Thunderroad

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.

BbTrumpet

Not sure about routes that don't have one end in BOS or JFK, but definitely check out LAS routes. For example, there is a $499 (48,400 pts.) LAS->BOS on May 30th. I travel this route frequently, and while I haven't seen $499 recently, I do see $599, esp. on BOS-LAS on Friday nights.

I was looking at weird routings lately for a work trip, and saw $699 LAX-BOS red-eye (a rare eastbound, Mint red-eye). I still consider that "relatively" inexpensive, and almost tried it to save flying on a workday since it would have allowed for some sort of normal sleep cycle on the plane.

MSYtoJFKagain

We discussed this a bit in the FLL frequency expansion thread.

Generally:

BOS->SEA is a great value for a Mint fare. It's the consistently cheapest TCON Mint fare.

Point fares for Mint are really tough out of JFK, almost always 90k+.
You can find JFK->LAX for a decent price with 2-4 weeks notice.
JFK->SFO is generally always expensive and very heavy load-wise.
If you're looking to get the most bang for your Mint bucks, BOS->SEA->SFO/LAX is my preferred routing if I can spare the time.

Thunderroad

Thanks for these useful replies, folks. Much appreciated.

caliform

I usually find 50-60k redemptions for Mint on my SFO-BOS legs, so it can't be rare. Usually book with plenty of time to spare; those prices just go up with time.

Thunderroad

Thanks, caliform.

HepperSchepp

Thunderroad

Bumping this old thread because I have the same questions as three years ago but Mint award prices seem to have escalated dramatically. FWIW, I'd ended up booking two BOS-SFO seats using points at a reasonable rate (maybe 65 K per seat, though I can't recall exactly) for 2020, but had to cancel due to Covid. Now I'm looking at BOS-SFO or JFK-SFO for at least 138K per seat for the fall.

So back to the original question: Are there any relatively moderate Mint reward redemptions left into or out of SFO to/from the East Coast, or has that ship sailed? I've done some searching, but have come up empty.

Thanks for any help.

MSYtoJFKagain

The ship is sailing or has sailed. JFK/BOS -> SFO is going to be expensive.

truncated

There are a handful if you're willing to fly to EWR — on days when SFO-EWR is $589 in Mint you can redeem for 53,400 points one-way:



And actually when SFO-BOS is $699 one-way it's 63,700 points:



Unfortunately the $589/$699 fares are only loaded through May so you'll probably have to wait a few months for the discounted fares to reach the dates you want, but I'm pretty sure there will be opportunities for redemptions eventually

beachfan

I saw VFTW blog post on using Emirates, but if I need availability for 2 in I class, I just haven’t found it. Do I need to look harder or is it a thing if the past?