Alaska Airlines Companion Fare: Everything You Need to Know

How to Use Your Companion Fare

When you want to book a flight using your Alaska Airlines Companion Fare can redeem it by clicking the “Shop” button inside the Discounts and Companion Codes tab of your account profile. The companion fare discount code will automatically be added to the reservation. Your discount will be reflected on the price in the “Available flights” and “Cart” pages. Your discount code won’t actually be redeemed until after you have finished purchasing the ticket.

Also, know that you can use any credit card to purchase the flight. You aren’t limited to using your Alaska Airlines Visa. It might make more sense to book with a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Ink Preferred because they offer [earnist_link ref=”world-nomads” id=”10609″]travel insurances[/earnist_link] that the Alaska card doesn’t.

Maximize the Value of Your Alaska Companion Ticket

When you have an Alaska Airlines Companion Fare, you’ll want to maximize the value of it. It won’t do you much good if you use it on a $200 flight because you’ll only save $79. The flights you’ll want to use it on are those $500+ flights that you can’t find any other option. Other than using it on an expensive flight, there are a few other ways to help maximize the value of your Alaska Airlines Companion Fare.

Book a Stopover Flight

By booking a stopover flight you’ll add an extra location you get to visit. A stopover flight is one that has a long layover on the way to, or from your final destination. For instance, you could fly one-way DAL>PDX>HNL and have a long enough layover (multiple days) in Portland. This way you could visit Portland before continuing your flight to Hawaii. Essentially, it’s like having a two-stop vacation.

Book an Open Jaw Flight

By booking an open jaw flight you’ll also add an extra destination to your itinerary. An open jaw flight is when you add a final destination to the end of your trip for a later vacation. For instance, if you live in Portland, you could fly round trip PDX>HNL>PDX>DAL with a long break between the PDX>DAL part of the itinerary. This allows you to have half of your future Dallas flights paid for. You’d just have to book a one-way ticket to get home.

Status Match so You Can Upgrade to First Class

Book a Flight for Someone Else

If you end up not having a flight that makes sense to use the Alaska Airlines Companion Fare during the year, don’t let it go to waste. You’re actually allowed to use it for someone else’s flights. Surely you have a friend or family member that will be flying. Remember that the companion fare is only valid for one year and expires. You aren’t able to stockpile them for multiple years to use together. If you have a family of four, I’m sure this might have crossed your mind.

Get Two Cards for Your Family of 4

If you do have a family of four or more, you can take advantage of having multiple Alaska Airlines Companion Fares. No, as I mentioned above, you can’t stockpile the discount codes from year to year. But, instead, you can have more than one Alaska Airlines credit card for your family. Either two personal cards for the adults in the family, or a personal card and a business card if you’re a small business owner.

Down-sides to the Alaska Airlines Companion Fare

Of course, every offer comes with restrictions and down-sides. Like any other offer, this one does too. Fortunately, there aren’t very many negatives to the Alaska Air Companion Fare. It’s about as restriction-free as an offer can get. Here are the few negatives about the Alaska credit card companion fares.

Unable to Combine with Other Discounts

One of the negatives is that the Alaska Airlines Companion Fare discount codes cannot be used along with any other discount codes. This means if you have a travel voucher from Alaska Airlines, you won’t be able to use it on the same flights. I actually tried this recently, because my wife and I had quite a few vouchers from interruptions to our flights over the past year, as well as a companion fare. It was not possible to combine the two.

No Cancelations without Forfeiting the Companion Fare

Be sure of your plans before booking a flight with your Alaska Companion ticket. If you need to cancel your flights, unfortunately, you will forfeit your Alaska Companion Fare. If for some reason you absolutely must cancel a flight, I would still reach out to Alaska Airlines customer service to ask if it’s possible for them to add it back into your account. Their customer service is often very nice and will help you out in any way possible.

Only Valid for Economy Seats

We’ve mentioned it a few times, but the Alaska Airlines Companion Fare is only valid for booking economy seats. In the past, it was possible to book first class, which made the offer even more valuable. Unfortunately, they got rid of that option a few years back. Remember, it is possible to upgrade those economy seats though.

Our Review of Having the Alaska Air Companion Fare

Overall, the Alaska Air credit cards are quite beneficial. They can help you out when you’re in a sticky situation and can’t find reward space. The bonus miles you’ll receive are also a decent chunk of Alaska miles. It can sometimes be enough miles for multiple round trip flights in an economy seat or a one-way first-class flight.

I have the personal Alaska Airlines Visa credit card and find it valuable enough to continually pay the annual fee to keep the card. If we end up with two children in the future, I’ll absolutely be adding a second card to the mix as well. The Alaska Companion Pass pays off when you really need it. I’ve been able to find a reason to use our Alaska Airlines Companion Fare each and every year I’ve been a cardmember.