Thursday, March 20, 2008
Jet Blue's Dirty Little Secret
The airline known for free TV and Blue potato chips has a dirty little secret. For smart travelers, it's capped its most expensive flights for $250 each way. You just have to know how to look, and be a part of their frequent flyer program.
JetBlue has a pretty average to poor frequent flyer program. TrueBlue doesn't let you keep any points earned longer than 12 months after you've earned them. Unless you have their American Express card, in which case, they don't expire at all. It's a great way to limit award availability on their flights.
The benefit to the program is that earning free flights isn't too difficult. Four roundtrip coast to coast flights and a short one way flight and you've got a free round trip ticket. For someone who flies a moderate amount, awards are acheivable. But this month, they just got more achievable.
Early this March, JetBlue quietly rolled out the chance to purchase points. At least for now, the pricing is reasonable. $50 gets you 10 points, and their website doesn't seem to indicate a limit in points to purchase. This means for $500, you can buy a round trip ticket anywhere that JetBlue flies. Although this won't be cheaper than most JetBlue tickets that are currently available, it can save you quite a bit on some routes.
For example: booking a ticket from JFK to Las Vegas April 4 to April 6 would cost you as much as $648.50 round trip, or 100 JetBlue points. Which you can buy for $500. Obviously, some caveats apply. Before you spend money on points, make sure you can get the flights you want with points... and don't expect this deal to last too long. Generally, these kind of frequent flier "enhancements" are there to primarily benefit the company. When the airline notices lots of 100 point purchases, bets are that limits on point purchases will suddenly materialize.
Cranky Flier has some great info on the other JetBlue news of the week, paying extra for extra legroom.
JetBlue has a pretty average to poor frequent flyer program. TrueBlue doesn't let you keep any points earned longer than 12 months after you've earned them. Unless you have their American Express card, in which case, they don't expire at all. It's a great way to limit award availability on their flights.
The benefit to the program is that earning free flights isn't too difficult. Four roundtrip coast to coast flights and a short one way flight and you've got a free round trip ticket. For someone who flies a moderate amount, awards are acheivable. But this month, they just got more achievable.
Early this March, JetBlue quietly rolled out the chance to purchase points. At least for now, the pricing is reasonable. $50 gets you 10 points, and their website doesn't seem to indicate a limit in points to purchase. This means for $500, you can buy a round trip ticket anywhere that JetBlue flies. Although this won't be cheaper than most JetBlue tickets that are currently available, it can save you quite a bit on some routes.
For example: booking a ticket from JFK to Las Vegas April 4 to April 6 would cost you as much as $648.50 round trip, or 100 JetBlue points. Which you can buy for $500. Obviously, some caveats apply. Before you spend money on points, make sure you can get the flights you want with points... and don't expect this deal to last too long. Generally, these kind of frequent flier "enhancements" are there to primarily benefit the company. When the airline notices lots of 100 point purchases, bets are that limits on point purchases will suddenly materialize.
Cranky Flier has some great info on the other JetBlue news of the week, paying extra for extra legroom.
Labels: frequent flier miles, jet blue, travel, trueblue
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
US Airways: Devaluing Miles, Adding Fees
US Airways has given you another couple reasons to fly with someone else. Like United Airlines did earlier this month, the Phoenix based carrier is adding a fee of $25 to check a second bag on their flights. Unlike United, however, no consideration to the consumer was ever provided. Also, they've recently announced a big downgrade to their frequent flier program, by cutting the miles earned on shorthaul flights.
With United, if you paid the highest class of ticket, you can check a second bag for free. Elite frequent fliers also are exempt from the baggage fee and the new baggage policy only applies to domestic flights. Although this is a clear case of wanting to maximize revenue based on higher fuel costs, the conditions of the fee seems reasonable compared to how US Airways is applying it.
With US, you will pay the same fee - regardless of the ticket price. International flights? You pay the fee. Elite and first class passengers are exempt, but given the recent frequent flier enhancement on earning miles, it is getting a lot harder for road warriors to acheive that elite status by eliminating the 500 mile minimum award for flying with them. Cranky Flier has good insight on both this change and the new baggage fee.
Will other airlines follow suit? It's possible, but probably with some more customer friendly provisions attached. Given its recent enhancements, and poor baggage handling history, US Airways is quickly becoming an airline to avoid, providing Ultra Low Cost airline service at legacy prices.
With United, if you paid the highest class of ticket, you can check a second bag for free. Elite frequent fliers also are exempt from the baggage fee and the new baggage policy only applies to domestic flights. Although this is a clear case of wanting to maximize revenue based on higher fuel costs, the conditions of the fee seems reasonable compared to how US Airways is applying it.
With US, you will pay the same fee - regardless of the ticket price. International flights? You pay the fee. Elite and first class passengers are exempt, but given the recent frequent flier enhancement on earning miles, it is getting a lot harder for road warriors to acheive that elite status by eliminating the 500 mile minimum award for flying with them. Cranky Flier has good insight on both this change and the new baggage fee.
Will other airlines follow suit? It's possible, but probably with some more customer friendly provisions attached. Given its recent enhancements, and poor baggage handling history, US Airways is quickly becoming an airline to avoid, providing Ultra Low Cost airline service at legacy prices.
Labels: baggage, fees, frequent flier miles, travel, united, us airways
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Be a Frequent Flyer without Flying Anywhere!
Free flights! The siren song of the internet these days for me. I'm always looking for a reason to get away and sneak off somewhere... be it to hang out with a good friend far away, or just to explore someplace that's new to me. There are plenty of ways to do that on the cheap these days - believe it or not, the price of flight has stayed relatively stable in the last 20 years, despite fuel costs that have tripled! There are the low cost carriers like Southwest, JetBlue and Frontier which can get you pretty far on $100 dollars, the incoming Ultra Low Cost class of airlines - like SkyBus and Spirit where penny airfare sales are common and tickets are available regularly for ten dollars or less!
But that's still not cheap enough for my skinflint heart. I want it for nothing, dammit! So frequent flier miles seem to be the best option. Flying not actually necessary. Seriously.
For example, Delta, is the airline I collect miles on. I'm saving up for 50,000 miles so I can get overseas on them and I'm currently a little over half way there. Funny thing is, I have only flown Delta five times in my life. Twice on miles. Last year, I earned 15,000 miles for getting a Delta branded American Express card, about 5,000 miles for fueling my Diet Coke addiction, and a couple thousand miles for eating at IHOP. That's right, I earned enough miles to fly home at the last minute last October by eating pancakes. Ain't life grand?
Now sure, there are drawbacks. Earning miles can be a bit of work - looking for special programs and utilizing them, but it will pay off. When I head to Buenos Aires next year for free on Delta, the kidneystones I formed from all that soda will be treated to a window seat 35,000 feet in the sky... and another Diet Coke.
Free flights! The siren song of the internet these days for me. I'm always looking for a reason to get away and sneak off somewhere... be it to hang out with a good friend far away, or just to explore someplace that's new to me. There are plenty of ways to do that on the cheap these days - believe it or not, the price of flight has stayed relatively stable in the last 20 years, despite fuel costs that have tripled! There are the low cost carriers like Southwest, JetBlue and Frontier which can get you pretty far on $100 dollars, the incoming Ultra Low Cost class of airlines - like SkyBus and Spirit where penny airfare sales are common and tickets are available regularly for ten dollars or less!
But that's still not cheap enough for my skinflint heart. I want it for nothing, dammit! So frequent flier miles seem to be the best option. Flying not actually necessary. Seriously.
For example, Delta, is the airline I collect miles on. I'm saving up for 50,000 miles so I can get overseas on them and I'm currently a little over half way there. Funny thing is, I have only flown Delta five times in my life. Twice on miles. Last year, I earned 15,000 miles for getting a Delta branded American Express card, about 5,000 miles for fueling my Diet Coke addiction, and a couple thousand miles for eating at IHOP. That's right, I earned enough miles to fly home at the last minute last October by eating pancakes. Ain't life grand?
Now sure, there are drawbacks. Earning miles can be a bit of work - looking for special programs and utilizing them, but it will pay off. When I head to Buenos Aires next year for free on Delta, the kidneystones I formed from all that soda will be treated to a window seat 35,000 feet in the sky... and another Diet Coke.
Labels: Delta, frequent flier miles, pancakes, travel
