Alaska & Hawaiian $99 Companion Fare Credit Card Benefit: How It Works

Link: Learn more about the Atmos™ Rewards Ascent Visa Signature® credit card or Atmos™ Rewards Visa Signature® Business Card

There are various airline credit cards that offer some sort of a companion ticket for spending a certain amount. To me, one of the more valuable companion tickets is the one offered by Alaska Air Group, valid for flights on Alaska and Hawaiian.

In this post, I’d like to take a look at the $99 companion fare offered by the Atmos Rewards program in more detail, to discuss how it works, and how you can maximize value with it. We’ve seen some rule changes to these over time, so I think it’s worth covering the current state of them.

How to earn Alaska & Hawaiian $99 companion fare

There are two credit cards that offer the Alaska and Hawaiian $99 companion fare. Both the Atmos™ Rewards Ascent Visa Signature® credit card (review) and Atmos™ Rewards Visa Signature® Business Card (review) offer a $99 companion fare (plus taxes and fees starting from $23).

The idea is that you can book the primary traveler at the standard fare, and then the second passenger will cost you $99, plus any government taxes and fees.

The $99 companion fare is offered as part of the welcome bonuses on these cards. On top of that, you can earn a $99 companion fare each anniversary year if you spend $6,000 on the card. Keep in mind that you’re potentially eligible for both of these cards (including the welcome bonuses), so it’s possible to earn multiple certificates. There’s merit to picking up both the personal card and business card, given their low fees and useful benefits.

You’ll find that your $99 companion fare is deposited in your Atmos Rewards account shortly after you reach the minimum spending requirement, and otherwise, shortly after your account anniversary in subsequent years (assuming you reach the spending requirement). The terms state that it could take up to two billing cycles, but in my experience, it typically posts much faster than that.

To find your $99 companion fare, you’ll want to log into your Atmos Rewards account, and visit the “Wallet” section, where you’ll see any companion fare codes listed.

You can then either manually copy the code, or click “Use to book” to start the booking process.

If you click “Use to book,” you’ll be brought to the booking page, where you’ll see the code copied.

Once you get to the search page, you’ll see that any eligible itineraries show the green checkmark next to the itinerary, indicating that it’s eligible. That then shows you the price for the first passenger, plus for the companion.

Let me also emphasize that these $99 companion fares are separate from the Global Companion Awards (worth 25,000 points or 100,000 points) that can be earned with the Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite^® Credit Card (review), which can be used when redeeming Atmos Rewards points. There’s a huge incentive to spend money on that card, given all the great perks offered.

How to redeem Alaska & Hawaiian $99 companion fare

When it comes to redeeming the Alaska and Hawaiian $99 companion fare, there are some details to be aware of, as you’d expect:

• The $99 companion fare is valid for travel on Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines within the Americas, including for travel in the state of Hawaii; however, it’s not valid for travel to Pacific destinations outside the United States, to Europe, etc.
• The $99 companion fare is only valid for tickets booked in economy, though all economy fare classes are included
• Tickets booked with the $99 companion fare are upgradeable, both for the primary passenger and companion (this includes using complimentary elite upgrades, upgrade certificates, instant upgrade fares, etc.)
• Both passengers booked with the $99 companion fare earn points for their tickets, whether crediting to Atmos Rewards or a partner program
• The $99 companion fare is valid for one year from when it’s issued, though that’s only the book-by date, while you can travel on a subsequent date
• Tickets with the $99 companion fare can be booked directly online, by first starting the flight booking process through your Atmos Rewards account, by getting the discount code
• You’re allowed to use the $99 companion fare code for two other people (in other words, the cardmember doesn’t need to be traveling)
• You need to pay for your companion fare ticket using your Atmos Rewards credit card, and annoyingly, you can’t use wallet funds (in other words, you can’t use any trip credits you have with the airline toward these tickets)
• Both passengers need to be booked on the same itinerary, travel on the same flights, and be ticketed at the same time
• The $99 companion fare is valid for roundtrip or one-way travel
• The $99 companion fare isn’t valid for award travel, or for travel that includes segments on any airlines other than Alaska, Horizon, or Hawaiian

How to upgrade Alaska & Hawaiian $99 companion fare

The Alaska and Hawaiian $99 companion fare is limited to economy tickets, though the good news is that these tickets are upgradeable to first class. There are a few ways to go about this, especially if you have elite status, like Atmos Rewards Silver, Gold, Platinum, or Titanium. At least for travel on Alaska metal:

• Atmos Rewards elite members are eligible for complimentary space available upgrades for themselves and a companion, and those upgrades start clearing at 72-120 hours before departure
• With the Atmos Rewards milestone perks program, members can select upgrade certificates as a perk, each of which can be used to confirm a one-way upgrade at the time of booking, subject to upgrade availability (which can be tough to come by); note that tickets booked in Q, O, G, or X fare classes, aren’t eligible
• Elite members receive complimentary upgrades at the time of booking when booking certain fare classes and when there is confirmable upgrade availability; Silver members get complimentary upgrades on Y and B fares, Gold members get complimentary upgrades on Y, B, H, and K fares, and Platinum and Titanium members get complimentary upgrades on Y, B, H, K, and M fares
• Alaska and American offer reciprocal first class upgrades, so AAdvantage elites could also be upgraded on these kinds of fares

How to maximize Alaska & Hawaiian $99 companion fare

How would I recommend going about approaching the Alaska and Hawaiian $99 companion fare? Personally, I think it’s most worthwhile as part of the welcome bonuses offered on the cards, where you might as well make as much use of it as you can. Whether it’s worth spending $6,000 on the card per year to earn the companion fare depends entirely on how you’d be able to use it, plus how often you fly with Alaska Air Group.

I wouldn’t go too over-the-top when it comes to trying to maximize value, since the goal should be to use the certificate before it expires, and get at least some use out of it. In a vast majority of markets, you’ll come out ahead when using the companion certificate.

Generally speaking, the best uses of the companion fare will be for flights that involve Alaska, Hawaii, or Central America, since those are typically the furthest and (potentially) most expensive markets where this can be redeemed.

Of course you’re going to get the most value if you’re flying at a time where economy fares are the most expensive. So the ideal use would be during a busy holiday travel period, where one ticket might be expensive, but then the discount on the second ticket would make a meaningful difference.

Bottom line

A lot of airline credit cards offer companion tickets that come with all kinds of restrictions that make them virtually useless. That’s why I find the Alaska and Hawaiian $99 companion fare to be among the most valuable ones out there, given that the companion is basically treated like any other paying passenger.

These $99 companion fares can be a great reason to pick up the Atmos Rewards Ascent Card or Atmos Rewards Business Card, and even to spend $6,000 on it annually.

What has your experience been with the Alaska and Hawaiian $99 companion fare?