Some of the most valuable perks on select airline credit cards are companion certificate benefits. Companion certificates allow you to bring a friend or family member along at a steep discount (or, in some cases, nearly free) when you book a qualifying ticket.
If you’re looking to fly with Alaska or Hawaiian Airlines, two Atmos Rewards cards provide excellent companion benefits.
The Atmos™ Rewards Ascent Visa Signature® Credit Card and the Atmos™ Rewards Visa Signature® Business Card provide companion fare benefits that can be maximized for top value. Here’s what to know about this perk.
Alaska and Hawaiian companion fare overview
With the Alaska and Hawaiian companion fare on Atmos Rewards cards, you can bring a travel companion on an Alaska Airlines or Hawaiian Airlines flight within North America for a fixed dollar amount (plus mandatory taxes and fees).
Currently, the welcome offers for both the personal and business cards include a companion fare:
- Atmos Rewards Ascent: Earn 80,000 bonus points and a $99 Companion Fare (plus taxes and fees from $23) after spending $4,000 or more on purchases within the first 120 days from account opening.
- Atmos Rewards Business: Earn 80,000 bonus points and a $99 Companion Fare (plus taxes and fees from $23) after spending $5,000 or more on purchases within the first 90 days from account opening.
You can also unlock a companion fare each year you hold either card after spending $6,000 or more on purchases within the prior anniversary year.
Before going 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 only for Alaska fares. Now, since Atmos Rewards combined Alaska and Hawaiian, this benefit covers flights booked with either airline.
The information for the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature and Alaska Airlines Visa Business cards has been collected independently 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
The benefit also carries some additional restrictions and items of note, as laid out on the Atmos companion fare FAQ page:
- Both the primary ticket holder and the companion must be booked on the same itinerary at the same time.
- Both travelers earn Atmos Rewards points on the flights.
- The certificate is valid for saver or main cabin travel only, though the tickets are eligible for upgrades.
- The companion fare must be redeemed by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on the expiration date, though travel can occur after it expires.
- You do not have to be one of the travelers to use your companion fare. However, you must use your Atmos card to pay for the tickets.
Related: Aloha to more $99 flights to Hawaii: Alaska Airlines’ Companion Fare can be used on Hawaiian Airlines flights
When do you receive the Alaska and Hawaiian companion fare?
As far as timing goes, the terms indicate that the first year’s companion fare will post to your account within the first two billing cycles after qualifying for the welcome bonus.
After year one, the terms indicate that you’ll receive the companion code within two billing cycles after your anniversary date.
How do you use the Alaska and Hawaiian companion fare?
The benefit on the Atmos Rewards Ascent or the Atmos Rewards Business is earned in the form of a discount code that is automatically deposited into your account.
To find it, log into your Atmos account, find the discount and companion fare codes section on the profile homepage and see if you have a valid code.
The actual code is a series of letters and numbers. To start a search, you’ll need to press “use to book.” Then, the companion fare code should be automatically copied into the “Discount code” field.
From there, enter your search criteria, click “Find flights,” and ensure you only have two passengers selected. If you try to book for more than that, you’ll get an error message like this:
Once you’ve initiated the search, the results page will flag eligible itineraries 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 fare is just $99 plus taxes and fees from $23.
Expect to pay at least $23 more to cover additional taxes and fees for your companion.
In the above example, the total for two passengers comes to $753.63. However, if the companion fare code is removed, the price jumps to $1,233.20.
In other words, on this sample round-trip itinerary from Orlando (MCO) to Seattle (SEA), the benefit saves $479.57 — more than five times the personal card’s $95 annual fee.
Related: Why I’m considering a Citi credit card as an Alaska Airlines fan
A note on stopovers and open-jaw itineraries
While the companion fare is applicable to round-trip and one-way tickets, there used to be more flexible ways to use it. This has since changed.
Previously, TPGers could use the companion fare discount code to book open-jaw itineraries or itineraries that included stopovers at a solid discount. However, an Alaska Airlines spokesperson confirmed to TPG that multicity and stopover travel are no longer bookable with the companion fare discount since the program’s recent “systems modernization.”
This is certainly a negative change that makes the companion fare less flexible. In the past, this had been one of the best ways to maximize the value of this benefit.
Related: Airline stopover flights: A complete guide to maximizing your flight itinerary
How to maximize the Alaska and Hawaiian companion fare
If you’re looking to get max value from your companion fare, consider the following.
Status challenge
First, let’s talk about a status challenge. Atmos Rewards offers you a 90-day trial of the equivalent tier of Atmos Rewards elite status, which matches up to the equivalent Oneworld status.
If you’re a higher-tier member of another loyalty program, you may even enjoy Atmos Gold (Oneworld Sapphire) or Atmos Platinum (Oneworld Emerald).
Be sure to wait until your flight is less than 90 days away to initiate the challenge. That way, you’ll enjoy the corresponding perks on your trip, and the ticket booked with the companion fare will help you meet the requirements to extend your status for the rest of the year.
Book for friends or family members
Unlike most companion ticket benefits, you do not need to be one of the travelers to use it.
One of the questions on the FAQ page is: “Who can use my companion fare code?” This is the answer:
The Atmos™ Rewards member who owns the Companion Fare code must either be one of the travelers or the purchaser of the reservation. If the member is allowing two travelers to use his or her Companion Fare code, then the member’s name must match the name on the credit card used to purchase the reservation.
Open two Atmos cards in your household
If you and your spouse, partner or significant other both open the card, you’ll each have your own companion tickets to use each year, and you don’t even need to travel when using them.
Here are some examples of when this could work well:
- Family of four: A single companion fare for a family of four would cut the ticket price by roughly 25% in the first year. If both parents have one, the price will be slashed nearly in half.
- Family of three plus a friend: If you’re a family of three, you could use a second companion fare to take a trip with your kid and allow them to bring along a friend.
- Weekend with friends: Maybe you’re planning a getaway with friends in the next year or two. By having multiple companion fares spread across the group, you can save some serious cash for the trip itself.
- Two trips as a couple: If you typically take at least two round-trip flights on Alaska or Hawaiian as a couple, you can leverage two companion fares, where one pays for the first ticket and the other pays for the second.
Keep it simple
Finally, you may want to consider keeping things simple. You don’t have to add an open jaw, nor do you need to include a stopover. Sometimes, it makes the most sense just to book the flight you need and still get some solid value from it.
Related: Why American Airlines flyers should pay attention to Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards
Bottom line
The companion fare benefit on the Atmos Rewards Ascent and the Atmos Rewards Business is flexible and simple to use on all manner of itineraries. The only real restriction is that you have to book flights operated by Alaska or Hawaiian Airlines.
If you’ve never considered these cards before, hopefully, you now see the benefits.
To learn more, read our full reviews of the 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
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