Delta Fares

How do Delta Airline Buddy Passes work?

Public Comments

1. The employee books and pays for them online through our internal wesbite. Then you are given a confirmation number. These seats ARE NOT CONFIRMED reservations. You will fly stand-by only, space available. You will clear the flight in order of the senority of the employee. Paying passengers with out a seat clear first, then Employee's and Retiree's as well as their spouses or travel companions and or children will clear ahead of buddy passes. Buddy passes will clear last in order of the employee's hire date. If you are anticipating a First Class seat, depending on where you are going may be possible on a Buddy Pass, but during the summer unlikely. There is a dress code, first class...no jeans or sandals, dress nice, khakis and a golf shirt for men or nicer and for women a nice outfit or dress. Coach you can wear blue jeans just no shorts, cut off shirts or sleeves and sandals. You will be denied boarding if you are not dressed appropriately. Also, men must be well groomed and no visible tattoo's can be showing on any passengers. Dresses for women must have sleeves, no spaghetti strap sun dresses and no open toed shoes. These are the guidelines, and if you not dressed appropriately, you will be asked to change or denied checking in/boarding. Children over 8 years old can be listed for First Class as well should there be seats available. If you are traveling with someone, you are not guarenteed to be seated together and you are not to ask anyone on board to switch seats with you. Some people may not mind, but they are full paying passengers. Agents will try to seat you together or close if they can. Sometimes flights are very full and we are putting people on up until the last minute, families can be sat in seperate rows. Also, a passenger can show up at the last minute, and non-revs can be removed from the flight. Dont complain, just give up your seat and collect your belongings quickly. Stay close to the gate area until the flight is definately closed. Sometimes there is time to get a few more people on board if there are no shows. So, just stick around if its possbile. Try to fly mid-week or Saturday. Its summer travel season and some destinations you can be stuck in for days. Florida cities and Las Vegas you do have a chance of not clearing for days, literally. Europe is embargo'd meaning no stand-by travel allowed. I worked in Vegas and people can be stuck for days on end there sometimes. I had people list on Saturday night and they were still there on Tuesday, so keep that in mind. (These are worst case scenario's) Families do sometimes get split up on flights and have to travel seperately. You have a year to use the Buddy Pass from the date of purchase. You can change it at anytime for no charge unless you change the destination, it may change the cost, so you will be responsible for the difference. It is good anywhere Delta flies and they are no longer able to be used on Codeshare Partner Airlines. Also they are completely refundable should you not use them. Just keep track of your paperwork and use them or refund them before the one year anniversary. The employee can look in the system and tell you what flights look better to clear on than others. Try the first flights in the morning or sometimes the last flight of the night. BUT that can change at the last minute. Flights can cancel or another airline could have a problem and need seats on our flights, so paying passengers always go ahead of Non-Rev. Even though you did pay for the buddy pass it is still considered Non-Revenue because the airline isnt making money from those tickets. Buddy Passes are for friends and family and are not to be sold or traded. If the employee is giving them to you as a gift, thats fine, but if you do give them money, make sure the amount is the same as what the buddy pass is worth. The best thing to remember when traveling on a Buddy Pass is that you are not a confirmed passenger. If you do get stuck somewhere, be prepared to camp out for hours or a night possibly two should you be going to a high tourist destination, or have a back up for getting home just in case. Also, if you do get repeatedly bumped, just take it in stride and do not for any reason get upset at the agents or the system. I have seen people who thought they were confirmed and were not told about how Buddy Passes worked and lost their temper at the counter. Employee's have had pass priveledges suspended and been fired for actions of Buddy Pass riders, so basically, you represent that person when you fly. When you check in, should you not use the kiosk, tell the agent you are on a buddy pass, show them the intinerary or say you are "non-rev", there is a different way to look up non-rev's vs regular passengers. Baggage limits are still the same. You are allowed 2 pieces to check in at 50lb each. Overweight charges still apply for non-revs. Carry on's you are allowed 2 as well and it is highly recommended to only pack a carry on should you get stuck somewhere. If you dont clear the flight, your bags will go anyway and be secured in the baggage claim office until you do arrive. Should your bags be delayed or misconnect, Delta will not deliver your bags. You can file a claim as normal and you will be contacted as soon as they arrive. But, you will be responsible for picking up your bags at the airport. Most larger airports have screens in the gate area. Watch for what is called the "Cleared List", it will be a green screen, and your name will show up in priority of the listings. It will appear as the first three letters of your last name/first two letters of your first. So if your name is Jennifer Smith, it will appear SMI/JE. At the bottom right corner, it displays the number of seats that are unclaimed (reservations that have not checked in) and the number available (seats not purchased) and a total number of seats available. Once a seat is available for you it will go to the blue screen and it will show your seat number and boarding zone, so keep an eye out for those. If there is more than one person in the party, it will appear under the first person in the reservations name with the number in the party beside it (SMI/JE3). If you are in a city that does not have those screens, listen for your name to be called. Non-Rev's will start clearing as early as when they open up the gate for flight. If there is a long list or the flight is full, be patient and just listen for your name. If you are not called you will be automatically be rolled over to the next flight. You can also ask the agents after the flight closes and paperwork is completed if there is an alternate route to get to your destination. If you fly during the summer, just remember, be adventerous. You could clear on the original flight you are listed for, or you could be rolled over for 7 flights. Most of what I told you is what can go wrong. But for the most part some people can travel non-rev with out problems. This should cover just about everything. If you have any other questions, feel free to e-mail me personally. The employee is supposed to cover all of this with you, most dont. Im glad you are finding out before you fly though. Good luck and enjoy your trip!!