nearly the good deal that they once were, most employees/retirees who get them advise friends to shop for a low-priced fare instead. You may be stuck in the US/AA gateway and again in Europe for days before you get on a flight so they can save some money but a few nights in a hotel can eat that up and more.

Jim

US Airways Buddy Pass
 

If traveling in winter you also need to take weather into consideration. The last time I flew on a buddy pass was probably six years ago trying to do a r/t PHX-BOS. A giant storm rolled thru PHX, flights got cancelled, we got bumped. Ended up sleeping at the airport and buying a very expensive one-way on Continental for the next morning. By the time we were headed home that same storm was in BOS and DCA was the only place we could get to. Had to sleep at DCA and I subsequently missed the next day of work. I decided from that point on I would always need to have a confirmed seat for wherever I was headed.

A free ticket is never free.

I am sure BoeingBoy might echo the same experience, but I know when I was flying for one of the Express carriers and I would be traveling either commuting home or taking a personal trip I wound up taking the jumpseat more often than Id like due to load factors. I currently am a Reg Guest on my friends benefits which gets me SA4P priority. Out of the 5 times I have attempted to nonrev this year I made 2 of the 5 flights. The other trips I didnt make I had to spend money on hotels/shuttles,etc which would have worked out almost even to if I had purchased a revenue ticket. I cant even imagine doing it as a 7P or lower (buddy pass priority). Sometimes you get lucky though.