How Does the WestJet Companion Voucher Work?

One of the main draws to WestJet’s RBC co-branded credit cards is the annual round-trip companion voucher perk, which offers a discounted base fare for a second passenger when the first passenger pays the full price.

Many cardholders find a lot of value in the voucher, and it’s one of the key factors to consider when deciding whether to keep the card and pay the annual fee every year.

In this article, let’s take a look at how to obtain WestJet annual round-trip companion vouchers, how they work, and how to redeem them for maximum value along your travels.

WestJet Companion Vouchers: The Rules

Broadly speaking, the WestJet annual round-trip companion voucher offers a discounted rate for a second passenger when the first passenger pays full price for a ticket. In many ways, it’s similar to the Air Canada Annual Worldwide Companion Pass.

It’s important to note that the second passenger is still subject to other taxes, fees, and Other Air Transportation Charges (ATC) imposed by the airline, as we’ll explore in detail below. This means that the voucher doesn’t give the second passenger a “free” flight, but rather a discounted one.

As you might expect, the voucher comes with a number of rules that govern its use.

First off, WestJet’s companion vouchers can only be used on new bookings, which must be made before the voucher expires. However, keep in mind that travel can occur after the voucher’s expiry date.

For example, if a voucher expires on June 1, 2026, travel must be booked prior to that date, but you can use it for travel after June 1 through to the end of the airline’s bookable schedule, which is about 11–12 months from the date of booking.

You can redeem the voucher for UltraBasic, Econo, EconoFlex, Premium, and PremiumFlex fares as long as no discount codes are applied (e.g., the companion voucher cannot be combined with discount codes, but can be used during seat sales). The voucher cannot be used for Business, BusinessFlex, or Member Exclusive fares.

The WestJet annual round-trip companion voucher can be used for travel anywhere in WestJet’s network without any blackout periods. The flight must be marketed and operated by WestJet, WestJet Encore, and/or WestJet Link, and vouchers aren’t valid on WestJet Vacations, charters, or with any codeshare or interline partners, such as Delta and Korean Air.

The annual round-trip companion voucher must be applied to a booking that includes the member whose account the voucher is attached to, which means that you can’t just gift them to anyone of your choosing. Vouchers are non-transferable, and only one may be applied per booking.

Both passengers on the ticket must be booked on the same fare type, meaning you cannot choose a cheaper fare type for you or your companion in order to minimize your out-of-pocket cost.

However, you can choose to have a different fare type per direction, such as Econo on the outbound flight and EconoFlex on the inbound. Consequently, the inclusions and restrictions of the selected fare type in each direction will apply to both passengers.

If you wanted to add benefits, such as bags or seats otherwise not included with your fare, you’ll have to pay for them per passenger, unless either of you has these benefits included with your WestJet elite status or credit card.

Bookings made on the WestJet website must have a Canadian departure city. If you’re using a companion voucher on a flight originating outside of Canada, you need to call into the WestJet contact centre to complete your booking and use your voucher. A contact centre booking fee may be charged in such cases.

To minimize your out-of-pocket costs further, you may redeem WestJet points in conjunction with a WestJet annual round-trip companion voucher to pay for the base fare portion of the booking.

Lastly, the companion voucher is only valid for a single use. If a booking is cancelled, the voucher will retain its original expiry date, and if you only use it for a one-way flight, the companion voucher won’t be valid for the return leg if booked separately.

How to Earn WestJet Companion Vouchers

There are three types of WestJet companion vouchers, and the type of voucher you have depends on how you earned it in the first place.

Both the WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercardǂ and the WestJet RBC® Mastercard‡ each come with a companion voucher as part of the cards’ ongoing benefits; however, there are important differences between the vouchers.

WestJet RBC® Mastercard‡

The annual companion voucher on the WestJet RBC^® Mastercard^‡ is valid for travel anywhere in Canada or the continental United States (excluding Hawaii) for $199–299 base fare. It cannot be used for travel outside of North America, and out of the three types of vouchers, it’s the least powerful.

For vouchers issued on or after June 30, 2024, the base fare to various destinations are as follows:

• Travel within Canada or to the continental U.S. (excluding Hawaii): $199 (UltraBasic, Econo, or EconoFlex); $299 (Premium or Premium Flex)
• Travel to the rest of the WestJet network: n/a

WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercardǂ

Meanwhile, the companion voucher of the WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercardǂ is quite a bit more useful as it can be used on any route that WestJet flies.

For vouchers issued on or after June 30, 2024, the base fare to various destinations are as follows:

• Travel within Canada or to the continental U.S. (excluding Hawaii): $119 (UltraBasic, Econo, or EconoFlex); $219 (Premium or Premium Flex)
• Travel to the rest of the WestJet network: $399 (UltraBasic, Econo, or EconoFlex); $499 (Premium or Premium Flex)

Both co-branded cards get a companion voucher every year, which refreshes upon the cardholder anniversary. There is no minimum spending requirement to earn the credit card annual round-trip companion vouchers, aside from paying the cards’ annual fees.

It’s worth noting that you can convert a voucher earned from the WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercardǂ into four lounge vouchers instead, but given that WestJet’s flagship Elevation Lounge Calgary can be accessed through credit cards with Priority Pass and DragonPass, you’ll likely stand to benefit more by using your voucher for flights instead.

It’s worth noting that WestJet recently launched a card for business owners: the WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercard for Businessǂ.

While this card doesn’t come with a companion voucher, it does offer Silver status as one of the perks on the card. 

Therefore, you may want to consider having it in your portfolio to score more benefits when you travel with WestJet, even if you won’t get another companion voucher with it.

Milestone Awards

Lastly, while the vouchers earned via credit cards are the easiest to obtain, the strongest type of companion voucher is reserved for WestJet elite status members via milestone awards.

As you accrue milestone qualifying spend, you’ll unlock milestone award choices at $2,000, $8,000, $12,000, $16,000, $20,000, $30,000, $40,000, and $50,000 thresholds. Note that Status Lift counts towards tier qualifying spend but not milestone qualifying spend, which means that you have to spend money with WestJet to earn these milestone awards.

At the $8,000-, $12,000-, $20,000-, and $50,000 thresholds, you can choose a WestJet-wide companion voucher as one of the options.

It’s worth noting that the vouchers issued at the upper two thresholds are transferable to others, whereas others are not.

The reason why the vouchers earned through milestone awards are so valuable is because the second passenger won’t pay a base fare at all when the voucher is redeemed.

In other words, companions flying on milestone award vouchers pay a $0 base fare to all destinations, unlike the vouchers earned through credit cards, which charge a base fare depending on the destination. Note that the second passenger will still be subject to Other ATC and taxes and fees.

The base fares according to various destinations are as follows:

• Travel within Canada or to the continental U.S. (excluding Hawaii): $0
• Travel to the rest of the WestJet network: $0

As you can see, these vouchers can potentially save you $119–499 per booking compared to the vouchers earned through credit cards. If you’re someone who tends to pay for flights with WestJet, then be sure to keep an eye out for this voucher in your account.

Furthermore, companion vouchers earned as milestone awards will have a validity date of two years from the date on which they’re earned.

Plus, Gold and Platinum members can apply two companion vouchers to a single booking, which must be done through the priority support number accessible via the WestJet app.

How to Use the WestJet Companion Vouchers

Once you have a voucher available in your account, it’s simple to use.

The first step is to head to the WestJet website, and sign in to your WestJet Rewards account.

Next, fill out the “Book a flight” form, and be sure to check the “Use companion voucher” box, located just underneath your destination. It’s also important to specify that two guests will be travelling, as the voucher won’t otherwise be applicable.

After clicking “Get flights,” you’ll be brought to a page that displays the available vouchers in your account. The expiration date is displayed under each one, so your best bet, naturally, is to select the one that expires first.

From there, simply select flights as you typically would during the booking process. At the top of the results page, it will clearly display that your annual round-trip companion voucher has been applied.

At the checkout screen, you’ll see a breakdown of the costs associated with your trip. You’ll notice “Companion voucher” listed on the summary of charges, along with the corresponding charge, if there is one, next to it.

From here, simply pay for your booking as you otherwise would, and you’ll be all set.

Note that you can redeem WestJet points against the base fare and Other ATC at a rate of 1 cent per point during the checkout process.

If you also have enough points to cover the taxes and fees, you’ll get a lower value for them, which ranges from 0.87–0.95 cents per point. We’d therefore recommend saving them for the marginally higher redemption value of 1 cent per point instead, or using a fixed-value points currency such as Scene+ to get 1 cent per point on the taxes and fees, too.

How to Maximize the WestJet Annual Companion Vouchers

Generally speaking, you’ll get the most value out of your WestJet annual companion voucher in the following circumstances:

• When you book flights during peak travel seasons or at the last minute, as fares tend to be higher than usual during these times
• When you book higher fare classes, as higher fares tend to come with a greater cost
• When you book flights in WestJet Premium, since it has a greater cost (this is usually the highest-value way to use a companion voucher)
• When you book round-trip flights instead of one-way flights, as you stand to benefit more on two flights than you would on one

Meanwhile, you’re likely to get less or negligible value out of your companion voucher in the following circumstances:

• When you book flights on UltraBasic fares, since they’re often very low to begin with
• When you book flights during periods of low-demand or during seat sales, as the base fare might be close to the cost of the companion voucher fare (if any) for the second passenger
• When your flight has a disproportionately high amount of Other ATC fees, since you’ll only be saving a bit on the base fare and still have to cover the (sometimes hefty) amounts of Other ATC imposed on your booking

Let’s take a look at a few examples to illustrate how to make the best use of your voucher.

Note that we’ll assume that you’re using the companion voucher earned from the WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercardǂ in the below examples. If you happen to have one earned through a milestone award, you can expect the value each time to increase by $119–499, depending on the destination.

Booking Econo Fares

Suppose a couple is eyeing up a round-trip booking from Calgary to Toronto, and they’re flexible with dates. They’re simply looking for the cheapest price for two passengers, and so they select the “Econo” fare on the cheapest flights for the day.

After selecting flights with the voucher applied, the breakdown of the costs shows that Passenger 1 paid a total base fare of $282, and Passenger 2 paid $119 with the companion voucher.

When we compare the total cost of the booking with the total without the voucher applied, we only see a roughly $117.15 difference between the two.

In this instance, the voucher isn’t really that valuable. Since Passenger 1’s base fare with the voucher is $282, and Passenger 2’s base fare is $119, the initial savings is around $163. However, you’ll notice that there’s also an additional $120 in “Other ATC” with and without the voucher applied, which eats into your savings.

The “Other ATC” line, short for other “other air transportation charges,” is WestJet’s way of combining fuel surcharges and other fees into a catch-all category. 

Unfortunately, there’s no way to break down the charges in this category in the same way that the “taxes, fees, and charges” section breaks down the different fees all passengers are subject to, but these additional charges should be noted as they can cut into your potential savings.

There’s also plenty of instances where the base fare for your flight is low, while the “Other ATC” constitutes the bulk of the total fare. For example, a round-trip economy ticket from Calgary to London, costing $897 per passenger, is broken down as follows:

Applying a companion voucher on a ticket like this would make no sense at all, since the base fare for Passenger 1 is only $78, and a voucher would require Passenger 2 to pay a $399 base fare for a round-trip ticket to Europe. Plus, you’ll still be on the hook for all other taxes, fees, and charges, in addition to the “Other ATC” for each passenger.

In both the above examples, you’re better off saving the voucher for a different use, as neither of these redemption options justify paying the annual fee on a WestJet credit card.

Booking Premium Fares

Rather than booking an Econo fare, let’s see what happens if you decide to live it up and instead book a flight in WestJet Premium on the same domestic flights as above.

For example, here’s the cost of a round-trip booking for two between Calgary and Toronto in WestJet Premium with a companion voucher applied, which totals $1,636.41.

And here’s the cost of a round-trip booking on the same flights without a companion voucher applied, which works out to $2,490.06.

As you can see, using the companion voucher winds up saving you over $850. This is due to the cost of the base fare for Passenger 1, which is $1,032, while the companion voucher knocks Passenger 2’s base fare down to a fixed price of $219.

By booking something similar to this example, you’d be getting excellent value out of the voucher, and you’d comfortably be able to justify the card’s annual fee, with the caveat being that you’re choosing a more expensive flight to begin with.

Booking During Peak Season

Another great use of the WestJet annual round-trip companion voucher is to book travel during peak seasons, such as the summer months, long weekends, winter holidays, and Spring Break.

This time, suppose a couple is looking to spend the winter holidays down in warmer waters, and they decide to look at a flight from Edmonton to Puerto Vallarta. We can expect the base fares to be higher during this time, since it is a very popular travel period.

With the voucher applied, the couple can expect to pay $2,498 for round-trip flights between Edmonton and Puerto Vallarta in this example

It’s worth noting here that Passenger 2 will pay $399 instead of the $119 charged for a domestic itinerary, since this is the cost that corresponds to flights to Mexico (and other international destinations) when using the WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercardǂ voucher.

Without a voucher applied, the couple would have to pay $3,544 for the same flights.

In this case, the couple could save over $1,000 by using the voucher, an amount well above the cost of the credit card’s annual fee.

It’s worth noting that there’s also a surcharge of $114.98 per passenger in this example, which is waived for Passenger 2 when the voucher is applied.

Booking Last-Minute Flights

Sometimes, travellers are forced to book last-minute flights to deal with personal or business matters. To add another level of stress to what might already be unpleasant or urgent situation, cash fares for imminent flights are usually quite high.

For example, suppose you and your partner have an urgent matter to deal with in Montreal, and you need to be on the next flight out of Calgary that departs just a few hours from now. Without a voucher applied, you’re looking at around $2,787 for the two of you, with a return flight scheduled for the next day.

However, upon recalling that you have an annual round-trip companion voucher available from your credit card, you’ll see the total cost of your trip drop to $1,715 with it applied, which winds up saving you over $1,000.

While paying this much for a round-trip flight within Canada is still a tough pill to swallow, you’d at least be squeezing good value out of your voucher.

Booking Long-Haul Routes

For the last example, let’s see what happens if the voucher is applied to a long-haul route. While WestJet’s international network is rather small, you can use a voucher on any flight to Europe or Asia and Passenger 2 will pay a fixed base fare of $399 for economy.

You may recall that WestJet added a route between Calgary (YYC) and Tokyo Narita (NRT) in the recent past. Japan is a popular destination for tourists, so let’s determine if using the voucher on this route can add up to any considerable savings.

During the summer travel season, when we can expect base fares to be higher than usual, a round-trip flight with the voucher applied totals $3,215.

The same flights booked without a companion voucher total $4,517.

In this case, the voucher wound up saving over $1,300, which is once again a great deal.

How Much Is the WestJet Companion Voucher Worth?

It’s tricky to determine the value of the WestJet annual round-trip companion voucher, since it really depends on how much the first passenger is willing to spend on their own base fare in the first place.

For example, if you’re willing to pay more to fly in a higher class of service or to book in a higher fare bucket – whether it’s for more flexibility or perks, or for earning status – the companion voucher would be worth a lot more than it would be for someone who’s looking to fly for as little as possible.

As we saw in the above examples, the voucher didn’t result in meaningful savings when redeemed for a low Econo fare; however, there were multiple other uses in which the voucher offered value in excess of $1,000.

With this in mind, a fair middle-of-the-road valuation for the WestJet annual round-trip companion voucher would be somewhere around $500 (CAD). For what it’s worth, WestJet reports that cardholders saved (on average) $480 by using a World Elite companion voucher in 2024, which is roughly in line with our estimate.

It’s certainly possible to save more or less depending on how you choose to redeem it, but aiming for this value would ensure that you’re easily justifying the annual fee of your credit card (if applicable) and getting at least a moderate amount of savings.

Of course, as long as you’re getting good use out of the voucher, you can be happy with its value, since not everybody travels on long-haul flights, at the last minute, or during peak travel periods.

Conclusion

The WestJet annual round-trip companion voucher comes in three different forms, depending on the method through which you obtained it. While the application and cost of each voucher is different, you’ll get a discounted base fare for a second passenger when the voucher is applied to a booking.

WestJet annual round-trip companion vouchers are easiest to earn as a benefit on the WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercardǂ and the WestJet RBC® Mastercard‡ as there’s no minimum spending requirement and you’ll get it every year upon your cardholder anniversary date.

The most powerful voucher comes via WestJet Rewards’ milestone awards for elite status members, although you’ll need to spend thousands of dollars with WestJet to earn one.

You’ll get the most value out of the voucher by spending more to begin with; however, as long as it’s helping you meet your travel goals and saving you money along the way, you can consider it to be a good deal scored.