I have had a lot of airline credit cards. Delta, American Airlines, Frontier, Alaska, United, Southwest, Hawaiian Airlines, and more! I signed up for most of these solely for the bonus points and ended up canceling after having the cards for a year. I will get some of them again, like Southwest and American. The ones I always keep open are my United and Alaska Airlines cards. United is the airline I fly the most because Denver International Airport (my home airport) is a United hub. Overall, though, my favorite card is my Alaska Airlines card.

I signed up for my Alaska Airlines Credit Card years ago before I was a real points and miles user solely for the bonus miles.  It has since become one of my favorite cards because of one thing: the annual Alaska Airlines Companion Fare. For $99 + fees, I can have one person fly with me on one flight.  This is a great perk that I use every single year.  My husband got the card, too, and we use his companion fare every year also. What I love about the Alaska Companion Fare is that I don’t have to “earn it”.  I don’t have to spend X dollars or earn Y points. I get it every year for being a cardholder.

For the first few years, we used one of our Alaska Airlines companion fares to go to Mexico. It really made our traveling cheaper, as we only paid for one ticket plus approximately $121 for the companion fare. We often went with friends who did the same thing.

 

Uses of the Companion Pass

Our son lives in Seattle, so we always use our other Alaska Airlines companion fare to visit him and his family. For years, we have done this: one companion fare for Mexico and one for Seattle.

Two years ago, we started this fun tradition of taking two of our grandchildren to Hawaii every year.  This summer we took our two oldest granddaughters to Kauai.  I prefer to go off-peak when flights are cheaper, but it is easier for them to go during the summer.  No sports and no school makes it easier for schedules to align. But man, flights in the summer are expensive!! Thank heavens, we have a way to make it cheaper! With the Alaska Airlines Companion Fare, we pay $99 plus taxes and fees (starting at $22). We paid for our ticket and another $163.60  for each grandchild – talk about great savings!!  Especially when the cost of the ticket from Denver to Lihue was almost $1,200.

 

 

 

Other Perks of the Alaska Airlines Credit Card

• 20% off on inflight purchases – this helped when the girls purchased food and snacks onboard
• 50% off Alaska lounges (I don’t ever use this due to the other cards that get me lounge access)
  
  
  
  

Current Signup Bonus

Get 50,000 bonus miles plus Alaska’s Famous Companion Fare from $122 ($99 fare plus taxes and fees from $23) with this offer after spending $3,000 miles in 3 months. 
Annual Fee: $75- includes annual Companion Fare, the first bag flies free for you and up to 6 guests.

Using Bonus Spend Points

It has been so long since I received the bonus points on my Alaska Airlines Credit Card that I can’t even remember how I used the points. A couple of years ago I signed up for the business version and received 50,000 miles as my welcome bonus (who knows if it will ever be that high again).  I used it to travel business class on Hainan Airlines from Beijing.  I had been on a tour in China and it was the perfect way to travel home.

Hainan Airlines is not part of an alliance but they partner with Alaska for bookings. I was able to book this flight on Alaska’s site, making it really easy!  It was a great flight and I highly recommend them.  One of the things I love about Alaska is that I can usually find a lay-flat business seat with Alaska miles for considerably less than other airlines.

Other ideas for using your 50,000 miles from bonus spend:

• Round trip economy to Hawaii
• Round trip economy to Mexico
• Two round trip economy domestically
  
  

 

Unfortunately, the companion fare can’t be used on points bookings. But if you are looking to fly your family, you could book one ticket with some points from your signup bonus, pay with cash for one, and use the companion fare for another. Buy one, get two (almost) free is a pretty great deal!

 

Bottom Line

When it comes to my airline points, I only use them on business-class seats for international travel. Business-class seats are usually super expensive!! When I travel somewhere domestically, I usually just save my points and find another way to save some money. The companion fare offered with the Alaska Credit Card makes this happen for me when I travel to Hawaii.

I will confess, though, that I don’t find a reason to use this card much throughout the year.  It sits in my sock drawer until it is time to book that annual trip to Hawaii.  I highly recommend this card to anyone who uses Alaska Airlines or can find interesting places to go with a companion.  The annual fee of $75 plus approximately $122 for a companion fare means that I am only paying $197 for another person to fly with me anywhere Alaska flies.  I can find enough value to keep it in my wallet, well, sock drawer!