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Air Canada Annual Worldwide Companion Pass is a special benefit that allows the primary cardholder of an eligible Aeroplan Premium credit card to bring a travel companion on an Air Canada flight at a reduced base fare. However, the companion must still pay taxes, fees, and other charges. The cardholder earns the companion pass in a 12-month period based on the card anniversary date. In those 12 months, the cardholder’s net spend on the card must reach or exceed $25,000 CAD. This article aims to evaluate the usefulness of the companion pass and suggest changes for the pass to provide more value to cardholders.
At first glance, there are appealing features to the companion pass. A cardholder can have a family member or friend join them on their travels for a small fee. The base fare for your companion depends on where you’re flying:
- Within Canada & Continental US (except Hawaii)– $99 CAD base fare
- Hawaii, Mexico, Central America, Caribbean– $299 CAD base fare
- South America, Europe, Middle East, Africa– $499 CAD base fare
- Asia, Australia, New Zealand– $599 CAD base fare
A detailed list of terms and conditions for the Annual Worldwide Companion Pass can be found here.
That person gets all the benefits of the ticketed fare purchased at full price. If you’re travelling with someone with a premium Aeroplan credit card, they likely also have Aeroplan elite status. Therefore, you will have priority services, a complimentary baggage allowance, and seat selection.
Annual Worldwide Companion Pass – Limitations
- The companion pass only covers the cost of the base fare. This means if you’re going from Toronto to Vancouver roundtrip and the standard fare ticket is $334 (as shown in example below), that becomes $99 for your companion, but then both of you will still pay taxes and surcharges, which can easily be ~$132 each—a savings of roughly $235. You still pay approximately $700 for this trip. It’s better than the ~$950 alternative, but one must question if spending $25,000 on your premium Aeroplan Credit Card is worth the reward in this case.
YYZ-YVR round-trip itinerary
- You (the cardholder) must be one of the two travellers. While not a serious loss in value, the pass would be far more flexible if you could use it to book your parents or siblings without you needing to be on the itinerary.
- The pass is only for economy fares. You cannot buy a premium economy or business class fare and apply the companion pass.
Many would agree that choosing a latitude economy fare and applying eUpgrades for business class upgrades would be the best way to utilize the pass. The logic is that the more you spend, the more you save. While this is true, we should compare it against the true opportunity cost of what you would spend if you booked full cash tickets. Sure, the chance of flying in business class is great. But if that’s not a guarantee, or does not materialize in your favour, you’ve likely spent more than necessary since the latitude fare is far more expensive than a standard or flex fare.
The alternative and reasonable use case is when you must travel on specific dates or to a specific destination on short notice or during a high season. When the ticket is dynamically priced high, the pass provides good value by capping it at a low base fare.
Annual Worldwide Companion Pass – Recommendations
Based on the current requirements and structure for the companion pass, my stance is that it’s lacking as a reward. Here are some opportunities to add some sheen to the benefit:
- Include the surcharges and taxes in the fixed rate – No one likes the experience of thinking they’ve created a good deal only to learn they have only marginal savings. Removing the variability of that expense would allow cardholders to plan trips with more confidence.
- Waive the flat rate fee—Don’t charge the cardholder an additional $99-599 to use the pass that they already earned. In this case, just charge the additional taxes and fees. Aeroplan used to offer a “buddy pass” on some credit card sign-up bonuses, which offered a complete buy-one-get-one for anywhere in North America. I think many who hold this card would gladly make that trade.
- Give the option to convert the pass to Aeroplan points—Sometimes, cardholders don’t need this type of pass, and the current restrictions on its use don’t work. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to swap it for a reasonable sum of points? Even 20,000 Aeroplan points would be a flexible reward that many could benefit from, free of the terms and conditions of the companion pass.
- Allow the cardholder to use the pass when they’re not travelling—Handing this benefit off to family or close friends for their travel not only scores you brownie points but also allows the pass to be effective and offer some cost savings for those important people in your life.
The Annual Worldwide Companion Pass can be a useful benefit, but comes with many restrictions. Some tweaks to the exiting fare structure can unlock real value for all cardholders who choose to spend $25,000 or more yearly.
Have you found good use for it? Which of the proposed changes above are most realistic?
