Big Upgrade to the Alaska Airlines Companion Certificate!

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More good news from Alaska Airlines, this time for folks who have the Alaska Airlines personal or small business cards!

Via One Mile at a Time, you can now use the annual Companion Certificate that comes with the Alaska Airlines cards on Virgin America flights!  Depending on where you fly, this perk could save you a lot of money!

We don’t earn a commission for Alaska Airlines credit cards, but we’ll always tell you about the best deals!

The Alaska Airlines Companion Certificate Is Now More Useful

Link:   Alaska Airlines Companion Certificate

Link:   Bank of America Alaska Airlines Card (Personal)

Link:   Bank of America Alaska Airlines Card (Small Business)

Link:   My Review of the Alaska Airlines Credit Cards

Folks can now use the Alaska Airlines Companion Certificate on Virgin America flights!  When you use the companion certificate, you’ll pay $99 plus tax to add a companion to your paid coach flight.

This certificate used to be valid only on Alaska Airlines flights (not partners).  But because of the recent Alaska Airlines and Virgin America merger, you now have more opportunities to redeem your Companion Certificate!

What Does This Mean for You?

This is great news, because Virgin America flies to areas Alaska Airlines does NOT.  So you’ll be able to redeem your Companion Certificate for more routes!

For example, you can now use your Companion Certificate for flights between Dallas and New York.  Because Virgin America flies between those 2 cities, but Alaska Airlines does NOT.

More Options = Better

Say you and a friend want to book a flight from Austin to Seattle in July which cost ~$550 each.  So the total is ~$1,100 for 2 round-trip tickets ($550 X 2).

You now have 3 options for booking cheap airfare on Virgin America:

• Spend ~51,163 Virgin America points plus tax (Virgin America points have a value of ~2.15 cents each)
• Transfer 38,500 Virgin America points to Alaska Airlines for 50,000 Alaska Airlines miles plus tax (Virgin America points transfer to Alaska Airlines at a 1:1.3 ratio) which is enough for 2 domestic round-trip tickets
• Save your points and buy your airfare using Alaska Airlines’ Companion Certificate for ~$649 plus tax ($550 + $99 companion fare)

This certificate is good for any coach ticket on Alaska Airlines or Virgin America.  It’s especially useful for expensive tickets.  And both you and your companion will earn miles for the flight!

How Does It Work?

Using the Companion Certificate is easy!  Here’s how:

Step 1.   Sign-In to Your Alaska Airlines Account and Select “Discount and Companion Fare Codes”

Log-in with your Alaska Airlines account information, and from your account find “Discount and Companion Fare Codes” in the pull-down menu.

Step 2.   Choose a Companion Certificate Code and Click “Shop”

If you have more than one valid companion certificate (if you have more than one Alaska Airlines card, you’ll see multiple codes).  Click “Shop” or copy and paste the code for later.

Step 3.   Check the Companion Code Has Auto-Filled Into the Search Screen

The companion code should automatically appear in the “Discount or companion fare code” box on the search screen.  If it doesn’t, you can copy and paste it from the previous screen.

Step 4.   Select Flights as You Normally Would

Choose your flights from the list.  You’ll see the price of the companion fare as an addition to the base fare.

Step 5.   Verify the Companion Certificate at Check-Out

You’ll see the regular fare, the $99 companion fare, and the total of all taxes.

Bottom Line

If you live in one of the areas Alaska Airlines or Virgin America services, it might be worth keeping the Alaska Airlines personal or small business credit cards!

That’s because you can now use the annual Alaska Airlines Companion Certificate on both Alaska Airlines and Virgin America flights.  This means you can take a companion on a wider selection of routes to more destinations for just $99 plus tax round-trip.

Emily and I don’t earn a commission for these cards, but we’ll always tell you about the best ways to get Big Travel with Small Money!