Rather than booking a (more expensive) refundable fare, an alternate strategy might be to book a non-refundable, non-Saver fare. As long as you don't book into Saver, changes and cancellations are free. For cancellations, the funds just go into your wallet (including any seat fees). You have a year from the date of original booking to use the funds. So as long as you intend to fly AS again within a year (and it sounds like you do since you're looking to preserve your companion cert should you need to cancel) and don't mind the funds sitting in your wallet in the interim, you may want to explore that option instead and save yourself a bit of coin.