Welcome to FT in general and the Delta Forum in particular.

Buddy passes can be gotten for itineraries beginning overseas but you should always keep in mind that they are on a waiting list basis and that makes "definite plans" difficult.

I paid almost $200 to fly on a Buddy pass LGW --> MCO. This is because you pay all of the international taxes on the itinerary.

However, it took me three days to get out of LGW on a non-peak week because of how many people were ahead of me in the queue (Buddy pass riders will be one of the last on).

You can be at peace though that there are very, very few elite flyers based in KBP so there are always seats available (up front especially). Well, not always. My mom has given umpteen passes to people since the JFK to KBP route opened up and only once, last August, did anyone get inconvenienced. The pass is usable wherever regardless of where your travel originates as long as it is on Delta or Delta Connection metal (no codeshares allowed anymore). For the most part availability out of KBP is pretty easy.

Your friend should have access to the Delta intranet showing you actual availability. They'll also have a 1800 number for you to call and check on it yourself. Good luck.

Check with your Employee Sponsor for the exact details, but there will be no problem having the pass travel originate outside the US.

JFK-KBP has one of the least elite heavy routes I have ever flown with DL.. very few elites in that market indeed.
-A

Buddy Pass Priority
 

Can someone tell me what the Buddy Pass priority is assuming all riders are S4?
Is it:

1. First to check-in is highest on the list Or
2. Based on Employee's (who gave pass) Date of Hire.

Does a buddy pass riders priority increase (S3, S3B, etc.) if the sponsored employee is with them on the flight?

Thank you...

buddy passes are always s4, and based on the employee's date of hire.

if the sponsoring employee is traveling with the buddy, the employee can ask to be "demoted" to s4 status so you can have a better chance of being seated together, or being in the same cabin.

A Word of caution about Buddy Passes
 

My best friend was a pilot for Delta, and he obtained for me a dirt-cheap ($250) first class ticket for PNS-ATL-AMS. I made the other travel arrangements, including prepaid hotel and event tickets 6 months in advance.

My friend resigned from Delta 2 months before my departure date.

On the day of departure, I show up to the airport and they tell me I have no ticket. Mind you, the reservation remained accessible and "CONFIRMED" online the whole time-- I checked it and printed my itinerary the morning of departure. The ticket agents said that I indeed had a reservation in the system, but no ticket. Apparently all Buddy Passes (employee-obtained tix) get deleted as soon as the employee is removed from the Delta payroll, but the ticketed passenger is never notified!

Is it unreasonable for me to cry foul here? All the agents were personally sympathetic to my situation (one had even had it happen to a friend mid-travel), yet they all said they could do nothing for me. I was faced with the loss of all my nonrefundable hotel packages or the immediate purchase of a last-minute ticket to Europe in mid-summer (not cheap!) Fortunately, I had 75K skymiles and the agent was able to assemble a creative route involving 6 stopovers and an overnight in NYC.

I was really disappointed by the way Delta handled this. Voiding the ticket is one thing, but not notifying me of it until I show up to the airport with my bags packed for 2 weeks in Europe is quite another.

First off, it's really unfortunate that this happened to you. It is also very fortunate that a kind DL agent was willing to get creative to get you to AMS using your SMs at the counter on the day of travel.

IMO, you should have immediately been on guard as soon as your friend resigned. It would not surprise me if there's some fine print somewhere that says a buddy can't fly on a pass unless the employee is active. Given that your accommodations were nonref, you could have been a little more proactive about ensuring your air travel was still valid. Granted, it appeared so on the website, but your friend, knowing you had travel plans, also had a responsibility to advise you on the validity of his pass going foward.

I do completely agree that if DL is going to void out a ticket, they should advise the pax.

Again, sorry this happened to you. In a past life, I worked for DL and I remember buddy passes being notoriously difficult to use smoothly. I'm sure that's only gotten worse in this day and age.

Oh, and welcome to FT. :)

That is frustrating, but the agents are correct that there isn't anything they can do. Everything related to the buddy passes become the duty of the sponsoring employee (DL may not even have contact information for you to make notification because your sponsor would have listed you from his online account).

On another note (although not an issue for you anymore), keep in mind that all of the buddy passes are "space available" which means they are a standby ticket, good for either cabin. You will be cleared into First/BizElite if there is room, but otherwise may end up with Y.

Or you might end up with no seat at all if the flight is full or even overbooked. Hence, it is a very risky decision to purchase non-refundable accomodations if travelling on a space-available standby ticket with the lowest priority.

Strange though that a ticketed buddy pass apparently became null and void after the employee resigned. To the best of my knowledge, it was good as long as the employee had the buddy pass *ticketed* before resigning. Or is it possible that the employee only made the reservation, but did not ticket the buddy pass yet?

My step-son was trying to get to Rome from LA on a buddy pass, and it took almost four days. He was shuttled back and forth between JFK and LGA, slept overnight at JFK, got stuck in a couple of airports in Europe .... I'd be more than cautious trying to use a buddy pass.

This rule has been in effect since at least May 18, 2005.
It makes since the employee is responsible for their buddies actions.

Although it was a sad situation that happened, I don't feel DL should of been responsible for contacting the buddy pass rider. Our flight benefits, whether an employee or a friend using a buddy pass, is just that..a benefit. A benefit that is the responsibility of the employee. I don't feel it is the responsibilty of DL to contact every pass rider that is listed under an employee, or to contact every buddy pass rider of the employee, if their employment status changes. I know I'm gonna get a lot of heat on this but I'm just adding my two cents. That employee should have known. I'm more surprised that the employee just never thought anything of it.

I am very happy that the FTO agents took the time to find you another way to get you where you needed to go. Good job on their part!