Maximize Perks as a Couple (Companion Tickets, Lounge Access, and More)

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Rewards are not just about the points and miles – they’re also about the perks that come with certain credit cards. When used right, couples can get a lot of extra value and comfort from these perks:

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Companion Tickets:

Some airline cards offer an annual companion certificate (notably certain Delta, Alaska, or British Airways cards) where one ticket is full price and the second passenger flies for just taxes. If you have such a card, this effectively can cut your flight costs in half for one trip a year. Be sure to use it! Coordinate travel so you take advantage of that companion fare for a trip you both want. If you each have a companion ticket (maybe each got the same card), you could even do two trips – one using yours, one using theirs.

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Airport Lounge Access:

Nothing makes travel more enjoyable than relaxing in an airport lounge with your partner, sipping coffee or wine, away from the crowds. Airline co-brand premium cards often grant lounge access (via Priority Pass or the airline’s lounges). Typically, these memberships allow you to bring guests (e.g., Priority Pass usually allows 2 guests for free).

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This means one card can cover lounge visits for both of you when traveling together. If traveling separately, each should have some access – this might be a reason for both to have a lounge card or to get an authorized user card for the partner (Amex Plat, for instance, lets you add 3 authorized users for $175 total, and each gets lounge access – much cheaper than two separate Platinums).

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TSA PreCheck/Global Entry:

Many travel cards reimburse the application fee for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry. If each of you have a card that does this, use one credit for each of you – bam, both get to skip the long security/immigration lines for free. If only one card has it, use it for one person and pay for the other (or find another card to use). It’s a small perk but as a couple, going through the fast lane together is nice.

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Hotel Elite Status:

Some cards automatically give you a mid-tier hotel status (like Marriott Gold or Hilton Gold). If one of you has such a card, when you book hotel stays, try to book under the name of the person with status and add the partner to the reservation. That way, you both enjoy the benefits (room upgrade, free breakfast, etc.). If you each have different statuses at different chains thanks to different cards, you have a wider net of hotels where you can get special treatment.

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Rental Car Perks:

A few cards offer status with car rental companies (like National or Hertz). If one has Executive status and is renting the car for a trip, add the partner as an additional driver (often fee-waived with the status or card benefits), so both can drive and enjoy upgrades. Alternatively, if driving separately, each of you should leverage whatever status your cards give.

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Travel Insurance and Protections:

When traveling together, use the card that has the best travel protections to book your trip, regardless of whose card it is. For example, your card might have robust trip cancellation insurance, while your partner’s might not. So you’d want to charge the flights to your card (even if it’s for both tickets). Conversely, if your partner’s card has primary rental car insurance, use that card when renting the car for your joint road trip. As a unit, you can pick the optimal card for each booking to ensure you’re well covered.

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By fully utilizing these perks, you can travel in much greater comfort and security. Many couples overlook these or only one person gets the benefit – but by planning, you can often extend the benefit to the other partner either for free or minimal cost (like authorized user fees). This increases the overall value you get from your credit cards.

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For instance, if together you take 5 trips a year, lounge access for both of you could easily be worth $200+ (value of food/drinks and comfort), PreCheck saves hours of time (hard to price but valuable), a companion ticket might save $300, hotel breakfasts maybe $100, and travel insurance can save thousands if something goes wrong. These figures multiplied by two (since both benefit) show how leveraging perks can be as important as the points earned.

Example Scenario: A Year of Rewards-Fueled Travel for a Couple

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To illustrate how powerful these strategies can be, let’s walk through a hypothetical scenario:

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January: Alicia and Ben decide on a goal: a 10th anniversary trip to Italy next year, flying business class and staying 10 nights (5 in Rome, 5 in Florence) using points. They map out what they’ll need: ~240k airline miles (for 2 business class round-trip tickets to Europe) and about 200k hotel points (to cover most of the hotel nights).

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They apply for cards: Alicia gets a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (60k bonus points), Ben gets a United℠ Explorer Card (50k miles bonus). They put all expenses on these to meet bonuses. They also each refer a friend to their cards, earning an extra 15k Chase points and 10k United miles.

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Spring: Ben gets a Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card (100k point bonus) – referred by Alicia who has an older Marriott card (referral gives her 20k points). Alicia gets a Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® (50k American miles) because they may also consider an AA partner flight option.

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They strategize spending: All groceries and gas go on Marriott card to hit its $5k spend for the bonus; all dining goes on the Chase card for 2x; flight purchases go on the United card for the free bag perk and 2x miles.

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Summer: Alicia earns a targeted bonus on her Chase card for adding an authorized user and spending $2k (she adds Ben, gets 5k bonus). Ben hits Marriott bonus; they now have ~130k Marriott points combined (including some from spending and Alicia’s referral bonus). They also each sign up for airline dining programs, earning a few thousand extra miles by dining out on date nights.

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Fall: They evaluate progress. Together they have ~60k Chase points, 60k United + 50k AA miles, 130k Marriott, and some miscellaneous. They decide to top up airline miles: Ben applies for the United Quest℠ Card card (another 60k miles bonus) – since Chase allows one to transfer points to spouse, Alicia promises to move her 60k Chase points to Ben’s United account when ready to book. This effectively will give them about 170k United miles.

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Alicia, meanwhile, product-changes her Marriott card to a no-fee version after using the free night cert (they used it for a local getaway), and gets a Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card with 130k bonus (aiming to use Hilton points for Florence hotels).

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Year’s end: They achieved: ~180k United miles (between Ben’s two United cards and Alicia’s transfer of Chase points), 50k AA miles (may not need if United covers flights, but a backup or for another trip), ~130k Marriott and 130k Hilton points. They also both have TSA PreCheck now (thanks to one of the card’s credits) and Ben’s Hilton card gives him Hilton Gold (free breakfast).

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Redemption: They find business class award seats to Italy via United’s partner Lufthansa for $0 + points (say 70k each way per person = 280k, but they have 180k United and 50k AA – they transfer some of Marriott points to United or use AA miles for one person’s ticket on another OneWorld partner).

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With careful planning, they secure two tickets. Marriott points cover 5 nights in Rome at a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel (they used the “5th night free” feature Marriott offers on award stays), and Hilton points cover 4 nights in Florence (they pay one night cash).

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The result: Alicia and Ben fly in lie-flat comfort to Italy and stay nearly free, something that would have cost them tens of thousands of dollars, all achieved by playing the two-player credit card game for a year. Plus, during the trip they use perks – Ben’s United card got their luggage checked free, Alicia’s Sapphire covers car rental insurance in Tuscany, and they used Alicia’s Priority Pass lounge access during layovers.

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This example shows how by pooling efforts, couples can realize dream trips that would be very hard to do as quickly alone. It does take planning and execution, but splitting the tasks and each taking some cards made it much faster.

A Note on Responsibility

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Travel hacking as a couple is exciting and can lead to amazing experiences, but it’s worth emphasizing: always practice financial responsibility. Pay those credit card bills in full (especially when juggling many cards), don’t overspend for the sake of points, and keep each other in check. It’s easy for enthusiasm to lead to taking on too many cards or expenses. Communicate openly if one feels things are getting too complicated or budgets are strained. The goal is to enhance your life with travel and rewards, not to create stress or debt.

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If at any point strategies become too hard to manage, simplify. Maybe close a couple of cards or focus on cash back for a while. There’s no one-size-fits-all – some couples go all-in and manage 20 cards between them, others keep just a few and still get great value. Find the level that’s fun and sustainable for you.

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In conclusion, when done right, couples who travel hack together can make their travel dreams come true much sooner. You’ll not only save money, but planning and earning rewards can become a shared project that brings you closer (two-player mode feels like a team sport!). So set your sights on a goal, implement some of the strategies above, and soon you might be raising a glass of champagne at 35,000 feet or checking into that luxury resort you never thought you’d afford – all thanks to savvy credit card use and teamwork.

FAQs: Travel Credit Card Strategies for Couples

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What are the best credit cards for couples who love to travel?

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It depends on your travel habits, but a common combo is for each partner to get a general travel rewards card (like Chase Sapphire Preferred or Capital One Venture) for flexible points. Then add co-branded cards based on your preferred airline or hotel – e.g., one gets a Delta Amex, the other gets a Marriott or Hyatt card. This way you cover airlines, hotels, and have flexible points to top up either.

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Cards that offer companion tickets (Alaska Airlines Visa, Southwest Visa for Companion Pass, certain Delta cards) can be extremely valuable for couples. Also, at least one premium card (Chase Sapphire Reserve, Amex Platinum) in the household can provide lounge access and enhanced travel protections for both. In summary, two good travel cards + one or two airline/hotel cards each is a great setup for traveling pairs.

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How can couples earn a Companion Pass or free companion flights?

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Southwest’s Companion Pass is a coveted perk that essentially gives you buy-one-get-one-free flights (you just pay taxes for the companion). To earn it, one person needs to accumulate a certain number of Southwest points in a calendar year (currently 135,000 points). Couples often have one person get two Southwest credit cards (personal and business, or two different personal if eligible) at the beginning of the year, plus transfer hotel points or heavily use the cards, to hit the 135k.

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Once earned, that partner names the other as their companion, and the companion flies free with them for the rest of that year and all of the next year. It’s huge. Aside from Southwest, some airline cards (Delta Platinum/Reserve, Alaska Visa) give an annual companion certificate which is nearly a free ticket for the companion (plus taxes, and sometimes a fee). To use those, just make sure to redeem the certificate when booking a flight for both of you – typically you pay the fare for one and apply the cert for the second. Planning trips around these companion benefits yields big savings for couples.

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Can my spouse and I combine our frequent flyer miles or hotel points?

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You generally cannot lump together airline miles freely in one account unless the airline has a special program for it (some, like British Airways, allow household accounts). However, you can use miles from two accounts to book two seats on the same flight – effectively “combining” toward the same trip. For hotels, many programs do allow point transfers or pooling among spouses. Hilton lets you pool points with others (including spouses) for free. Marriott allows you to transfer a certain number of points to a spouse each year.

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World of Hyatt lets you combine points when making a specific booking (you have to fill out a form, but it’s doable). So yes, couples have ways to combine, but it may require a request or might be limited. Always check the loyalty program’s policy: you might find you can simply press a “transfer to spouse” button online (Chase Ultimate Rewards allows transfers to a spouse’s account, for instance, which is great for pooling points earned from separate cards).

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If we both have the same travel card, do we both get the perks (like lounge access)?

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Yes, if you each hold the same card individually, you each are entitled to its perks. But in many cases, that’s overkill. For example, if a card grants lounge access, one card is usually enough because it covers guests. So couples often decide to have only one person keep that card, and maybe the other person gets added as an authorized user if needed for access (some lounges require the named cardholder to be present, but you can guest your partner in). Another example: if you both had a hotel card that gives a free night, you’ll get two free nights (one each).

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That can be useful – you could string them together for a weekend. If the perk is something like a fee credit (e.g. each card gives a $300 travel credit), then having one each means you double that benefit. It really depends on the benefit whether having it on both is worth paying two annual fees. Always evaluate if one card’s benefits sufficiently cover both of you (sharing where possible), or if the marginal benefit of a second card is worth it.

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How do we manage travel bookings when using points from two accounts?

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Communication is key. Decide who is booking what. For flights, if you each have miles in your own account, you’ll each book your own ticket (coordinate to be on same flights). One partner can send the other the flight details to mirror when booking. For hotels, if pooling isn’t an option, you can book some nights from one account and additional nights from the other – just let the hotel know it’s one continuous stay (they can usually link the reservations so you don’t have to change rooms). Another tactic: one person can transfer points to the other if allowed and then make one booking.

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For simplicity, some couples designate “you handle flights, I handle hotels” if points are split that way. If using a flexible currency like Chase Ultimate Rewards, you might combine them into one person’s account to book all travel via the portal or transfers. Using tools (like AwardWallet) to track all accounts can help both partners see what’s available to spend. As long as you plan together, it’s fine if the points live in two places – you’ll just execute two transactions instead of one, and end up on the same trip.