JetBlue Sells TrueBlue Points for Less, but Is it Less Enough?

Selling frequent flyer miles to travelers is a big business for the airlines. And a very profitable one.

But buying miles, at the prices typically charged by the airlines, is generally a lousy deal for consumers—they're just too expensive. Which probably explains why so many airlines so routinely find it necessary to discount the price of their miles.

While not as lucrative as the 100 percent buy-miles bonuses we've seen from US Airways and Delta, JetBlue's current 50 percent bonus certainly trumps the 25 percent bonuses regularly on offer from other airlines. And it's the biggest bonus I've ever seen from JetBlue. So if ever there were a time to buy TrueBlue points, this is it.

Offer Details

Through May 31, members of JetBlue's TrueBlue program will receive a 50 percent bonus when purchasing TrueBlue points, either for their own accounts or as gifts for other TrueBlue members.

JetBlue is also waiving the normal transaction fee during the promotion period, although the 7.5 percent excise tax will still apply.

Deal or No Deal

TrueBlue points normally cost between 3 cents and 3.75 cents apiece, depending on the quantity purchased. With the bonus, the price drops to between 2 cents and 2.5 cents per point, with 1,500 points costing $37.63 and 45,000 points costing $886.88.

So, what's a TrueBlue point worth? Unlike a mile in the legacy carriers' programs, whose value varies according to the market price of the tickets they're redeemed for, TrueBlue points have a more or less set value, between around 1.1 and 1.3 cents apiece.

And that brings us to the selling proposition: Pay just over 2 cents each for points that are worth, on average, just over 1 cent each.

Although an argument might be made for buying small quantities of TrueBlue points to reach an award threshold, significant purchases just won't stand up to financial scrutiny—even with the bonus, you're much better served by buying a JetBlue ticket than by buying TrueBlue points.

Reader Reality Check

Have you ever purchased airline miles or points? Under what circumstances? Did you feel the money was well spent?

(For more news like this, sign up to receive our free weekly newsletter. You can follow us on Twitter, too.)

Your Choice: Airline Miles or Hotel Points?

I receive a lot of press releases, most of which have little or nothing to do with my primary focus, loyalty programs.

 Occasionally, however, a news release is relevant not so much for its headline content as for a point made in support of its main topic.

Among the claims made in a recent release announcing Priority Club's global relaunch, for  instance, was the following, allegedly based on consumer research:

Hotel loyalty program points displace airline frequent flyer miles as preferred currency: Frequent travelers place a higher perceived value on hotel loyalty program currency over frequent flier miles, as airlines' imposition of fees, decreased reward seat inventory and greater restrictions have weakened consumer trust, and as hotel programs add additional redemption options, including access to airline inventory.

I have no argument with the premises. Frequent flyer fees are rampant; awards are in shorter-than-ever supply, relative to demand; and consumer trust and engagement have eroded.

But have hotel points really displaced airline miles as the world's preferred loyalty currency, as Priority Club alleges?

It's not a rhetorical question—I'm seriously seeking feedback from readers on this. I have my own opinion, based both on my personal experience and attitudes and my discussions with other rewards-program participants. But more information is always better.

Again, the question: Do you value hotel points more than airline miles?

Please weigh in with your comments below, and check back to see what other travelers have to say on the subject.

Thanks for your feedback.

(For more news like this, sign up to receive our free weekly newsletter. You can follow us on Twitter, too.)

Q&A: Help, I Can No Longer Afford That "Free" Ticket!

Question from Jim

I've noticed there's a big discrepancy between carriers when it comes to the taxes and fees added on to a flight booked with miles.

For a recent British Airways First Class ticket from San Francisco to London, the taxes and fees were around $300 per ticket after using miles. I have used United miles in the past for Business and First Class to Europe, and the fees were maybe $100 a ticket, if that. A few days ago I was researching a ticket for my son to go to Europe in June. I could use my United miles and pay $53 in taxes and fees for a multi-city trip for him, or transfer some American Express points into Aeroplan and get a better flight using Air Canada (I know they're partners, and it shouldn't have mattered, but the flights I could find on the Aeroplan website were better than the flights I could find calling United). However, the taxes and fees from Air Canada were $343. Why such a difference between United and Air Canada/Aeroplan for essentially the same flights—and mostly the same carriers?

Answer

Of all the various taxes and fees imposed on airline tickets, for paid travel as well as on frequent flyer award tickets, the one that can potentially result in eye-popping total fees is fuel surcharges.

And with the price of oil back over $110 a barrel, those surcharges have been on the rise, prompting an outpouring of concern from consumers like yourself.

But not all airlines impose fuel surcharges. And the ones that do don't always do a good job of disclosing the fees.

While there are exceptions, the general rule is that U.S. carriers do not impose fuel surcharges, and non-U.S. carriers do.

As an example, redeeming miles in British Airways' Executive Club for a round-trip business-class award flight on that airline between Los Angeles and London in mid-June, the "taxes, fees, charges, and surcharges" would be as follows:

• Customs User Fee - $5.50
• Animal & Plant Health User Fee (Aphis) - $5.00
• Immigration User Fee - $7.00
• Passenger Civil Aviation Security Service Fee - $2.50
• Air Passenger Duty - $195.19
• Passenger Service Charge - $49.82
• Fuel Surcharge - $592.00
• Insurance and Security Surcharge - $16.00

The total: a jaw-dropping $873.01, a hefty 68 percent of which is that $592 fuel surcharge. (For comparison, a comparable award flight on American Airlines, using AAdvantage miles, would cost only $268.50 in fees, with no fuel surcharge.)

But that's just British Airways. There's no set amount or formula—the fuel surcharges vary from airline to airline. In some cases, they rise and fall with the market price of oil. In other cases not. Some carriers raise the surcharges as the flight distance increases. But some don't. And some airlines charge more for first and business class than for coach. But there's no consistency there either.

Often, the only way to find out how much you'd pay in fuel surcharges for a particular flight is to use the airline's booking app, completing all the reservations steps until the fees are disclosed, typically toward the end of the process.

Do the fuel surcharges undermine the value of miles earned in the programs of British Airways, Lufthansa, All Nippon Airways, and other airlines that impose such fees for award flights? Absolutely. But there are work-arounds for members of those programs who prefer their awards relatively fee-free.

In British Airways' program, for instance, members may use their miles for flights on multiple other airlines, including other carriers participating in the Oneworld global alliance (American, Cathay Pacific, Iberia, LAN, and so on). Redeeming British Airways miles for a round-trip American flight between New York and San Francisco, for example, would only incur a negligible $5.00 in taxes and fees. The fees for a round-trip flight to Buenos Aires from Los Angeles, combining American and LAN flights, would total a reasonable $64.00. (For some additional suggestions on getting the most value from British Airways miles, see this blog post.)

But such contrarian tactics do raise a question: If you're getting better value redeeming miles for flights on partner airlines, maybe you'd be better off participating in the programs of those other carriers. That might have long-term as well as short-term benefits: If enough consumers turned away from programs with egregious fuel surcharges, perhaps the offending airlines would be forced to discontinue such nuisance fees.

(For more news like this, sign up to receive our free weekly newsletter. You can follow us on Twitter, too.)

New Priority Club Credit Cards Come With a Big Bonus

There's never been more interest in travel rewards credit cards.

That's at least in part because the card issuers have never before offered such rich incentives to lure prospective cardholders into applying for their cards, and into using them.

Capital One, for example, gave away more than 1 billion miles in just 25 days to spur applications for its Venture card.

And Chase has reprised its 100,000-mile bonus for new holders of the British Airways Visa card. The offer remains in place through May 6.

The sign-up offers for hotel-affiliated cards haven't been quite as generous as those in the airline arena, but they too have featured uncommonly lavish bonuses.

This is one of the most lucrative.

Offer Details

Chase is offering new cardholders 60,000 bonus points after their first charge to the Priority Club Select Visa card.

Card details:

• Annual fee: $49, waived the first year
• Card awards five points per $1 spent at Priority Club hotels; two points per $1 spent on gas, groceries, dining; one point per $1 for other spend
• Cardholders get a 10 percent discount on award stays
• No foreign transaction fees
• Cardholders receive automatic Gold elite status
• Cardholders receive a free-night certificate after every year

There's no published end date to the bonus portion of this offer, so it could be scaled back at any time.

Deal or No Deal

I don't remember ever seeing so many bonus points on offer for a Priority Club credit card. And the card is a solid one, even bundled with a lesser bonus.

If you're in the market for a hotel-linked card, this might be a good time to get one. And this would certainly be a good one to get.

Reader Reality Check

Any feedback on this card, or Priority Club Rewards generally?

Other Posts of Interest

• The Comeback: 100,000 Miles for British Airways' Credit Cards
• What Would You Do With 100,000 British Air Frequent Flyer Miles?
• How Fast Can You Give Away 1 Billion Frequent Flyer Miles?
• Are Debit Card Miles an Endangered Frequent Flyer Perk?
• Foreign Transaction Fees Are an Endangered Species
• Is Hyatt's New Credit Card a Game-Changer?

(For more news like this, sign up to receive our free weekly newsletter. You can follow us on Twitter, too.)

Starwood's Spring Promotion: "Stay Three, Getaway Free"

So far, for the next three or so months, we've seen new hotel offers from Best Western, Hilton, and Hyatt.

We'll be reviewing an upcoming Priority Club Rewards offer from InterContinental soon (it doesn't start until May 16).

But for now, Starwood's "Stay Three, Getaway Free" promotion can be added to the list. And it may be the best of the lot.

Offer Details

Between May 1 and July 31, Starwood Preferred Guest members will receive one free night at one of Starwood's 200 resort hotels after every three stays at any of more than 1,000 program-affiliated hotels.

The free resort nights can be used on any day of the week, and must be completed by December 21, 2011.

There's no limit to the number of free nights members can earn. Registration is required, by June 30.

Deal or No Deal

Restricting the award nights to Starwood's resort properties will undermine the value of this promotion for some. But for others, that will be a non-issue—they'd have chosen to stay at a resort hotel in any case.

On a categorically positive note, the award nights aren't limited to any particular days of the week, so there's plenty of flexibility on that score. And there's plenty of time to complete award stays as well.

A free night after as few as three paid nights—assuming three separate one-night stays—is a pretty generous offer. Definitely worth considering if you have three or more hotel stays on your travel calendar during the promotion period.

Reader Reality Check

Is this a compelling promotion? Have you found better offers for the spring/early-summer period?

Other Posts of Interest

• Best Western Offers Bonus Miles, Cash Cards for Spring Stays
• Hilton's 2nd Quarter Promo: 1,000 Bonus Points Per Night
• Hyatt Offers 10,000 Bonus Points After Five Nights

(For more news like this, sign up to receive our free weekly newsletter. You can follow us on Twitter, too.)

Virgin America Discounts Awards Booked by April 23

Virgin America's Elevate program has come a long way.

In its early years, the program was hobbled by a lack of earning opportunities and points that expired after just 18 months. The program has been steadily adding earning and rewards partners—the roster now includes a small but meaningful collection of hotels, rental car companies, an online mileage mall, and so on. And in March 2010, finally, they adopted an industry-standard points-expiration policy: Any earning or redemption activity automatically extends all the points in members' accounts by 18 months.

Where the program has remained notably weak is in the area of promotions. When the airline launched new flights linking Dallas with Los Angeles and San Francisco late last year, for example, there were no bonus miles on offer to jump-start sales.

That's rare—most airlines routinely promote new services with limited-time mileage bonuses—and a sign the airline's loyalty marketing is stuck in low gear.

While this new promotion, an award discount, is a step in the right direction, its somewhat stingy terms suggest the company remains ambivalent about generosity in the service of loyalty.

Offer Details

Through 11:59 p.m. EST April 23, members of Virgin America's Elevate program can book award flights for travel during two periods—either between April 26 and June 16 or between August 24 and October 2—for 20 percent fewer points.

The discount applies to award travel booked in Virgin America's Main Cabin, in S, L, M, U, E, H, B, and V fare classes, to any destination the airline serves.

Deal or No Deal

The good: A 20 percent discount is significant. And its applicability to any Virgin America flight makes it more significant still.

The bad: Giving Elevate members just three days to take advantage of the discount detracts from the offer's value, and calls into question the seriousness of Virgin America's apparent generosity. "Snooze you lose" and "thanks for your loyalty" is at best a mixed message.

Reader Reality Check

How has the Elevate program been working for you?

Does it compare favorably to other programs you participate in?

(For more news like this, sign up to receive our free weekly newsletter. You can follow us on Twitter, too.)

Buy, Eat, Travel to Earn Bonus American Miles

As reported earlier this week, American's 30th anniversary promotion, Deal 30, consists of 30 frequent flyer deals, one every weekday, through May 27.

That's too many offers to review in these blog posts. And no doubt many of them won't be blog-worthy anyway.

But over the next five weeks, I'll be highlighting those Deal 30 offers that are either especially easy or unusually lucrative.

This one falls neatly into the "easy" category.

Offer Details

Through May 27, AAdvantage members can earn 3,000 bonus miles by completing all three of the following:

• Spend a total of $30 with the AAdvantage eShopping mall.
• Spend a total of $30 with the AAdvantage Dining program.
• Complete a flight on American Airlines or earn miles with an AAdvantage car or hotel partner.

Advance registration is required.

Deal or No Deal

If you're a moderately active AAdvantage member, this is an easy 3,000 miles for activities you'd probably engage in anyway. And perhaps a good reminder: If you're not already earning miles for dining and online shopping, you should be.

Reader Reality Check

Do you regularly earn AAdvantage miles for dining and shopping online?

Other Posts of Interest

• American Launches 30 Days of Frequent Flyer Deals
• The Comeback: 100,000 Miles for British Airways' Credit Cards
• Earn Shopping Miles (and More Shopping Miles) From American
• From American: Bonus Miles for 10 New Los Angeles Flights
• Redeem Your Frequent Flyer Miles for Money
• Best Western Offers Bonus Miles, Cash Cards for Spring Stays

(For more news like this, sign up to receive our free weekly newsletter. You can follow us on Twitter, too.)

American Launches 30 Days of Frequent Flyer Deals

Next month will mark the 30th anniversary of American's AAdvantage program, and hence of frequent flyer programs as we know (and pick one: love or hate) them.

No doubt we will be seeing a flood of special offers and promotions on the themes of 30 and anniversaries.

The word "celebration" will be bandied about ad nauseum.

Never mind the crass marketing. Because amid the drivel and dross, there are bound to be some worthwhile bonuses.

American Marks 30 Years with 'Deal 30'

As the first of its kind, it's only appropriate that AAdvantage is the first to market with an anniversary-related promotion, dubbed Deal 30.

(On a technical note, the site doesn't display properly in Firefox—use Internet Explorer for a better viewing experience.)

What Deal 30 is is a series of 30 offers, one every weekday between April 18 and May 27. American isn't revealing in advance what the offers will be, but, to give you an idea, the first day featured up to 30,000 bonus miles for completing five round-trip American flights between May 15 and November 15. And today's offer is triple miles for Avis rentals, plus a sweepstakes with a Camaro as the grand prize.

According to a news release from American: "The deals are a combination of airline and AAdvantage participating company offers. While American is keeping most of the promotion details 'hush-hush' so members can be surprised each day, what members can expect to see are: flight deals, discounts, bonus mile offers and chances to win some terrific prizes including a 2012 Chevrolet Camaro. Members will find a new deal as well as a chance to win 30,000 AAdvantage miles every weekday ..."

Handily, you can sign up to receive automatic email alerts on each day's offer.

I signed up for them. If you care about AAdvantage miles, you should too. And if you're not already a member of the program, you can earn a 500-mile bonus for signing up, using promotion code ADV30.

Reader Reality Check

Thirty years, can you believe it?

Any frequent flyer anecdotes you'd care to share?

(For more news like this, sign up to receive our free weekly newsletter. You can follow us on Twitter, too.)

Best Western Offers Bonus Miles, Cash Cards for Spring Stays

As the hotels' winter promotions come to a close, the first of the spring promotions are upon us.

Best Western's second-quarter promotion, called Jump Start to Summer, is a messy affair, with more moving parts than a 747. It's really three different offers, plus a sweepstakes, with extras thrown in for new program members and Best Western credit card-holders.

Offer Details

Airline miles

Between April 17 and June 5, members of Best Western Rewards can earn bonus American AAdvantage or Aeroplan miles for qualifying stays, as follows:

• 500 bonus miles for the first stay
• 750 miles for the second stay
• 1,000 miles for the third and subsequent stays

To earn one of the bonuses, members must register and choose AAdvantage or Aeroplan miles as their earning preference.

New members who enroll during the promotion period and register for the promotion will earn an additional 250 bonus miles in the programs of American or Aeroplan, depending on which program they designate for their earning preference.

Or a gift card

Alternatively, Best Western Rewards members can earn a $50 Best Western Travel Card after completing three stays during the same period.

The travel card may only be earned once per member, and must be used for a Best Western stay by November 1, 2011.

If the three qualifying stays are charged to a Best Western Rewards MasterCard, members will also earn 6,500 Rewards points.

Registration is required.

And a sweepstakes

Extending the 65 theme—it's Best Western's 65th birthday—everyone who registers for any of the above offers will be entered into a sweepstakes for a chance to win a $65 Best Western Travel Card in a daily drawing. And those who complete two stays at two different Best Western branded hotels will also be entered to win the grand prize of 6.5 million Best Western Rewards points, or one of five first prizes, $650 travel cards.

Deal or No Deal

The bonus miles and the travel card offers are mutually exclusive—you can register to earn one but not both. So the question of their relative values has to be faced.

While neither offer is particularly rich, the miles are the better choice for many and probably for most.

The travel card can only be used for Best Western stays, and it must be used by November 1. Those limitations significantly restrict its value.

Airline miles, on the other hand, have a potentially unlimited shelf life, and can be redeemed for a multitude of awards.

Reader Reality Check

Bonus miles or a $50 travel card?

(For more news like this, sign up to receive our free weekly newsletter. You can follow us on Twitter, too.)

New Award Fee Is a Minus for United's Mileage Plus

Yesterday, members of United's Mileage Plus program received an email with the subject line "Important changes to Mileage Plus award fees."

That's almost never good.

And it wasn't in this case.

For mileage Plus members, the following changes will take effect on June 15:

• 1. A $75 "close-in booking fee" will be reinstated for awards booked within 21 days of travel. Premier and Silver elite members will be charged $50; Gold and Premier Executive members will pay $25; and 1K, Global Services, Platinum, and Presidential Platinum members can continue to book fee-free.
• 2. The fee to change award bookings (origin, destination, or connection city) will decrease from $150 to $75 for non-elites, $50 for Premier and Silver Elite members, and $25 for Premier Executive and Gold members. There will be no change fee for 1K, Global Services, Platinum, and Presidential Platinum members.
• 3. The fee to cancel an award and redeposit the miles will decrease for elites, from $150 to $125 for Premier and Silver members, and $100 for Premier Executive and Gold members. The fee will continue to be waived for 1K, Global Services, Platinum, and Presidential Platinum members.

Bottom Line: a Minus for Mileage Plus

In their email announcement, United explains away the changes as a necessary byproduct of the United-Continental merger: "We're revising certain Mileage Plus and OnePass award fees to make them consistent across both programs."

Consistency, however, is hardly a component of consumer value, and the net effect of the changes is a significant devaluation of a Mileage Plus mile, and thus of the program itself.

When United discontinued its award booking rush fees in July 2009, the company enthused as follows: "Being the first airline to eliminate the last-minute booking fee will make it easier for our members to use their miles, and it is one of the many steps we are taking to make Mileage Plus the most rewarding loyalty program for them."

By the airline's own logic, reinstating the fee will make it harder for Mileage Plus members to use their miles, and make the program a less rewarding one.

Reader Reality Check

Which of the upcoming changes has the most impact on your participation in United's program?

How does this change affect your perception of Mileage Plus?

Other Posts of Interest

• Good News for Mileage Plus Members: United's Economy Plus Is Here to Stay
• United Waives Upgrade Co-Payments for Elites
• United, Continental Flyers Share Elite Perks
• United's Mileage Mall Adds Offline Merchants

(For more news like this, sign up to receive our free weekly newsletter. You can follow us on Twitter, too.)