If you fly one airline with a partner or child at least once a year, a companion certificate from an airline credit card can save you more than the card’s annual fee. Before you count on it, check which fares and routes it covers, what taxes you still pay, and when it expires.
The certificate puts a second traveler on your round trip for the taxes and fees alone, or on some cards for a small set fare plus taxes.
The $350-a-year Delta SkyMiles Platinum American Express Card gives you one after each renewal, good for a Delta Main (economy) round trip within the U.S. or to destinations Delta lists in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America. On a round trip of up to four flights, the companion pays at most $80 in taxes and fees within the U.S. and $250 abroad. The $650-a-year Delta SkyMiles Reserve‘s certificate also covers the roomier Delta Comfort and Delta First cabins.
On the $95-a-year Atmos Rewards Ascent Visa Signature for Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines flyers, the companion pays $99 plus taxes and fees that start at $23. That fare arrives each card anniversary only if you charged $6,000 or more in purchases the year before.
Four rules in Delta’s terms decide what its certificate is worth to you:
- It covers only five Delta Main fare classes, the letter codes airlines assign to each price level, and never Basic Economy or a sale fare. Both travelers book the same class.
- Most eligible fares require a stay of at least three nights and booking as much as 14 days ahead.
- You must book and fly the whole trip before the certificate expires, usually a year after it’s issued.
- Your first certificate comes only after your first renewal, so you pay the first year’s fee without one.
Then price a trip you’d take anyway. Say you and a partner fly Delta Main nonstop within the U.S. each year, and an eligible fare costs $450 a seat, round trip with taxes. With the certificate, the second seat costs $80 or less, so you save at least $370, $20 more than the Platinum’s $350 fee.
This math works on any card. Before each renewal, check whether the second seat on your travel dates would cost more than the fee plus what the companion still owes, $430 on the trip above.
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