Yeah, that is what I meant. There really isn't any good way to tell if your friends senority is "good" enough...it all depends on who else is listed on the flight. If you have a bunch of buddy passes on the list with less senority, then yes, your friends hire date would get you higher on the list....but then if there are a lot of buddy passes with earlier hire dates, then you would be pretty low on the list...which is obvious. Then remember you are still below any employees and family members...so that is where it gets tricky. The best thing to do is just have your friend check the standby list for you everyday prior to your departure for about 4 or 5 days. This should give you a good indication if you will make it or not.