How to Use The US Airways Companion Certificate to Fly Two Additional Passengers for $99 Each!

73 Comments

1. Great post and thank you so much for writing it! I have the US Airways card and always suspected the cert was a good deal, but kept thinking there was some catch. Glad to hear there isn’t… we are going to try to use it to take the family to AZ in the fall… thanks again!

2. Nice! Can I use these to go to Hawaii for my honeymoon?

   1. Only the lower 48 states and Canada. But, this is a great deal. I use mine every year and have saved thousands over the life of the card. Yes, it does come to an end with your certificates issued in 2014. No more after that.

      1. It appears my previous attempt to ask a question curiously did not post (even though I’m now subscribed to this thread). Key question remains… If the certificate is issued say this month (May 1014), when can it be used until? Until end of December of 1014 — or 12 months from now? Or is it a crap shoot, subject to whether or not you still have USAirways painted planes where you want to go?

         1. All the dates are on the certificate. Usually u can fly many months past the time u need to tkt by. W/out cert can’t tell. Those issued and redeemed in 14 should allow travel well into 15.

3. I actually just got my new one in the mail a few days ago. I used mine last year to go to Calgary when tickets are super expensive to Canada in the summer. The US Airways card actually waived my annual fee (heard they’ve been doing it a lot recently) so it’s cool to get this again.

4. Does this benefit not die in ’15?

   1. You are right. It would be helpful to point out that the companion certificates are going away next year!

   2. It will go away once the two airlines merge, but you do get the Companion Pass now with the card as a sign-up bonus.

5. I tried this several times and US Air always tried to quote me a very high unrestricted fare as the first so when I added the others I always found lesser fares on their own website. It only worked once..beating my own fares by $50.00. More importantly since we are discussing US Air, as a Gold preferred I am finding less and less seats held in economy preferred but more and more for the $59 rates. They actually agreed with a note I sent and basically said yes but so what and thanks for being a member.

   1. The companion certificate will work on any fare and doesn’t need to be unrestricted or full fare. I’ve been able to just look up the fare myself on the US Airways website and just call the agent to book… never had an issue with price discrepancy :)

      1. Thanks. Given your high profile I doubt any airline would give you a problem. For the rest of us..we do what we can. I found sending a tweet today helped. Suddenly a $59 went away and an aisle seat opened up when they replied “check the seats”.

      2. I have had a similar experience as Richard. I was told that I need to book the seat on the phone, and the fares do not match their website. We routinely need to pay $100 or $200 more for the first ticket (including a $25 phone booking fee), but we do end up saving when we add ticket 2 and 3.

6. Thanks TMP for this post! I am in the process of figuring out how to put my companion certificate into use so this post is very timely! Also, I read on Heels First Travel and they noted that the companion certificate will be going away =(. If that’s the case, then I definitely need to put my certs to use. This sucks =(

7. I didn’t get the certificate, or maybe I misplaced it. How do I get a replacement?

   1. Friends of mine were able to get a replacement thru Barclays. (not USAirways)

      1. Do you have a phone number for barclays for a replacement companion ticket

         1. You can just call the number on your credit card and speak to customer service. It would be issued by Barclays bank.

8. Will the companion ticket be honored from Hawaii or Alaska if you are a Hawaii or Alaska resident? I know United honors you if you are a resident of either state even though their companion ticket say the same thing as US air. Anyone have any information on this?

9. IF anyone is still reading this thread, how about if you booked and need to change your return portion of your ticket? US Air tells me that the change makes the companion fare irrelevant and you have to start over and rebook the whole trip — that the companion fare or any portion of it does not roll over. Same would be if we needed to rebook the entire trip — the companion fare is considered expired once redeemed and cannot be used on a ticket change even if after paying the change fees. On another airline, if you have to change, you pay the change fee, but you still get the companion fare for your companion. Is what US Air is telling me — that the companion fare cannot be used on a changed itinerary — is really what their rules are? Makes that companion fare not as appealing as the way they sell it.

   1. The problem here is the companion ticket is issued by the bank and they hold control of the redemption code. Once it has been redeemed, US Airways has no reasonable way to redeem it again for a new ticket, which is what they would need to do. My parents were able to get their companion ticket reinstated by calling the credit card customer service before when they needed to cancel a flight, but it did take them a lot of trouble.

      1. Thanks I’ll try talking to the bank as what was once an affordable trip will now be over $3000 to change for the three of us

10. Will they still be charging an annual fee for the card since there will no longer be a Companion Cert?

11. Does anyone know if the companion has to fly the same time as you? I am going on a business trip and want to take my wife but she would come home before me. Anyone done that?

    1. Unfortuunately, the companion has to fly the same itinerary exactly.

12. Does Companion apply to international?

    1. It’s only US and Canada excluding Hawaii.

13. I just got my companion pass and wont be able to fly until 2015, but by then all the US Air flights will be American Airline Flights and the pass is only good on US Airways flights, so I assume I wont be able to use it, unless, possibly I book it before the end of the year. Is that correct?

14. one limitation on the companion certificate (and its a big one) is that you have to fly on US Airways the entire itinerary, you cannot fly on american airlines, even AA codeshare booked by US airways reservation. So if you are not flying from a US airways hub, you will have limitations on flights. I live in Miami which is a AA hub, and many of the lower fare flights booked by US airways are actually AA codeshare flights.

15. are you given the companion certificate when your card arrives in the mail? My card should be coming this week and I would like to use the companion certificate for a flight at the end of October.

    1. It usually takes 2-4 weeks to arrive. Although not instant, it should hopefully be there in time to book your trip!

16. So just to be clear, the companion certificates cannot be used on the blackout dates or are just not as easy to use on those dates?

    1. They cannot be used on blackout dates. Other than that, it’s not easier or harder to use it on any particular dates… just a matter of how expensive the first ticket will be.

17. Question. I have 2 companion tickets which expire in either October or November 2014. I am trying to plan a family vacation for March 2015 and planned to buy to tickets and use the 2 companion tickets. I am confused about what you said about them not being issued for 2015 and about them having to be used within 12 months. Will I get new ones since my anniversary date is in 2014? Will I be able to get this benefit? It’s the only reason I have kept this credit card and been paying the $89 yearly fee.

    1. The Companion Certificates generally have an expiration date and only allow you to fly within 12 months. The Companion Certificate should still be given out to cards with anniversaries in 2014, but they will stop being given out at some point in 2015. Once your new certificates arrive, there will be an expiration date until when you can book trips. While I don’t know for sure, I’d expect you should still be able to use them for your trip in March.

       1. Thanks! 2 final questions. Can you use a combination of both dividend miles to upgrade and the companion certificates? And, can I use my dividend miles to upgrade my husband? I would be buying tickets for him and I and using the companion certs for my 2 kids. I have 43K dividend miles and would like to upgrade my husband and I to 1st class.

          And 3 of us would be flying out of Myrtle Beach airport and 1 would be flying out of Greenville airport and we would all be meeting in Charlotte NC and going on together from there. In other words, 1 companion ticket would be used to fly the 1st leg of this trip from a separate airport before joining us in Charlotte. Is this allowed with the companion certs?

          1. Kelly,
             The rules are very, very strict on these. You MUST be on the same itinerary to use the cert. 2 or 3 people must be on the exact same itin on ONE reservation. You could use the buy on get 2 out of MYR. Upgrading to First Class is a whole different deal. depending on the distance it’s based on EACH FLIGHT. You have to use miles for each flight plus a co-pay of up to $150.00 for each person. Upgrades are capacity controlled so the ONLY way to tell if you would be able to upgrade any ONE leg is to ask the agent WHILE MAKING the reservation that you would want to upgrade. BUT, again, everyone in the reservation must upgrade. You can’t split out people from the “certificate” group. OR you can check on the website availability for “saver award first class seats” as if you were going to use miles for that leg and if it is avail for the FIRST CLASS SAVER award, you would be able to upgrade for the miles/co-pay option.

             http://www.usairways.com/en-US/dividendmiles/programdetails/upgrades/mileageupgrades.html

             1. Thanks for the info on that, Tim! :)

18. Would I be right in guessing that I wouldn’t be allowed to use the companion ticket when booking my first flight using the 40,000 mile sign-on bonus?

    1. Sammy, as soon as your 40000 miles post they are available to use. Keep in mind that SUPER SAVER 20,000 awards are often rare and you will need to do some juggling to get that in conjunction with your certificate booking. I.E. look for an award booking that you are ok with. Then price the itin online with 2 or three ppl depending on how many you are using the cert for. (you’d only use the award tickets if you are over three people) They do not charge you to book over the phone for the certificate booking since it can’t be done online. BUT, if you book the award tickets on the phone they will likely charge you $30? pp for any phone bookings other than the companion certs. FYI the certificate companions are more like $120pp when they add the airport taxes. That help?

       1. I got my card 2 years ago and did not get 40k in miles. And, when I called yesterday I was told I had to pay for a full price ticket to be able to use my companion certs and could not use dividend miles for coach seats while using certs.

          And she said no super saver 20k mile tickets are available and they don’t come available until closer to my March 2015 travel. But, if they are rare, how is the best way to get them?

          1. Cant speak to you not getting the 40000 miles. If it was two years ago, you really should have addressed it then. sorry.
             Yes, you buy ONE published fare rate and the next one or two is $99 plus taxes each. (published rates are not technically FULL FARE. FULL FARE implies top dollar. You can use the lowest published fare over $250 r/t and then use the companions.

             You can watch the flights for your preferred travel dates to get the 20000 awards. They do change all the time based on demand, etc. Unfortunately there is NO WAY to determine if/when they will com available. You just need to decide if using the companion certif for 3 and buying the rest for the published fare works for you OR use MORE miles to get the free ticket you want (if you have enuf)

             1. How do I “watch the flights” to see if they become available for the 20k points? Do I call or will it tell me that online?

             2. You would just “pretend” you are looking for award seats for the amount of passengers you need. If you find something you can live with, all usairways and explain you want to use the cert AND book award tickets. Have them confirm that you can do that before booking anything online for your award seats. You can look for an entire month at available dates for awards. You NEED to click the US FLIGHTS ONLY since you can’t use American award seats for the 20,000 itin plus you can’t use AA flights for the certificates assuming you all want to be on the same planes.
                good luck.

             3. Found it, thanks.

                When a ticket comes up at 12,500 points each way and 25,000 points round trip, will it change to charging me only 20,000 at the time I use my usairways credit card?

             4. Once you log into your account and you are booking ONLY USAIRWAYS FLIGHTS it will come back as 20000. This assumes you have an active card that allows for the 5000 mile discount. It will appear as 12,500 each way for the supersaver. Again, put the desired flights in your “cart” and it will automatically deduct the 5000. The mileage account must be the primary card holder.

             5. I just checked my account and my card was new in January 2013 but I didn’t use it until 4/24/14 and at that time they gave me 25k miles. Nothing before then.

                Should I have gotten bonus miles upon receiving my card, before making a purchase?

             6. The promo THEN was likely 25K miles. You will not get the 40 if you signed up under the 25. It changes all the time and they have periods of time that each promo is offered.

       2. I was told yesterday that the companion ticket was around $145 with taxes.

          1. a companion ticket may COST $145 with taxes but it’s worth the published price less the $145. I.E a $600 ticket from NYC to LAX would cost the companion $145 ea after the first person pays the $600

19. can anyone tell me if the amount that is billed up front is the full ticket and then once you mail the ticket in, they give you the $99 rate? I booked my tickets last night and the agent told me the companions were $127each with tax. However, when I looked at my credit card online today, it billed me the full fare for all 3 tickets. I did mail the voucher in today. How does this work?

    1. Call back immediately and have them reissue the tickets correctly. They didn’t make the two companions. $ 127 is about right w airport segment fees and security fees.

20. Miles Professor, If I am the cardholder and have the ticket, do I myself need to physically fly or can I buy a ticket and use the certificate for two others to come visit me? Thanks.

21. Thanks for the info … one question:
    Does the companion certificate purchase have to be the exact same travel itinerary as my flight or can they travel on separate flights and separate dates (that overlap with my flight to my destination).
    Thanks!

    1. All passengers have to fly the exact same itinerary.

22. If the certificate in in my name, can I use it buy 3 tickets for my parents and sister to come visit me? Or Do I have to be on the first ticket?

    1. Unfortunately, the certificate holder must be traveling.

23. My husbands card is scheduled to renew in Feb. 2015. Do you know when in 2015 they will be discontinuing the companion certificates?

24. One segment of my US Airways flight is operated by Air Wisconsin dba US Airways Express. Will the companion certificates work for this?

    1. Yes. Just no airlines that operate with the AA designator.

25. I was buying 2 tickets in the US airways website when i was offered the US airways card. I went ahead and sign up for the credit card because it said I could pay for the 2 tickets i was buying with my new card, once i got accepted for the credit card it took me back to my tickets but upon checkout it asked me for a credit card number, i tried to check the US airways card but since i didnt have a number it didn’t work and I had to use a personal credit card. How come i couldn’t pay with my new US airways credit card?

26. So will I be able to use the 40,000 miles (earned for signing up and paying the $89 fee) on my own ticket (the one that is supposed to be at least $250) in addition to using the 2 companion tickets? I’d hate to pay $900 on a RT ticket just to get 1 or 2 ~$120 tickets with it, I’d almost be better off deal hunting with a different airline. So is it possible to use your initial 40k bonus miles on the ticket you buy to go along with your 2 companion passes? Thanks.

    1. You can’t take companions with you for $99 on award tickets. The companion pass only works on revenue tickets. Of course, it only makes sense to do this if the price on US Airways is competitive. In my case, flights to Vancouver were all about $700 and US Airways was close to the cheapest so I ended up saving about $600. If there were a $300 ticket (which there wasn’t, unfortunately) on a different airline, I would have bought that instead!

27. Is there a maximum number of days you can stay in your destination before flying back home? In other words, can we use the companion ticket to fly from the Midwest to Arizona and spend a few months in Arizona before flying back home.

28. Can you use this for a multi-city ticket?

    1. No. Into and out of same city only.

29. Question, if the cardholder is also an AA Elite, and (assuming this has not changed by the time OLCI for the trip takes place) they would normally be eligible for free upgrade to First, AND assuming there is room to upgrade into First, are these tickets able to do the upgrade? I would assume so, since they earn miles and are considered revenue tickets, but you know what they say about assuming ;)

    1. I wouldn’t assume anything regarding AA. If you are a USAirways preferred and there are only TWO in the itin, you would be eligible for free upgrades based on your status as normal. I’ve done it.

       1. I’m an AA PLT. So as things stand right now, if you are AA elite flying US, you are not able to upgrade until OLCI. But if there are seats available, you can select them for free. But, given that you say you have upgraded based on status on these tickets; I don’t see why an AA elite wouldn’t be able to.

          1. Until the two airlines are actually ONE I’m just saying I wouldn’t assume it would happen. Seamless is a word they like to throw around. Trust me, it’s not seamless. It rarely is until they are one. Good luck.

30. i have question can you redeem your voucher if this expire?

    1. Doubtful. Their system will verify the exp date at ticketing time and reject it. I suspect it’s worthless.

31. If I sign up for the card now, will I get the companion tickets that I can use within the next 12 months?

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