Tag Archives: Virgin America Airlines

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Comparing the Alaska Airlines $120 Companion Fare Code vs. Virgin America $150 Companion Discount Code

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Yesterday, the news broke that you could now redeem your Alaska Airlines companion fare code for flights on Alaska Airlines and Virgin America.  That is great news, especially if you have 1 or more companion fare codes and if Virgin America serves the routes you want to fly.  I’ve written about the Alaska Airlines Companion Fare Code a few times:

The overlooked part of the news from yesterday is that Virgin America has their own less-than-amazing companion discount code.  No one ever talks about that code, but I am going to compare the Alaska Airlines companion fare code to the Virgin America companion discount code and show you which code is better.

First things first, if you have the Bank of America Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Credit Card (personal or business version), you will get the companion fare codes.  To locate those codes, log into your Alaska Airlines account and click Valid under Discount and Companion Fare Codes.  You will see all the companion fare codes listed, their expiration date (travel must be booked by that date) and the terms and conditions of the companion fare code.

Alaska Airlines Comanion Fare Codes

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New Alaska Airlines MVP Gold / 75K Elite Members Should Have 4 Guest Upgrades (Expiring 12/31/2018)

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Good morning everyone, happy Friday.  A few days ago, I was booking an Alaska Airlines flight for my brother (I am the personal travel agent for all my family members), and I was logged into my Alaska Airlines account.  2 weeks ago, I received 10,000 Alaska Airlines miles when my Virgin America account was linked to my Alaska Airlines account and my Virgin America Elevate Gold elite status matched to Alaska Airlines MVP Gold elite status.  I was curious if I had any guest upgrades in my Alaska Airlines account and was pleasantly surprised by what I saw.

Alaska Airlines Guest Upgrades 1

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My Upcoming Long Presidents Day Weekend in Cabo San Lucas (+ your Restaurant & Activity Recommendations)

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Good morning everyone, I am heading down to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico tomorrow for a long Presidents Day Weekend.  A few months ago, I wrote Redeem Virgin Atlantic Miles for Virgin America Award Flights (Complete Route Network from SFO).  In that post, I showed how it was possible (at the time) to redeem Virgin Atlantic miles for travel on Virgin America (this partnership is no longer possible since Alaska Airlines is acquiring Virgin America).  Long story short, I redeemed 25,000 Virgin Atlantic miles for a round trip Virgin America flight from SFO to SJD (Cabo).  This will be my second trip to Cabo and I wrote about my first trip in these posts:

During my first visit, I stayed at the beautiful Hilton Los Cabos Beach & Golf Resort and loved the property.  Here is a view from my room that overlooked the pool and beach.

Hilton Cabo View2

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I Booked SFO-JFK Virgin America First Class for 25,000 AS Miles not 62,708 VX Miles

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Good evening everyone.  I’m really excited that Virgin America flights are now booking with Alaska Airlines miles.  I have had my eye on a SFO-JFK flight around Labor Day Weekend, but I was waiting for an airfare sale before booking.  I was leaning toward JetBlue or Virgin America since I have lots of miles with those airlines, but I was just waiting for the price to drop.  Here are the current prices for a one way flight in economy, business, and first.  I’m not sure why some flights fall into business class and not first class, but whatever.

google-flights-sfo-jfk-first

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My Outrageous 2017 Travel Predictions + Reader Ideas Needed

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Good morning everyone, I’m sorry for the delay, but I have been diligently thinking about my 2017 travel predictions.  I am going to channel my inner Nostradamus to come up with some outrageous travel predictions for 2017.  Doctor of Credit has a good resource for all other 2017 travel predictions.

Disclaimer: I have made some travel predictions in previous years and I am more often wrong than right, but that losing streak has not dampered my prediction spirit.  To see how bad I am at making predictions, please read A Look Back at my 2016 Predictions (Airlines, Hotels, Credit Cards & MS).  I consider myself an optimistic pessimist (I prepare for the worst, but hope for the best), so these travel predictions will sound depressing.

Airlines

  • Southwest seems bent on making the Companion Pass very difficult to get unless you fly Southwest every week.  I believe credit card signup bonuses will no longer count toward the Companion Pass and Southwest might kill the whole concept of the Companion Pass entirely or switch to a certificate program similar to the Alaska Airlines companion fare or Virgin America companion ticket.
  • Other airline credit cards will adopt the Alaska Airlines companion fare (you pay full price and your companion pays up to $120) or the Virgin America companion ticket (you pay full price and your companion pays full price minus $150).

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