Tips for getting 'Companion tickets'?

Does anyone have any good tips for taking advantage of the companion tickets that you get when renewing Au? Seems like very limited availability on most routes, and definitely during school hols etc. Anyone got any useful thoughts/insights/ideas on getting the best out of a companion ticket?

Thanks.

[Nottingham Nick]

Sorry to be a pessimist, but I have never managed to find a deal that made the loss of points and TP's for the companion worth while. [n]

What routes are you looking for? I am sure I have read that there are good deals to be had to South Africa at times. [?]

Others may be able to contradict my views, though.


Nick

[preiffer]

The ONLY times I've used companion tickets to my advantage is against a work trip's J. Done it a few times for a friend to 'come along', but other than that, no luck/availability/bad timing/too expensive in comparison to APEX/etc etc.

The best use for a companion ticket is as follows:

4 whole rock cod
1 c. flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. milk
1 tsp. vinegar
1 VS Companion Ticket

Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl. Combine liquids, add to bowl slowly, stirring constantly until all lumps dissolve and batter is smooth. Remove fish heads, tails and entrails. Rinse fillets in cold water, drain, pat dry with paper towels.

Heat oil to 370 or 375 degrees. Dip fillets in batter and deep fry 4 to 5 minutes or until golden. Drain on a rack.

Place fish heads, tails and entrails on VS Companion Ticket, wrap tightly and place in bin.

Serves 4.

GJ

[Pete]

Unless you have a friend like Paul who's travelling on a full J for business anyway, and they don't mind you tagging along, the only cost-saving way of using a companion reward is with the PE S fare. You will always find 2 x either discounted economy or Upper Class fares cheaper than the minimum qualifying fare against which you can use a reward. For PE, the S fare is generally always cheaper than two K fares - although bear in mind that the person travelling on the companion ticket won't earn miles or TPs, and that may be worth more than the money you are saving on the ticket.

Dear GJ
LOL [:D]
RP x

[Decker]

As I've said, a friend saved nearly £1,000 on Y tix going to JNB with an Au companion. Try the routes VS don't have to heavily discount on. As for availability in school holidays - companion tickets use normal rewards. Try getting normal rewards during school holidays. It isn't impossible just hard.

Companion tickets work very well if you are going for a business trip, and your partner/friend wants to travel with you (and don't mind to discover that city without your companion).

Give FC a call before you reserve a seat through your company appointed travel agent, then confirm your companion ticket booking with FC once you've got your booking reservation number.

The beauty of companion ticket is that if your travel schedule changes, it will change automatically. Although it may annoy your partner/friend, but at least you get companion during your flights.

Anyone know if it is possible to use a companion for only one leg of a flight?

E.g. if my wife were travelling J for business could you use the companion for either the out leg or the return only - joining her for the weekend before or after (and then book a seperate 1 way miles reward for my other leg)?

[preiffer]

Yes, you can use it for just one leg - I've done this before [y]

Does it only work for the outbound leg or have you done the return leg only?

[fozzyo]

We used a companion ticket for SYD a few years back, worked out about the same price as two Z's but gave us the added bonus of CDC everywhere. When arriving into Heathrow at 5:30am on a Sunday morning the prospect of public transport home doesn't bare thinking about!

[preiffer]

Return leg only is fine - that's the way I did it [y]