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Does the Alaska Airline credit card Companion Fare cert work to Hawaii?

dlpearson

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I have the Delta AMEX platinum for the companion fare ticket, but it's restricted to use within the lower 48. I just got an offer from Alaska for their Visa card. It comes with an annual companion fare for $99 + tax).

Does it work for flights to Hawaii?

Thanks,
David
 

vacationtime1

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I have the Delta AMEX platinum for the companion fare ticket, but it's restricted to use within the lower 48. I just got an offer from Alaska for their Visa card. It comes with an annual companion fare for $99 + tax).

Does it work for flights to Hawaii?

Thanks,
David

Yes.

Which is why we have three Alaska VISA cards.
 

dlpearson

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CalGalTraveler

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Yes, it was our go to for HI, but we now have the SWA companion pass and use that. We couldn't find a good use for the AK companion pass for last year compared to discounted alternatives and points so we dropped the card.
 

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T_R_Oglodyte

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We use one of our three certs to go to Hawaii every year. One other cert gets used to go to Mexico. When we have had a surplus cert, family members at times have used it to go to Hawaii as well.
 

geist1223

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Patti and I each have an Alaska Visa Cards. The Companion Fare works for all Alaskan Flights. We usually have no problem using both every year. Though one year we were getting close to losing a Companion Fare. So we used it to buy Son and DIL round trip tickets from Seattle to San Diego and they reimbursed us the actual dollars spent. The Companion Fare was really great when you could use it on First Class, but they cancelled that option about 10 years ago.
 

mjm1

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The other recent change to the Alaska companion ticket is that you have to pay the fare using the Alaska card. Of course you get 3x miles per dollar. However, most recently I decided to use our Chase Sapphire Reserve card to pay the airfare, so we would have travel insurance provided by that card. IIRC the Alaska Visa card doesn't provide that. Both my DW and I have the Alaska card and use both of the companion fares each year, usually for Hawaii or Mexico.

Best regards.

Mike
 

easyrider

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We have three Alaska accounts that provide companion tickets. For us, we use them for Mexico and Hawaii. At check out there is an option to purchase trip insurance for very little. Our three week trip to Mexico cost for the optional insurance was about $50 and about the same cost for our next trip to Maui. One of the cards is used to rack up miles and the other two mostly for the companion tickets. I keep thinking I need one less card and one less companion ticket but some one always uses them if we don't.

The one thing that would be nice is if the companion ticket could be used on partner airlines.

Bill
 

jehb2

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The itineraries aren’t the best for me and they change my flight a gazillion times. But this deal is so good I don’t complain.
 

CalGalTraveler

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The other recent change to the Alaska companion ticket is that you have to pay the fare using the Alaska card. Of course you get 3x miles per dollar. However, most recently I decided to use our Chase Sapphire Reserve card to pay the airfare, so we would have travel insurance provided by that card. IIRC the Alaska Visa card doesn't provide that. Both my DW and I have the Alaska card and use both of the companion fares each year, usually for Hawaii or Mexico.

Best regards.

Mike

Great reminder. We have our last companion fare from our anniversary but cancelled the card because we didn't want to pay for the AF. We need to book a reservation prior to Oct 1 2019 so we can pay with another credit card.
 

artringwald

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Just keep in mind that unlike most loyalty cards, the $75 annual fee is billed as soon as you get the card. The good news is that you get the companion ticket shortly after you're approved.

We liked the companion tickets years ago when you could use them for first class to Hawaii. Now you can only use them for coach.
 

davidvel

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Just keep in mind that unlike most loyalty cards, the $75 annual fee is billed as soon as you get the card. The good news is that you get the companion ticket shortly after you're approved.

We liked the companion tickets years ago when you could use them for first class to Hawaii. Now you can only use them for coach.
Yes, the total cost is almost 200 for the ticket when you count the annual fee. Not as great a value when flying from the west coast.
 

easyrider

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Yes, the total cost is almost 200 for the ticket when you count the annual fee. Not as great a value when flying from the west coast.

You are right but the companion ticket does allow two checked bags round trip. I think that is about $100 off of the $200 aprox cost to use the companion ticket unless you only have a carry on.

I was told that companion tickets can be used for Virgin Airline trips because Alaska bought Virgin.

Bill
 

davidvel

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You are right but the companion ticket does allow two checked bags round trip. I think that is about $100 off of the $200 aprox cost to use the companion ticket unless you only have a carry on.

I was told that companion tickets can be used for Virgin Airline trips because Alaska bought Virgin.

Bill
Don't get me wrong, we use it. But the baggage discount is for 1 bag per person, with any ticket you buy on the card on the same itinerary as the cardholder, so that's not really any savings.

One of the beefs I have in this regard is that the companion ticket must be booked in a separate transaction (itinerary). So if you have 3+ family members traveling, only the cardholder and companion get free checked bags. The other 2 pay full freight. Normally 6 additional guests get free bags, so using the companion fare can hurt you.

We usually get tickets to Hawaii in the 350-450 range, so we often use it for more expensive not well planned trips with higher ticket cost.
 

easyrider

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Don't get me wrong, we use it. But the baggage discount is for 1 bag per person, with any ticket you buy on the card on the same itinerary as the cardholder, so that's not really any savings.

One of the beefs I have in this regard is that the companion ticket must be booked in a separate transaction (itinerary). So if you have 3+ family members traveling, only the cardholder and companion get free checked bags. The other 2 pay full freight. Normally 6 additional guests get free bags, so using the companion fare can hurt you.

We usually get tickets to Hawaii in the 350-450 range, so we often use it for more expensive not well planned trips with higher ticket cost.

When I purchase tickets for others, such as family members, no one has had to pay for their checked luggage. I often use the companion ticket for us and a combination of miles and money for the others depending on who the others are. Generally, I haven't had to pay for more than six people including us on any trip in this decade.

I find that google often has better airline prices from Seattle than Alaska Airlines with a companion ticket so I absolutely get what your talking about.

Bill
 

Firepath

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I thought the person on the account had to be on the reservation when using the Companion certificate but it sounds like I've missed out on booking for others all these years. Now I need to earn another one so I can give it a try.
 
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