WestJet and RBC have just added a new benefit to their base level co-brand Mastercard that really ups the game for entry level credit cards. This new benefit is an annual companion voucher for flights within Canada. That’s right a companion voucher on a card that only runs $39 per year. Taking note from the higher end WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard which is well known for its annual companion voucher, the WestJet RBC Mastercard now offers its own variation of a companion voucher.
This new benefit will provide holders of the base level card with an annual voucher that can be used on WestJet’s domestic network in Canada for only $199. This means when you buy one ticket on WestJet for travel within Canada you can get second ticket on the same itinerary and reservation for only $199 plus taxes/fees. It can be used for round-trip travel in Economy, Economy Flex, Premium and Premium Flex fares but not Business Class or Member Exclusive fares and there are absolutely no black out dates for the voucher. This is where the voucher can really be of great use – for more expensive fares during the busy times of the year like spring break, Christmas, summer holidays etc. Another time vouchers can be really useful is when you may need to buy last minute travel that tends to be more expensive. Or you can choose to use to up your comfort on flights by buying Premium fares.
Here is an example of a last minute travel booking:
If you need to fly during the summer peak season and you don’t book many months out you will be paying a lot – as you can see here over $1100 per person. By utilizing this voucher you would pay $1176.96 for the first traveller and about $315.96 for the second traveller ($199 voucher amount + 116.96 in taxes and fees) which saves you $861 on that second ticket!
Here’s a Christmas example for someone flying between Montreal and Edmonton:
In this case the voucher will save you about $565! And finally, an example of using it for a Premium Fare:
Again we look at Vancouver to Toronto, this time for travel in August. You would only pay $332.81 for a second ticket in Premium Class – a savings of $1,193!
As you can see this new benefit can provide some huge savings and is big step forward for an entry level credit card in Canada. The card offers a 50 WestJet Dollar welcome bonus which means you are ahead by 11 dollars in the first year when taking into account the annual fee. New cardholders can expect to receive the voucher within 4-6 weeks after their first purchase on the card. If you have a family of 4 or more you may want to entertain getting two separate cards so that you can have two vouchers annually. We do this in our family, my wife has her own WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard and I have my own and we use our vouchers for our kids so we are only paying full fare for the parents and the kids fly much cheaper!
Related: Why my wife and I each grabbed our own WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercards
If you are an existing cardholder who has a renewal date on or after June 1, 2019, you can expect to receive the voucher in your account 30 days after your renewal date. If your renewal date was prior to June 1 you have to wait until your renewal in 2020 to receive your voucher.
This is great news and is a true enhancement to this card! They haven’t taken anything away, they haven’t raised the annual fee and you get a new benefit that can literally be worth over a thousand dollars. Kudos to WestJet and RBC for taking this step in adding a truly useful and valuable benefit to an entry level credit card! What do you think of this news? Would you consider getting this card now that it has the companion voucher? Let us know in the comments below!
You can learn more about the domestic companion voucher here.
Here are the details of the card: