We have various threads on this e.g. here but nothing specifically on this topic.
I know for sure that many pilots are concerned about who turns up… Also most men with a GF or a wife would be concerned about picking up a female passenger 
Any experiences?
Peter wrote:
Also most men with a GF or a wife would be concerned about picking up a female passenger
No. Why? If the GF/wife is concerned, it is the wrong GF/wife.
Well, you could say the same about any GF/wife who a man met after starting flying
I wonder how many people on EuroGA have used Wingly to find passengers?
Like with many of those “share economy” concepts, the ratio of bad experiences is probably much lower than those who stay away from it think it might be. That goes for subletting your apartment, renting out your car, sharing a ride, or sharing a flight. With none of these have I made truly bad experiences.
I’ve had about 20 passengers and a dozen flights with “strangers” via flight sharing sites – mostly Wingly. I’ve had about an equal share of pure ride sharing flights from A to B, day trips to an island or so and back, and local sightseeing flights. All of them were exceptionally nice. There’s an above average share of passengers who have an active interest in aviation, but who might not be able to fly themselves (for financial, health, or other reasons). I’ve had students of aeronautical engeneering, flight sim vetererans, etc. Others just randomly came across the site and liked the idea.
The only “negative” (ah, not really) experiences I had with people who were looking for “unrealistic” flights or who don’t understand the concept and the difference to commercial and think of us pilots as service providers. In those cases, the flights didn’t happen in the end, so all what remains is a few messages of conversation.
Just flew a husband and wife couple for their anniversary.
The weather wasn’t great, but they were engaging, really appreciative of the experience and an absolute pleasure to fly with.
Overall my experience so far is positive.
A couple years back I took a couple people that I found on a french Bloomberg chat (system for people who work in finance to get financial info and chat with peers). I think all the experiences were positive, some asked for more flights, and some I even kept seeing in London after that (curiously, the ones where I had to do a totally unplanned diversion to another airfield).
That wasn’t through a platform, there is some self selection (although I had a guy that wanted me to pick him up at City to go to Paris, as he couldn’t stand the eurostar plebs). I stopped doing it just because usually I have enough friends / family interested in flights, or I want absolute flexbility, or I just want to enjoy a flight alone.
The only passenger which enjoyed less was a guy that got sick on a flight where we were IMC all the way mid channel to white waltham, in some turbulence. He was a bit green when exited the plane, but his GF seemed to have enjoyed a lot (asking question etc)
@Noe
Did they get permission from compliance for the ride? 
That was before MIFID II, transaction requirements not as stringent!
(sorry, finance joke)
In my opinion for Wingly to really catch up it needs to reach the potential users, the wide audience of people who may fly with GA pilots.
This needs a lot of publicity on media.
It has got some publicity in UK mainly and northern Europe but not south of the Alps where GA is less active.
I have got some “interests” until now but they have reached just up to some message exchanges.
If I get a genuine request I will for sure try to check somehow the background of the interested rider.
I won’t get a complete stranger (me) all alone in the aircraft.
That shall include some social media search or even a personal phone conversation before the flight is arranged.
There are strange people out there or people who may seek illegal op’s with GA aircraft (where the pilot in command has the ultimate responsibility).
It would be interesting to hear of cases where the pilot decided to not fly with somebody, and why. IMHO this is what many people are worried about.
