Originally Posted by
lensovet
Booked a ticket with a companion fare (expiring in December 2021) a few weeks ago and realize now that it doesn’t make much sense.
Based on previous posts, was expecting that I would be able to reinstate the coupon since we’re still a few months out from the expiration date.
Chatted an agent over SMS who threw the T&Cs in my face and said no can do. Noted to her that earlier in the year exceptions were being made and she pointed me at the Peace of Mind waiver (which “ended” in April) even though it said nothing about companion fares.
Ultimately ended the chat unilaterally and said to contact customer care as reservations doesn’t handle this stuff.
HUCA situation? Or should I call customer care? The main reason I want to cancel in the first place is because the companion with whom I booked simply won’t need to travel again anytime soon, so I’d rather use the coupon with someone else.
You could try again, but I was told the same recently. Certainly during the pandemic I had those re-deposited and I'm quite sure even prior to the pandemic I've had them re-deposited too. I could be misremembering or perhaps this is another slight of hand change like with the 4 vs 8 GGU's for 75k. Would not be surprised if they are just tightening (clarifying?) policies, that were somewhat vague and interpreted generously, in order to compensate for financial impact of the pandemic.
I just ended up going through the hassle of "changing" the ticket to another itinerary with different dates. You can have the ticket numbers saved to use at a later time. It's not ideal because it's tough to actually figure out what the all-in cost will be, but it's the only option that allows for flexibility.
The take away is to not use those companion fares unless you are 100% sure you'll be taking that flight. As such, I cancelled my AS card and my wife cancelled hers. I see little to no benefit since the one useful perk has become a burden to use. I only carry on and 95% of my miles are accrued from BIS miles.