JetBlue, Etihad add earn and burn loyalty reciprocity

Members of the JetBlue TrueBlue loyalty program can now earn and redeem points on Etihad, opening up a range of options for international award travel. This includes access to business class rewards, though the pricing and availability is limited and difficult to find in searches.

Awards on Etihad metal are booked through the regular JetBlue website. Prices appear to be distance based, though there is no published chart of what the prices are for different regions.

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Spot-checking a collection of destinations revealed the following results:

This suggests the distance band cutoffs are at ~1,000, 2,000, 3,500, 4,000, and ~5,500 miles. Moreover, for connecting itineraries it appears the award prices are simply the sum of the two segments. This includes routes wholly outside the USA but connecting via Abu Dhabi.

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And with enough of an advance booking window the inventory seems to be relatively wide open, especially in economy class and for travel beyond Abu Dhabi.

While business class fares are available, searching for them is challenging. The default results will show a business class seat if no economy inventory is available. It will not, however, show whether business class is open on the main results page if economy is an option. Clicking the economy price reveals whether the nicer seat option is on offer.

Overall it is nice to have an additional partner with the TrueBlue program. And other than the end-on-end pricing for connections the rates are not entirely egregious. Though given the relatively fixed price of the points when redeeming on JetBlue flights there will likely be times when just paying cash for the Etihad booking is the better “value,” assuming some other use for the points.