Travel Nightmare - Guest Pass

[Fly4Free]

My sister will never fly US AIrways again because they royally screwed her over in the guest pass travel I booked her. No, we're not talking about a full fare here, but when you're supposed to be billed $52.20 and not $152.20, and they bill you the $152.20, then something is WRONG!

I have spent countless hours (all wasted) trying to get someone to help me resolve this issue. I guess because I'm an employee, the people I offer my guest passes to have to suffer when Res makes an error in payment!

If it were me this happened to, I'd shrug, say.. gee, I'm so happy I get these benefits of traveling.. but NO.. it happened to a guest. A guest who is extremely upset.

As far as I'm concerned, the guest pass system SUCKS and should be redone again. Thank you!

- An unhappy brother of a Guest Traveler

 

[proudf/a]

My sister will never fly US AIrways again because they royally screwed her over in the guest pass travel I booked her. No, we're not talking about a full fare here, but when you're supposed to be billed $52.20 and not $152.20, and they bill you the $152.20, then something is WRONG!

I have spent countless hours (all wasted) trying to get someone to help me resolve this issue. I guess because I'm an employee, the people I offer my guest passes to have to suffer when Res makes an error in payment!

If it were me this happened to, I'd shrug, say.. gee, I'm so happy I get these benefits of traveling.. but NO.. it happened to a guest. A guest who is extremely upset.

As far as I'm concerned, the guest pass system SUCKS and should be redone again. Thank you!

- An unhappy brother of a Guest Traveler

WOW that stinks. I have used them for years and have never had any type of problems. My guests have even gotten on without any problems. Did you book their reservation yourself through the HUB? I'm sure you have tried all the avenues to get this resolved, you tried the employee travel office? I cannot imagine they cannot fix this. I do not know what department you work in, if you are in a union I would call them. Maybe they can do something. Good Luck!

 

[LD3]

Just booked a R/T CLT-PVD guess pass thru the HUB and no problems....I guess sometimes your the windshield or sometimes your the bug!!! Hope she can get this resolved..

 

[PHLfa88]

My sister will never fly US AIrways again because they royally screwed her over in the guest pass travel I booked her. No, we're not talking about a full fare here, but when you're supposed to be billed $52.20 and not $152.20, and they bill you the $152.20, then something is WRONG!

I have spent countless hours (all wasted) trying to get someone to help me resolve this issue. I guess because I'm an employee, the people I offer my guest passes to have to suffer when Res makes an error in payment!

If it were me this happened to, I'd shrug, say.. gee, I'm so happy I get these benefits of traveling.. but NO.. it happened to a guest. A guest who is extremely upset.

As far as I'm concerned, the guest pass system SUCKS and should be redone again. Thank you!

- An unhappy brother of a Guest Traveler

Did you ever think about All the Goverment taxes and junk fees that are added to the price? B)

 

[SegmentKing]

As a former EAST WO supervisor, I'm amazed by the LACK OF COMMUNICATION about the changes in the pass policy.

#1. Was flying back from Hawaii with a friend. ETC down. Surprise surprise. AQ hates my employer, so they wouldn't help me with anything. Call res, said flight is tight, not sure all NRSA's will make it. Can't log into Shares - laptop dying. Although what good would it be as I can't check-in. Traded a US buddy pass with a friend at United, called HP res to change friend's SA7 comp pass from XXX - PHX to SFO - PHX, asked about the refund in fare difference (as in East Sabre, TIPS comes up with a reissue and offers to refund or addcollect fare diff), HP RES agent says to get it from pass bureau when I get back. Friend and I make it on UA, and in F!! Get home. Talk to pass bureau - they're like "what crack are you on".. call HP pass bureau - said they don't do refunds, need to call res... call res, said no ticket to refund, it was an even exchange, call Cust Relations - explained story, and that I NEVER would have allowed the transaction to happen as they are all telling me that i am out $80. I would have simply used another buddy pass and had the original Hawaii - phx pass refunded. CR agrees with me, said communcation sucks, and I need to talk to refunds. Finally get thru to Refunds.. refunds said she can't do anything without a supervisor authorizing it. Said no supervisor there to do it, need to call res.

So now I'm out $80 cause USAirways can't keep up their end of the bargain by keeping TheHub updated -- as a former supervisor I relied on the manuals and information in TheHub. Also, had the HP res agent told me "oh, you can't get a refund" I would have simply asked for a refund on the unused ticket and used a new buddy pass for the $30 flight.

#2. Friend flying on a pass of an HP employee goes to PHX airport, cant' check in as the HP agent says "I need his profile" and he doesn't have it. Told my friend that he's already listed, and its in the PNR, and to tell the agent to get a supervisor. Agent refuses to get a supervisor, refuses to check - in friend (WHO IS ALREADY LISTED!!). In a frantic, I list him on TheHub (have him pay at airport) in case he cant' get it squared away. New agent pulls up original PNR and issues ticket, friend on phone is amazed, then tells me the HP guys tell him to tell me that my buddy pass is useless now.

At this point I'm furious. At EAST, we could list buddy pass riders but it didn't get deducted from our bank UNTIL it was ticketed... now the moment we click on "OK" it deducts it -- so if they don't use it, you are OUT OF YOUR BUDDY PASS!

I finally got HP pass bureau to recredit my pass due to the PHX HP agent's inability to do his/her job.

======================================================================
I'm very disappointed in the "New" USAirways. You'll notice my references to HP, and not US... this is NOT US anymore. As a supervisor, I was trained inside and out on our policies and trained my agents if they were unsure, to ask me, or look it up in FOCUS, or hell, call help desk. Where I worked, we had a massive amount of employees / retirees and employee ticketing was the first thing I learned (well, after how to board a flight!).

Dealing with HP Customer Relations and Refunds, I spoke to REAL HP employees and they too expressed disgust in the way things are being done... not really US vs HP, but the lack of communication.

So I feel for everyone out there who is getting burned by the new program & policy... I also feel for the HP'ers who once got 30 buddy passes a year and now get only 8. I wish there was a way to earn more to make ALL of us happy...

 

[hula-flyguy]

I'm confussed....you want more buddy passes that you are so angry about???

I don't get it.

 

[BoeingBoy]

I don't get it.

Pretty simple....

I like hamburgers. But if someone drops my hanburger on the floor, kicks it around, puts it back on the plate, spits on it, then serves it to me, I'd be angry.

Not angry at hamburgers in general, or even that specific hamburger - it didn't do anything wrong. Just angry at the way that hamburger was handled.

One can like something and want more, be it hamburgers or guest passes, while at the same time be unhappy with how it is handled.

Jim

 

[tadjr]

Couple of questions for you.
What was the routing she was traveling and was it all on US/HP or was it a mixed routing?
Who did the ticketing? Online at the hub, via phone at rez or at the airport?

The computer automatically computes the fares normally, thats why I am curious about where it was ticketed. At the airport, we dont have a way to change the amount owed unless it was fared wrong to start with.

 

[SegmentKing]

I'm confussed....you want more buddy passes that you are so angry about???

I don't get it.

for me, I'm mad that there are NO references to any of these policy changes on TheHub. HPers don't use it, but US-Easties... would be nice if they had something for us "easties" when OUR policies change to something totally different.

this merger officially sucks. Information that USED to be at our finger tips is now burried in some policy book in Tempe... and till we get it, everyone is just shooting from the hips.

 

[Breath_of_Fresh_USAirways]

So I feel for everyone out there who is getting burned by the new program & policy... I also feel for the HP'ers who once got 30 buddy passes a year and now get only 8. I wish there was a way to earn more to make ALL of us happy...

30? Try 40! If you had perfect attendance you EARNED 10 a quarter. And you could use them for more things than "buddy passes" -- using 1 or 2 or 3, sometimes -- You could upgrade to FC for free! You could pay for your parents tickets! You could list yourself SA1P! That's why they called them FLEXI passes! Me, personally, I mostly miss the SA1P -- I could do it 13 times a year, as opposed to twice. I hate giving out "buddy" passes -- so many people have so many problems with not understanding the nature of stand-by travel. Now I have 8 of them that I can't do anything else with -- to me, they are useless.

Just a word to the wise -- in the few times I have let someone USE a buddy pass, I have always, always, checked what the fare Should Be before they get ticketed -- if there's any discrepancy, I tell them to call me, first, before paying. Sometimes I had made a mistake in the booking; sometimes the agent had made a mistake with the ticket. But together, we get it worked out.

Did you book your sister's trip through theHub/compass? Or shares/sabre? Was it on HP or US metal or mixed? Did you call res? I'd be curious to know, too...so as to hopefully avoid the same outcome for someone else in the future.

 

[Fly4Free]

Couple of questions for you.
What was the routing she was traveling and was it all on US/HP or was it a mixed routing?
Who did the ticketing? Online at the hub, via phone at rez or at the airport?

The computer automatically computes the fares normally, thats why I am curious about where it was ticketed. At the airport, we dont have a way to change the amount owed unless it was fared wrong to start with.

She flew HP noth ways from STL - PHX and PHX-STL. There were two PAXs. (Her and her daughter.) That totals to $60/pp + taxes (76.10/pp.) The debate is not whether it's $152.20, but her cc being charged that much after another form of payment for the first $100 was supposedly supposed to be used. (Gift card.)

I booked it on ETC, called up res to pay for it over the phone.

She returns home to find that she had not been charged the amount told her by the supervisor who arranged this payment. I've been bounced around many times on the phone, and I feel like I have no one I can turn to for help. If they ain't your personal friend, screw you. (Seems to be their mentality.) AND I can back that up.. "Hello, ... sister was overcharged 2x" .. "so.." .. "SO?!?! Don't you see a problem with that??" was my first call. GROWL.

 

[tadjr]

That makes a difference then. Can you find out if the gift card still has anything left on it? Did they deduct the $100 from the card? If so, send a copy of the gift card (number, etc) along with a copy of the charge to refunds. I dont bother with anyone on the phone since its easy to brush off. Make copies of everything and document as much as you can. You can even send it so someone has to sign for it at refunds. A copy of the tickets showing form of payment would also be helpful. This sounds just like a rez/ticketing problem and not a buddy pass issue. It just happened to be a buddy pass it was issued on.

 

[PhxMama]

That makes a difference then. Can you find out if the gift card still has anything left on it? Did they deduct the $100 from the card? If so, send a copy of the gift card (number, etc) along with a copy of the charge to refunds. I dont bother with anyone on the phone since its easy to brush off. Make copies of everything and document as much as you can. You can even send it so someone has to sign for it at refunds. A copy of the tickets showing form of payment would also be helpful. This sounds just like a rez/ticketing problem and not a buddy pass issue. It just happened to be a buddy pass it was issued on.

Someone help! I didnt know gift cards could be used for buddy passes. I dont have a gift card and therefore cant read rules but does it allow for payment to non rev? Im thinking that may be the problem.