As anyone with a pulse knows by now, a passenger flying on a so-called “buddy pass” is suing JetBlue for forcing him to spend most of a flight on the toilet. The JetBlue spin machine is just getting warmed up (I note some pro-blue comments on our sister blog, Tripso that appear to be the work of bluewashers). But there’s a lot more to this story.
My friends over at Jaunted have urged us to take a metaphorical plunger to this piece. So I have.
Buddy passes — those “free” tickets airline employees give to friends and family — are sometimes not worth the paper they’re printed on. It turns out most airlines have significant restrictions on the use of the buddy passes issued to their employees. For example, on American Airlines, it’s often less expensive to buy an advance-purchase ticket than to use a buddy pass, once you factor in all taxes and fees.
One airline this week revised its buddy pass program significantly, turning it from a perk into something closer to the useless goodwill vouchers it doles out to dissatisfied customers. Continental Airlines has upped a “surcharge” on its buddy passes to anywhere from $100 to $400 per ticket, effective May 19, according to an internal airline document I’ve obtained. That’s a whopping 100 percent increase. According to one airline insider:
It’s a big hit for hourly employees. Internal employee stress is increasing. Place a frustrated customer in front of that employee, and you have the recipe for rapidly declining “customer service” just in time for summer travel.
What does Continental have to say about devaluing its buddy passes? Blame oil prices.
Buddy Pass service charges were last increased in November 2002. That increase was also a result of the rising cost of crude oil, which in November 2002 was approximately $26 per barrel.
But wait. It gets better.
As a result of current market conditions, CO is no longer in a position to absorb additional fuel costs for the weight of a Buddy Pass rider’s second checked bag. Like non-elite revenue passengers, Buddy Pass riders will be assessed a $25 service charge for their second checked bag. When applicable, excess, overweight, and oversized baggage charges will still apply.
This is sending a clear message to Continental’s employees: Our elite frequent fliers are more important than your friends and family. What a shame.
So the next time some airline apologist points out that Gokhan Mutlu, the JetBlue toilet passenger, was flying on a buddy pass, it’s worth noting that these passes hardly pass for a perk anymore.
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Interesting… I don’t know really whether they should offer them if it’s just going to end up more expensive.
“This is sending a clear message to Continental’s employees: Our elite frequent fliers are more important than your friends and family. What a shame.”
As it should be. Paying passengers are most definitely more important than an employee’s “buddy.” Even though many airline employees seem to have forgotten this, they are actually there to service paying customers. Ancillary benefits like buddy passes are in no way an entitlement. Neither is checking a second bag free of charge.
Blame the economy. Blame the high cost of oil. Blame the war in Iraq. Blame Global warming. I love it! And I’m quite sure that when the economy gets back to “normal”, oil prices stabilize, etc., etc,. etc., then all of these extra charges and fees will be eliminated and customer service in all industries will return to the good ole days of “the customer is always right.” Is there any doubt in anyone’s mind that we will be paying $25 (or $50) for a second checked bag from now on? That once the extra fees are “normal” they are here to stay?
Alex Kremer, I was just going to post the same thing.
[I don't work for JetBlue, or any other airline, etc. But I do work very hard not to fly United...]
Something really smells about Mr. Mutlu’s accusations, and it’s not just his seating arrangement. How is it legal for him to have flown in the toilet?
Chris, buddy passes have never been a good deal, unless you were only flying one leg and knew that the flight was WIDE open. Buddy pass riders have always been treated like the lowest form of life (including by the flight crews), but forcing them to sit in the lav… that’s a new low! I personally refuse to fly on buddy passes. It’s not worth it.
BTW, someone just forwarded me this story about a f/a who set a fire onboard on PURPOSE:
http://www.newson6.com/global/story.asp?s=8332291
I believe that angry blogging former NW f/a was accused of something similar.
(http://stonevssteenland.blogspot.com)
If airline management-employees relations don’t improve, I foresee much more turbulence ahead!
It’s not safe to fly in the lavatory as there are no seat belts. Its also an inconvenience to the passengers as well who may have needed the restroom.
A flight attendent should know a jump seat is not comfortable and not agree to sit in one for a trans con. The FA could have stayed standing up and helped out with the flight instead. She should have known what she was getting into and not given up the seat she was origionally assigned.
I have a friend who works for jetblue. Don’t think i’m ever going to take a chance using one of the buddy passes she offers me. especially now that she switched jobs and doesnt have access to the reservation system. You never know how many seats are available as you cant see the seating map online. My girlfiend has flown on a buddy pass and its too stressful. Better off paying full fare
I used to work for United Airlines and their “companion” passes used to be a pretty good deal until the last 5-7 years. You did pay the service charge which was almost equivalent to the cheapest airfares. The benefits you received were flexibility with travel dates, upgrades to business class if space were available, and flexibility on destinations. The obvious downsides were that they were always “space available” meaning that if all seats were full then you didn’t get on the flight.
Before the last few years, you could look at advance bookings and (fairly) reliably predict which flights would have open seats. With airline bankruptcies, mergers, and the proliferation of the internet to sell left over seats, this isn’t the case any more. I agree that the value of the “buddy pass” is virtually non-existent these days.
Alex Kramer, something to consider…
While paying passengers are, and should be, more important than an employees family members or buddies. Keep in mind that perks and benefits given to employees are not done out of the goodness of the companies heart. They are a tool to keep good employees happy and working hard to please the customers. Look at the airlines with the best customer service ratings and I’ll bet the pay and benefits are much better than those with the lower CSR’s.
As a paying customer, I want the airlines employees to be happy! Not at the cost of me getting on the plane, but then that has never been the issue. CO cutting benefits to employees is an internal blunder that will, depending on how the company spins it to the employees, affect it’s customers.
Actually, I’ll take a contrarian stand to Alex and some others who’ve posted here. I don’t think an airline’s customers – even the highest-paying customers – are necessarily more important than the airline’s employees.
Southwest is arguably the country’s best-run airline (certainly in terms of finances; arguably also in terms of customer loyalty and satisfaction). There’s a clear policy at Southwest: Employees first, customers second, and shareholders are a distant third. Their belief is that if you treat your employees well, their satisfaction with working for a company that values them will translate into better service and more satisfied customers. That, in turn, translates into a better bottom line for the shareholders.
Contrast that with, say, United or Delta, where the emphasis is always on boosting the share price (usually so that management can cash in on stock options). These lazy SOBs kowtow to people willing to pay quadruple prices or more for the “privilege” of sitting in a wider seat with more legroom and a few free drinks, while screwing their employees out of compensation (and in the case of United, screwing them out of ownership of the airline). In turn, frustrated employees provide crappy service, figuring there’s no point in making the effort – and rank-and-file customers desert in droves whenever there’s a Southwest/AirTran/Frontier-type option.
I had a relative who worked at the old Western Airlines and the buddy passes were a good deal. What is personally more dissatisfying to me are the companion tickets ff programs distribute either through their program or their affinity credit cards. They can only be used with full fare tickets making the cost of one ticket and one pass more than the cost of two low-fare coach tickets.
Alex,
Airlines do not offer non-rev flight out of kindness. The perk of free flights has benefits for the airline as well. With most airlines starting out at barely over minimum wage, and raises slow to come, flight benefits are a way to compensate employees at no charge to the airline. Most people I work with would leave if they lost their flight benefits, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to hire quality employees. Do you really want the guy McDonald’s wouldn’t hire to be the one making sure your flight leaves on time and safely? The more satisfied an employee, the more he or she cares about the job. You need airline workers to care for your own well being. These seats are space available, meaning that employees don’t go if someone buys the seat, even at the last possible minute. As well as making the job more attractive, non-revs give the illusion of full flights for under booked segments. Employees have to follow strict guidelines on dress and behavior. That well dressed, polite man or woman you are seated next to may be an employee or guest traveler. Flight benefits make for better, happier employees, and that makes your experience better and safer.
The captain committed an egregious safety violation by not providing safety belts for all passengers.
Something like that is normally met up with by termination.
My experiences with buddy passes have been just the opposite. I just flew to Paris France on a buddy pass with no problem. It cost me $300.00 and I had a pretty good isle seat. I think the key is to remember how to use a buddy pass. For example:
Be Flexible
Never get in a hurry
Book your flight within seven days and watch to make sure plenty of seats remain available
Check seat availability before heading to the airport
Compare your buddy pass fee to the cheapeast airfare for the same flight
These are just a few tips that makes good common sense. And just in case you are wondering, No, I do not work for an airline.
I am not sure how the buddy pass works or what charges I will be paying if I could ever get one. I have hit a rough time in my life money wise. I still think a buddy pass would be cheaper for me. My girlfriend lives in Scotland and I have not seen her in a long time because of the cost of flights. I love her so very much and anything that would help cut the cost of a flight there would be a blessing. If there is anyone out there with these passes who may not use or want them please let me know. My email is johko1313@yahoo.com
Hello everyone. I was trying to find a way to get some buddy passes. I have come on hard times money wise. My girlfriend lives in Scotland and we have not been able to see each other for a long time due to the high cost of airlines tickets. People say buddy passes are not worth much anymore but if the can cut the cost of a flight by any amount it would be great for me. I love my girlfriend more then anything else and I miss her so. If anyone has these passes that they might not use or just dont want they would be a blessing to me. Please contact me if anyone has any information about a pass, johko1313@yahoo.com
In “the old days” (pre-deregulation) the buddy pass was a wonderful thing. Many flights departed with many empty seats (an inefficiency), which was heaven for the “space-available” buddy pass rider. A nominal (it really WAS nominal) service fee was charged, plus taxes, for use of the pass.
This “nominal” service fee is now about $360. for a flight to Paris on DL, with $200. more for taxes: a total of $560. While it does cost a certain sum to process a passenger, rev. or non-rev, it is doubtful that this comes to $360.00 I am told that this sum corresponds to an accounting artifact called the “minimum seat yield” for the route flown, and is driven in part from provisions in the tax code. But when an off-season ticket to Paris from the West Coast typically costs $550 for positive space, I find it hard to believe that, as a buddy pass rider, I am really “non-rev.” Where does the $360. go? To the top line on the financial statement, i.e., “revenue!” Ditto for any baggage checking fees (although, as yet, these are not typically charged for international itineraries).
Flying on a buddy pass is both a science (involving careful research and access to the reservation data) and an art (read: flexibility in time and routing). Review your own desires and expectations (utility function, as an economist would say) carefully before attempting this alternate travel system. Yes, you COULD end up in Business Class for a song! But, maybe the potty seat instead, or none at all, with additional out-of-town hotel charges. In Paris, this could really add up!
BP