Did Delta Discontinue The Companions Ticket On Their Amex Card?

The affiliation between Delta Air Lines and American Express has been a fruitful one for many years now, offering numerous benefits for cardholders. This was one of the most valued benefits that came with certain Delta Amex cards: Companion Certificate which enabled a cardholder to take along a companion for a mere cost of taxes and fees.

This certificate was considered as an opportunity to have someone with you on either a domestic or international Delta flight and, in effect, get their ticket for nearly free bar a few taxes and charges. It also made other premium Delta credit cards such as the Platinum and Reserve cards very attractive.

However, certain changes in recent years have raised various questions, including whether Delta has eliminated the Companion Ticket for Amex cardholders.

The short answer is no – not quite, because technically the Companion Certificate benefit has not been eliminated. That being said, to my knowledge Delta and Amex have made changes in the last couple of years that have devalued it and made it much more difficult to effectively use.

Back in February 2020, Delta and American Express got rid of the Companion Certificate benefit on their basic Delta credit cards such as the Blue, Gold, and Platinum. This left only the premium Delta Reserve card as having the certificate benefit.

The final nail in the coffin was to come later in the year when in August Delta declared Companion Certificates, including those that cardholders already possessed at the time, to be no longer accepted on first-class tickets. This was very disappointing to Reserve cardholders who relied on the certificates to fly first or business class accompanied by a companion.

On the 5th of January 2022, Delta and Amex proposed a new, simplified ‘Companion Certificate’ with the release of the new Delta SkyMiles Reserve American Express Card. Instead of an actual certificate or voucher, what cardholders get now is a benefit which is ‘Main Cabin Companion Fare’ where when the consumer buys a main cabin ticket, a companion ticket is free subject to taxes and fees only.

Not only is it limited to the main cabin, but it cannot be applied to specialty tickets such as premium select or comfort plus. And it still has stringent criteria for qualifying for companionship services including age and where the companion lives.

However, it should be exercised within one year of its issuance instead of having certificate holders use it over a year like in the old policy.

The addition of so many hoops and eligibility requirements to obtain the companion ticket along with the fact that it is still restricted from premium seats has made this benefit significantly less valuable for Amex Delta Reserve cardholders. Thus, while there is still a so-called “companion ticket,” it is quite clear that it is not what it used to be.

And between being accepted beyond the exclusive Reserve card, not being accepted on first class, and much stricter certification provisions, the Companion Certificate benefit no longer comes close to what it used to.

I have seen numerous Delta and Amex customers complain that what used to be an extraordinary value has been diluted to the point it felt like Delta wanted to continue the name of the benefit but remove every aspect of its essence. Blogs and forums of aviation are full of disgusted Delta passengers and credit card holders over the years about how the rules are getting stricter and stricter each year.

Although Delta has not entirely, frankly, eliminated the Companion Certificate, many believe that the company has accumulated and piled on so many rules over the years that, in essence, they may have rendered the useful and highly praised advantage for Delta’s frequent fliers and cardholders useless.

Airlines such as Delta have taken a similar path of eradicating incentives associated with premium travel credit cards as most credit card companies focus on generous sign-up bonuses at the expense of cardholders. Unfortunately, Companion Certificates appear to be an early example of this trend’s casualty.

Thus, while one could still technically claim that Delta Amex cards come with some kind of companion ticket, it is now evident that this perk is a mere shadow of what it used to be. Many an unhappy Amex Delta Reserve cardholder simply wished the airline had dispensed with the charade and said the Companion Certificates are effectively dead.

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