I have had a lot of airline credit cards over the years. Delta, American Airlines, Frontier, Alaska, United, Southwest, Hawaiian Airlines, and more! 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. I’ve also found good redemptions with my Alaska credit cards.

I signed up for my Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card years ago.  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 for less.  This is a great perk that I use every single year.  What I love about the Alaska Airlines 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. 

However, if you now apply for it, the following is true: Since January 18, 2023, you must spend $6,000 or more on purchases within an anniversary year to qualify for the annual companion fare. Often, the welcome bonus will include a free Companion Fare the first year.

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

 

Uses of the Alaska Airlines Companion Fare™

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

Then, we started this fun tradition of taking two of our grandchildren to Hawaii every year. A few years ago, 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 (which start at $23). We paid for our ticket and another $163.60 for each grandchild—talk about great savings!!  Especially when the cost of my 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
• Get $100 off an annual Alaska Lounge+ Membership when you pay with your card
• A 10% rewards bonus on all miles earned from card purchases if you have an eligible Bank of America^® account.
• Priority Boarding
• Earn 3 miles for every dollar you spend on eligible Alaska Airlines purchases; earn 2 miles for every dollar you spend on the card in certain categories (eligible gas, EV charging station, local transit, rideshare, cable, and select streaming services)

 

Current Signup Bonus

Get 70,000 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: $95—includes annual Companion Fare™. The first bag flies free for you and up to 6 guests.

Using Bonus Points

It has been so long since I received the bonus points on my Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card that I can’t even remember how I used the points! A couple of years ago I signed up for Alaska Airlines Visa® Business Card and received 50,000 miles as my welcome bonus.  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.

All information about the Alaska Airlines Visa® Business card has been collected independently by Travel Mom Squad. The Alaska Airlines Visa® Business card is no longer available through Travel Mom Squad.

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 lie-flat business seat with Alaska miles for considerably fewer points than with other airlines’ miles.

Just recently, I booked business-class seats to Papeete for a stay at the Conrad Bora Bora. We’ll fly on Air Tahiti Nui Airlines and it cost me a mere 60K + $5.60 for this ticket.

 

Unfortunately, the companion fare can’t be used on points bookings, only cash bookings. But if you are looking to fly your family, you could book one ticket with some points you earn from your card, pay with cash for one, and use the companion fare for another. 

 

Bottom Line

When it comes to my airline points, I only usually use them on business-class seats for international travel. Business-class seats are usually super-expensive!! And when I travel somewhere domestically, I usually save my points and find another way to save some money. The companion fare offered with the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Credit Card helps me save money 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’s 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 $95 plus approximately $122 for a companion fare means that I only pay $197 for another person to fly with me anywhere Alaska flies.  I can’t find enough value to keep it in my wallet, well—sock drawer!