Originally Posted by
Boraxo
Agreed. Nothing yet for the dates or destinations I need. Of course my multitude of BofA certs expire at end of December, so I'm not expecting many fare sales before Jan 1. I expect there are millions of the certs that will expire worthless as people are still hesitant to book anything in absence of the vaccine timing and other COVID factors.
Off Topic, but an important consideration & strategy for those with expiring companion certificates that aren't feeling the love of Black Friday, Cyber Monday Specials.
If the BF specials aren't doing you any favours and you have Companion Certificates expiring, why let them go to waste? Remember that the expiry date is the last date that the certificate can be attached to an itinerary, not the date it must be consumed by. In late December, you can use the companion certificates for itineraries through EOS which will be mid/late November 2021.
Since there are no change fees, you could book something, anything now and change it to what you want later. Once seat-blocking winds down & the "prospect" of U space returning, you could even move into F on an appropriate fare (which you are only paying for once) if you have GGUs to apply.
For the minimal out of pocket, you could purchase a cheap itinerary say $125 +/- and companion with a certificate for $99 + taxes & fees. Sure, the savings looks like $26 but you have locked in the companion at $99. Lets say you later change your itinerary and the primary passenger fare is $500. You would pay an additional $375 for yourself (already paid $125) & the $99 companion is already taken care of outside any additional fees & taxes. Your savings for the companion is now $401.
The change feature online is pretty robust and you can easily change itineraries with an attached companion certificate. I had an itinerary to HNL, booked with a companion certificate with an extended December 2020 expiry date for travel this week, which I unwound. Instead of canceling the itinerary, I just went online and changed it to an itinerary to FLL in January preserving the companion certificate. There was a $300 decrease in fare which was processed immediately to my wallet. If you still can't utilize the itinerary, a worse case scenario would be having a few hundred dollars in your wallet.
On topic! While the BF/CM specials aren't much to write home about, there has been a deluge of specials and excellent fares leading up to Thanksgiving and I anticipate there will be many more forthcoming. Secure your companion certificates now and take advantage of specials in the New Year.
James