Airline Companion Certificates Compared: Delta, JetBlue, Alaska, Southwest, AAdvantage in 2026
Alaska's $99 Companion Fare, Delta's domestic First cert, JetBlue Plus, Southwest's Companion Pass, and what's left of AAdvantage's program: which one actually pays off in 2026.
A US airline credit card companion certificate is the closest thing to a free domestic ticket the legacy carriers will ever issue. The Alaska Companion Fare costs $99 plus taxes for the second flier on any published Alaska round-trip. Delta's SkyMiles Reserve certificate charges only taxes and fees on domestic First. The trick is which one fits your route map. Pick wrong and the annual fee eats the savings.
Why companion certs exist at all
Companion certificates are a bank-paid acquisition tool. The issuing bank (Amex, Barclays, BofA, Chase) buys an unrestricted seat from the airline at wholesale, repackages it as a card benefit, and uses it to lock you into the annual fee. From the rev-mgmt desk side, it's a bulk fare we never had to discount in the open market. Carriers love them. They cap the inventory tightly. Don't expect Anchorage at Christmas in W class.
There are five US programs worth knowing, plus a sixth (British Airways) that earns a mention because of the trans-Atlantic angle. Here's the comparison.
| Card / Program | Companion type | What you actually pay | Routes | How you earn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska Visa Signature (Bank of America) | Annual Companion Fare | $99 + taxes/fees | Any Alaska-marketed round-trip | Each card anniversary |
| JetBlue Plus (Barclays) | Annual Companion Fare | $99 + taxes/fees | Any JetBlue round-trip with $100+ base fare | Annually after $50,000 calendar spend |
| Delta SkyMiles Reserve Amex | Companion Certificate | Taxes/fees only | Domestic Main, Comfort+, or First | On card renewal |
| Delta SkyMiles Platinum Amex | Companion Certificate | Taxes/fees only | Domestic Main Cabin only | On card renewal |
| AAdvantage Aviator Silver (Barclays) | $99 Companion Cert | $99 + taxes/fees | Domestic round-trip | After $20,000 calendar spend |
| Southwest Companion Pass | Year-long pass | Taxes only (about $5.60-$11.20 per leg) | All Southwest flights | 135,000 qualifying points or 100 flights in one calendar year |
| Hawaiian World Elite (Barclays) | $100 Off Companion | Companion fare minus $100 | Round-trip to/from Hawaii | Each anniversary |
Numbers reflect publicly published terms as of early 2026. Issuers tweak these without much warning, so the airline's own fare rules govern the day you book.
Alaska Companion Fare: still the best in the category
The Alaska Companion Fare is the gold standard. Anywhere Alaska flies, on any published main-cabin fare. That includes the long mainland routes, Hawaii, and the deep-Mexico flights. Two people round-trip Seattle to Honolulu in February for $400 + $99 + taxes is real, not hype. The catch: you must book on the cobranded card, the certificate is single-use per year, and the airline has to publish a fare in the inventory bucket the program permits. Off-peak Saturday flights book fine. Christmas Eve back from Maui will block. Read the official Alaska Companion Fare terms before you assume your route is eligible.
If you're shopping a domestic deal anywhere outside Alaska's network, our domestic flights index covers the broader market.
JetBlue Plus: the East Coast counterpart
JetBlue's structure mirrors Alaska's: $99 + taxes on a round-trip with a $100+ base fare. Restricted to JetBlue-operated flights, which means JFK, BOS, FLL, and the network you'd expect. The $50,000 annual spend gate is the real friction. If you're not putting that on the card, the fee pays for itself only on the loyalty-side perks, not the companion. The companion fare books in nearly any class except Mint, which is the obvious omission you'll feel. JetBlue Mint pricing is its own market; our business class flights tracker follows it separately.
Delta SkyMiles Reserve and Platinum certs
Delta's two cards both issue a domestic companion certificate. The cards differ in usable cabin:
- Reserve Amex: Main Cabin, Comfort+, or First (domestic). High annual fee, but the First option is the only certificate in the US market that comps a domestic First seat. Worth it if you actually fly domestic First.
- Platinum Amex: Main Cabin only. Cheaper annual fee but the cert is the same value as JetBlue's or AAdvantage Silver's.
The certificate isn't unlimited inventory. Delta releases certificate space in specific fare classes, and on competitive routes (LAX-JFK, ATL-LAX) it can disappear. Friday-Sunday peak in summer is brutal. Tuesday or Wednesday mid-week is fine.
AAdvantage Aviator Silver $99 Companion Cert
American Airlines has been quietly thinning their cobrand companion benefits since 2024. The Citi Executive AAdvantage card no longer issues a free domestic companion certificate; that benefit ended for new applicants. The Barclays Aviator Silver still issues a $99 companion cert after $20,000 in spending, valid on a domestic round-trip. It's narrow inventory and a real spend hurdle. I'd rate it the weakest of the major-carrier programs in 2026 unless you're already at the $20K spend organically.
Southwest Companion Pass: structurally different and structurally better
The Companion Pass is a separate animal. You earn it (135,000 qualifying points or 100 paid flights in a calendar year), then your designated companion flies free (taxes only, $5.60-$11.20 per leg) on every Southwest flight you take, paid or award, for the rest of that calendar year and the entire next year.
For a household that hits the qualifying threshold early in a year, the Pass is the highest-value loyalty benefit any US carrier offers. Two cobrand sign-up bonuses landing in January can put a married couple within striking distance, and the Points Guy's running Companion Pass guide tracks the math. Worth knowing, even if it sits outside the strict certificate framing.
When companion certs actually pay off
The math is simple: subtract the certificate price (companion's portion) from the published companion fare. Compare that to the card's annual fee plus the cost of the second ticket booked separately.
A worked example: a $400 LAX-Seattle round-trip booked twice = $800. Same trip with the Alaska Companion Fare = $400 + $99 + ~$30 taxes = $529. Savings: $271 on one trip. Alaska Visa annual fee: $95. Net win: $176. Two trips a year and you've cleared $450 net of fees. That's where the math works.
The places it doesn't work: very short flights where the second fare is $99 anyway, peak-holiday inventory where the cert won't book, and any route where Spirit or Frontier can undercut the legacy carrier's published fare. For premium-cabin shoppers, this list isn't where you should be looking; our top airline deals tracker covers actual paid premium sales, which usually beat the cert math on a longer route.
If you want a human to walk through whether the certificate beats a paid second seat for your specific dates, request a callback and we'll call you back within 30 minutes.
Pitfalls I see most often
- Booking the primary ticket on the wrong card. Alaska's Companion Fare requires the cobrand card to pay. Use a different card and the website silently blocks the discount.
- Assuming inventory. Friday-evening eastbound in July out of any major hub: forget it.
- Forgetting to use it. Most certs are use-it-or-lose-it within 12 months of issue. Set a calendar reminder.
- Treating the spend gate as flexible. AAdvantage's $20K and JetBlue Plus's $50K are calendar-year hard cliffs. Miss it by $1, no certificate.
- Booking through a third-party site. Many of these certs only redeem on the airline's own website or via the card portal's travel desk.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use a companion certificate on award tickets?
Generally no. These are paid-fare programs. Southwest's Companion Pass is the exception: it works on Rapid Rewards award bookings as well as paid.
Does the companion need their own card or loyalty account?
No card required, but most programs ask for the companion's full name and date of birth at booking, and many require their frequent flier number to attach.
What happens if I cancel the trip?
Refund and rebook rules follow the underlying fare. The certificate itself usually returns to your account if the cancellation happens within the cert's validity window. Read the specific card's terms.
Are companion certs better than business class deals?
Different math. Certs save on domestic Main and First; for premium-cabin international fares, paid sales typically beat any certificate's headline savings on a per-mile basis.
Which card has the easiest companion cert to actually use?
The Alaska Companion Fare and Delta SkyMiles Reserve cert have the broadest inventory in practice. JetBlue's is fine if you fly JetBlue's network. AAdvantage Aviator Silver's spend gate makes it the hardest one to actually trigger.