Originally Posted by
Happy
Basically for the same $250 ticket you can buy direct, you would pay probably $350 to $400 for the SAME flights then you get your companion ticket. With your cheapo fares you may save even less than $100 on the companion ticket.
I would venture to say, almost all free companion ticket schemes work this way - same mechanism with the AMEX program. Both this and AMEX programs are opaque.
Citi's AAdvantage card used to have this feature too - however AAdvantage card's program was clear-cut - that scheme requires the ticket booked into higher fare buckets (not just $ threshold), so basically you will NOT save the full amount on the companion ticket. Sometimes you dont save anything at all with the fare bucket requirements.
OK let's say you've got a family of 4, domestic trip to grandmas or Disney, and the 50K / $625 or whatever the TY bonus is. Normal low-bucket price per ticket is $250-$300.
What's the best scheme to minimize cash outlay? Pay cash for cardholder & "companion" ticketing scheme, for (hopefully) $400-$500, then use the TY points for the other two tickets?