Delta Skymiles question

[sam_gordon]

Can someone explain Delta's "Companion" ticket? I'm debating renewing my Delta AmEx card. If I do, it comes with a $99 Companion ticket. Does anyone know...

1) Do those tickets expire?
2) Can I use my miles to purchase a ticket for me, and then the companion ticket for my DW?

I'm due for renewal in April 2012. In June 2013, we'll be going SOMEWHERE for 20th Anniversary. If I'm understanding things right, it sounds like I would be able to use my miles (+$10) and her companion ticket and get RT for both of us for ~$100. Not bad considering a single RT could be $300+.

So, do I understand correctly?

My other thought is to cancel my card and let DW enroll for one. That way SHE gets 'bonus' miles, but it probably wouldn't be enough for a free trip for her by 2013.

 

[YetanotherMouseFan]

I have the same SkyMiles Amex, and received the same offer.

1. The offer does expire. You'll have to bring up your profile @ delta and look under coupons and special offers, to find the exp. date.

2. My understanding is you can use the free guest for $99 only if paying regular price for the first ticket. So, it all depends on how much fares are if it's a good value for you or not....for me, it's never worked out. I usually find a much better deal checking for sales and using Pay With Points...got a $70 r/t to Orlando last Dec like that.

Also, remember the first free bag per person is worth $50 r/t per person, and the Zone 2 boarding isn't bad, either.

Hope this helps.

 

[tinka-belle]

Yes, the certificate expires. Travel must be completed by the exp. date on the certificate. I have platinium, that certificate is good for a year, not sure if the gold cert is a full year or less.

You must pay for the first ticket to use the companion one, can't use miles. The certificate is limited to the certain lower classes of fares (for example, T, U, L) and can't be used with other fare codes. Certain taxes are paid on the companion ticket too. The member purchasing the ticket will get miles for travel and double purchase miles for buying a Delta ticket. The companion gets no miles for travel.

That said, I usually use mine for tickets if the fare is low enough to purchase one, otherwise I let the certificate expire and just use miles for both our tickets. I'd say in the past 10 years I've used the cert. only half the time.

 

[GDUL]

In addition, I was not able to use a companion ticket since we were flying into one city and out of another. The tickets had to be round trip.

 

[sam_gordon]

Regarding the companion fare expiration...

Does anyone know how long before the ticket expires? It does me no good if I get the ticket in April of 2012, and the trip we want to take is June of 2013 if it expires in a year.

It's starting to sound like it would make more sense to cancel my card and have DW sign up for one.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Honestly, I would never make a decision on a card based on the availability of a companion ticket. These tickets are pretty much useless. You usually cannot use the lowest fare codes, meaning your first ticket is going to cost you more then the lowest price; capacity is limited on these meaning even if you pay more on the original ticket, you may not be able to use it; they expire usually in 6 months to one year from date of issue.

If you're thinking you're going to save a lot of money on your airfare, you're probably not, you might break even, unless you are traveling internationally and even then the second issue becomes more often problematic.