Do you hold one of the co-branded Delta American Express credit cards featuring a Companion Certificate — and want to use the perk for holiday travel this winter? Now might be the time to book your flights.
Here’s why.
My Experience
My wife, daughter, and I need to visit Fargo this Thanksgiving. (It’s “my side of the family’s” turn for Thanksgiving. My wife’s side decides where we spend Christmas.) My dad’s birthday is Thanksving week. We’ll also celebrate my stepmother and dad’s 20th wedding anniversary.
So, this will be a special trip.
Just for grins, I checked Delta’s Thanksgiving week airfares the other night.
Wow.
Los Angeles (our closest major airport) to FAR prices averaged about $850, with the highest coming in around $1200. That’s for Main Cabin, my friend.
We found an itinerary that works great with our school and work schedules — and it was the most affordable. (How often does that happen?) But not all trips are eligible for Companion Certificate redemption.
So, I logged in to my Delta account, selected a Companion Certificate, and checked which fares were available.
The itinerary we liked was the only one available for Companion Certificate booking. Luck was on my side. I booked it immediately. (The cost was $657.20 for the primary passenger and $47.20 for the companion. I purchased the third/separate ticket through Capital One Travel, applying my Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card‘s $300 travel statement credit and some points to pay a total of $7.19 cash for my ticket.)
“But the Winter Holidays are Still a Half-Year Away!”
I know. And some people don’t book winter holiday travel until September or October (or even later).
Given that airfares are so inflated right now, I jumped on a price that didn’t make me gag. Especially for a smaller market airport (Fargo) during Thanksgiving.
A travel agent friend of mine who reads the blog has some advice for people looking to purchase holiday travel. If you see what you think is a good fare, book it. You can always rebook at a lower price if the fare comes down. But you’ll kick yourself if you don’t buy the ticket and later see the trip is more expensive.
I set up a Google Flights alert for my itinerary. That should let me know if the fare drops.
And what happens if it does? Will the Companion Certificate somehow complicate things?
What if the Companion Certificate Fare Goes Down?
Companion Certificates come with a host of rules. Like, the certificates can’t be reissued if you cancel your reservation. (But speaking from experience and hearing others’ stories, some customer service reps somehow magically accidentally redeposited them into the holder’s account upon phone calls to cancel reservations. Strange, right? That said, I’ve also eaten a couple of certificates for canceled reservations.)
So, when and if our trip’s price becomes cheaper, I’ll place a call to Delta (and hope I get a rep who knows what they’re doing). Then I’ll ask them to reissue our tickets at the lower costs.
Delta states on this page, “If the primary ticket and Companion ticket are changed after issuance, subject to the fare rules of the primary ticket, there will be a charge for the fare difference of the primary ticket.” My travel agent friend is very familiar with Companion Certificates. He said that Delta should be able to reissue our tickets and any fare differences will be applied as eCredits in our Delta accounts.
Final Approach
Now might be the time to start booking travel — especially if you want to use a Delta Amex Companion Certificate. Not all Delta itineraries are eligible for Companion Certificate redemption. Like other airlines, Delta hasn’t been shy about cranking up airfares. So, if you see something affordable, you might want to book — then keep an eye on the airfare and rebook if the trip becomes cheaper.
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1 week ago I booked PBI/NYC/PBI in early Sept after Labor day for my wife and I using one of our DL Platinum companion fare certs with no issues. I could have used the DL Reserve cert and booked First but it’s just not worth it on these short flights and anyway I get to upgrade to C+ or exit row.
I frequently fly from Virginia to Seattle, where my daughter lives. The Companion Certs are almost NEVER available to use for this itinerary (necessary fare classes not available, in economy or first- current demand has only made this worse). Sure, I can get to Atlanta, but the West Coast, not a chance. For booking cross country the Alaska certs are best (but closest airport they fly to is 2 hours away), followed by American (better availability, but you have to call- spent 2 hours on hold last night before hanging up!). Delta is the worst- got rid of Delta Plat card last year, will downgrade Reserve card this year, as this “feature” has no value to me. Will only keep a card to use Pay with miles, since award prices are so high.
I’ve also been trying to use the cert for thanksgiving SMF/BNA or MEM with no luck. Been checking for a month so far. Also couldn’t find anything for SMF/DEN in late September. Thinking about canceling the card. 3 unused certs and can’t find anything. Didn’t used to be so hard.
3 months ago, I needed an urgent trip MCO/BGR. I was willing to pay for Delta first class because the fare was sub-$900 round-trip but, even though the fare classes complied with the certificate rules, I couldn’t get the booking system to honor the Amex Reserve cert. Instead, I received a useless “something went wrong” error. The hold time on the Platinum line was 45 minutes. So, It was time to put my Platinum Medallion status to work. I changed to MCO-ORH in coach, for 55% less cash and the certificate went right through. True, it was a 5-hour drive in each direction but my status scored an upgrade to First for 3 of 4 legs and we had among the best C+ seats on the fourth (A321ceo). We needed a rental car regardless for our trip. So, I spent ±$100 extra on gas and tolls against several hundred more to purchase two first-class tickets since I couldn’t use my cert for the original itinerary. I have no regrets. As for this holiday season, circumstances have caused me to visit BGR solo this Thanksgiving 2022 but I booked my ticket a month ago when I saw oil headed for $120+ per barrel to stay. I snagged a decent fare ($400 all-in for coach) with a good chance of snagging Medallion upgrades to first and with my preferred C+ seats already confirmed. In other words, booking for the holidays constitutes no form of madness. What’s more, in my case, due to a rigorous work schedule, I needed VERY SPECIFIC dates and times (Thanksgiving Eve (9PM) departure northbound and Saturday afternoon return). I secured all of the above for a relatively decent fare. Booking it in May didn’t feel odd at all.
Jax florida to Sfo R/T in main cabin is over $1500 or more since April !!!!!!
What about OAK or SJC?
Thanks for the hint about not being able to redeposit certificates. I found that out myself the hard way. I could have called to try to get an exception but I have more than I can use right now.