Bring a Friend
Doing the Math on Two-for-One Deals
By Tom Parsons, Special to ABCNEWS.com

When I go to the grocery store and see a two-for-one item, I get excited. When I see a two-for-one airline ticket promotion, my excitement comes with caution. There’s a deal in there somewhere, but definitely not for everyone.

There are two-for-one deals that allow your companion to fly for free (you do have to pay applicable taxes and fees).

There are also $99 companion deals. What is rarely revealed in the advertising is the fact that these deals almost always come with restrictions. The most common: the first ticket must be in a particular ticket class, which is not generally available at the cheapest fare. You have to test these deals by comparison pricing.

Determine the price of the purchased ticket on the two-for-one offer, then determine the lowest available single ticket price and multiply it by two. Most often you will find that you are saving money with the two-for-one deal, but you are not getting travel at half-price. Sometimes you will come out ahead by purchasing two single tickets at promotional fares.

For example, a two-for-one deal for travel between New York and Dublin may require a purchased ticket at $525. You may be able to purchase two tickets for the same travel dates for $329 each. So your real savings with the two-for-one deal would be $133. If a great promotional fare of $259 is available for single ticket purchases, the two-for-one deal will actually cost you an extra $7
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When you make your booking decision, also keep in mind that two-for-one deals afford no protection for companion travel reimbursement or exchange value.

An interesting article.

But we all knew that companion has nothing to do with saving money, but everything thing to do with getting a free ticket when on business travel, so your spouse/partner (whatever) can travel at your employers expense.

Somehow I think this article misses the point

Now an article about why Travel Agents/Airlines don't always tell us about available companion travel offers when we book would be really interesting.
MF

It's the same thing the hotels do with the 50% off certificates you receive when you claim free airline tickets. They only apply to full rack rates and you can ususally find a better deal with the discount rates. You almost never save 50%.

Once I got a two for one in business class from US to Japan which was cheaper than two coach tickets (if I had paid for them, but Merry's Law applied then).

Also many $99 companion deals are only applicable to cheap advance purchase tickets, and not to full fare tickets. But for full fare tickets HHonors offers good companion deals in exchange for HHonors points.

You talk of two for one. I actually got a three for one once.

okay the third person was my Daughter was 6 at the time and yes it was a business class trans atlantic ticket.

I ask my travel agent to find a cheap ticket on the same flight, which she did at no extra cost

With the Amex supplied Canadian Airlines 2-for-1 certificates, there are no restrictions. Buy 1 ticket, get a second, identical one, free. Anywhere, any fare. Has to be on Canadian operated A/C though.

Ken

Only restriction on AA's two-for-one certificate I used last year was dollar amount on first ticket; $329. Before it used to be $298 and it's now around $369. BTW the certificates were from signup bonus of AA/Citibank Visa/MC.

My brother used $99 companion ticket on CO and it didn't have any restriction as far as dollar amount was concern. I guess not all 2-for-1 deals are same...

Merry's onto to something here viz. the point of companion fares not being to save money so much as to afford air travel one wouldn't normally undertake, either in terms of destination or in terms of class. The companion fares I watch for are those offering a free matching ticket when one purchases a first or business class ticket. This is how I manage to fly to Europe with a modicum of comfort (i.e., not in steerage).