Minny_COYS

I/my partner have never given out a buddy pass without a full vetting process, including we have to actually know you...

TheHorta

SuperG1955

Test bookings indicate that Saturday's ATL-BCN has adequate available seating for the 2 of you. Don't plan on D1.

JAX-ATL seem to have good availability early in the day. I strongly recommend that you catch the earliest flight after the first of the day. If you don't get from JAX to ATL you can't get from ATL to BCN. You're better off hanging out at ATL for a few hours.

Good luck on your return.

MSPeconomist

I've never flown nonrev, but etiquette rules include not asking other passengers to swap seats, not poaching anyone else's seat, not being rowdy, drunk, or doing anything to disturb customers or employees, not requesting anything of FAs (i.e., don't ring your call button for a refill or ask that a fresh bottle of champagne be opened for you), being flexible about meal choices and taking what's left after the revenue passengers get their preferred food, and not talking about the fact that you are nonrevs or buddy pass riders. If you're given a middle seat or a seat that doesn't recline or have a functioning AVOD system, take it without complaint.

I assume you're not planning to bring kids or animals with you on this trip.

It would be wise to have a *small* carry on so that it can easily fit somewhere in the overhead bin if you're the last one to board and the GA is pressing to get the flight out on time.

SuperG1955

There are threads that don't lend themselves to humor.

There are a number of people with specific knowledge attempting to assist someone who has no knowledge of the process she's dealing with and that would, IMO, be the overriding aim of posting. Not post count padding.

DesertNomad

Back in the the 80s I was stuck in Hong Kong for 5 days trying to get anywhere toward the US while using UA family/employee passes. In 1988 I had the same experience in Seoul. I had been denied travel for 2-3 days with my 1965 seniority. Stuck along with me was a guy with 1986 seniority. As we shared a cab back to town I said that I was getting a hotel, but he needed to get an apartment. I got out the next day, but that guy might still be there.

mersk862

That's why if I need to be somewhere, I buy a ticket. It's so much less stressful than spending an entire day worrying about if I'll make a flight.

Orange County Commuter

I always wondered what happened to that family who did everything wrong (kept bouncing from airport to airport with no real idea if anything they were doing would help, no internet access, no contact with the buddy pass "owner" etc...)

I was in Madrid a few summers ago and there were some upset people there who were stuck on buddy passes. One of them got rather irate with someone from Delta who looked at him and said "one more outburst and you won't ever be getting on a plane" His wife drug him away, it was very apparent that the relative who had given them this pass had not explained the risks.

I used to have access to these and had a GREAT priority. (My sponsor had been at Delta for 50 plus years) Even with that I only used them for short domestic hops and this was in the 70's, 80's. It's just too risky if you have to get back to work on a reasonable schedule.

flying_donkeys12

SuperG1955

April 2017 we were on a BCN-JFK with 13 other pass rider in J and there were additional empty seats.

We've also waited 4 days to get from AMS to JFK/BOS/DTW/MSP/ATL when weather screwed up the US. Since it was the US side that was screwed up it didn't make sense for us to go somewhere else. We also have decent priority with a 20+ year date.

This April we had a family emergency that required us to get back from AMS immediately. The loads were terrible so we used miles for Award tickets. They're extremely expensive on a same day purchase! One always needs alternate plans and available $ or miles.

TheHorta

Wow. OK. I respect and appreciate your input, but it was pretty obvious that my humor was intended to encourage the OP to follow-up and post her experiences, which she apparently responded favorably to.

And, FYI, ALL threads "lend themselves to humor." Humor is an essential part of the teaching / learning process.

I really dislike having to explain the obvious, but I have to remember that I'm only obvious to me.

hotturnip

I was a non-rev at CO for 3 years. Add me to the "never non-rev trans-atlantic" club. Made it to Paris only by going to AMS and taking a train. And after seeing 24 available seats only 12 hours prior, was denied at CDG for the return (rudely). Had to traipse back to Gare du Nord on the RER in my slacks and dress shirt. Find an internet cafe. Check loads for AMS-EWR and re-book. Get hotel in AMS for the night. Wait for the Thalys. Then wait ON the Thalys--it was almost 2 hours late. All this in a horrific heat wave. (Now, I DID make it into Biz on the return, so that was nice.)

The stress was unbelievable. And I was a named travel companion for a 20+-year employee.

That said, I have a friend who has successfully done trans-atlantic to Rome on a DL buddy pass. But he was in close contact with his sponsor, who constantly kept him informed about loads and different flight options. On later trips, the employee actually went ahead and BOUGHT tickets at an employee discount of some kind, I presume because non-reving was so difficult.

You just have to treat it like a big adventure, expect the unexpected, and adapt. (Just like everyone has advised!)

GlobeTrttr83

gooselee

+1. Every DL employee I know is extremely hesitant to issue buddy passes at all. Most of them will instead offer to just help their friends/family find more affordable fares/creative routings/etc. for their confirmed ticket.

Even for themselves, they plan ahead and know not to rely on it. I know a guy who works at DL HQ and so nonrevs on his own priority and he will fully admit that one of every 5 or 6 trips out of the country he has to buy a ticket for at least part of his journey home. He just enjoys the adventure part of it and it's almost like a game to figure out what random place he can end up in for a weekend.

Also if you get a seat that works, don't be surprised if you're asked to move to a broken one so that a revenue passenger can take yours.

tennessetom