Go for it. You are on the bottom of the standby list, but this time of year there should be plenty of seats.

I think your friend that is offering the buddy pass will be able to answer your questions, especially the one about the cost.

One of the best things about DL's buddypass is that the dates are very flexible in regards to changing dates at the last minute. Being "safe" will depend on a couple of factors, such as the the availability of non-reserved seats on the aircraft, the number of people on the standby list, your (amazingly nice) and friend's date of employment.

Your friend can either give you his information to log into TravelNet or the number to the non-rev hotline to check flight loads and list on flights.

As far as I know, it is prohibited that a non-rev passenger hold a confirmed reservation on the flight you are listed for. If that was the case, there could be a possibility that both your BP and your reservation would be cancelled. I'm not for sure what the fare would be, but the employee can easily check that online for you. Most likely less than $300 due to taxes, fees, etc.

PM me if you have any other questions.

Just watch out...even if (passenger) loads look really good cargo can easily screw up travel plans at that time of year...

You should be asking the employee all these questions. We won't be able to help you when you get stuck in BRU for a week. :)

Personally, I don't think you will have much of a problem getting across the ocean. If for any reason the flight to BRU looks like it will be sold out, you can switch to Paris or some other nearby city and take the train.

Where you might have trouble is in getting to/from Charleston to your departure/arrival city in the States.

DL domestic flights tend to be much more full at that time of year than international ones.

If you are traveling for business, and you MUST be there on a certain date, absolutely DO NOT use a buddy pass.

Less than 300 would make it a deal for me, considering normally it would come out to be close to 1000.

Anyways, I have not actually bought the tickets yet, so I am flexible. I am going there to study for a semester, so I need to be there before the semester starts and can leave any time afterwords, and those are my only requirements.

Can anyone recommend a time that would be "safest" to go? That is, when are my chances of actually getting a spot on the plane the highest?

I also hear that often times, these passes will lead to first class. Is this true?

My friend is not an employee yet, he is just doing a 3 semester computer engineering internship there, and they already told him he would be given buddy passes, but he does not know much information about them yet, since he hasn't started.

I would also be willing to leave from Charlotte or Atlanta, if this would really save me more than $500.

It won't save you very much to leave from any one particular spot in the U.S. but if you fly out of ATL or JFK you will not have to make any connections. This greatly increases your chances.

A buddy pass must be bought r/t and is good for one year. If there is an empty space in BizElite you will get it (after all of the other non-revs who have a higher priority than you have been seated). A buddy pass is the lowest of the four categories of non-revs and seats are assigned within each category by the date of hire of the employee, so you will most likely be the last one to get a seat.

Agree with the others that you should be asking your sponsoring employee these questions, not FlyerTalk which is mainly composed with revenue flyers. That and pass travel policies/rules really don't belong on a public forum such as this.

That said, good luck getting to/from Europe. With an employee base now at ~75,000 people and a priority lower than said employees, chances are it will be rough for you.

And in your initial post, you said you "have" to go to Brussels. If by "have" you mean for business/professional reasons, keep in mind that it's against policy to non-rev for business reasons.

Fares are cheap. Buy the ticket.

It is not business. It is school. I am a college student. My friend is a college student who has not started work, but said he will be given buddy passes. He does not know details yet.

If he's doing an internship, they may not be standard buddy passes. I know some companies offer modified benefits to interns, due to IRS rules. I don't know if it would apply here.. YMMV.

I was just asked by a friend to help find a last minute economy ticket for LAX-SYD. Turns out he was trying to fly last night on a DL buddy pass. Although plenty of seats in business, it turns out there were just as many trying to fly standby. Understandably, you wont get on if you are #21 and there are only 20 seats left. But here is the explanation my friend said,

"Atlanta made a decision that they didn't have enough time to process the stand-bys and about 20 plus were turned away."

I guess this sort of thing can happen?? It is unfortunate since tonights flight will now have twice the number of standbys; thus the request to go ahead just purchase a economy seat on any airline that will get him the SYD.

Yes it does happen. Why would you risk not having the aircraft not departing on-time b/c of non-revs....esp an international flight? I have done the same thing but it is something that comes with the price of being a non-rev.

How late are we talking? Not much of a perk if employee passes are not planned for, worked out in advance and not so easily dismissed when thereisno time. Just a thought.

Do you mean you are a DL agent that has turned away passengers because there was not time to process or you were a passenger turned away?