Kay_nyc

Sorry for being so lazy. I found the www.thankyoucompanion.com site.

Joe1690

So I just recently got the card and have already used my companion pass and was able to save about $236.00 off of the published fare so this is an extremely worthwhile benefit. However, my question is if I add an authorized user to my account will that user then be entitled to their own companion pass annually thus if I have me plus 1 authorized user each of us would receive 1 companion pass annually for a total of 2 or is the companion pass limited to 1 per account. I know the 15% off applies to the authorized users.

In addition, when I called citibank and asked whether the companion ticket would earn flight points they indicated yes and when I asked would both tickets earn points even though one was complimentary because of the use of the companion pass I was told yes. I haven't taken the flight yet so can't report on how many flight points I will earn if any since my statement has closed already and does not list any flight itinerary as some others have mentioned but instead only spirit incentives.

Thanks for the help in advance.

cliff9973

I was talking to Spirit Incentives today and they confirmed that authorized users would be eligible to book their own companion tickets as well.

tjbrooks

This is pretty darn useful.
Was about to buy three tickets LAX-CLT over Xmas for $774 total. With the Citi Companion site same tickets are $591.

budblab

I just signed on as the auth user on the Spirit Incentives website, and I can confirm that this is true.^

eloraculo

They have to be marking up the companion ticket...this has to be a scam. Go to Thankyoucompanion.com look at the base fare when booking for a companion. The look for the same flight on the 15% discount. Compare both to see if they match.

Companion fare - Base fare $372 and 15% Disc. Fare - Base Fare $286.
Same Itinerary

This is for Airtran, so I don't think it is because it is booking at a higer bucket class.

FlyMeToTheLooneyBin

But don't you get two tickets with the companion fare?

JustinTI

They have absolutely been marking up the companion ticket fare for a couple months now. I have followed it almost daily and the markup has been from a low of 15% to a high of 35% of the base fare and is completely independent of taxes/fees.

When I first noticed it, I called Spirit to ask if it was a mistake or a new policy. The guy at first thought I was confused, but once he realized what was going on he seemed surprised and said it must be a technical glitch. I subsequently wrote the citi executive office to inquire about this new fee. I received a canned letter in response thanking me for my concern.

They really need to fix this OR update their terms and conditions because it is definitely not in compliance with them.

P.S. This is still usually a very good deal even with the markup *IF* you can find the flights you want - which can be very challenging. I have found the flight inventory to change daily and without any rhyme or reason.

mia

I do not have this card. Do the terms promise a companion ticket at the "lowest available" fare bucket?

JustinTI

I am not at home so I do not have the exact terms and conditions with me, but the website still promotes a "complimentary" companion ticket (link).

That said, I have actually booked a companion ticket, and it books in to the same fare bucket as you find on ITA Matrix for the same price (minus the surcharge). Same thing for the 15% discount...same fare bucket as lowest priced ticket on ITA matrix. You can even compare the fare price for the 15% discount against the companion ticket price, and see that it is the same exact base fare - just one is discounted by 15% and one has a 15-35% increase depending on the day...and the base fare always matches what you find on ITA matrix.

So, I doubt that it is an increase for booking in to a different fare class. Further, the markup is a consistent percentage on all fares I have checked, and there is no way that is a coincidence.

My guess...more people have been using the companion ticket benefit since they have allowed online booking, so they are looking to recoup some costs.

JustinTI

And I'll add that there is no surcharge on the taxes and fees, just on the base fare. Also, in case anyone is curious, I just checked today's markup for a flight I am actually looking to purchase as well as some other random cities/dates and it is at 30%.

mia

There was previous discussion of the fact that the base price of domestic airline tickets includes certain taxes which Spirit is recovering on the companion ticket. US government rules changed recently to require more taxes and fees be included in advertised fares. Could it be that this change occurred around that time and Spirit is calculating correctly but explaining poorly (e.g. adding the taxes from the companion ticket to the base fare of the first ticket) -or- calculating incorrectly?

JustinTI

I don't think that is what is going on. The taxes and fees are perfectly consistent across the Spirit companion ticket, the spirit 15% ticket, and ITA Matrix - as is the base fare.

I think the only explanation is that there is a mark-up on the companion tickets. The mark-up has varied, but has always been a perfect percentage to the cent (for example, today I calculated it out to be 1.29997 of the base fare on multiple different fares...that is too perfect to be coincidence).

And just for total clarity, this is how tickets are priced using a fictional example from ABC-XYZ for two people:

ITA Matrix - $100 fare and $25 taxes fees per ticket, or $250 total for two people

Spirit 15% Discount - $85 fare and $25 taxes/fees per ticket, or $220 for two people

Spirit Companion Ticket - $130 fare (one ticket with 30% mark-up) and $25 taxes/fees per person, or $180 total for two people

eloraculo

Yes, I am getting a 30% mark up acroos the board on the base fare. I have tried different routes, different dates, different airlines same result.

I am amazed that they think they can "slide" something like that with out anyone noticing.

roki

I've had this card for 6 months and I just now learned about this. That's sad, considering I work for Citi. I have a perminant waiver on the annual fee, too, which is fantastic, now. I'm shocked they don't even include anything about the 15% discount in the card literature we have on the retail banking side.