Boston Marathon registration is still ongoing but already there are many of you that know you are getting in and others who will be finding out as time goes on. To you and all who qualified – congratulations!
Fly to the 2018 Boston Marathon In Style!
Now, it is time to start planning your travel and dusting off your favorite marathon program. The good news is that if you are flying from the West Coast for the 2018 Boston Marathon, there is an incredible way to take your travel to a whole other level of comfort!
After all, you worked hard to qualify for the 2018 Boston Marathon so look at something like this as a little way to treat yourself as you travel to run this great race!
Fly JetBlue’s Mint Class – Business Class with Style
Link: All About JetBlue Mint
Flying for 5 hours to your big marathon can be a drag. Not only are you dealing with cramped quarters, possible swelling, and hydration issues but it is also just not that fun! Fortunately, JetBlue has an awesome business class product that rivals all the other business class seats from the other US airlines domestically (and some even internationally!). If you start now, you may be able to snag one of those for just a little more than an economy ticket or for free – if you use the right points for your travel.
Getting That Better Seat Suite
JetBlue’s economy class from San Francisco to Boston that weekend will run you $274 one way. To bump up to a seat that lies flat and might actually have your own personal door costs $549. Yes, that is an extra $275 for a one way flight but you can get that lower, depending on what travel points you have. At any rate, that is a fantastic way to arrive in Boston well-rested (and well fed) for your 26.2 mile journey to Boylston.
These routes can cost up to $999 for some of the flights as well so keep that in mind.
What To Look For
The route map for JetBlue’s Mint class
JetBlue flies these aircraft with their Mint class on just a few routes right now to Boston (they have more to JFK as well). Here are the West Coast cities you should be looking at departing from:
- San Francisco
- Los Angeles
- Seattle (coming)
- Las Vegas (coming)
- San Diego (coming)
If you are in the first two cities (or nearby), definitely give JetBlue’s Mint a look for pricing and availability. With only limited Mint suites, you will want to book soon.
Flying JetBlue Mint For Less – Or Even Free
JetBlue’s reward program, TrueBlue, is a revenue based program. That means the value of their points is tied to the cost of the ticket in cash. Other points you can use for this kind of ticket are available from many cards (found on this page) that offer bank reward points and will have similar redemption values.
Here is the cost in points based on a $549 Mint ticket (one way):
- JetBlue TrueBlue points – 41,400
- Ultimate Reward points – 43,920
- if you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you get 1.5 cents per point on redemption so – 36,600
- Amex Membership Rewards – 54,900 points
- You can transfer Membership Reward points to JetBlue at a rate of 250:200 so you could transfer 52,000 to JetBlue instead to book as an award ticket
- If you have the Amex Business Platinum, you can book this award with points and get a 35% rebate back on it making it cost a net of 36,000 points
- US Bank Reward points (with the US Bank Altitude Reserve) – 36,600 points
Those are some options to get you started! With the Chase and Amex points, you would not need to pay it all with points and could supplement your points with cash. This way you could use what points you have and still get the ticket cheaper than face value in cash!
To get Chase Ultimate Reward points, consider the following cards:
- Chase Sapphire Reserve | 50,000 points for $4,000 spending | $450 annual fee
- Chase Sapphire Preferred | 50,000 points for $4,000 spending | $95 annual fee (waived the first year)
- Chase Ink Business Preferred | 80,000 points for $5,000 spending | $95 annual fee
To get Amex Membership Reward Points, consider the following cards:
- American Express Platinum | 60,000 points for $5,000 spending | $550 annual fee
- Since American Express has a once-per-lifetime bonus rule, I would advice against other offers as they are not at their best. The above offer is not the best ever either but is higher than past offerings also
To get JetBlue TrueBlue points, consider the following cards:
- JetBlue TrueBlue Plus | 40,000 points for $1,000 spending | $99 annual fee
That should get you started and on your way to rewarding yourself with a really nice seat for the 2018 Boston Marathon!
