Link: Apply now for the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card or Alaska Airlines Visa® 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 most valuable companion tickets is the one offered by Alaska Airlines, so in this post, I want to look at that in more detail.
Specifically, this is updated to reflect that this benefit is now also valid on select Hawaiian Airlines flights, making it more valuable than ever before (thanks to Michael for flagging this).
In this post:
How to earn an Alaska companion fare
There are two credit cards that offer Alaska companion fares. Both the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card (review) and Alaska Airlines Visa® Business card (review) offer a companion fare starting at $122 annually ($99 fare, plus taxes and fees from $23).
In some situations, there are even companion fares offered as part of the welcome bonuses on these cards. Beyond that, the cards require $6,000 in spending in a cardmember year to earn a companion certificate on an ongoing basis. This is only one of the many great benefits of these cards.
The basics of the Alaska companion fare
When it comes to earning the Alaska companion fare, you’ll find that it’s deposited into your Mileage Plan account shortly after you reach the minimum spending (if a companion fare is offered as part of a welcome bonus), and otherwise, shortly after your account anniversary in subsequent years. The terms state that it could take up to two billing cycles, but in my experience, it typically posts much faster than that.
When it comes to redeeming the Alaska companion fare:
- The companion fare is valid for travel on Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines; it’s valid throughout Alaska’s network (including flights to Alaska, Hawaii, and international destinations), and for Hawaiian’s North America network
- The companion fare is only valid for tickets booked in economy, though all economy fare classes are included
- Tickets booked with the Alaska 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 Alaska companion fare earn miles for their tickets
- The companion fare is valid for a year from when it’s issued, though that’s only the book-by date, while you can travel on a subsequent date
- You’re allowed to use the companion fare code for two other people (in other words, the cardmember doesn’t need to be traveling), but you will need to use your Alaska credit card to pay for the ticket
- Both passengers need to be booked on the same itinerary, travel on the same flights, and be ticketed at the same time
- The companion fare is valid for roundtrip, one-way, and multi-city travel
- The Alaska companion fare isn’t valid for award travel, or for travel that includes segments on any airlines other than Alaska, Horizon, or Hawaiian
- You need to pay with your Alaska credit card to use your companion ticket, though fortunately the card offers bonus miles on Alaska purchases, so it’s not a bad card to use anyway
How to book a ticket with the Alaska companion fare
The process of booking a ticket with the Alaska companion fare is really easy. Just log into your Mileage Plan account, and then on the left side, scroll down to the area that says “Discount and companion fare codes,” and click “Valid.”
There you’ll see a section that should list all of your valid codes along with their expiration dates, so if you see one there, just click the “SHOP” button.
That will bring you to the booking page, where there will be an automatically generated code placed in the “Discount or companion fare code” box.
Like I said above, you can use this for a one-way ticket, like from Tampa to Honolulu…
Or you can use it for a roundtrip ticket, like from Los Angeles to Liberia, Costa Rica, which is one of Alaska’s furthest international destinations.
You can even use this to book a multi-city trip, like flying from Tampa to Maui via Seattle, with a stopover there.
How to upgrade Alaska companion fare tickets
The Alaska 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 MVP, MVP Gold, MVP Gold 75K, or MVP Gold 100K. At least for travel on Alaska metal:
- MVP Gold, MVP Gold 75K, and MVP Gold 100K members are eligible for complimentary space-available upgrades for themselves and a companion, and those upgrades start clearing at 72-120 hours before departure, respectively (MVP members don’t receive companion upgrades)
- With the Mileage Plan 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; 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; MVP members get complimentary upgrades on Y and B fares, MVP Gold members get complimentary upgrades on Y, B, H, and K fares, and MVP Gold 75K and MVP Gold 100K 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
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 Alaska’s companion tickets to be among the most valuable ones out there, given that the companion is basically treated like any other paying passenger. These companion tickets are now even valid for travel on Hawaiian, giving them even more value than in the past.
What has your experience been with Alaska’s companion tickets?
Thank you for the great article on Alaskan. Waiting for my spending to post so can take advantage. I enjoy reading your articles.
Alaska*
I get good value from my Alaska companion fares each year, but I find it annoying that there can only be two people on a reservation using the companion fare (the primary traveler, paying full fare, and the companion - there is no way to add additional full-fare travelers). For example, this past year, I used it on a trip with my two children. I booked one child as my companion, but had to book...
I get good value from my Alaska companion fares each year, but I find it annoying that there can only be two people on a reservation using the companion fare (the primary traveler, paying full fare, and the companion - there is no way to add additional full-fare travelers). For example, this past year, I used it on a trip with my two children. I booked one child as my companion, but had to book the other one on a separate reservation. Even though we linked the PNRs, we still weren't able to check my son in online, since he showed up as an unaccompanied minor.
Disappointing that it can be used to fly to Latin America on Alaska, but they limited the Hawaiian flights to the North America market, so no cheap companion fares on Asia flights available here.
My guess is they are saving that perk for the new premium credit card they are launching. Rumor already has it the new card's companion fare will allow redemption on first class fares (like these ones did in the good ol'...
Disappointing that it can be used to fly to Latin America on Alaska, but they limited the Hawaiian flights to the North America market, so no cheap companion fares on Asia flights available here.
My guess is they are saving that perk for the new premium credit card they are launching. Rumor already has it the new card's companion fare will allow redemption on first class fares (like these ones did in the good ol' days) and not just economy; maybe they felt they needed more of a lure.
How about Hawaiian Airlines companion fares (such as the 50% code for opening a Barclay's Hawaiian Airlines card)--can we use those on Alaska metal? Thanks.