When people hear me talk about the Southwest Companion Pass, they sometimes say, "well I fly Delta/Alaska and they ALSO have a Companion Pass." Here's the thing... Delta's and Alaska's Companion Passes in NO WAY compare to the value you get from the Southwest Companion Pass. In this episode, I explain why.
Want to make more family travel memories without breaking the bank? Longtime travel journalist Lyn Mettler shares her top tips to help families quickly and easily travel for less using rewards points and inspires you with ideas of where to travel on your next vacation.
Do you love to travel and
save money or do you wish
you could travel? But money is
holding you back.
You're in the right place.
Welcome to the Families Fly Free
podcast where I show you
how to fly your family free
forever using my simple fly-free
formula.
I'm your host, Lyn Mettler.
My family of four has mastered
the art of flying free as simply
as possible since 2015.
And I want to show your family how
to do it, too.
Hey, everyone.
Welcome back to the.
Families.
Fly.
Free podcast.
Can you believe we are rounding
out 2022?
We have come to the end of the year.
It has been a great year
of travel for my family.
It has been a great year in terms
of our ability
to help hundreds of
families this year
now be able to fly
for free, too, and
greatly increase the number
of times they're traveling and make
all those amazing
travel memories together that
they're going to carry with them
into 2023 and beyond
and keep doing the same thing.
We are just past
Christmas, so
if you have finished up that
rush of buying gifts and cooking
and family and all of that,
now is a really good time
to settle in and start
to think about what you would like
to do in terms of travel in 2023.
And if you're not satisfied with
what you think you're going to be
able to do with the budget that
you've set aside for travel in 2023,
if you haven't joined Families Fly
Free, this is a really, really
good time to do it.
We can set you up to
fly six times or more
a year if you want
as a Families Fly Free member
flying entirely on frequent
flier miles and we show you the easy
my easy system
to be able to do this.
So I encourage you to
consider it if you want travel
to look different for your family
next year than it did this
year.
And of course, you can check more
information out about Families Fly
Free at Families Fly Free
dot com slash join
and be sure and go back and listen
to our past podcasts
with different members who
talk about how much they have been
able to save and the value
that it has held for their family
to be able to travel so much more
now. Today I wanted to
talk about the various
companion passes that are out
there in the world, and I
really wanted to record this one
because sometimes when I'm talking
about the Southwest Companion Pass,
which I declare to be
the best deal in travel,
I get the response from people
who don't really understand the
Southwest Companion Pass.
Oh, but we like to fly Alaska
and Alaska has a companion pass
too. Or oh, but we really
prefer to fly Delta and
we get to use Delta's companion
pass every year too.
So I want to educate you today
on the difference between Alaska's
and Delta's and Southwest's
Companion Pass
and you guys.
they're not even in the same
ballpark as Southwest.
So I just want
those of you who are out there
loving you can love another
airline for sure,
but if you really want to fly
your whole family a lot
of places and you don't want to pay
out of pocket for it, Southwest
is the airline to go with and the
companion pass is one
of the big reasons.
So I've got another
podcast scheduled in the future to
talk about addressing
these folks who just say, Oh,
I don't want to fly Southwest, so
I'm not going to do that.
It really comes down to, do you
want to fly free six times a year
and bring everyone with you or do
you want to fly Delta?
So for me, I'm going to
fly Southwest every time
to be able to fly free.
And they are a wonderful airline to
fly. They are not luxury,
but there is nothing wrong with
them. They are also not Spirit or
Frontier. So it's they're not
terrible service.
They're not, you know, bad seats,
any of that.
They are a very comfortable
airline to fly.
They go a lot of amazing places and
they really have the best
service in the industry.
But so let's delve into we're going
to talk about Alaska's and then
we're going to talk about Delta's
and then we're going to compare it
to Southwest's Companion Pass.
So Alaska's is called
the Alaska's Famous Companion
Fare.
And so if you are
hold one of Alaska Airlines
cards on one of their Visa cards
or one of their business Visa cards,
also they have if you.
All the world elite MasterCard
or Platinum Plus MasterCard as
a Canadian, this
grants you one companion
fare.
And what this means is that
you can purchase
for $99 for the
airfare, plus taxes
and fees, which are another 22.
So $121,
you can pay for someone
to fly with you for
that cost no matter what the actual
cost of the fare is.
So even if it's a $750 fare.
You're only going to pay $121
for someone to fly with you.
Using
this once-a-year companion fare, this person has to fly with you. You have to pay
in
dollars, you can't use miles for your own seat. You have to be on the same itinerary, of course, same flight, same time. And you have to book both of you at the same time on Alaska Air dot com. So this is not a freebie. Southwest is totally free except for taxes. Everyone has to pay the $5.60 per person per way fee. No getting around that, but the airfare on Southwest is totally free. This one, you're still paying. Now it's a better deal than paying a higher
priced fare, but it is
not free, so it's not that good
of a deal.
Let me note some other things.
It has to be for a new reservation
only, so you can't go back and add
someone to an existing reservation
that you've already made to
redeem your companion
fare. You'll have a code
that you will enter at checkout.
And you have to purchase your
fare, both of them yours
and the $99
companion fare with your
Alaska Airlines credit cards.
You can see there's a lot of details
and rules and regulations here.
There are for the companion pass,
too.
But again, we're going to talk about
why it's such a better deal.
You cannot combine this with any
other sales or discounts on Alaska.
The companion fare does expire
12 months after
the date of issue.
So in this case, it's a little
different on Delta, you just have to
have booked your flight by the
expiration date.
You can still travel after the
expiration date.
You just have to have it booked.
And to earn this companion
fare, like I said, you do have to
hold one of those cards and you do
have to spend a certain amount,
usually $1,000 within 90
days in order to get your first
companion fare.
And then you get one each card
anniversary.
So it takes 6
to 8 weeks to get your companion
fare code after you've
completed that minimum spend, and
they say approximately two billing
cycles.
So it's definitely not an immediate
thing.
And then every card anniversary.
So that's usually after you have
paid your annual fee, they
want to make sure you've renewed
and then two billing cycles after
you've paid your annual
fee.
So that's when you would get
your next one.
The only benefit I would say
to this one is it's easier
to earn than Southwest's Companion
Pass, because all you have to do is
spend $1,000 or
whatever the minimum spend is of
your everyday spending.
So it's easier to get, but
it is nowhere near
as valuable.
All right. Let's move on to Delta's.
So Delta's calls,
there's companion certificates.
And these also come as a perk
of holding select Delta cards.
So either they're
Platinum or Platinum Business
Amex cards or
the Delta SkyMiles Reserve
or Reserve Business Amex
cards.
If you hold one of the reserve
cards, you get
a higher class
level companion certificate so
you can fly first
class comfort plus or
the main component or main cabin.
And if you hold the platinum
cards, you have to stay
in the economy fair.
So it would just be a main
cabin certificate
that you could use.
You do have to fly domestically.
So within the U.S.
and again for the platinum, it's
just economy classes of service.
And the companion
certificate may not be
bookable on all flights.
So that means that there
is some
it's like award availability
that you see on many airlines.
Not all airfares.
Flights are bookable as award
fares.
I mean, it's the same thing with
this companion certificate.
So it doesn't really explain which
ones may or may not be restricted.
But I'm sure ones that are almost
full or on popular routes are not
going to allow you to use your
companion certificate.
Now, this companion certificate lets
you book someone for free aside
from the taxes and fees again that
we all have to pay. So that's a
little bit closer to Southwest.
But again, it's
a once-a-year only thing that you get better
than Alaska, Alaska's making you
still have to pay $99.
This one, you don't have to pay
anything.
You can't combine it
with any other offers or discounts,
which is including web fares,
sale fares and e-coupons.
But they do allow you to use
any credits that you would have with
Delta. Like if you were booking your
own flight in dollars, you could use
a credit to purchase that.
You do have to book both fares
again at the same time.
They have to be booked, of course,
on the same flights and the same
dates.
And you do have
to pay for it with your
associated Delta credit card.
So that's the same as Alaska.
Now, in terms of their expiration
date, you
do have to both book and
travel by the expiration
date listed on your companion
certificate.
There are no expiration dates
on Southwest aside
for when your companion pass ends,
which we'll talk about in a minute.
And then you get your companion
certificate each year after your
card renews, which means that you
have paid the annual fee
and it is supposed to show up in
that same month that you have paid
your annual fee.
If you are a medallion
member and
you are bringing a companion
you can upgrade
to. And you're eligible for
upgrades. You can't upgrade to a
higher class of service as long
as your companion is at least
a SkyMiles member.
So that's a nice perk as well
because you can't really do that on
Alaska Airlines.
So that outlines Delta's.
Both of these two passes
are once a year only.
So they're really one-time use.
And of course, you can only
bring one person
with you.
So let's talk about how Southwest
is 10 million times better,
shall we?
So to start with, you can
use Southwest Companion
Pass from the
time that you earn the pass until
the end of the following year.
And to me, this is the biggest
differentiating point I can
bring my companion with me on as
many free flights as I want
to while I
hold that pass.
That is completely different than I
can bring one person one time
or once a year on one flight.
I get so much more value out
of a Southwest Companion Pass if I'm
flying six times a year
and I'm holding it for almost two
years. So for my family,
if we're flying 12 times
and one of us is flying totally
free so we don't have to pay any
dollars for this companion
to be added, we don't have to pay
any points.
They just get added to a ticket
that we have purchased already.
So that saves us the cost of the
average roundtrip in the US,
which is $350.
And so over 12 flights
over two years right there alone
is 40 $200 in
savings.
So on a Delta, you're going
to save whatever you would have paid
for that ticket.
So again, average roundtrip 350.
So we'll just give that as a value
of the Delta one.
And then on Alaska, you're going to
pay $99.
So, you know, 350
-99 is 250.
So that's pretty much
the value of Alaska, but not
certainly on the Alaska one or the
Delta one. You're going to be trying
to use it on a
ticket. That's going to cost you a
lot more than that.
So you get more value out of it.
But still, I don't think anyone's
going to be paying for
a $4,000 flight
to save anywhere near as much as you
would on Southwest.
And it's not only the cost savings,
it's the number of trips that you
get out of it so that person
can fly.
I mean, more than 12 times.
That's just how often we do it.
But I've heard of people flying, you
know, ten plus times a year
with their Southwest Companion Pass.
So another
huge benefit of the Southwest
Companion Pass is you can book
your own seat in
points on Delta and
Alaska, both of those you're going
to have to pay in dollars
for your own seat.
So you're out of pocket on
that right there.
Southwest, I can book myself in
points. I can add my companion free
and no one's paying any airfare at
all. All we're paying is that $5.60
per person per way
mandatory government security
fee on Southwest.
I can also use it internationally
because Southwest they don't fly to
Europe, but they do fly to Mexico,
they fly to the Caribbean and they
fly to Costa Rica and
any other international destinations
they would add down the line.
So not just limited to domestic
flights. I can also book any flight
that has an available seat.
I can add my companion to that
ticket as long as there's a seat
available. So there's no
restrictions, there's no blackout
dates.
I can book any flight any time
with my companion.
And again, the Southwest Companion
Pass is good for almost
two years if you earn it
the way we get you on a system to
earn that pass as early as possible
in a year.
So as I'm recording this right now,
we have set up many of
our members who needed another
companion pass to get theirs in
January.
So that means they will hold it from
January 2023 all
the way through til December
2024, and then we'll have them on
our system to get their next one.
That will start January
2025 and last through
December 2026.
And on and on it goes.
You can keep earning the companion
pass over and over again,
and the simplest way to do it is to
only have to earn one every two
years. So if you find yourself, if
you're someone who does know about
the companion pass and you're trying
to earn it every year by spending
your way to the pass, I just see
that over and over and over
again of people
who are doing that.
That makes your pass only good for
you're having to earn it every
single year because you spend
your way on the Southwest card
to earn enough points
and usually you get that
accomplished toward the end of the
year and then it's good through the
end of the following year.
Well, at the end of that year
you're going to need one again.
So that same year you're going to
have to be trying to spend your way
to the companion pass.
So every year you're trying to spend
it, you need to earn beginning
January 1st, 2023,
135,000 qualifying
points to get the companion pass.
So you're trying to spend that on
your card, which is crazy hard to
do. And of course, that takes you
the better part of the year.
So please stop doing that.
If you're doing that and come join
Families Fly Free and let us show
you the easier way
to earn companion pass, which also
nets you many, many more
travel rewards, frequent flier miles
that you can go more places and let
us show you how to pay fewer points
for every flight.
All right. So some other things
about the companion pass.
You can change companions.
Once you name your companion,
you can change them three more times
that year.
And if you're pass is, you know,
good due the end of the following
year, you can change your companion
three more times.
So there's some flexibility even in
that, that it can be different
people flying with you for free
each time if you need it to be or it
can be the same person as well.
Doesn't matter. But I think you
can see that the Southwest
Companion Pass is a tremendously
better value that you will get so
much more out of.
Now it is more difficult to earn,
which makes sense that because it's
so much more valuable.
And there are, as I mentioned like
with Alaska's had a lot of rules and
details there are with companion
pass with Southwest as well.
You do have to make sure you
understand the timing, that you
understand what points qualify
and what points don't
that you understand, you
know, the best time to get it.
How to time your credit cards
if you're going to open a Southwest
card. That's the way we like to have
you get companion pass is to
earn a big chunk of points on
the Southwest card by
meeting a minimum spend and pairing
that with two Southwest cards.
So you have to understand which
cards you are eligible for
and when you can get bonuses again,
all that kind of stuff.
So that's where Families Fly
Free is so helpful.
We already know all this stuff, so
you don't have to you can
not worry about making a mistake
because we're going to tell you
exactly what to do, in what order.
And if you have any questions about
it at any time, you can ask
us and get an answer that you can
trust. That is correct.
And we're going to make sure that
you don't make a mistake if
you do happen to make a mistake
because you accidentally didn't
follow what we said.
We can still help you clean that up
and make the best of it.
So this
is what makes it easy because we
already know it and so we just
outline it for you and then you just
go and execute and
you're only having to do companion
pass once every two years.
That makes it so much easier too
than trying to earn it every single
year. That's so much more
complicated. So it is a little bit
harder to earn, but not if you do
it the way we tell you.
It's actually quite easy to get one
and to always have one, and then
you're going to be able to take one
person with you on as many flights
as you want around the
U.S., the Caribbean, wherever
Southwest flies internationally
for up to two years.
And it's amazing.
And you get even more value out of
it than that 4000 points because
a $4,000 that you've saved
on, again, I just picked six
flights a year.
But you also have the value
of the points that we help you earn
to get the pass.
So you have to earn this 135,000
points, which we show you
how to do very easily.
I know that sounds intimidating to
earn 135,000 points,
but it's actually really easy.
And so the value of those points is
another $2,000.
So Southwest Points are worth one
and a half to $0.02 each.
So if you multiply .015
times 135,000, you get
around a $2,000 value.
So you can see a Southwest Companion
Pass for a family who
flies six times a year
is worth more than $6,000.
And I will take that any
day. So I hope you see the
difference that I'm sorry,
but Delta and Alaska's companion
passes are just not even in the same
ballpark as Southwest.
They're better than nothing.
That's about all I can say.
But you won't come anywhere near
getting the value or the number of
trips out of them that you will with
Southwest. So I just want to make
sure everyone has a full
understanding of the differences
so that, you know, you're not
getting such a great deal out of
those two.
All right. So I hope everyone has
a great New Year's Eve and New
Year's Day and
we are going to be back at it in
2023.
We are ready to go.
We're ready to help show you
the best ways to fly free
in 2023.
All we're going to show you all the
places that you might want to go.
We have lots of great podcasts
coming up.
So again, if you want to fly
free so many more places
and do it the easy way, come
join us inside Families Fly Free
at Families Fly Free dot com slash
join.
We would love to help
your family be able to travel more
and it is time to put traveling
with your family back at the top
of your to-do list, especially now
that the busy holidays are done.
If you're ready to fly your family
free forever, I
invite you to join my Family's Fly
Free membership.
You'll learn how to stop paying for
airfare throughout the U.S.,
Caribbean and Europe.
So you can make those priceless
family travel memories
before your kids or even your
grandkids leave home for good.
And you'll learn it using my simple,
proven formula that's helped
hundreds of families.
Plus, it's risk-free.
You either get your investment in
the membership back in free travel,
or I give you your money back.
You can get more information at
Families Fly Free dot com slash
join.