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Airline credit cards tout many flashy perks in order to entice new customers and maintain existing ones. These can include high sign-up bonuses worth tens of thousands of miles and benefits like free checked bags and priority boarding. However, one of the most underrated airline credit card benefits might just be a companion ticket.

There are several reasons why companion tickets are a lesser-known benefit. First, only a handful of airline credit cards actually offer them, which means consumers might not even be aware they exist. Second, the terms and conditions of use for companion tickets can vary considerably from one card to another — even those issued by the same bank for the same airline.

The different kinds of companion ticket deals currently offered by various credit cards fall into several broad categories, which we will get into below along with some of the best cards offering each type of benefit. Just remember that no matter what companion ticket perk you have a shot at, you'll likely be on the hook for taxes and fees in some amount, so be sure to budget for that.

Let's look at the best credit card companion certificates by airline.

We're focused here on the rewards and perks that come with each card. These cards won't be worth it if you're paying interest or late fees. When using a credit card, it's important to pay your balance in full each month, make payments on time, and only spend what you can afford to pay.

Aer Lingus

The $95-annual-fee Aer Lingus Visa Signature® Card currently offers 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening and earn an additional 25,000 Avios after you spend $20,000 in the first 12 months of account opening.

The card offers an annual Aer Lingus Companion Ticket, which you can earn by spending at least $30,000 in a calendar year. It's effectively a BOGO award flight coupon. When you purchase a coach flight on Aer Lingus for two people, you'll only have to pay for one. You won't even have to pay any taxes and fees for your travel buddy.

The companion ticket is only valid on Aer Lingus-operated flights in economy directly between the US and Ireland or the UK. In other words, you can fly between the US and Ireland round-trip and take a companion for free. Once you earn it, you must use it within 12 months, and only one voucher will be awarded in any given 12-month period. 

To book your companion ticket, you must email Aer Lingus directly at [email protected], and you'll need to do so at least 30 days prior to travel.

Alaska Airlines

Both the Alaska Airlines Visa® Credit Card ($75 annual fee) and the Alaska Airlines Business Credit Card ($50 per company and $25 per card annual fee) come with Alaska's Famous Companion Fare™ each account anniversary you renew the card and pay the annual fee.

The companion certificate must be redeemed within 12 months of issue, though travel can take place after that. It's only valid for travel for a round-trip economy seat — but the ticket might be upgrade-eligible. Your companion will even earn mileage for the flights. Both travelers must be on the same reservation and flights, and the cardholder must pay for the tickets using his or her card.

To use the companion fare, you must book online at alaskaair.com and enter your discount code at checkout.

Both cards currently offer a companion certificate as part of the initial welcome bonus. Here's what you'll get:

• Alaska Airlines Visa® Credit Card — 50,000 bonus miles plus Alaska's Famous Companion Fare™ from $121 ($99 fare plus taxes and fees from $22) after you make $2,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days of opening your account
• Alaska Airlines Business Credit Card — 40,000 bonus miles plus Alaska's companion fare from $121 ($99 fare plus taxes and fees from $22) after spending $2,000 in purchases within the first 90 days of account opening

For more details, you can read our Alaska Airlines Visa Signature review and our Alaska Airlines Business Credit Card review.

American Airlines

Several American Airlines credit cards offer a companion certificate with varying terms.

The CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard® charges an annual fee of $99, waived for first 12 months. It's currently offering 65,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $4,000 in purchases within the first 4 months of account opening.

You'll get a $99 (plus taxes) companion certificate when you spend $30,000 or more on purchases each account year and then renew your card and pay the annual fee (note that your account must remain open for at least 45 days after renewal). This certificate is valid for one year from the date of issue and can be redeemed toward travel in the main cabin within the 48 contiguous United States (or to/from Alaska and Hawaii for residents of those states) on American-operated and marketed flights.

The AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® incurs an annual fee of $0 intro for the first year, then $99. It comes with 60,000 AAdvantage® bonus miles after making your first purchase within the first 90 days. We've previously seen the card's welcome bonus include a companion certificate.

The companion certificate comes with the exact same terms as the CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®. However, you'll need to spend just $20,000 or more on purchases in an anniversary year to earn it.

The $199 annual fee AAdvantage® Aviator® Silver Mastercard® is not available to new applicants — but you can get it by requesting a product change with one of your current Barclays AAdvantage personal credit cards.

This card comes with a nearly identical certificate to the previous two — but it gives you the ability to bring two companions on your trip instead of just one. You'll have to spend $20,000 in an anniversary year to earn it.

British Airways

The $95-annual-fee British Airways Visa Signature® Card comes with a welcome bonus of 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening and earn an additional 25,000 Avios after you spend $20,000 in the first 12 months of account opening. This bonus is worth an average of $1,300 in travel, based on Insider's points and miles valuations.

This card offers a "Travel Together" ticket each calendar year you spend at least $30,000. It gives you the ability to add a companion on the same round-trip award reservation (for any fare class, including business and first) when traveling from the US on British Airways.

The Travel Together ticket means you only need the Avios for one ticket in order to book two tickets, but you're still responsible for the taxes and fees on both — which can be hundreds and hundreds of dollars in premium cabins. The voucher is valid for 24 months from the date of issue.

You can also use the Travel Together Ticket for a 50% discount on the Avios redemption cost when you're traveling alone.

Iberia (which is owned by the same company as British Airways) offers the Iberia Visa Signature® Card. It doesn't exactly offer a companion certificate, but it does come with a $1,000 flight voucher each calendar year in which you spend $30,000 on eligible purchases. The voucher can be used when buying two tickets on the same flight in the same class of travel. These vouchers are only valid up to 12 months after the issue date.

Delta

There are four Delta credit cards that come with companion certificates that range in quality. With each, you'll only need to pay for the taxes and fees of your companion when flying Delta, Delta Connection, and Delta Shuttle flights. You must be flying within the continental US for them to work (not Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, etc.).

Both the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card ($250 annual fee) and the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card ($250 annual fee) will award you a companion certificate for any economy travel (L, U, T, X, and V fares) after you renew your card and pay the annual fee each year. 

The American Express Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card ($550 annual fee) and the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card ($550 annual fee) also come with a companion certificate from simply renewing your card and paying the annual fee each year. These certificates are more useful, as you can use them for Delta Comfort+ seats (W and S fares) and first-class (I and Z fares) in addition to economy.

No matter which certificate you redeem, you must pay with your eligible Delta credit card to activate the benefit. Each certificate will be issued during the month of your cardmember anniversary, and you'll have 12 months to use it.

Hawaiian Airlines

The $99 annual fee Hawaiian Airlines® Bank of Hawaii World Elite Mastercard® comes with 60,000 bonus HawaiianMiles after spending $2,000 on purchases within the first 90 days from account opening. Insider estimates that bonus to be worth an average of $600 in travel, based on our valuations.

When you open the card, you'll also get a single-use 50% discount on full economy round-trip fares for a companion when flying between Hawaii and North America on Hawaiian Airlines. The voucher is valid for 13 months from account opening. Taxes and fees are excluded from this discount.

You won't be able to use this fare for multi-city flights, and you can't use the voucher for award flights.

Also, you'll receive a $100 companion discount after each cardmember anniversary — almost certainly less valuable than the previous voucher, but a decent ongoing credit card perk. It bears the same stipulations as the 50% off certificate.

Lufthansa

The $89-annual-fee Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard® offers 80,000 award miles if you spend $3,000 in purchases and pay the annual fee within the first 90 days from account opening. 

This card also comes with one Companion Ticket after every account anniversary. When you book a paid economy ticket on Lufthansa, you can use this to bring a travel buddy for the cost of taxes and fees. This certificate is not valid for award flights — and only select published fares qualify (H, M, Y, & B class of service).

To redeem the Companion Ticket, you'll need to call Lufthansa at 866-461-5399. You must be traveling from the US to either Europe, the Middle East, Africa, or the Far East.

Annoyingly, you'll incur a "weekend surcharge" if your flight takes place during the weekend. This is usually $60. Lufthansa also notes that your may find lower fares when not booking with a Companion Ticket. That means the fare classes that are eligible for a Companion Ticket won't be the lowest price point.

Virgin Atlantic

The $90-annual-fee Virgin Atlantic World Elite Mastercard® offers 30,000 bonus Virgin Points after spending $1,000 or more on purchases in the first 90 days of account opening.

This card comes with a choice benefit after spending $25,000 in a cardmember year:

• 1 single-cabin upgrade for the primary cardholder when flying on an award flight on Virgin Atlantic
• 1 matching companion award in the same cabin class when the primary cardholder redeems miles for their own ticket

The usefulness of the Companion Fare is based on the Virgin Atlantic Elite status of the primary cardholder. If you have Red status, you can only book in Economy or Premium. You can book into Upper Class (business class and first class) for a 50% points discount.

If you have Silver or Gold status, you can book your companion into any seat class. Just note that you'll have to pay taxes and fees no matter what — which can be expensive, especially if you're booking an Upper Class seat.

You'll have to redeem your certificate within two years of the issue date.

• There are further restrictions on cabin eligibility. Basic Flying Club Red members can only redeem miles for economy. Those with Silver status can redeem for economy or premium economy. In order to fly Upper Class with a companion, you've got to have Gold status. As you might expect, you'll also be responsible for paying the taxes and fees on both tickets, which can be hundreds of dollars.

Bonus: Southwest Companion Pass

The Southwest Companion Pass is the stuff of frequent-flyer fantasy. Earning one basically entitles you to free travel for a companion on both paid and award tickets during the calendar year in which you earn it and the following one. That's potentially nearly two years of companion flights for just the cost of taxes and fees.

To score one, you've either got to take 100 qualifying one-way flights or rack up 135,000 qualifying points in a calendar year. However, if you hold a Southwest credit card, you'll automatically get a 10,000 qualifying (not redeemable) points boost each year.

The best part is that Southwest credit card welcome bonuses count toward this requirement. You can only have one personal credit card at a time — but you can hold both a personal and small business Southwest credit card. In other words, you could easily achieve the Companion Pass by earning the following bonuses in the same calendar year:

• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card — 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first three months
• Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card — 80,000 points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months

Read our post on the best time to earn the Southwest Companion Pass to learn more strategies to help you maximize this amazing benefit.

What to know about airline credit card companion certificates

Companion tickets offered by airline credit cards are amazing benefits that can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars each year — if you know how to maximize them. As with any credit card benefit, you should look at your travel habits and strategies to make sure you'll actually put the perk to use and that it suits your needs.