Confused about Buddy Pass basics
 

I always thought buddy passes worked like regular non-revving excpet that you had to pay taxes and fees.

I just tried to book two buddy passes for roundtrip US->Europe travel and the charge is $564 per ticket for a total of $1128.

Is this normal? Are buddy passes really just reduced fares?

It seems like just buying a ticket outright on another airline would be cheaper.

Can anyone shed some light?

Thanks.

Yes, buddy passes are expensive.
$564pp is high for a coach ticket, but if they get DeltaOne, it’s a steal.

A lot of times it is.

We call them “not-your-buddy” passes, because they go at S4 and spend all day (or multiple days) trying to get on a trip, where for 10-20% more they could buy a real ticket. (And get Skymiles)
I would gladly trade all my buddy passes for some sort of positive space vacation passes.
The last buddy pass I gave out was 10 years ago and the person ultimately had to change their destination and rent a car to get to the original city.
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Okay - thanks for the quick reply.

Sounds like my buddies are still in, even at that price, because it's looking pretty good for D1 both ways, and they're excited about going regardless.

Just wanted to make sure I was doing it right, before pulling the trigger.

Thanks.

A lot of people will, at the last minute, list for a flight that is looking pretty good and because they're S3 your buddies will go straight to the bottom of the list. A few days out is not a very good indicator with buddy passes.

Yeah, I let them know. They seem to be on board with coach if it comes down to it. And they know it could all be a no-go at the last minute, also. It's nice having buddies that are down with the potential pitfalls of this system, otherwise I couldn't in good conscience offer these passes up. I appreciate the heads up from you folks. These forums are priceless (unlike buddy pass fares).

Buddy passes are also refundable, so there’s that.

Buddies don’t led buddies buddy pass.

Unless it’s between October and March…

Is it Heathrow? Super expensive taxes at Heathrow.

I'll echo what everyone else has already said. For domestic, forget about it, you are much better off buying a ticket.

The ONLY time they are a good deal and have a remote chance of working is on int'l flights where your buddy gets first class. If anyone asks if we have passes for friends I just tell them we don't have anything like that.