United Airlines and JetBlue partner – fewer JetBlue Avios redemptions available?

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• Richie says:

  30 May30 May 08:11

  How would UA finance an acquisition of B6 and pay for their massive order of dreamliners? Flying the oldest fleet of B767s has saved buckets of dollars, but is that enough.

  • Gerry says:

    30 May30 May 09:27

    It’s a partnership, not an acquisition (or a merger).

    • Richie says:

      30 May30 May 09:31

      BTW the last sentence of the article is “…It is difficult to see how this partnership ends in any other way than United Airlines trying to swallow its new partner.”

      • David says:

        31 May31 May 00:52

        Yes it’s quite the image.

    • Lady London says:

      31 May31 May 12:00

      Mmmmm

• Coleslaw says:

  30 May30 May 10:09

  “United Airlines MileagePlus members will be able to redeem miles for JetBlue flights (which is why those transatlantic seats are likely to disappear) and vice versa”.

  You’re missing the key word of “most”. The press release said United would be able to redeem miles on “most JetBlue flights”. I would bet that the transatlantic flights will be the ones that fall outside of this “most” category.

  • Rob says:

    30 May30 May 10:15

    Possible, if it would mean the TATL JV being renegotiated.

• ADS says:

  30 May30 May 10:35

  “Frustratingly, the Qatar Airways website has been unable to show JetBlue availability for some time which is why we haven’t discussed it more.”

  presumably you have to phone up QR to book ?

  any idea how many Avios required for transatlantic JetBlue flights ?

  • Rob says:

    30 May30 May 10:41

    https://www.headforpoints.com/2023/11/15/redeem-avios-on-jetblue/

    78k each way in Mint

    Tax is roughly still as outlined in that article despite it being described as a special offer.

    In theory any aircraft with I-class for sale in Mint can be booked via Qatar.

    • ADS says:

      30 May30 May 12:43

      cheers for the link

      if you needed a one way from NYC to Europe in Economy – it could actually be a rare good use of Avios on a longhaul economy flight!

    • LittleNick says:

      6 Jun6 June 22:28

      I just tried doing this, found a rare transatlantic I class fare on B6 site but very bizzarely QR wanted a tax+fee equal to the exact cash fare found on the jetblue site LOL + avios of course.

• Mark says:

  30 May30 May 12:59

  So if the Qatar website doesn’t show availability, how do you search / book.

  Annoyingly I’ve just booked a JetBlue (Cash) flight but need to book another.

  • Rob says:

    30 May30 May 13:33

    You can find I class using a tool called ITA Matrix and I suspect a call is then required. Not certain though.

    • LittleNick says:

      6 Jun6 June 22:29

      ITA Matrix is sadly showing I class fare available to travel agents but not for sale on jetblue’s site, it needs to be B6 selling an I class for avios availability

• RC says:

  30 May30 May 13:30

  A bit unfair to suggest Jetblue squeeze business seats into the A321LR.
  Width is decent, they are very private and some of the most comfortable seats and don’t suffer the bum gap the BA Club Suite inflicts on you.
  If anyone squeezes in it is BA. (Tighter than United Polaris on a 767.) How those narrow aisles meet CAA evacuation rules beats me. And of course BA squeezed out loos to get more seats in – so the loos always have queue and are filthy.

• Joe says:

  31 May31 May 08:22

  I’d highly recommend looking at United as an alternative to BA for transatlantic flyers. Because of AA’s lackluster route network I ended up accidentally becoming a 1K last year and will prob give up on BA status because of it. I think this JetBlue partnership only adds to this. You now have a strong northeast network in alliance with United’s international/domestic network out of key cities. With my status and a bit of planning I’ve not had to do any significant flights in anything less than Polaris. Yes it’s not a luxury airline, but I’m a pretty happy camper.

• PH says:

  1 Jun1 June 11:33

  I hope the JetBlue long-haul ‘boutique airline’ niche lasts. I did JFK-LHR morning flight in Economy and was very impressed overall, especially compared to the horror of BA long-haul Y which I recently experienced for the first time in over a decade…

  Pros
  -Fast, free wifi and very modern/responsive IFE that you can connect AirPods to
  -Fresh, modern cabin – as good as Y seats will ever be, with several ‘more space’ options. Plentiful power outlets.
  -Fresh healthy meal (in partnership with DIG), good selection of full size drinks (e.g. flavoured seltzer water, green tea)
  -Wonderful crew who treat pax like adults, and calm, competent, professional fellow pax (honestly the most Japan-like flying experience I’ve had outside of Japan)
  -Landing at T2 with a very short walk to immigration and baggage claim

  Cons
  -JFK T5 is a zoo in the early morning, paid fast track makes no difference (ideally need Pre)
  -Very rude ground staff positioned onboard the aircraft during boarding picking unnecessary fights with PAX about which bags could go in the overheads. Once they were gone, cabin crew were delightful.
  -Only 1 meal service and think they stopped serving hot food in Y, not an issue for me on the morning flight, I brought a salad from Wegman for lunch
  -Fewer backup options for IRROPS (I assume)

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