Some of the most valuable benefits of select airline credit cards are the companion certificate benefits. Companion Certificates allow you to bring a friend or family member with you at a significant discount (or in some cases, virtually for free) when you book an eligible flight.
If you want to fly with Alaska Airlines or Hawaiian Airlines, two Atmos rewards cards offer great companion benefits.
this Atmos™ Rewards Ascent Visa Signature® Credit Card and Atmos™ Rewards Visa Signature® Business Card Offer companion fare deals that maximize the best value. Here’s information about this benefit.
Alaska and Hawaii Companion Fares Overview
With the Alaska and Hawaii Companion Fare on your Atmos Rewards card, you can bring a travel companion on Alaska Airlines or Hawaiian Airlines flights within North America for a fixed amount (plus mandatory taxes and fees).
Currently, both personal and business card welcome offers include companion fares:
- Atmos reward enhancement: Earn 80,000 bonus points and $99 companion fares (plus taxes starting at $23) when you spend $4,000 or more in the first 120 days of account opening.
- Atmos rewards business: Earn 80,000 bonus points and $99 companion fares (plus tax starting at $23) when you spend $5,000 or more in the first 90 days after opening your account.
You can unlock companion fares every year you hold either card after spending $6,000 or more in the previous anniversary year.
Before going any further, it’s worth noting that these two cards were formerly known as the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Credit Card (no longer available) and the Alaska Airlines Visa® Business Card (no longer available), and their companion fares used to be available only on Alaska fares. Now, because Atmos Rewards has merged Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, the offer covers flights booked with either airline.
Alaska Airlines Visa Signature and Alaska Airlines Visa Business card information is independently collected by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
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Companion fare restrictions
This offer also comes with some additional restrictions and caveats, as noted on the Atmos Companion Fare FAQ page:
- The primary ticket holder and companion must book the same trip at the same time.
- Both travelers can earn Atmos Rewards points on the flight.
- The certificate is only valid for Concession or Economy class travel, but tickets can be upgraded.
- Companion fares must be redeemed by 11:59 PM PT on the expiration date, but travel will still be available after expiration.
- You don’t have to be one of the travelers to use companion fares. However, you must pay for your tickets with your Atmos card.
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When will you receive your Alaska and Hawaii companion fare?
As far as timing goes, the terms state that first-year companion fares will be credited to your account within the first two billing cycles after qualifying for the welcome bonus.
After the first year, the terms state that you will receive companion codes two billing cycles after your anniversary date.
How do I use the Alaska and Hawaii Companion Fare?
The advantage is that Atmos reward enhancement or Atmos rewards business Earn in the form of discount codes that are automatically credited to your account.
To find it, log into your Atmos account, find the Discounts and Companion Fare Codes section on your profile home page, and check to see if you have a valid code.
The actual code is a series of letters and numbers. To start your search you need to press “For Booking”. The companion fare code should then be automatically copied into the “Discount Code” field.
From there, enter your search criteria, click “Find flights,” and make sure you only select two passengers. If you try to book more than this amount, you will receive an error message like this:
After initiating a search, the results page will mark eligible trips with a green icon next to the price:
Find the flight you want and click “Add to Cart.” The summary page will indicate that your base fare is the regular price, but your companion fares are only $99, plus taxes and fees starting at $23.
You will need to pay an additional tax of at least $23 for your companion.
In the example above, the total cost for two passengers is $753.63. However, if you remove the companion fare code, the price jumps to $1,233.20.
In other words, on a sample round trip from Orlando (MCO) to Seattle (SEA), the offer saves $479.57, which is more than five times the $95 annual fee for a personal card.
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Notes on stopovers and open itineraries
While companion fares are available for return and one-way tickets, there used to be more flexible ways to use them. Things have changed now.
Previously, TPG passengers could use companion fare discount codes to book open itineraries or itineraries with stopovers at a significant discount. However, an Alaska Airlines spokesperson confirmed to TPG that multi-city travel and stopover travel can no longer be booked through companion fare discounts since the program’s recent “system modernization.”
This is certainly a negative change, resulting in less flexibility in companion fares. In the past, this was one of the best ways to maximize the value of this benefit.
RELATED: Airline Stopover Flights: A Complete Guide to Maximizing Your Flight Trip
How to Maximize Alaska and Hawaii Companion Fares
If you want to get the most value from your companion fare, consider the following.
status challenge
First, let’s talk about status challenges. Atmos Rewards gives you a 90-day trial of the equivalent Atmos Rewards Elite tier, which matches the equivalent Oneworld tier.
If you are a premium member of another loyalty program, you can even enjoy Atmos Gold (Oneworld Sapphire) or Atmos Platinum (Oneworld Emerald).
Please be sure to wait until less than 90 days before your flight departure before initiating the challenge. This way, you’ll enjoy corresponding benefits during your trip, and tickets booked using companion fares will help you meet the requirements to extend your status for the remainder of the year.
Book for friends or family
Unlike most companion fare offers, you don’t need to be one of the travelers to take advantage of this offer.
One of the questions on the FAQ page is: “Who can use my companion fare code?” Here is the answer:
The Atmos™ Rewards member with the companion fare code must be one of the passengers on the reservation or the purchaser. If a member allows two travelers to use their companion fare code, the member’s name must match the name on the credit card used to purchase the reservation.
Open two Atmos cards at home
If you and your spouse, partner, or significant other both open the card, you’ll have your own companion tickets to use each year, and you won’t even need to travel to use them.
Here are some examples of when this works well:
- family of four: A single companion fare for a family of four will reduce the first year’s fare by approximately 25%. If both parents have one, the price will be nearly half.
- A family of three plus one friend: If you are a family of three, you can use a second companion fare to travel with your child and allow them to bring a friend with them.
- Spend the weekend with friends: Maybe you’re planning a vacation with friends in the next year or two. By spreading multiple companion fares among your group, you can save a lot of cash on the trip itself.
- Couple travels twice: If you typically fly at least two round-trip flights on Alaska or Hawaiian Airlines as a couple, you can use two companion fares, with one person paying for the first ticket and the other paying for the second.
keep it simple
Finally, you may want to consider keeping things simple. You don’t need to add an opening or include a stopover. Sometimes it makes the most sense to book the flights you need and still get some tangible value from them.
RELATED: Why American Airlines passengers should pay attention to Alaska Airlines Atmos rewards
bottom line
Companion fare discount Atmos reward enhancement and Atmos rewards business Flexible and simple, it can be used on a variety of trips. The only real restriction is that you must book a flight operated by Alaska Airlines or Hawaiian Airlines.
If you’ve never considered these cards before, hopefully you now see their benefits.
To learn more, read our full review of Atmos Rewards Ascent and Atmos Rewards Business Cards.
Apply here: Atmos Rewards Ascent Visa Signature Credit Card
Apply here: Atmos Rewards Visa Signature Business Card
