Travelling with a partner or friend on Porter Airlines? There’s a credit card perk that can knock the entire base fare off your companion’s ticket, and it’s the real deal.
The Porter Companion Pass, available exclusively through the BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard, is one of the more compelling perks in Canadian aviation right now. But there are a few catches worth knowing about before you start planning that weekend in Vegas for two.
What is the Porter Companion Pass?
The Porter Companion Pass is a voucher that covers 100% of the base fare for a second traveller on a round-trip Porter flight. You book and pay for your own ticket, and your companion’s base fare gets wiped out entirely. Taxes, fees, and NAV surcharges still apply to both tickets, so it’s not truly “free”, but the savings can be real depending on the route.
The Porter Companion Pass is good for 12 months from the date it’s issued, with no blackout dates, and it works on sale fares. You need to book before the expiry date, though the actual travel can take place afterwards, which is much more flexible than the competition.
It’s also worth noting that Porter’s offering is well above the companion vouchers that are offered from the other two main Canadian airlines, the WestJet Companion Voucher and the Air Canada Worldwide Companion Pass, because it waives the entire second passenger’s base fare rather than offering it at a discounted rate.
How to Obtain a Porter Companion Pass
The only way to get a Porter Companion Pass is through the BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard. There’s no status-based path to these companion passes, and the other Porter credit card, the BMO VIPorter Mastercard, does not offer one as a benefit.
As part of the current welcome offer, new BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard cardholders earn a companion pass after spending $9,000 within 180 days of account opening, on top of 20,000 bonus VIPorter points that are awarded at the same spend tier.
The BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard, Canada’s most valuable airline credit card*, offers benefits including VIPorter Venture membership and the opportunity to earn an annual round-trip companion pass through spending.
Earn when you apply through Frugal Flyer.
70,000 VIPorter points
$18,000
$1,250+
$199 (FYF)
Yes
Oct 31, 2026
One thing to be aware of: per the terms, the pass doesn’t land in your account the moment you hit $9,000. It becomes available 4–6 weeks after both the spend requirement and the full 180-day period have passed. Keep this in mind, as if you blast through $9,000 in month two, you’re still waiting until roughly month eight before the pass shows up. Plan accordingly.
Beyond the welcome offer, primary cardholders can earn one companion pass annually by spending $50,000 within 365 days of their account open date or anniversary. The counter resets each year, so you need to hit the full threshold within each 12-month window. The desktop website even has a helpful little counter:
In theory, a new cardholder who spends aggressively could earn two companion passes in their first year: one from the $9,000 welcome bonus tier and a second from hitting the $50,000 annual mark.
Now, $50,000 is a lot to spend on a single card. It’s worth pointing out that the BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard’s bonus earning categories cap out well before you get there: 3x VIPorter points on up to $20,000 on Porter purchases, 2x VIPorter points on up to $10,000 on groceries and dining, and 2x VIPorter Points on up to $5,000 each on gas/transportation and hotels.
If you’re hitting $50,000 in spend organically, a significant chunk of that spend is earning at the 1x base rate, which means you’re effectively giving up category multipliers and/or welcome bonuses on other card(s) to chase the companion pass. That doesn’t make it a bad deal as a companion pass on a high-value route can easily be worth more than the points you’d earn elsewhere, but it’s an opportunity cost worth thinking about.
As an aside, the BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard also comes with several other powerful Porter Airlines benefits, including priority services (such as early boarding and priority check-in), free checked baggage for the cardholder and up to eight guests on the same itinerary, and free PorterClassic seat selection, which are all offered as part of the complimentary Venture Membership status as a card benefit. It’s simply an excellent card to add to your wallet.
What is the Cost of Using a Porter Companion Pass?
While the Porter Companion Pass waives 100% of the base fare for the second traveller, their taxes, fees, and surcharges still apply. In practice, your companion will still owe somewhere in the range of $90–215, depending on the route, mostly driven by NAV Canada surcharges.
On a round-trip Edmonton (YEG) to Toronto (YYZ) booking, for instance, the companion’s base fare of $513 was fully deducted from the total cost, but they still paid about ~$209 in surcharges and taxes. The total for two passengers came to roughly $931 instead of $1,444.
Not bad for a “thrown-in” sign-up bonus on a credit card that doesn’t even charge the $199 annual fee until the second year. This kind of customer value is why Frugal Flyer has reviewed the BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard in depth and assessed it as one of the best new credit card products in the Canadian market.
Porter Companion Pass Restrictions
Alright, here’s where you’ll want to pay attention.
The companion pass can only be redeemed on PorterClassic fares on Porter-operated flights. This is slightly buried in the booking flow, but it matters because if you were hoping to use it on a PorterReserve fare, you’re out of luck.
Similarly, it doesn’t work on partner airline flights through Alaska Airlines or Air Transat, even if those flights show up on Porter’s website. Porter metal only.
The companion voucher is also designed to be best used for a round-trip flight. You can technically apply it to a one-way booking, but the terms and conditions are clear that doing so burns the entire pass and forfeits whatever savings you’d get on a return leg. So just don’t do it.
You can’t apply the pass retroactively to an existing reservation, and a booking can only include two passengers total: you and one companion.
The pass is non-transferable and tied to the primary cardholder, so you can’t hand it off to a friend to use on their own trip. And if you cancel your BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard or switch to a different product, any unused companion passes disappear immediately, as there is no grace period, no exceptions.
How to Book Flights With a Porter Companion Pass
The booking process runs through Porter’s website, but it’s not immediately obvious where to apply your pass. Once earned, it shows up in your VIPorter account dashboard with its expiry date and a “Redeem Now” button. You’ll need to get there first.
You’ll then see your eligible companion pass in your dashboard. Click “Redeem Now” to start the booking process.
Hit that button, and you’ll land on the flight search page with a promo code already filled in. It’s blanked out here for security reasons, but you’ll get a unique promo code ID every time you earn a voucher.
Search for a round-trip PorterClassic flight for two passengers, add your companion’s details, and the discount shows up in the price breakdown before you pay.
You should be able to see your savings immediately. Happy booking, and have an awesome flight!
How to Get the Most Value From a Porter Companion Pass
Since the companion pass wipes out the entire base fare for the second person, the logic is simple: the pricier the fare, the bigger the savings.
Peak season travel windows like March break, summer, and the holidays push fares up, and since the pass has no blackout dates, those are prime opportunities. Longer routes, like YVR to YUL, or Toronto to Vegas, will net you more than a quick hop from Toronto to Ottawa. Last-minute bookings are another sweet spot, since fares tend to spike closer to departure.
Another nice sweet spot could be in traveling to some of the more esoteric destinations: for example, if you have NEXUS membership, you could fly to Windsor, Ontario, when Porter offers service, then hop across the border to Detroit.
And, as mentioned, book a round-trip flight only when redeeming a Porter Companion Pass!
Conclusion
The Porter Companion Pass is one of the better “companion” benefits in the Canadian market right now, and the fact that it waives the full base fare, and not just a percentage, sets it apart from what WestJet and Air Canada offer. If Porter Airlines is already part of your regular rotation of airlines that you travel with, it’s one of the strongest reasons to pick up the BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard.
The $50,000 annual spend threshold for the second companion pass is steep and comes with its own trade-offs, but the welcome offer companion pass at $9,000 is well within reach for most people. This companion pass alone could easily save you several hundred dollars on a single trip. Just remember this is for PorterClassic fares on Porter metal only, and always book round-trip if you want to maximize value.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, it’s only good on Porter-operated flights. You can’t use it on Alaska Airlines, Air Transat, or any other partner carrier, even if those flights are bookable through Porter’s website.
No. The companion voucher is tied to the primary BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard holder. Your companion can be anyone, but the cardholder has to be one of the two passengers on the booking; you can’t just hand it off to someone else.
Yes, the pass is valid for 12 months from the date it’s issued. You need to book before it expires, but your actual travel dates can fall after the expiry date as long as there’s availability when you book.
If you cancel your BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard or switch products, any unused passes get cancelled too.
Yes, you can technically use your companion pass on one-way trips. However, this means you forfeit any base fare that would have been waived on a return flight. Therefore, using it on one-way trips is generally a bad value.
No, for now, the only way to earn a Porter companion pass is by holding the BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard and getting a pass by spending over $9,000 in the first 180 days as part of the welcome bonus, or by spending $50,000 per year.
These benefits are stackable in the first year, meaning a big spender could earn two companion passes.
Kirin Tsang
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