I was thinking about using my sister's buddy pass to JNB for worldcup as well but she told me not to... not only is it embargoed but also she told me usually getting to JNB from ATL is not an issue but getting out of JNB is totally different story...

Due to weight balance, etc... DL GA tells that to buddy pass passensgers and won't clear them very well...

My sister does alot of trips to JNB and she told me many occasion where even DL employees who were vacationing couldn't return to home for 5 days and ended up buying Y fares to ATL...

I would strongly recommend to buy a ticket...

Get to AMS then buy a r/t AMS-JNB!

Even that is risky. If you buy AMS-JNB as a non-refundable ticket and don't clear on the flight to AMS, it will be an expensive mistake.

All buddy pass travel to/from JNB before/during/after the World Cup is currently prohibited. In addition, regular employee travel is highly discouraged as there will be no seats available. Loads are and will be that high.

As a polite reminder to buddy pass travelers: ask your sponsoring employee these questions. They have access to Delta's internal network and can verify your eligibility, any embargoes, and any other alerts you need to know. FlyerTalk is not the place for resolving these questions.

Delta Buddy Pass questions
 

Hello, I have a friend John who is willing to give me 6 buddy passes that expire in August 2010. I would really like to use these buddy passes their fullest extent, such as Japan, Europe, Australia, UK, Domician Republic, Canada, or even Hawaii

I heard recently that due to increased security and something else that I forget, about 1 month ago or so the rules for where Delta can go changed and now it's only in the U.S. or something? Maybe canada maybe mexico i forgot to ask. Is this true? Can someone tell me all the best places I can use these buddy passes to get the most bang for my buck? I live in Ohio btw, but I travel to Cali and NJ frequently

thanks

You really ought to ask your questions to your friend John, who gave your your buddy passes. He will be able to answer your questions, or should be able to.

Regarding your destinations, yeah they are great places to visit, but make sure you have plenty of time as buddy passes are for standby travel, and it can take days to find a flight with space to fly on.

+1

dude are you sure you want to use those passes for those destinations? You do know you have the absolutely LOWEST priority, meaning that you will get last to every plane. I can pretty much guarantee you, you will be able to use those off-season when its pretty cold in those places but if you want to use them in season, you are looking to spend more than a full priced ticket. I know of a guy that got stranded in Paris for 11 days until he got a plane back home. Incurred hotel and food charges more than quadrupled the price of a regular ticket.

I don't think the situation is that bad for the OP. Plenty of flights (even in August) fly with empty seats.

OP, I would suggest trying for:

- Caribbean (flights tend to be light in August, especially out of JFK.)
- Secondary European Markets (i.e. BRU, BUD, etc.)
- Continental US (Plenty of flights, so if one goes full you can catch the next. Be prepared for a middle seat.)

I would avoid:

- Primary European Business and Tourist Markets (i.e. London, Paris, Dublin, Rome, Milan, Venice, etc, etc.)
- Hawaii
- Asia
- South America
- Africa

You should really confer with your friend. He will have a better idea than any of us here.

I agree.. Ask John..
Embargo dates change all the time...
And to be honest.. As an example.. JFK-NRT Mid June.. $542 for a Buddy Pass.. With Dirt Priority.. Or plan your trip several months in advance and spend a couple $100 more and get a seat confirmed.. Buddy passes have about as much value as Skymiles..

Most of the time... sat next to a guy in J on a TATL flight who was on a buddy pass... so, sometimes it does work.

There is no answer to this.. Tell your friend to check DeltaNet every day.. You could end up finding a day of empty flights!

I've seen it full for months on end, a random empty day of flights to Amsterdam occurs and I'm in seat 1a paying $182 each way :D

The S4 Priority, Kind of sucks though! I wouldn't use one of these things for an emergency.

But the one time in J v. all the times watching the plane leave without you on it more than balances out at the end of the day towards it being like skymiles.

As a note, this forum is NOT the appropriate place to be discussing "Buddy Pass" benefits... that should be done between the recipient and the issuer of the pass, or a forum like airlinecrew.net

If I were John, I'd only give them to friends that wanted to go to far away places because they give normal people the opportunity to ride in BE on the cheap.

A friend of mine used a gifted buddy pass to fly PDX-MNL over xmas. The outbound went off without a hitch, but he did have some trouble getting back because it was a busy period and two MNL-NGO/NRT flights were canceled that week, and as a non employee, he was at the lowest possible position on the totem pole.

In a nutshell, he made two trips to MNL (at 4a) in vein and returned 3 days later than expected. Aside from the fact that this situation isn't normal, I think most of us can accept risks like these.

It's also worth noting that DL has tons of flights from NRT and AMS to the US. The odds of all of them being 100% booked on the same day are extremely small. I.e. if NRT-PDX is full, SEA, LAX, MSP, HNL are all viable options.