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I tend to toot Alaska MileagePlan’s horn quite a bit because I myself am a big fan of Alaska miles. You get free stopovers on one way awards, Alaska has a great mix of partners from multiple alliances, and their award charts are filled with sweetspots. Their miles also aren’t the hardest to come by, since Bank of America issues a personal and business co-branded Alaska card and SPG points transfer to Alaska.
One of the perks of the Alaska Airlines credit card (both the personal and business version come with one) is an annual Companion Certificate. You’ll get a new one every year after your cardmember anniversary. Alaska bought Virgin America a while ago, and the latest integration we’ve seen of the two loyalty programs is that you can now redeem the Alaska Companion Certificate on Virgin America flights.
How the Companion Certificate Works
This is what you need to know about the Companion Certificate:
- How do I get one? Both of the Alaska Airlines credit cards come with one per year, which you will receive upon your cardmember anniversary.
- What kind of discount does it provide? Your travel companion only has to pay a $99 base fare as well as taxes/fees (starting at $22), no matter what the cost of the ticket.
- What flights is it valid for? It is valid on any economy ticket flying Alaska. As of recently, you can now use the certificate for Virgin America flights as well. You have to be flying on a paid ticket in order to redeem the Companion Certificate.
- Does redeeming the certificate cancel out my or my companion’s eligibility to earn miles/status credit/upgrades? Nope.
- How do I redeem it? Log into your MileagePlan account. Click Discount and Companion Care Codes on the left side of your account profile. The discount code will be listed under SHOP (blacked out in the screenshot). You can either input the discount code when searching or click SHOP in the Discount and companion fare codes section and the website will fill in the code for you.
Alaska and Virgin America Destinations
The companion certificate is valid on ANY Alaska or Virgin America economy flight.
Check out where Alaska Airlines flies. This map shows destinations out of Seattle, one of Alaska’s hubs.
Check out where Virgin America flies.
You can also mix Virgin America and Alaska flights on the same ticket.
Planning a trip to Alaska, Canada, Hawaii, or Mexico? The companion pass could represent some serious savings for you.
Instead of paying over a grand…
…you could pay less than $750.
How to Get Alaska Miles
- SPG points transfer 1:1 to Alaska miles, and both of the Amex SPG cards (personal and business) come with 25k bonuses.
- The Alaska Airlines Visa Signature cards (personal and business) each come with 30,000 Alaska miles after meeting a $1k spending requirement and paying the $75 annual fee.
- You can also buy Alaska miles, sometimes with pretty decent discounts.
Credit card links have been removed from posts and added to the menu bar at the top of every page of MileValue under the heading Top Travel Credit Cards.
Bottom Line
The latest integration of the Alaska/Virgin America merger is the ability to redeem the Alaska Companion Certificate, a perk that comes with every Alaska credit card, on Virgin America flights as well as Alaska flights. Bringing a friend along on a vacation? You and the S.O. need to fly cross country to visit family? If you’ve got a Companion Pass to burn, your routing options have multiplied.
Hat tip One Mile at a Time
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
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Perhaps someone here can help. I can’t find any commentary about it in any searches. I’d like to pay for a Hawaiian trip with a companion cert and MR or UR points through their travel portals, but I’m afraid the reps there won’t have the expertise to handle it. Anyone have any success with this?
[…] As long as you’re flying on a paid ticket, it is valid on any economy ticket flying Alaska or Virgin America. And no, redeeming the certificate does not cancel out you or your companion’s eligibility to […]