NYC123

I want to keep this thread alive as a reminder of how dishonest Delta and Amex are with these companion certs. I just don't get why they would want to tick off their best customers with this cert scam. I have tried to use them many, many times and it simply never makes sense to buy fares with the cert as opposed to just buying two separate tickets (coach or first).

It is unbelievable that following the terms and conditions of the cert regarding fare classes is insufficient. Finding the stipulated fare classes r/t is not enough, and there is zero reasonable explanation on the matter. Complaining to Delta on the matter just yields canned responses that do not address the fact that the stated terms of the cert are unclear and not applicable.

If you are considering any of the Delta cards that include the companion certs "benefit," know that the cert will very likely not be usable. Some here are reporting luck with their certs, but I can tell you it will require an inordinate amount of luck and effort.

I will be voting with my wallet on this one.

rylan

It seems that, at least for the Reserve F cert, that the booking engine is often pulling a YUP fare basis and booking that into the A bucket instead of using one of the lower fare basis even if the required buckets are available.

Some routes it pulls from YUP and some it uses the xUP or /WNUP fare basis and I have no idea why. It isn't based on award availability since I checked some fares where F award is mid level (BOS-LAS) and the cert is pricing at ~1K, same as the normal A/P fare... but then others where low or mid is available such as BOS-PSP is pricing at the 2.2k YUP fare when a normal first ticket is 1.1K

mooper

Because the routes/fares you search for don't appeal to you, it qualifies as a scam? What about those of us who use these (or multiples of them) with ease each year to save hundreds or thousands? I just redeemed three of them last month and saved $1,500 combined for tickets I would have been purchasing otherwise. Took minutes and just a little flexibility.

NYC123

I am glad the certs worked for you, and particularly so that it did not take too much effort on your part. A look through this and other threads does reveal that some folks have been able to redeem their vouchers, but also that many are very frustrated by the process.

I do still feel this is a scam for a couple reasons:
1. The fare rules ARE very unclear and impossible to follow, except for trial and error searches and luck. When choosing to sign up for the card, I looked at the terms of the certs and they seemed reasonable enough. Just book with (some) advance notice and use A, I, L, U, T codes r/t. Well, we know that is not the case.
2. Nobody at Delta can explain what the real rules are. They really can't. I have gotten various responses ranging from "must be a refundable fare" (which contradict the terms and conditions as written), to please make sure you try to book with advance notice (I have).

Whatever the case, these certs are at least unclear enough to represent marketing dishonesty from Delta.

bdschobel

Ditto on all points. I have actually managed to use these certs somehow, every year since they were first offered, but it's about 100 times harder than it should be, and the description of the terms and conditions doesn't really match real life.

Bruce

rylan

This. I manage to use mine also, although it generally required effort way beyond booking a normal ticket.

BusTrav8yrs

Your home airport may be the reason for your success, and is your destination LAS,JFK,LAX or anywhere that may be "popular".

I agree with the frustration factor, and the fact that you have to first try without the cert to see if you are really getting a deal. Most times it is not more than $150 difference (but no RDM/MQM for second pax). And once it was even $250 more to use the cert.

A recent attempt for me JFK-LAX-OGG came up rocks. When I tried just JFK-LAX to my surprise it worked and actually save 2K, but when I tried just LAX-OGG came up not eligible. Go figure, the crappy F was ineligible.

bdschobel

A while back, I posted a whole series of examples where using the cert would cost more than not using it (not to mention the loss of companion's SkyMiles). It's possible to come out ahead with the cert, but it's not easy.

Bruce

rylan

T&C says Hawaii is not an eligible destination.

mooper

Could you cite the portion of the terms that state that all AILUT fares are valid, then give one specific example where you see such availability for 2 tickets but the cert won't work?

Every example I've seen is where an invalid airport (like ones in HI or AK), a browser error (albeit Delta's fault as their site is coded horribly), availability of one seat but not two at the same fare, or a similar user error causes the rate to be unavailable.


I've used then from my home airport many times, but from various other airports as well. I've booked literally dozens of these for friends, family, associates. The fares aren't always available (nor does anything in the terms or offer suggest they always will be), but with some flexibility, I've had an easy time making good use of them. On average, probably $400 saved on coach.

rylan

Yes, in another thread I mentioned that the cert was broken for BOS-LAX. It was returning an error with 0 flight options even though there are literally dozens of flights with inventory buckets wide open and fare basis that book into A. I could book plenty of tickets for revenue, but no options with the cert.

Don't have time right now to try it again, but it was broken for every date/month I checked recently.

NYC123

Sure, I unfortunately can come up with examples:

• LGA-PBI: "A" fare available r/t, but actual price using one ticket + cert way higher than just buying two tickets.
• JFK-SAN: L, T, or U (forget which one) available r/t, but web site would not offer flights as available.

These are just two but I do have more.

Putting out bunk certificates like this turns happy and loyal loyal customers to annoyed and mistrusting customers. At least that is what is happening with this customer.

NYC123

Here are the Terms and Conditions directly from the cert:Please do tell me if I am not understanding something, but the way I read that it means that AILUT r/t trip fares within the lower 48 should work. If that is not what it means we are getting pretty close to dishonesty through obscurity.

DFWFlier

It's definitely dishonesty through obscurity. They imply that you just have to find availability in those classes. They don't say that there is a subset of those classes that is available for Companion Certificates. There is no way other than trial and error to determine if it is available on any specific flight.

mooper

I presume you mean at least two seats are available. Which dates? I have yet to witness a scenario like the one you describe... would like to look it up for myself.

"Limited in" to me suggests that AILUT are the only fares that *might* qualify, but that the allocation is limited, i.e., you can't buy up every last seat in a particular bucket using a cert. Nothing fraudulent or scammy about that. I agree that the terms could be more clear, e.g., "only a portion of available AILUT fares are set aside to qualify", but I don't see anything that states that if two AILUT seats are available, you can get them with the cert. I would be nicer if they'd change it so that was the case, but the terms are the terms, and if they don't appeal, then so be it.