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 companion fare to be among the most valuable ones out there, given that the companion is basically treated like any other paying passenger.
What has your experience been with the Alaska and Hawaiian companion fare?
I’ve had them annually for 12 years.
I never use them as my short flights have been solo and long flights I want J.
Regarding those instant upgrade fares, are those only available yo elites? I know AA has Y-up fares that are instant upgrades but marketed as Business
@Beachfan - yeah they’re only available to elites. You can look them up by selecting which elite tier you’re on when booking a flight, and it’ll show premium and first upgrade fares, though the first upgrade fares still require an upgrade seat available.
Like Beachfan, I've had these Companion Fares for 10 years, and my wife has had them for five. (Indeed, we each have one currently residing in our respective wallets.) Living in the SF Bay Area, I typically use them when we fly to Boston, New York, DC, etc. -- East Coast destinations -- and Hawai'i. They have saved us a lot of money, especially on last minute flights, like last year when we suddenly had to fly to Chicago...
I have still had luck recently using these for open jaw and multi city itineraries, but I think they are stricter than before. For example, I recently booked SAN - LIH - OGG - SAN . That is something that was not possible before the Hawaiian merger! I have also been able to use SAN - BOS // NYC - SAN with open jaw between NYC and Boston. With airfares shooting up, they are quite valuable.
I've recently booked MCO-SAN, SAN-HNL, HNL-SAN with a 3 month gap between MCO and HNL. So, it's working again.
Can't use wallet funds though.
The fare classes necessary to use the Delta one were so restrictive that it became impossible for me to use. Is this Alaska companion fare restricted to certain fare classes (other than being in economy)?
Ben - I was booking a Hawaii itinerary and tried to use the companion cert.
Called AS and the agent in Boise told me I could not upgrade at all . I have no status on AS so canceled and bo9ked UA
Not much benefit to me.