Are Free Companion Tickets Worth the Credit Card Fee?
A lesser-known benefit of Travel Rewards credit cards is the complimentary companion ticket, which provides you with a free or reduced second fare when you pay for a single full-price ticket. A number of cards offer this benefit, but while it sounds great, there are downsides, and not all of them are worth your time, effort, or the sometimes hefty annual fees ($99 to $550, depending on the card). Here’s how to figure out if it’s worth earning and using companion tickets.
Accompanying tickets generally fall into two main categories.
Free tickets for accompanying persons
Free companion tickets are a perk of the card without requiring you to complete additional requirements to earn them, but that doesn’t mean they’re worth it for everyone. You will have to consider a few things.
- Is it a free free ticket or a discounted ticket? Some credit cards offer a BOGO ticket (you’ll still pay taxes and fees for a free ticket), while other cards offer a $99 companion fare. Either option can still represent a savings, but you should consider the upfront cost when deciding if the benefit is really good value compared to the yearly card fee.
- Does the airline fly where you want? If you don’t live near an airport operated by an airline, or if the airline doesn’t fly to your desired destination, a free companion ticket won’t do you much good.
- Do you fly with this airline often enough to use an annual Companion Certificate? If you only fly with an airline once a year or every two years, you will have a borderline use case at best. Especially if there is a fee associated with your companion ticket, you will have to pay for the more expensive ticket to save money.
- For which class of service is a companion ticket valid? If you want to fly in business class and the companion ticket is only valid for economy class, it won’t work for you.
- How easy is it to use the companion pass? Some companion passes are easier to use than others. Some of these can be booked online, while others may require a phone call. Some require seating in a particular fare class, while others can be used for any available seat. Make sure you understand the restrictions you will be subject to beforehand.
Companion Tickets Based on Expense
Some tie-ins require you to register a certain amount of spending during the calendar or card year in order to earn them. In addition to the considerations above, you should consider the following questions:
- Is it really important for you to earn a companion ticket? Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. If you don’t know you’ll be using a companion ticket, it might not be worth trying to earn one at all. Other benefits of the card may still mean that the card as a whole makes sense (although this is not always the case).
- Do you spend enough per year on a credit card to earn a companion ticket? Companion certificates are often expensive to earn. You will need to check if the expenses must be completed within the calendar year or the year of the cardholder. It makes no sense to spend more than usual (or more than you can afford) to get a Companion Pass.
- What are you giving up to earn a Companion Ticket? Even if you’re spending enough on your credit card, think about what you’re giving up. What other cards could you put these expenses on, and what could you earn? Is a pas companion your best bet? One of the simplest comparisons is a credit card with a 2% cashback. If it takes $10,000 on a hypothetical card to get a tie-in, you can earn $200 in cashback by spending those costs on a 2% cashback card instead.
Alternative: Southwest Pass
The Southwest Companion Pass is a companion pass among companion passes. You don’t have to earn it with a credit card (credit card spending can help you earn it). Instead of being valid only once like most companion passes, it is valid until the end of the year you earn it and all of the following year. For example, if you received a pass in August 2022, it will be valid from August to December 2022 and all of 2023.
The Southwest Companion Pass can be used to carry a companion on a paid ticket or award ticket on taxes and fees only ($5.60 for most US flights). You can also change your companion up to three times during a calendar year. To receive the Southwest Companion Pass, you need to earn 125,000 Rapid Rewards points in a calendar year. You can do this with a credit card, flight southwest, or a combination of the two.
bottom line
Companion Tickets can be a great perk if you know how to use them. But before you sign up for a new credit card with an annual fee or go to any lengths to earn a companion pass, make sure you understand the restrictions and requirements – and that you can actually use it.