Originally Posted by BTpilot (Post 1260809)

Did you bribe God to have that luck?

Originally Posted by Delta1067 (Post 1260807)

I had 4 family members fly to Rome and back and they all got 1st class both ways. Another friend and his wife flew to NRT and got 1st class both ways. Sounds worth it to me. I have always used up my full allotment and with a little bit of flexibility in travel days my buddies have always had great success with the program.

Originally Posted by Delta1067 (Post 1260812)

No, I get dates and places they want to go and I check loads. Never send them in to bad situations and usually have a back up plan. It's not rocket science and believe it or not we have lots of flights, especially internationally, going out with empty 1st class seats.

Originally Posted by hockeypilot44 (Post 1260649)

Has anyone used a buddy pass lately? My grandparents are coming to visit me in a couple days. They were going to drive, but I offered them the option of two buddy passes. Anyhow, I used the fare calculator to come up with $120 per person round trip. It's going to cost them about $350 to drive. I sold them on saving $110. I authorized them, listed them, and found out it's about $185 person. $370 vs the $240 the fare calculator quoted. I've used the fare calculator in the past and found it to be about right on. Anyway, they are now back to driving again as it's cheaper, and they don't like the idea of standby. I am out 2 buddy passes as I already authorized them. I have used 0 this year so I don't care, but it's not right. You should be able to get an accurate assessment of the price before committing. Rant over.

Originally Posted by Timbo (Post 1260814)

As with my buddy from Zurich, on a Weds. in Jan., if you travel internationally, mid week, at 'off peak' months of the year, there's usually seats in F/C and they will get on. That's about the only place a Buddy Pass has real value, as buying a real F/C International ticket would be huge $$$$ vs. the buddy fare.

Domestically, not so much value, or availability, any day, or any time of the year.

Originally Posted by Delta1067 (Post 1260812)

No, I get dates and places they want to go and I check loads. Never send them in to bad situations and usually have a back up plan. It's not rocket science and believe it or not we have lots of flights, especially internationally, going out with empty 1st class seats.

Originally Posted by Wilbur Wright (Post 1260818)

Surcharges and taxes (especially int'l) can bite you on the fare calculator.

What I do is set an authorized user called Mickey Mouse. I list Mickey on a flight and go through the process up to buying the ticket to see what the real cost will be. Since I never buy the ticket (I'm assuming you didn't for your grandparents) I can later revoke Mickey's authorization if I need to give his buddy pass to someone else.

Originally Posted by Delta1067 (Post 1260821)

If the buddies are a little flexible on their travel dates I have never had problems with the program.

Originally Posted by Thrust Normal (Post 1260828)

Yeah, this is about the only way to do it. A while back I was checking BP fares. The calculator wouldn't even show the city pair I was looking for. I ended up calling the the travel department. They said Delta doesn't support that calculator (even though there's a direct link from Travelnet). The only way to get an accurate price check is to authorize a buddy. Go through the listing, which will give you an amount, then cancel the authorization if you aren't going to use it.