DIA Blog 008 - Are Delta Buddy Passes Any Good? Here's The Truth! by H8R

by H8R

Flying on a Delta Buddy Pass has been a wild experience. It's kinda like mixing the excitement of flying with the thrill of gambling!

When using the pass, a reservation is made for you to be on standby for your desired flight. Whether or not you actually get on it is another story. However, there still is the chance that you could get first class (which happened to me!).

Here's my experience with using the buddy pass to travel this holiday season.

Hear the full story on Ep. 015 of our podcast!

Getting the pass

Booking the flight in the first place can be a bit of a challenge. Not all flights are available, there are multiple itineraries to choose from, and the person who has the passes has to book everything for you.

If you have any questions or need to change anything, this is the person you'll have to contact to get it done.

The price of a round trip ticket from Nagoya to Los Angeles was about $600 so we saved a little bit of money over Asiana Airlines and Korean Air. It was about the same price as what was being offered by Air China.

Flying the first time

The first time I tried using these tickets was on a flight from Nagoya to Los Angeles via Honolulu. It didn't work out too well because it was around the holiday season and Hawaii is a VERY popular vacation destination for many Japanese families. When you fly on the buddy pass, you have the LEAST priority out of all other passengers so it can be tough to get on a flight.

The flight was super packed and we weren't even allowed entry into the gate!

After being denied entry, we stayed at the Four Points by Sheraton close to Nagoya Airport. The hotel was super nice, the staff was great, and it was a welcome detour to our original travel plans.

If at first you don't succeed ...

The next day we tried to get on a flight to Los Angeles that was going through Detroit. We had some luck with this one since it wasn't really busy.

We were even lucky enough to get first class tickets!

For the return trip, we figured that it would probably be easier to catch a direct flight to Tokyo and then take the shinkansen to Nagoya to avoid being stuck in a connecting airport.

The first time we tried to fly back from LAX, there were no seats on the flight either.

It really helps if someone you know lives in the area so you can crash with them if you end up not making any flights for that day.

Not being discouraged, we tried again the next day and we made it, another first class flight!

Flying first class

This was my first time flying first class so I didn't really know what to expect. The seats are quite nice and spacious.

I take up a lot of space so I really appreciated having some extra room to move!

The service in first class is really good. There are about 4 cabin attendants for up to 36 passengers. There is also an extensive selection of complimentary beverages and you have a few choices for your main course and dessert.

Here's the meal I had on this flight from Nagoya to Detroit

Here's the meal I had on the flight from LAX to Tokyo

Bottom line

Using these passes was a nice experience, but the uncertainty can be a bit nerve-wracking!

Depending on your schedule, it can be a bit tough to work around. If you have a lot of time off and don't need to be anywhere by a certain time, it can be a really cheap way to get first class tickets!