RxCapt

The one year expiration is also a problem for me as well. I find it frustrating to get close to 100 points and then lose them. It would be nice if B6 could implement a system where points expire 1 year after no flight activity. The majors let you keep your miles as long as you have any activity within 18 months. I have enough credit cards that another Amex card will not suit me.

Thank you for listening and welcome to FT!

sbm12

I'm assuming that you are talking about getting a credit for the difference if the fare on your ticket drops, right? If so, this is available today and has been for at least a few months now. All you have to do is call it in and they will credit it to you.

Plus, it isn't really a TrueBlue issue.

Mongah

Boy, all the worrying about the disclaimer

"Posts by TrueBlueGal are not necessarily representative of the official views and/or opinions of JetBlue Airways. "

"Not necessarily" So that means if she replies with a personal opinion about something in a thread it isn't the view of JetBlue. If she says she likes roast beef, it isn't the official stance of JetBlue on luncheon meats.

Jerseyguy

I just got a $40 credit today for my JFK-MCO over xmas. I just called they looked at my reservation, said yes your eligible, I've applied a credit of $40 to your trueblue credit account. Is there anything else I can do for you today. And that was it, the experience took all of 2 minutes.

Ironically, had I waited I would have paid the exact same price for my ticket because my outbound (JFK-MCO) went down $40 but my return (MCO-JFK via IAD) went up $40 but since Jetblue treats every roundtrip as 2 one ways. $40 for me.

ConciergeMike

WN has at least two official reps: SWABrian and SWAVictor.

LH also has LH_relate - and IIRC she is US-based.

Welcome TrueBlueGal - you'll find this to be a well-informed community that will most certainly keep you on your toes.

RxCapt

My apologies, I should have done a search first. I don't frequent the JetBlue forum as often as AAnother forum but I remember reading a few months ago that one had to pay a $100 fee in order to get the credit, meaning if the fare difference is less than $100, one is SOL. It is great to hear that this is no longer the case and that if the fare difference is under $100, one can still receive a TrueBlue credit. I have called in the past and received well over $100 in TrueBlue credits as a result of fare decreases and have been fortunate enough to use them before they expired. I have edited my original post to remove a gripe I no longer have!

JAX2BOS

Along with my partner in crime, JetBlueFA...
I am happy to provide information to the board, however, you will rarely see me getting into personal opinion posts. TrueBlueGal Welcome!

TWA Fan 1

I am probably one of the very few truly enthusiastic supporters of TrueBlue.

First, regarding the expiration policy. All airlines use a variety of mechanisms to control capacity in their loyalty programs. With the legacies, these are actually quite a bit more complex and,really, manipulative. Not only do you a type of expiration (although not as definitive as B6's), they also employ the two-tiered award structure which obliges you to spend more miles to gain an award ticket.

True Blue is often criticized because B6 does not belong to an airline alliance, such as Star Alliance, which, of course, reduces the breadth of destinations the points can be used on.

On the other hand, not being a part of an alliance also means there is much less demand for the award inventory that is available on B6. One of the reasons it is so hard to find an award seat on an airline such as CO, is that you are competing with frequent fliers from a dozen other airlines, most of whom have never stepped foot on a CO airline but have a wide array of awards on CO OnePass available to them.

I have also heard TrueBlue criticized for its lack of "features." This has never troubled me in the least. All I am looking for out of TrueBlue is award travel on jetBlue.

Yes, the points expire, but if you're truly a frequent flier (it is a frequent flier program, after all) you will never need to see an award expire.

And because points do expire, this means that more inventory ends up being available for B6's most loyal customers, those who fly the airline frequently enough to accrue at least 100 points in 12 months.

In concert with the jetBlue Amex card, i have never seen a single TrueBlue point expire and--more significantly--I have always been able to book my preferred itinerary, something I cannot say for the legacy loyalty programs of which I am a member.

sbm12

I vehemently disagree with the last statement above. The two-tier structure is, in many cases, beneficial to passengers, not detrimental. Like the legacies, JetBlue limits reward inventory. And there are some flights where inventory is never released. Period. Unlike a legacy program that will allow for double (or, in Delta's case 140% for a domestic reward) points to be used to secure "last-seat availability," JetBlue has no option for such a redemption. Yes, you can be flexible and change your dates to find a seat - just as you can on a legacy carrier - but when there are just no reward seats available TrueBlue has no outlet for passenger.

I've flown on a standard level reward every time I've needed to redeem over the past 8 years with one exception - Thanksgiving peak travel (Wednesday - Sunday). And I was happy that I could spend double points on that ticket because it was even more expensive to pay cash for the flight.

So on a legacy program I actually have more options, and I haven't been "obliged to spend more miles" in any case ever.

I could pretty easily move a chunk of my flights over to JetBlue and accumulate pretty quickly in the TrueBlue program, but the earning rates for a truly frequent traveler aren't as good as in a legacy program and there are limitations on the redemption side. All in all, not a great deal for me.

TWA Fan 1

The problem with the multiple-tier structure is that it is a slippery slope which ultimately allows the carriers to effectively reduce the award inventory available at the standard level, especially since award inventory is jealously guarded and kept as untransparent as possible to the consumer, so there is no way to verify how the carriers are manipulating its availability.

In all my years as a legacy carrier frequent flier (primarily AA, TW and CO) I have never once used the "double miles" award, not even once, as you have.

I'm sure that most loyalty program members are like us, so that the effective result of the "double miles" award tiers is to restrict inventory used. But even if these awards are used, they have the result of reducing the program's value.

The B6 program may not provide the option of more costly award tiers, but, on the flip side, it is simple, and the fact remains that all those expiring points effectively liberates award inventory for the true frequent flier.

In my experience, I have always been able to find award inventory on B6 on my first itinerary of choice, even when I am traveling en famille. While I was a CO elite, I was never able once to book my itinerary of choice for the family of four, and using standard awards required jumping through tremendous hoops, flying some very awkward itineraries (red eyes connecting through CLE on RJ's, etc.)

jetBlueNYFL

As a reminder to those calling in for the honoring of a lower fare after purchase, be sure to remind the agent to 'reclaim' your original seats! For some reason, the system deletes your seat assignment, unless they go back in and manually reserve seat(s) again.

magiciansampras

The bolded parts I have a problem with. First, allowing "standard" awards for double the miles has nothing to do with award inventory. On UA, for instance, if a seat is available, you get it. Saver award seats are pulled from a completely separate bucket and there is no evidence to suggest that UA, or others, would have more available if they didn't have the standard awards.

Second, in B6's case, simplicity is a negative, not a positive. B6 needs to make their system more comprehensive with more ways to earn miles and more ways to prevent expiration, other than signing up for their credit card which is exceedingly lame, IMHO.

Jerseyguy

Thanks JetblueNYFL. It looks like I got a good agent because I still have my orginal seat assignments

TWA Fan 1

The fact that the system is "exceedingly lame" as you put it, is the whole point, i.e. it is a very simple structure that limits the demand for award inventory. Every time some guy's TrueBlue points expire, in effect this means an award seat becomes more available for another passenger whose points have not expired.

Whether or not double-mile awards reduce the inventory there is no way of knowing since award inventory is not transparent. It is obvious, however, that any award that requires more miles provides a reduced value and, intuitively, thus reduced demand, since consumers have an incentive to seek out awards at the better value.

Also, since award buckets are not transparent it is certainly likely that carriers can remove inventory from the standard award bucket and put them in the double-mile category. While there is no way of knowing this, it certainly would be in the carriers' interest to do so in order to limit their exposure in terms of delivering award travel.

In my own experience, TrueBlue has always had award inventory available. Since I am a heavy B6 frequent flyer with an Amex jetBlue card who also has a frequent demand for TrueBlue awards, I have found the program to be wonderful.

With the legacy programs, on the other hand, there were many more features but I consistently found it virtually impossible to find award inventory on my preferred itineraries. The programs are impressive indeed on paper, but what good are they if it is so hard to avail oneself of its features. Taken to the extreme, they become a type of bait and switch, a way of hoodwinking consumers into being loyal without the carrier reciprocating with awards on the back end.

There are numerous threads on the CO forum about the difficulty of obtaining a number of award categoeries. Yes, it is not literally impossible, but an upgrade to BF EWR-CDG is clearly an extremely difficult award to find.

Ultimately, in my mind, the measure of a loyalty program's value to the consumer is the actual value provided. If you fly B6 frequently and use the awards frequently I don't think there is a better way to gain award travel than TrueBlue. After all, you can achieve a 100-point award after four trancons and 4 pts on the Amex jetBlue card.

Even at the "standard level" the minimum on any legacy carrier is about five transcons, or ten if you are using the double-mile award tier.

The program is very simple, the structure does not favor those who travel infrequently since the points expire. But the result is great award inventory availability for the true frequent flyer of B6. It's a frequent flier program, after all.

magiciansampras

TWA, good analysis. I think we're just in different places when it comes to what we expect out of our frequent flyer programs, which is fine since not all customers are alike.

For the OP, count me in the group that would like to see some B6 expansion and a bit more flexibility when it comes to the expiration/earning side.