Contents
The Offer
- Show jetBlue your Virgin America Elevate point balance by July 4th and then fly one round trip jetBlue flight by August 31st, 2016 and they’ll match (or give you more) jetBlue TrueBlue points. Here is the breakdown of the points you’ll receive:
The Fine Print
- Elevate® members must email a screenshot of their account dashboard to [email protected] by 7/4/2016. Screenshots must include first name, last name, and points balance. Please include your TrueBlue number in the email.
- Once we assess your balance and eligibility, we’ll email you to let you know if you’re officially registered for the promotion.
- Then book and fly one roundtrip JetBlue flight by 08/31/16.
- Offer can only be redeemed one (1) time by any individual.
- Points awarded in conjunction with this promotion are considered bonus points and do not count towards earning Mosaic status.
- TrueBlue points will be awarded within 4-6 weeks after round-trip flight.
How Much Are jetBlue Points Worth?
Redemption of jetBlue points are tied to the cash value of a ticket and other factors. The range you can get is between 0.97¢ and 1.89¢ per point, with an average of 1.41¢ per point. Wandering Armean has a good post (although a bit dated now, the information itself is still spot on from my limited research) that I’d strongly recommend reading to understand better.
Point Transfers
If you want to transfer points into Virgin America, your best bet is probably SPG. 20,000 SPG points will get you 25,000 Virgin America miles, so if you transferred 40,001 points you’d get 50,001 Virgin America miles – enough for the top match. These points should post in time (most people reporting short transferring times – but not always). Membership Rewards & Citi Thankyou point also transfer, but a rate of 2:1, so you’d need to transfer 100,002 points to get the full bonus – not really great value.
Our Verdict
This is an incredibly generous offer, you probably won’t have time to transfer Virgin America miles from flexible point partners (see above) – but I’m sure there are some creative work around that would work (I won’t mention them specifically) just as well. JetBlue wanted to purchase Virgin America, but Alaska ended up winning that battle and it seems JetBlue is intent on getting as many of their customers as they can.
Let’s say that you get the maximum match of 75,000 points, that would be worth anywhere from $727.5 to $1,417.5 in jetBlue flights – pretty incredible value for one round trip flight. I’m usually really against mileage running, but in this case I definitely think it makes sense – you might as well try and make a weekend out of it as well and visit somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit. Just make sure you’re registered for the promotion before booking your return flight!
This promotion is incredible, I don’t think jetBlue really thought this one through at all. They can’t even properly verify your Virgin America points balance…
Hat tip to reader Kyle S
Not sure if anyone received their match yet, but here is how mine was done
I took my flights for the promotion the last week of july. My return flight was on july 31st. on Friday I had still not received credit for the flight 12 days earlier. This Am, I got an email from jetblue saying congarats you’ve been awarded your points for your flight. It was the points for the flight plus the point match. Evidently they tied them together which is why it took 2 weeks for the completed flight to show.
Same timeline as public and nil above. Haven’t heard back. Getting nervous. There’s at least one FT poster who submitted 6-25 and hasn’t heard back.
*as sybloc and nil above.* Damn spell check.
Just got the response from them. Point match approved.
What time Sunday?
STILL have not been approved. This is bullshit. I’m going to file a complaint.
Any updates? I’ve heard they are swamped with requests but plugging along slowly. Maybe they have caught up to the backlog by now…
How long is it taking jetBlue to confirm?
Submitted full screenshot of both Virgin and TrueBlue accounts 06/26 (Sunday) and still have not received confirmation. Starting to worry…
In the same boat. Same timelines.
For those that received the confirmation of being registered, jet blue is having a 2 day sale with rates from $49 each way.
I’m slightly worried that JetBlue might reject my submission. I’ve been thinking about it since Saturday and finally pulled the trigger and transferred my SPG points. I opened my Virgin account this morning and had my SPG points show up this afternoon. Anyone else in the same boat who got approved?
I read through the terms nothing sounds like they should reject me.
Should I only give a partial screenshot any thoughts?
they are more likely to reject it if you send a partial screenshot. Transferring points to virgin is not a violation of terms so should not be an issue. Some other suggestions by folks to get the max points in the comments section are questionable but transferring points to get the virgin balance high is not against the t&C
Would using thank you points instead of cash to book the jet blue flight count as a qualifying fare? since using their service gives a 25% bump on TY value
Think it would working according to the terms.
I would say this post crossed an ethical line as well, with its clear hint about how to defraud jetblue…
I think the post made sure not to cross the line, despite some asking for the line to be crossed, transferring miles is not unethical. I did not, all mine were there already.
The line that some wanted to cross were to fake information. Thats unethical and if JB sees a lot of max requests, they may want something else. Mine wasn’t ma, it was in the middle, so that may be part of the reason for the fast signup, plus its 100% legit
Already received a reply from JetBlue saying they got my screen shot and I am registered. That was fast 1 day
this is the contents of the email i got back
You are now registered for #GoForthWithJetBlue Points Match!
Way to let your independent flag fly! To take advantage of the #GoForthWithJetBlue Points Match and earn your bonus TrueBlue points, just book and take a roundtrip JetBlue flight by August 31, 2016.
Once you fly, your points will automatically be added to your TrueBlue account within 4 – 6 weeks.
Thanks again for spreading your wings!
See you onboard soon,
The TrueBlue Team
I’d have to say that the generosity of this offer is directly related to how many VX points you already have and if you’re going to transfer SPG in to get them.
Starting from zero and transferring only Citi/Amex points is just getting you 2 cpp, not counting the cost of the required roundtrip.
Points Cents per Point Dollar Value in Travel
virgin 50000 $0.02 $1200.00
jetblue 70000 $0.01 $980.00
$2180.00
amex 100000 $0.02
citi 100000 $0.02
spg 40000 $0.05
*inspection of elements intensifies*
They must have a way to verify, no?