Buddies, first--potential for BE yes, but buddy passes can be $$. If he has high seniority, you could be getting BE for a bargain. Madrid is about $400 pax. Good news is that fees for Spain are lower than many otehr EU countries. ($17.00 pls taxes on mileage ticket price) If this a special dream trip and you really want BE, I'd spend the $ if you have it. You could do ATL or JFK. Stay friends and maybe you can use some for Asia--those are SWEET!!!