The Annual Alaska Airlines Companion Pass Is One of the Best Travel Reward Credit Card Perks out There!
January 2017
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The companion pass is offered with the Alaska Airlines Signature and Business Visa Cards as well as the Platinum Plus MasterCard.
With the purchase of a paid coach cabin ticket, the companion pass allows you to bring a friend or family member along on any Alaska Airlines operated flight (which may include Alaska-operated Horizon and SkyWest flights) for only $99 plus taxes (which start at $22 and depend on the destination). As long as coach seats are available, you can use your pass and BOTH travelers enjoy mileage and Elite-status credit for their flights!
As an added bonus, baggage fees will be waived for both travelers as a perk of the credit card and, if one of the travelers is Mileage Plan MVP, Gold or Gold 75, both will enjoy priority boarding, preferential seating choices and, with MVP Gold and Gold 75, a chance at an upgrade to first class for both travelers!
Your Companion Fare Discount Code is stored in your My Account profile on alaskaair.com. Most members will receive their initial discount code within three weeks of being approved for the credit card (or after business card holders make one purchase) and then each year thereafter on the enrollment anniversary date.
How do you book a flight using a Companion Fare Discount Code and what are the rules?
The Companion Fare Discount Code is valid for new reservations for 2 people booked in the same itinerary, traveling together and ticketed at the same time on Alaska Airlines operated flights
Simply press the Shop button within the "My Discount Codes" section of your My Account profile on alaskaair.com; your Companion Fare Discount Code will be applied automatically to the new reservation and the discount will be reflected on the Available Flights and Cart pages
The Companion Fare Discount Code is valid for 12 months and must be booked before the pass expires, but travel can happen after the expiration date
The credit card holder who is granted the Companion Fare Discount Code must either be one of the travelers or the purchaser of the tickets with the card member's name matching the name on the credit card used to pay for the tickets
Ways to maximize the value of your companion pass:
Only use your companion pass for expensive tickets when possible
Never use your companion pass for a one-way flight since the pass is valid for a round-trip or multi-city ticket
If you book a flight using the multi-city flight type on alaskaair.com, you can book an open-jaw flight or a flight with a stopover and still use your Alaska Airlines companion pass (this is a little-known perk)
Book an open-jaw ticket – fly into one city and out of another (e.g. fly from Seattle to Honolulu and out of Kauai back to Seattle)
Book a flight with a stopover – fly into 1 city to stay, fly into another city to stay and then fly home (i.e. fly from Baltimore, stay in Seattle for a few days, fly onward to San Francisco for a few days and then fly back to Baltimore)
Use your Alaska Airlines credit card for the flight to earn 3 times the Mileage Plan miles on the flights
The Wrap-Up:
Where will your companion pass take you to within the US, Canada, Mexico or Costa Rica?
The Alaska Airlines credit card annual companion pass is one of the best perks of any travel reward credit card out there - especially when the value is maximized.
And with the Alaska Airlines credit card you also enjoy a free checked bag for you and up to six other passengers on your reservation and three miles for each dollar spent on Alaska Airlines purchases. All of these lucrative benefits are well worth the $75 annual fee!
It’s crazy to imagine some card members let their companion passes expire unused and many fail to fully utilize this valuable benefit. Use your pass for expensive tickets, never use it for one-way travel and enjoy the flexibility of open-jaw and multi-city tickets to maximize your value!
If you maximize the value of your companion pass by using it for an expensive trip or are able to build in a stopover to a fabulous city you would have otherwise missed, “stopover” and leave a nice note on Facebook and Twitter!
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