I ran across this hot little item in an email I signed up for to get the scoop on the latest & greatest travel items available - and this was at the top of my list to try out. The voucher retails for $299 currently, (I assume various sales will cause this price to change from time to time) - but if your flight is over $300 per person, this is a fantastic bet!
LEGIT OR NOT: Yes! Over the years we've seen similar items around, but they have always been so restrictive - such as dictating when you can book, tons of blackout dates, how far in advance - they're nearly impossible to use! The intriguing thing about the Free Companion Airfare Pass is that they have no such restrictions, and all reservations come from their in-house department.
These new passes have NO Blackout Dates - NO Advance Booking Required - and NO minimum cost for the first ticket!
FINE PRINT: This voucher requires a one time reservation fee of $50, but if you buy from the site directly this fee is waived. This leads me to assume you can also get the vouchers from alternate sources or perhaps as promo items. So if you do receive this voucher from anywhere other than the original company, you may pay a $50 fee to register it.
PRICE OF FIRST TICKET: The other thing to note is that you must purchase a "full fare" round trip ticket. A full fare ticket is normally a bit higher than fares you may find online, but when the 2nd ticket is free, it generally more than compensates for this.
These new terms sounded very appealing, so I ordered 1 of these, and a few friends & family did as well, to see how well they worked. Here's how it went for each of us!
MY EXPERIENCE: After I bought the voucher online, I was emailed my reservation form. I filled it out online (no printing & mailing - another bonus!) and submitted it back with my dates and destinations. I expected to hear back within about 3 days. I heard back within the first day, and was given flight options to choose from.
I requested details for a flight I need to take to a friends wedding in London next month, and asked for a flight from San Francisco to London in mid July. The best price option I was given was a full fare round trip ticket for $2016, and second ticket was zero. I found online tickets for around $1408 - so this was a price difference of $608, a bit higher than I expected for a full fare. Still, if I bought 2 online tickets myself, I'd be paying $2816 for two flights, instead of $2016.
MY OVERALL SAVINGS: My overall savings is $800. If you include the retail cost of the voucher (which I paid less than $299 for as an agent), my savings would still be $500.
MY BROTHER's EXPERIENCE: He bought his voucher and was planning out farther than me. He went from San Francisco to Maui. On his reservation form, he had requested a call back to complete reservations because his dates were flexible, but he wanted to travel in late October. He received a call back within 3 days to go over flight options, and reported that the gal that helped him was very pleasant and professional.
She looked up about 6 different flight options & found one where they first full fare ticket was $1260, and 2nd flight was free. Retail online price for tickets (at the lowest) $1749 for two travelers.
OVERALL SAVINGS: His overall savings is $489. If you include the retail cost of the voucher, his savings would still be $190.
Although the savings will certainly vary from person to person - this voucher seems like a winner so far!
