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Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Benicia, California, USA
Programs: AA PLT,AS,UA PP,J6,FB,EY,LH,SQ,HH Dmd,Hyatt Glbl,Marriott Plat,IHG Plat,Accor Gold
Posts: 10,820
Strategies for scoring relatively inexpensive award/$ Mint flights?
I've done some checking for SFO-JFK/FLL/BOS to assess whether it's worthwhile for me to accumulate more TrueBlue miles via flying or JetBlue credit card signup/usage, in order to fly a Mint award flight down the line. I'd welcome a reality check on whether my very incomplete research indicates some valid patterns. So does the following seem correct?
1. Certainly for JFK and to a great extent for the other two routes, Mint revenue and award fares are typically expensive if booked a more than a month or two out from a flight. That is, the lowest I could find for several months in advance was about 123K points one-way. Booking a few weeks in advance, it could drop to as low as 93K - still not great, but not as bad as far-out. (I assume this is because, as the date gets closer, it's clearer to JetBlue that it won't sell the seats otherwise.)
2. Of the three, BOS seems like the best destination for Mint flights, money-wise. I found some flights as low as 48K points a few weeks out. And generally, it seems lower than JFK or FLL.
3. Any other particular routes that are relatively low-priced for Mint flights?
Thanks for any advice on this.