Southern south America probably wouldn't be too terrible since its their winter. Places like Dubai also could be light due to the scorching summer heat. Europe probably will look pretty ugly and Asia as well. ATL is a tougher spot for buddy passes I would imagine since loads are so high and there are so many employees in ATL as well as regional employees, spouses/kids/family/parents of employees, retirees and other buddy passes with more priority. Buddy passes definitely are not as good a deal as they used to be in the past.....now you can find confirmed tickets frequently for less and actually have a seat assigned and not be standby.

Marylou, why do you say "for good reason"? Is the August weather pretty rough in Paris or something? (Keep in mind, I'm from Atlanta. I know a little bit about oppressive heat!)

I hear DL is adding a $100 rt fee on top of the buddy pass charge as a fuel surcharge for intl flights... less for domestic. To avoid it, ticket quickly. In the end, the buddy pass prices are no great shakes, and the risk is rarely worth the reward anymore.

Hmmm... None of this sounds particularly encouraging. I will still keep an eye out for cheap tickets, but even at say 500 bucks, a trip to Hungary (or somewhere random like that) would be a pretty good value over the 1000 regular ticket price. I suppose it depends on the destination whether it will really be worth it to deal with the hassle of the buddy pass.

It's a shame they aren't what they used to be. A flat $100 dollar fee would really take the wind out of my buddy passing sails.

By mid August in ATL, most schools will be back in session, which would take much of that employee/family travel out of the equation.

OP if you are snow skiers, Chile or Argentina are great places to escape the ATL heat and as mentioned tend to have lighter loads that time of year. Some of our friends think it's 'exotic' when we've taken our annual summer ski trip, and a hotel perched at 10,000 ft+ with not much around you but snow is pretty 'remote' to address your criteria. ^

+1 on advice to run the numbers on the cost of a confirmed ticket, you're not always getting a super deal.

PRWeezer, you're spot on about Chile and Argentina. We've taken the bus ride from Santiago to Mendoza through the Andes and it is indeed one of the coolest places I think I've ever been. (You drive right past 22k foot Aconcagua...) We didn't get to do any skiing though, so we will definitely have to look into that. For natural beauty, culture, and price, you can't do much better than Chile/Argentina... I'd love to go back.

Isn't the first rule of "Buddy Passes" not to talk about "Buddy Passes"?

And are these the detested NSRA people who take away upgrade space from Medallion members?

^ +1

Keep the Buddy Pass embargo dates in mind when you're planning:
Also, check out the Delta Non-Rev Facebook page--it's mainly made up of Delta pass riders, so it may be a better resource than FT: http://www.facebook.com/DeltaNonRev. You also may want to look at the Delta Non-Rev Forums, but I don't know how active they are anymore: http://www.deltanonrev.com/.

Hope you're able to plan a great trip!

Valle Nevado, Chile will always hold a special place in my heart, that's where I met my husband. :D (Technically we met in the parking lot at SCL, on a group ski trip, but that's not as romantic.)

I've skied in either Chile or Argentina every August for the last 6 years, happy to provide advice via PM if you go that route.

Most of Paris essentially takes August off; they all go on vacation. Hence, many shops/ restaurants are closed. (The traffic is abysmal also - especially going to the coast - Normandy or South)

Hello, I have a question about Delta Buddy Pass
 

Hello my Father will find be getting a Delta buddy pass for me.

I'm just curious on how it works?

Is it only given out by employees and is it non valid when the employee is terminated?

Locally

1) We can only use Buddy Passes for people we KNOW - if it's purchased via outside source, it may not be honored.

2) Yes, it's only given out by Employees, and we are rightfully stingy with them.

3) If the employee is separated from the company, the BP is no longer valid, and a one way last minute purchase will be expensive.

4) There are a LOT of embargoes when it comes to BP's.

5) people on BP's tend to think it's a confirmed seat - YOU ARE STANDBY. That means you ONLY FLY if there is an empty seat, and there aren't cargo/weight and balance issues. YOU MAY GET STUCK, and kvetching at the gate agent will only put you off the flights.

Ps: :-:welcome to ft op!:-:

More info on new surcharges, added in late February:

"There will be three different surcharges depending on the itinerary: a $25 surcharge each way for travel within or between the 48 contiguous United States and Canada; a $40 surcharge each way for travel within or between Alaska, Hawaii, the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America and the 48 contiguous United States and Canada; and, a $50 surcharge each way for all other travel. Itineraries with stopovers will include the applicable point-to-point fuel surcharges."

That's a pretty steep set of new fees. Seems to just about double their 2008 surcharges: http://www.dlfcret.org/bpsurcharge.pdf

so true! I witnessed a pretty nasty scene in slc once...