aroundtheworld831

Hello first time poster here. I have been given a buddy pass from my friend. I am trying to fly home from China PEK-SFO on this ticket.

I would like to add an SFO-BOM (India) with a stopover in AMS. AMS is where I would have to change planes for BOM anyway, so I just wanted to stop there for 3-4 days and visit a friend studying there.

When I tried adding this second leg the lady on the phone told me I couldn't do a stop there because I had an open jaw ticket. I was under the impression that delta allowes one open jaw and one stop over.

Any help would be appreciated. Was it just luck of the draw with who I got on the phone...should I call and try again or anything specific to say to the agent about getting it processed.

Thanks!

rubesl

You really need to ask the employee who gave you the buddy pass what the rules are on stopover and openjaw for buddy passes. Also, you'd better be prepared to hang around the airports, maybe for days, because you will be traveling on a "space available" basis.

us2

While I can't cite chapter and verse on why this is the case, I'd be willing to bet that the agent is right and this is an invalid BP routing. I will note up front that I am not an expert on the use of buddy passes, so take most of this with a grain of salt.

The rules that apply to revenue and non revenue ticketing are VERY different. As an NRSA pass holder myself, there are things that I can do in the way of routings that simply aren't possible for a revenue passenger. If I wanted to fly from SFO to LAX via JFK, I could do that. That obviously isn't a routing with a published fare.

But a buddy pass falls somewhere in between. What you're trying to do is not to go from A to B on one pass as intended, but to go from A (PEK) to B (SFO) to C (AMS) to D (BOM). In my mind, what you plan on doing is something that requires not one pass, but three, because it appears from your post that you're trying to incorporate two stopovers in your PEK-BOM routing at SFO and AMS. It may be possible to do PEK-BOM via the US and AMS (I'm not sure on this, however), but the stopovers are a problem.

My advice (as always) is to work through the friend who gave you the buddy pass. That's how it is supposed to work and for good reason. An employee who authorizes someone to ride on a buddy pass is ultimately responsible for the conduct that buddy pass rider. And from what I can discern from your post, you're trying on your own to exceed what your employee friend authorized. He/she authorized PEK-SFO, not PEK-SFO-AMS-BOM.

And, as a practical matter, I would note that buddy pass fares aren't free and they aren't all that cheap. All told, and this is without any research, it could well be cheaper to buy a revenue ticket from PEK to BOM and then, with your friend's permission, use the pass to fly home to SFO from BOM. If you want to stop over in AMS, you may well need two passes to accomplish that.

Again, and I cannot stress this enough, you should be working through the employee who authorized the pass on this.

woody125

That sums up the extent of wise counsel you should expect on this board about this topic. The community is holding back a bit compared to past posts about BPs.

As a Companion Pass card holder myself, I agree with all that us2 said especially what was quoted above.

Be flexible, be patient, note embargo dates, demand nothing, be thankful for whatever you get, ask not for mileage credit, never check a bag and Good Luck!

woody125

Oh, and Welcome to FT!

WidgetKid

While this wouldn't necessarily require more than one pass, it might not be entirely possible, not even to mention expensive. The issue lies in the fact that all travel must be on DL metal. That means in order to fly BOM-PEK, you must fly, for example, BOM-AMS-JFK-NRT-PEK or something of the likes.

You also must be incredibly careful about embargoes. For example, the DTW-NRT flight is embargoed to all buddy passes for the entire month of July.

And lastly, you must realize that this will be very expensive and you are not guaranteed a seat. If you do end up being able to work out BOM, you could very easily end up sitting in the BOM airport for 3, 4, or even 5 or more days because the one flight delta operates there is full and you will be the bottom of the barrel of NRSA.

As far as prices go, you are not simply billed on your origin and your destination and the mileage as the crow flies to get there. You are charged for how far you fly including connections. For example, a buddy pass rider that flies ORD-ATL-CDG will incur a higher cost than one who flies ORD-JFK-CDG. What you seem to be proposing is:

PEK-XXX-SFO-DTW-AMS-BOM-AMS-SEA-PEK

Now, I just went and priced a buddy pass out that accomplished this routing in mid-august. The price came out to be about 1500 dollars. Now, that's likely much cheaper than a ticket, but it's still not cheap so consider that.

fti

And I am glad for that. In the past, people were very much in an "attack" mode when the topic of buddy passes was mentioned. Hopefully those who were so aggressive just pass over such threads and refrain from commenting at all. Seems to make such forums a "kinder, gentler" place

PRWeezer

OP - as others suggest, you would be wise to loop in your friend to help with the listing. He/she may need to ask someone who works in pass travel about this specific case. There are examples of acceptable & unacceptable routings on TravelNet, but your scenario doesn't match up to those examples exactly.

Not sure if the 'sample' cost listed earlier includes surcharges, but buddy passes are subject to a $25 to $50 surcharge "each way." Who knows how the system might define "each way" in the OP's routing?

Note that there is a disclaimer on TravelNet that someone who issues a pass w unacceptable routing may be subject to disciplinary action. Given that, your friend should be involved to be sure that everything is on the up & up.

Welcome to FT & good luck!

simuflite

What does a Delta buddy pass have to do with the Sky Miles program?

Since we're on the subject, I'd recommend NOT using a buddy pass. Transiting AMS as an S4 is a fools errand.

Ran into a group there one time. They'd all been there for five days waiting for a seat - any seat - on a flight - any flight.

I am perplexed as to why people turn to Flyertalk for NRSA advice, especially for buddy passes, in lieu of the actual employee who sold you the pass in the first place. Do you even KNOW the person you bought the pass from? Or was it purchased via some other means, i.e. eBay or Craigslist? If so, could you PM me your PNR/locator?

WidgetKid

I agree with the first two points.

If you can avoid using a buddy pass, I would probably do it. If it works out well, that's great. And sometimes it does with VERY careful planning. The more legs you have obviously the more trouble you're going to run into and you may end up waiting for 5 days in Amsterdam. On the other hand if you go during off season, you might just score Business Elite across the pond. It's the price you pay for traveling stand by.

Since when do half of the threads in this forum have to do with skymiles? What does knowing if the T2 check-in at JFK is still open have to do with skymiles? What does the FAA investigating the near miss over JFK have to do with skymiles? Just about as much if not less than a buddy pass, I think. This forum may be entitled the skymiles forum but it is really for any question Delta related. I know many people on here have issues with the employee pass travel system and buddy passes and quite frankly I think a good deal of this stems from jealousy of not having it themselves (and I think that's the case with this particular post) and poor experiences with shena. However, while I will not encourage posting about NRSA travel on this forum due to the largely hostile community regarding it here and the fact that the issuing employee will likely be more knowledgeable, I will be more than happy to answer the questions of anyone who posts on here about it.

Lastly, OP, do not PM this person and send him your PNR and/or record locator. It is none of his business where you got it. While it is against policy to sell buddy passes on e-bay or the likes, that is your problem to deal with and the company's, not simuflite's.

aroundtheworld831

Firstly, I have been best friends with the Delta employee for 10+ years. This is not the first or even 5th time I have used a buddy pass. I know there can be difficulties traveling on them. That all said, he is on vacation for another week, no big deal.

I was in Australia for a year and in Asia for about 6 months now. I asked for the buddy pass arranged which is currently only PEK-SFO (so I can get home). Once I take that leg the BP is gone. Instead of getting another one issued to me, I wanted to add on my trip from SFO-BOM in January (6-7 months from now).

I looked at Delta flights from SFO-BOM (on only Delta planes) and it flies via MSP /AMS. It is a multi-stop and only Delta planes. I have a friend I made living in Sweden some 6 years ago who currently lives in AMS. All I tried to ask the agent was to stop in AMS for a few days (not diverting from my original route). A stop over. She told me she couldn't do it because it was an Open-Jaw ticket. That is all well and fine, I can get another pass issued to me and let this one go. It just seems silly to do so and I was under the impression you could do one stop over and open jaw.

I was just asking here to try and clear this up without bothering my friend. That all said, I have a few weeks left here in China to sort it out. And as for where I travel after India (Nepal, etc...) don't worry, the atw ticket isn't necessary.

Cheers and thanks for everyones help

xooz

You seem to want a one way with 2 stopovers.. SFO and AMS, as you didn't mention returning anywhere from BOM. The 2 stopovers may be the issue, as well as the price issue with respect to the risk of flying standby. Good luck!

aroundtheworld831

You know I have used buddy passes several times and I always thought I could use it as one return or two one ways. That for two one ways were separate on the ticket. What I was trying to do, but I guess have to get issued another pass for is just:

PEK-SFO (one way ticket)

6 months later.....

SFO-AMS-BOM (second one way with stop over)


As for the money everyone keeps mentioning. PEK-SFO and SFO-BOM which I can still currently add without the stop over comes in under 1k.

WidgetKid

I think you're confusing two one-ways with round-trip. You can use a buddy pass as either one way, or round trip, but not two one-ways.

(Think of round-trip as the same origin and destination with a stopover in the middle)

If you use a buddy pass as one one-way without having the return ticketed, the pass is considered used upon completion and not valid for further flights. Just something to keep in mind.

reed2x

Here's one of the best secrets among us on FT.

Hang up and try again.

It works wonders. Maybe the next agent working the buddy pass hotline can arrange what you want.