JetBlue names Paris as its 2nd European destination
Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission. See here for all partner links.
US carrier JetBlue now has five daily flights between New York / Boston and Heathrow / Gatwick. It has now secured permanent Heathrow slots so the future of the service looks positive.
With London now ‘done’, JetBlue has announced that Paris will be its second European destination.
Details are currently sketchy. Flights will launch from New York JFK to Paris CDG ‘next Summer’. This will be followed by flights from Boston to Paris ‘later’. Tickets are not yet available.
The choice of Paris is partly down to strong leisure demand and partly down to practicalities. JetBlue uses single aisle A321LR aircraft which are cheap to operate. The snag is that they do not have the range of an A350, A330 or Boeing 787.
The range of the A321LR is listed as 4,000 nautical miles. Whilst in theory that gets you to most of Western Europe from New York, in reality, once you take into account fuel reserves, headwinds and other restrictions, it is probably limited to flights to the far reaches of Western Europe. Amsterdam and Dublin are probably the only other realistic options for JetBlue after London and Paris.
The A321XLR – the XLR stands for, you guessed it, eXtra Long Range – will add an additional 700 miles to that, which should help JetBlue fly further into Europe. Unfortunately the first A321XLR isn’t due to be delivered by Airbus until 2024.
The full press release is here.
PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.
How to maximise your miles when paying for flights (April 2025)
Some UK credit cards offer special bonuses when used for buying flights. If you spend a lot on airline tickets, using one of these cards could sharply increase the credit card points you earn.
Booking flights on any airline?
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold earns double points (2 Membership Rewards points per £1) when used to buy flights directly from an airline website.
The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points. These would convert to 20,000 Avios or various other airline or hotel programmes. The standard earning rate is 1 point per £1.
You can apply here.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
Buying flights on British Airways?
The British Airways Premium Plus American Express card earns double Avios (3 Avios per £1) when used at ba.com.
The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 30,000 Avios. The standard earning rate is 1.5 Avios per £1.
You do not earn bonus Avios if you pay for BA flights on the free British Airways American Express card or either of the Barclaycard Avios Mastercards.
You can apply here.
British Airways American Express Premium Plus
30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review
Buying flights on Virgin Atlantic?
Both the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard and the annual fee Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard earn double Virgin Points when used at fly.virgin.com.
This means 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 on the free card and 3 Virgin Points per £1 on the paid card.
There is a sign-up bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points on the free card and 18,000 Virgin Points on the paid card.
You can apply for either of the cards here.
Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard
3,000 bonus points, no fee and 1 point for every £1 you spend Read our full review
Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard
18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review
