The Buddy Pass is really only a deal for International, if/when they can get into first class, or on some thin domestic routes where they can actually get on a flight! I have a Buddy who flys over to ATL from Zurich every January, for a week of sailboat racing in the Keys.

He buys a Buddy Pass for about $450 round trip, ZRH-ATL, and then he buys the cheapest ticket from ATL-PBI, FLL or MIA from ATL, so he will definately get there. ($380 last Jan) It's nearly impossible to ride on a pass from ATL to FL in January, over MLK weekend, which is when we race. I pick him up in MIA/FLL/PBI (which ever is the cheapest for him) on the way down to the Keys, and drop him off there on the way back.

He's been doing it for the past 5 years. Only once, did he not sit in FC both ways from ZRH-ATL. He had to sit in coach going home last year, but they gave him a whole row, so he was able to lie down and sleep most of the way home.