Booking Hawaii in December
I have just enough in my travel bank and in WJ$ to book tickets to Hawaii this winter for a friend and I. She's in YEG and I'm in YVR, and I really wanted to use one of my companion vouchers. Unfortunately, I can't do that because we could only do a companion fare for the common leg from YVR. And then she'd have to pay for another flight separately YEG-YVR, which would collectively end up costing over $200 more. Am I missing any other advantages of booking us as companions, vs just booking two separate reservations?
Also, if we book before the end of May, and it's still not safe to travel outside of Canada by December, are there really no cancel or change fees? If I decide to cancel, the WJ$ and travel bank will go back into my account with the same expiry date as it has now, correct?
My friend is reluctant to book this early, but I keep telling her we have nothing to lose! We pay no money up front - the travel bank and the WJ$ are just sitting there anyway - unused! She thinks prices may go down. But if they do, with no fee changes, couldn't we just cancel and rebook at the lower fare? I'm trying to instill more confidence in booking early! But I suspect the unknown is preventing a lot of people from doing any planning...