mangoMan

I am a bit confused by my cancellation options for a paid ticket with companion fare that I need to cancel for travel in early January:


1) If I choose the first option, is the fare credit in my wallet for both my fare and my companion's? Or is the companion fare ($99) put in my companion's wallet? I prefer it to be my wallet.
2) The last option seems like I will have the longest time to "re-use" my credit, but I am concerned about the $125 change fee - I thought they are eliminated? Also, do I have to travel with the same companion?

Any advice is appreciated...thanks!

nomiiiii

Do not cancel online. Call and see if they will reissue you a new certificate code (they should be able to afaik).

Please update us also if calling works in getting a new certificate, and more importantly if the new certificate issued has a further out expiration date than the original one.

missydarlin

1. It goes into your wallet
2. its not the longest time. In that scenario you have to complete travel by Jan 1, 22. In the other scenarios, you have to book Oct 8, 21 to use the credit. Travel up to 11 months later. But the replacement discount code must be ticketed by Feb 28, 21

jrl767

presumably this really means “issued”

related question — I still have last year’s companion cert; the expiration date was extended from 28 Nov 2020 to 31 Dec 2020 ... if I book a random trip, and cancel using either Options 2 or 3, can I request a reissue of the cert? (while a year from booking would be great, I’d be ok with a 6-month extension from the original expiration date, to 28 May 2021)

Flying for Fun

I take that to mean if you cancel an itinerary with a companion certificate attached now, a new companion certificate will be issued with a February 28th, 2021 expiry date; a further extension from December 31st., 2020.

You have until that date to book any itinerary through the end of schedule; 11 months from the date you attach it. Attached to a late February itinerary purchase, it could be used for flights completed through mid January, 2022.

James

Tennen

I must be thick, because I'm still confused and could use some help. I, too, have a 12/31 expiring companion cert, which was already extended from spring 2020. My plan was to book a trip for late 2021 (say, November), using the cert for a Comfort Seat. If I change the ticket, will the cert just disappear if it's done after February 28, 2021? Best case, I get to preserve the companion code and pay whatever fare difference is required for the changes. Worst case, I lose the companion code and have the amount credited to my wallet. Is that right?

I know I have to call in to make a Comfort Seat reservation, and it seems as though the phone fee still applies for the regular ticket.

Thanks!

mangoMan

Well, I called to cancel my flights, per nomiiiii's suggestion. I actually had two reservations, each using a companion code. For the one in my name, the ticket price + companion fare went into my wallet, as I wanted. The companion code is supposed to be re-issued with an expiration date of Feb 2021 (was originally Dec 2020); so far the code is not showing up as valid on my account.

For the reservation in my wife's name, they were only able to put the ticket price in her wallet, and AS accounting is supposed to issue a voucher for the companion fare, which I can then transfer into anybody's wallet (I think). The companion code is supposed to be re-issued, but the agent didn't know what expiration date that would have. So far no code in her account.

The agent did not know why my wife's ticket cancellation was different than mine.

Flying for Fun

If I recall correctly, it can take up to a week to issue a replacement companion pass.

James

mangoMan

Yes, I believe the agent mentioned this (should have included that in my post).

nomiiiii

In my case, when I cancelled two reservations, one of the companion codes got put back in about a week, for the second one I had to call/msg after 10 days they seemed to have forgotten about it. No issues after the reminder though

Please let us know if your reissued code does have Feb 2021 expiration or much further out, since at the very least this seems like a way to extend expiration by a few extra weeks for those who's code is expiring at end of this year.

fkvemshagen

I have an AS companion fare code expiring at the end of October, 2021 and want to eventually use it for a flight to Hawaii in January 2023. I am in Canada and have used previous companion fares from AS because the flights are on Horizon & Alaska.

Can I do this:

1. Book two return tickets now using the companion fare to KOA for the fall of 2022.
2. When the flight schedules for January 2023 become available, change the purchased itinerary to January 2021 (keeping the discount).

Will this let me use the companion fare now and keep the companion fare discount on the ultimate itinerary in January 2023?

Or is it safer to do this:

A. Purchase two refundable tickets now using the companion fare to KOA for the fall of 2022.
B. When the flight schedules for Jan 2023 are put try and rebook into a cheaper non refundable fare (keeping the discount).
C. If the companion fare discount is lost during the attempted change (B) then cancel the refundable fare.

or is there another way I haven’t thought of?

Thanks for your help!

joachimm

Called up today and asked "what are my options" for cancelling a paid ticket with a companion code, "can it be reissued" and got a plain and simple "no". I got the impression the rep was just not that familiar with some of the wiggle room that they might have and didn't want to extend the call or get into any additional work. I'm 100K and my companion, who's code it is, is MVP Gold.

Has anyone gotten a companion code reissued recently? Any tips for how to phrase the request? Next time I'll probably just straight up ask if they will reissued the cert, and mention my extremely impressive 100k status.

anhuang19

I had a companion code reissued recently, but the circumstances around that was due to a involuntary schedule change. Agent did not push back when I asked for the pass to be reissued.

joachimm

So I called back and the rep explained how it works. Companion Certs cannot be reissued (let's just accept this as fact).

What you can do is cancel the ticket and use the canceled ticket #s to purchase new tickets within a year of travel of the original ticket. In my case, my ticket has $450 credit and my Wife's ticket has $99 + $33 in fees.

When we are ready to book, I'll call up and book new flights using the canceled ticket #s. We'll pay any difference in fare on my ticket, and my companion will pay any difference in taxes only. I think she said if the new ticket/taxes were lower I'd get a credit. So if the new tickets we want to book are $900 (they are), we'll just pay $450 + diff in taxes for my companion and the companion fare benefit is retained.

A little confusing but in the end, what I was looking for. I'm not trying to use it for someone else.

I'm sure someone on this thread has basically said this but it didn't click.

Flying for Fun

You laid it out nicely. This is my experience as well. Essentially, you are shelving the ticket while retaining the Companion Certificate and value. When I did that, AS did reissue the GGUs I had used as well. It is very generous of AS since the companion certificate & GGUs, in my case, had long expired. The GGUs reissued were valid through 12/2023.

As for companion certificates being reissued, I have one in my account labeled "Reissued." It can be done but likely requires extenuating circumstances, as mine did.

James