You Can Now Redeem JetBlue Points On Japan Airlines: Is It A Good Deal?

JetBlue TrueBlue is increasingly adding award redemptions on partner airlines, which is exciting. In the past year or so, we’ve seen TrueBlue add online redemptions for Hawaiian Airlines, Qatar Airways, TAP Air Portugal, and Icelandair. Now we’ve seen TrueBlue add redemptions on Japan Airlines, giving members more opportunities to redeem their points (thanks to AwardWallet for reporting this).

JetBlue adds online award redemptions on Japan Airlines

JetBlue and Japan Airlines have had a partnership for a long time, whereby JetBlue provides feed for some of Japan Airlines’ gateways in the United States. It’s now possible to redeem JetBlue TrueBlue points for travel on the airline as well. Here are the basics of these redemption opportunities:

• These awards are bookable directly on JetBlue’s website, on the homepage, by selecting the “use TrueBlue points” button
• Redemptions are possible for Japan Airlines’ global route network
• There are no carrier imposed surcharges on these redemptions
• Redemptions on Japan Airlines are possible in business class, premium economy, and economy, but not in first class
• While there’s not an award chart, award pricing seems to be a combination of zone based and segment based; that means you pay more if you have an itinerary that includes more than one segment

So, what is award pricing like? There’s definitely some variability, so let’s look at some examples. A one-way award from Los Angeles to Osaka costs 64,000 points in business class.

A one-way award from London to Tokyo costs 39,900 points in economy and 79,900 points in business class.

A one-way award from Bangkok to Tokyo costs 20,000 points in economy, 25,000 points in premium economy, and 30,000 points in business class.

The redemption values here are pretty great, and could potentially get you a lot more value than redeeming for travel on JetBlue. However, in fairness:

• Award availability on Japan Airlines to and from the United States can be tough to come by
• It’s also possible to redeem Alaska Mileage Plan miles and American AAdvantage miles for Japan Airlines flights, including in first class, and the redemption rates are often even more attractive

More JetBlue partner awards are long overdue

JetBlue is really trying to make its TrueBlue loyalty program more of a profit center. Historically I’d say the program has just been kind of lazy in terms of perks, and hasn’t done much to encourage incremental engagement (flying or credit card spending) in terms of elite benefits. On top of that, JetBlue hasn’t put any effort into offering partner award redemptions.

The airline has been mostly headed in a great direction in recent times, as the current management team is trying to return the airline to profitability (admittedly the current economic uncertainty is a setback). A big part of that is better leveraging the loyalty program. I think partner redemptions can unlock significant value.

We’ve now seen redemptions added on five partner airlines in recent times, so I’d say that’s really exciting and encouraging, and I look forward to seeing even more options as time goes on.

Bottom line

JetBlue TrueBlue has just rolled out award redemptions on Japan Airlines. This is the fifth new partner redemption we’ve seen from the program in the past year or so, as we’ve previously seen redemptions added on Hawaiian Airlines, Qatar Airways, TAP Air Portugal, and Icelandair.

I wouldn’t consider these redemptions to be that exciting, given all the other redemption options for travel on Japan Airlines, plus limited award availability. However, when you add up all the new partners being rolled out, I’d say it’s an exciting direction for the program.

What do you make of JetBlue TrueBlue redemptions on Japan Airlines?