TrueBlue – a different approach to loyalty from JetBlue

This article is sponsored by JetBlue

Last week we published three articles on JetBlue following a trip by Rhys to the US – an overview of how JetBlue is shaking up transatlantic flying and Rhys’s reviews of JetBlue Mint Suite and JetBlue Mint Studio, the ‘super sized’ Mint seats in Row 1.

Today it’s the turn of JetBlue’s loyalty programme, TrueBlue, to go under the spotlight. The timing is good, as this is the week that the airline starts flying from its third UK gateway, Edinburgh.

Here is the JetBlue route map as it will be from Thursday when the first Edinburgh service departs:

If you are flying between the UK and US East Coast with JetBlue, you can credit your flight to JetBlue’s own loyalty programme, TrueBlue, or to one of its partners.

One of these partners is Qatar Airways Privilege Club, which allows you to collect Avios from JetBlue flights. If you are flying with JetBlue on a regular basis, however, it makes more sense to credit your flights to TrueBlue and work towards elite status.

TrueBlue, JetBlue’s loyalty programme, is revenue based. Members can earn points (used for redemptions) and Tiles (used for perks and status) on all cash bookings including flights, JetBlue Vacations packages and Paisly by JetBlue bookings.

Tiles can also be earned on many JetBlue extras and fees such as a Mint upgrade or a paid checked bag. Points and Tile earnings are calculated on a per $ spend basis, converted from £ at the time of booking for UK based members.

How many TrueBlue points can I earn flying with JetBlue?

You collect more points if you fly in a higher fare class or cabin, as well as by booking direct. Here are the rates:

• Blue Basic: 1 point per $ spent, plus an extra 1 point per $ spent if you book direct at JetBlue.com
• Blue/Blue Plus/Blue Extra/Mint: 3 points per $ spent plus an additional 3 points per $ for booking direct

Earning TrueBlue points with partner airlines

JetBlue has several airline partners that you can earn with. In all cases you can only earn for flights operated by the partner airline and carrying their own flight number. These partners are:

• Etihad
• Hawaiian Airlines
• Icelandair
• Qatar Airways
• Singapore Airlines
• South African Airways

You can also earn points with two smaller US domestic carriers – JSX (a ‘hop on hop-off’ small jet operator, predominantly serving the west coast) and Silver Airways who serve 18 destinations in Florida and the Bahamas.

Other earning partners

You can also earn TrueBlue points with selected ground partners. For UK based members the most relevant are:

• IHG Hotels & Resorts
• Yotel
• Avis / Budget

Spending TrueBlue points

As a UK member, TrueBlue points can be redeemed for flights with JetBlue and some of the airline partners above (namely Etihad, Hawaiian Airlines and Qatar Airways).

Where TrueBlue differs from the big players in the UK market is that if there is a seat available to be sold, then you can also book it with points. JetBlue price their reward seats dynamically, so you will pay more in points when cash fares are high, but you can still book it. (Taxes and fees remain payable in cash). You can also use Cash + Points to pay for reward flights.

From the UK, JetBlue flies to New York JFK and Boston from both London Heathrow and London Gatwick. This Thursday, 23rd May, sees the launch of their direct Edinburgh to New York JFK service.

Within the Americas JetBlue offers over 100 destinations in North, South and Central America. This is where the redemption side of the programme can really come into its own, with thousands of daily flights to choose from.

TrueBlue also offers Points Pooling allowing up to seven family members or friends to pool points. There is no requirement to all live at the same address!

What about status?

There are four levels of status in Mosaic, which covers the ‘perks and benefits’ side of the programme. Achieving Mosaic status is governed by the number of tiles you earn.

You will earn a tile for every $100 spent with JetBlue on flights and packages for your own travel. (US residents can also earn tiles on affiliated credit card spend, and JetBlue have five affiliated credit cards between the US mainland and Puerto Rico!). Tiles are also available to buy online (up to a maximum of 250 tiles which at the time of writing would cost you $11,433).

Once you achieve Mosaic status, you retain it for the rest of the current year and the whole of the next year. So if you qualify today, you will be a Mosaic member until the end of 2025.

The status levels and qualifications are:

• Mosaic 1 – 50 tiles
• Mosaic 2 – 100 tiles
• Mosaic 3 – 150 tiles
• Mosaic 4 – 250 tiles

Mosaic is where TrueBlue gets interesting. There are a wide variety of travel related perks you can access at every level (and you don’t even have to wait until you have reached level 1 as I will cover later).

Mosaic gives you more points

As a Mosaic member you collect an extra 3 points per $ spend, helping you earn reward flights more quickly.

Mosaic Signature Perks

Below are the perks most relevant to JetBlue’s transatlantic flights,. There are more, such as free alcohol on domestic flights, but of course that comes as standard on transatlantic flights (if you are old enough!)

• Mosaic Boarding – priority boarding and a dedicated lane
• First 2 checked bags free (useful if you’re booking the lowest fare in economy – Blue).
• Even More® Space – at check in for Mosaic 1 or on booking for Mosaic 2 and above. This option gives you up to 7 inches more legroom over the standard economy seat, including on transatlantic, plus fast-track security (where available) and early boarding.
• Priority Security – access to an expedited lane to security at dozens of airports, including Heathrow and Gatwick
• Preferred Core Seating – choose a preferred Core (economy) seat near the front of the plane at no extra charge.
• Move to Mint (Mosaic 3 and 4) – book in economy, and then move to Mint at no extra charge with ‘Move to Mint’ certificates (4 certificates are issued to Mosaic 3 and an extra 2 when you reach level 4). The number of certificates required is dynamically priced. This is now available when booking as well as up to 2 hours before departure.
• Gift Mosaic (Mosaic 4) – gift Mosaic 1 to the TrueBlue member of your choice
• BLADE Airport Transfers (Mosaic 4) – Credits for four one-way Blade airport helicopter transfers between Manhattan & JFK or Newark. The transfers must be taken in conjunction with a connecting JetBlue flight.

Mosaic Perks You Pick®

In addition to the above ‘Signature Perks’ you can also choose one of a selection of perks every time you move up from one level of Mosaic to the next. The (relevant to the UK audience) options are:

• Mint Suite Priority – Priority access to Mint Suites (if available).
• 20 Tile Bonus – either for yourself or you can gift this to another TrueBlue member.
• 15,000 Points Bonus – either for yourself or as a gift to another member.
• IHG One Rewards Platinum Elite Status – if you choose this option, you will retain status in IHG One Rewards until the end of the year following the year in which you selected it as your upgrade perk.

If you are a frequent traveller with JetBlue this programme offers some really interesting options to the standard fare offered by most airline loyalty schemes. The ability to book Core but fly Mint as a Mosaic 3 or 4, and the Blade transfers offered in New York for Mosaic 4 are cool and definitely worth having. (Okay so you may have to seek out flights with Mint availability, and blow all your certificates if its a popular flight…as these too are ‘dynamically priced’ but if the seat is there, then so is the option to grab it!)

If you are an infrequent JetBlue traveller, then TrueBlue has something for you too. There are perks available at the 10, 20, 30 and 40 tile points to keep you interested on the way to Mosaic 1 at 50 tiles. These include early boarding, priority security channel access and a 5,000 points bonus.

Find out more about JetBlue and TrueBlue here.