How the elimination actually rolled out
Delta announced the wind-down in October 2024, cut the annual allotment to four passes for 2025, and stopped issuing them altogether from 1 January 2026. The company's stated reason was low utilisation: by its own account only around 38% of active employees had ever issued a buddy pass.
That figure is the key to understanding the replacement. Delta did not take a benefit away from everyone; it took one away from the minority who used it and handed something to the majority who did not. If you were in the 38%, this change cost you. If you were not, you just gained an unlimited companion.
Primary and secondary companions are not two of the same thing
You may designate one primary travel companion and one secondary travel companion. They behave very differently, and the distinction is where most of the confusion sits.
The primary companion is mutually exclusive with spouse and domestic partner privileges. Naming a primary companion revokes your spouse's travel. It is changeable once per year on your hire anniversary, so this is a genuine annual decision, not something to set casually.
The secondary companion is purely additive. Anyone you choose, live since February 2025, travelling unlimited and unaccompanied on S3B. It does not cost you your spouse's benefit and it does not consume an allotment.
The restriction to internalise: the secondary companion is leisure travel only. Delta's own companion documentation explicitly bars using it for commuting.
The two things a secondary companion cannot do
This is the part that catches people, and it is stated plainly in Delta's own secondary companion form: secondary travel companions are not eligible for the Fly Confirmed discount programs, and are not eligible for discounted travel on other airlines under ZED fares.
In practice that means your secondary companion can stand by on Delta metal indefinitely, but cannot buy a confirmed discounted Delta seat when the loads look bad, and cannot be routed onto a partner carrier when Delta is full. On a heavy holiday weekend, those are exactly the two escape hatches you would want.
Worth knowing for context: the identical exclusion language appears on the primary companion form, but that document predates the October 2024 announcement, and primary companions were slated to gain Fly Confirmed access during the second half of 2025. The meaningful fact is that the exclusion was lifted for primary and kept for secondary.
Where we stop short
We could not confirm from a public source that Fly Confirmed For Less actually went live for primary companions on schedule. Confirm against your own portal before planning around it.
The priority ladder
Seniority ranks you only within your code, never across it. A thirty-year veteran on S3 does not out-board a first-year employee on S2. Choosing which code to travel on is therefore a bigger lever than your seniority is.
One documented exception worth knowing: S3A clears on pass eligibility date rather than company seniority.
S1AEmergency travel, requires manager approvalS1RelocationS2Higher-priority standby, limited number of days per yearS3Standard employee standby, unlimitedS3BParents, non-dependent children, retirees, and the secondary travel companionS4Buddy passes and other-airline ridersWhere we stop short
Where S3A sits relative to S3 is not established by any public source we could find: every source only establishes that it outranks S3B. We are not going to invent a position for it. Retiree S2 and S3A allotments were reported to rise from six to eight; treat that as likely but unconfirmed.
Listing, check-in and the rule people break
Listing runs through Travelnet on DeltaNet; ZED travel on other carriers goes through myIDTravel. Check-in opens at 24 hours, online or at a kiosk.
On a connecting itinerary, check in for the first segment only. You are listed onward automatically once you clear.
Gate cutoffs are 35 minutes domestic and 60 minutes international. Miss those and you are not standing by, regardless of the loads.
The rule that gets people in trouble: listing yourself on multiple simultaneous flights is explicitly prohibited. It is tempting when loads are tight and it is a documented violation.
Where we stop short
How far in advance listing opens is not publicly documented. The 331-day figure that circulates is Delta's revenue booking window and does not describe pass travel. What happens to your position when you do not clear is also undocumented publicly: worth asking a gate agent directly rather than assuming rollover behaviour.
Taxes, bags and ZED
The imputed income rule is relationship-based, not geography-based. Delta's companion forms state that imputed income at the yield fare applies to all travel, regardless of your relationship with the companion. People routinely assume this is an international-only concern. It is not.
International taxes and fees are payroll-deducted for active employees and billed home for retirees. Two free 50-pound bags apply.
ZED eligibility opens after six months of continuous employment and runs through myIDTravel. Ineligible: children 23 and over, non-dependent children, travel companions (both primary and secondary) and buddy pass riders. Parents are eligible, though they may pay more than you or your spouse would.