How to Extend Alaska Airlines Companion Fare Discount Code in 2021

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One of the key benefits of the Alaska Airlines credit card is its famous
companion fare
discount code that is credited to your Alaska Airlines account after you are
approved for the card and every subsequent years of your card’s anniversary
date. However, whether this credit card is worth holding on to or not after
the first year, that’s your personal decision. With that being said, I was
asked by a reader whether or not you may lose Alaska’s famous companion fare
discount if you decide to cancel or close your Alaska Airlines credit
card. 
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    Alaska Airlines Companion Fare Details

    How To Extend Alaska Airlines Companion Fare Discount Code

    There are a couple methods to extend your Alaska Airlines Companion Fare Code:
    Due to COVID-19, Alaska Airlines is allowing free flight cancellation. This applies to the companion fare code as well. Generally, when you cancel a reservation that uses a companion fare code, that companion fare code would be forfeit. However, because of the COVID situation Alaska Airlines will re-issue a replacement companion fare code if the reservation is cancelled. The new companion fare code will be valid three (3) months from the date it was re-issued. 
    I booked a flight ticket last year using the companion fare code that’s supposed to expire on February 28, 2021, but I ended up canceling that reservation on January 10, 2021. The new companion fare code that got replaced and put back into my account has an expiration date of April 10, 2021. To confirm if this is the case for everyone, I reached out to Alaska Airlines and they confirm the following: 

    Hi there, as it is stated in the Terms and Conditions that if the reservation that was booked using the Companion Fare is cancelled the Companion Fare code would be forfeit however we had made the exception due to Covid to issue out a replacement Companion Fare which will only be valid for three months from the date it was issued.

    So this is what you want to do if you want to extend your soon to be expiring Alaska Airlines companion fare discount in 2021:
    • Book a speculative flight ticket with a companion fare code for two passengers. 
    • After 24 hours, cancel the reservation. I recommend that you contact an Alaska Airlines agent to cancel the reservation for you so that they can put in request for a replacement companion fare code correctly. You can also re-confirm with the agent to be sure that your new companion fare will be valid 3 more months from the date it’s re-issued.
    • Wait for the new companion fare code to be replaced and deposited into your account. Keep in mind that it may take up to 7 days for your companion fare discount code to be replaced with a new date. 
    Below is another method to extend your Alaska Airlines Companion Fare Code. Thanks to the recent no change fee policy, here’s what you would do:
    • Book a flight ticket with a companion fare code for two adults. You can
      book for the dates beyond the expiration date on your companion fare
      code. 
    • Be sure to avoid booking the Saver Fare because you cannot
      change the reservation once it’s booked which makes this method not
      work. 
    • Keep changing the flight ticket until you are able to take the flight in
      the future. This is to ensure that although your companion fare code is
      expired, you can still change as long as the existing reservation is
      active, which makes the companion fare discount code stay applicable.
    With this method, it is subject to fare difference but if the new itinerary
    is cheaper, you may receive credits back in your Alaska Airlines Wallet
    which expires after one year from the booking date. Alaska Airlines also confirms that this method will work:

    You will want to avoid the Saver Fare if you need to make changes to the reservation, but yes, if you keep the reservation active the code will stay applicable.

    Can You Keep Alaska Airlines Companion Fare Discount If You Close Alaska
    Airlines Credit Card? 

    Companion fare discount code is issued each year on your account anniversary.
    There’s an annual fee of $75 on Alaska Airlines credit card. The good news is,
    you don’t have to pay the annual fee on your account anniversary date in order
    to keep the companion fare discount; however, according to the terms and
    conditions:
    Primary fare and Companion Fare must be purchased with your Alaska Airlines
    credit card.
     In other words, you won’t be able to use the companion fare discount
    code if you are not paying for the airfare with an Alaska Airlines credit
    card. 
    When your card’s annual fee is posted, you have a month to pay off that
    balance. During that time, the companion fare is already issued. Once you
    verify the companion fare discount code is issued, use it and pay with your
    Alaska Airlines credit card right away. After that, you can go ahead and call
    Bank of America to request closing your credit card’s account. See my timeline
    below:
    • Annual fee $75 was posted on June 10.
    • Companion Fare discount code was issued June 14. 
    Should you decide to not keep the card, it’s worth calling up Bank of America
    for retention offer to see if they can either waive the annual fee or offer
    Alaska bonus miles to you. It does not hurt to ask!

    Can You Use Personal Alaska Airlines Credit Card To Book For Companion Fare
    Discount Code Issued By A Business Card And Vice Versa? 

    Yes. Alaska Airlines system does not care whether you are using a personal or
    a business version of Alaska Airlines credit card to pay for an airfare that
    has a companion fare discount. As long as it is an Alaska Airlines credit
    card, you are all set!

    How to View Your Companion Fare Discount in Your Alaska Airlines Account?

    • Log into your
      Alaska Airlines account
      online. 
    • From your name’s drop down list, click on
      Discount and companion fare codes.
    • The companion fare discount code should be listed there if you receive
      any. See screenshot below. 
    How to View Your Companion Fare Discount in Your Alaska Airlines Account?

    How to Use Alaska Airlines Companion Fare Discount?

    • Log into your
      Alaska Airlines account
      online. 
    • From your name’s drop down list, click on
      Discount and companion fare codes.
    • The companion fare discount code should be listed there if you receive
      any. Click on Shop button. 
    • Follow the booking interface to search for flights for 2 adults. 
    • On the result page, the companion discount is included automatically in
      the displayed total fare (see screenshots below). Simply follow the screen
      to finalizing your booking.
      Make sure to use your Alaska Airlines credit card to book. 
    How to Use Alaska Airlines Companion Fare Discount?
    How to Use Alaska Airlines Companion Fare Discount?

    Alaska Airlines Companion Fare Cancellation

    During normal time, when you cancel a reservation that has a companion fare discount code, the companion fare code would be forfeit. This is stated in the terms and conditions:

    If the reservation that was booked using the Companion Fare is cancelled the Companion Fare code would be forfeit.

    However, because of COVID-19 Alaska Airlines had made the exception when it comes to issuing out a replacement companion fare code due to a cancellation. The replacement companion fare will be valid for three (3) months from the date it was re-issued. 
    It’s also worth noting that when you redeem the companion fare discount code and later on you wish to
    cancel the tickets. The companion fare discount code does not get replaced and put back
    into your Alaska Airlines account instantly. In fact, it takes up to 1 week
    for a new replacement companion fare discount code to be issued. So please keep that in
    mind. If possible and cheaper, it’s better to make change to the tickets
    rather than completely cancel and then rebook the tickets. That way the
    companion fare discount code is still attached to the old reservation. This
    method allows you to extend the expiration date on your companion fare
    discount code as well. See
    How To Extend Alaska Airlines Companion Fare Discount Code section
    above. 

    Maximizing Alaska Airlines Companion Fare

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