In advance, please excuse me if this has been written elsewhere. I had searched around and did not see anything which kind of surprised me since I would have thought JetBlue would have made more of an announcement about the lower point redemption than they did (the last sale was still at the previous amount). But, in case you are like me and you have not seen it, JetBlue has lowered the minimum point redemption for awards!
JetBlue Lowers the Minimum Point Redemption for Awards – Now 2,200 points
New lower minimum point redemption for JetBlue awards!
The minimum redemption amount for awards with JetBlue used to be at 5,500 points (about $81 or so for the ticket cost price). Then, they lowered it to 3,500 points (about $52 on a ticket price). Since Jetblue’s awards are revenue-based, the amount of points you need is tied to the price of the actual ticket and that is usually a somewhat fixed amount. Typically, it will be around 1.5 cents per point (but I have seen over 2 cents per point and it is possible to get closer to 2 cents on some redemptions). So, a 3,500 point redemption is worth at least $57 (based on 1.48 cents per point and the $5.60 fee).
That has meant that the sale fares that start at $49 (like is going on right now) are not good uses for points since you are losing some value. Now, this minimum point redemption has been lowered to 2,200 points instead of 3,500 points. When applied to the $49 fares on today’s sale, that means a value 1.7 cents per point. That is much better than before! Edited: Thanks to Joshua below for pointing out that, contrary to the image above, JetBlue actually lists 2,200 points as the cheapest for DC to Hartford – even better!
I am not sure if that is just for today’s sale but I would assume that 2,200 TrueBlue points is the new minimum point redemption amount for tickets on JetBlue. Good news for those who like to use points for all the travel!
You didn’t do your research very well. Flights from DCA-BDL on July 15 are 2,200 points for a $44 flight.
Thanks for the data point. Without any official thing I could find JetBlue, I was going by what I saw in the sale ad. I had not checked that city pair.
For the inaugural flight from Boston to Barbados a few months ago, the paid fare was nearly $200 ow a week before departure, but the TrueBlue points fares were 3000 points. I was never sure if that was a glitch or a special for the inaugural flight.
It could be that route. I had seen JFK to Barbados last year or the year before at a great rate as well (something like 2.5 cents per point!). What you saw is much better! Did you book it?
Yes, I booked it, but I ended up not being able to go, unfortunately.
Those BDL-DCA fares are now just 1,800 points!