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Qatar updated its award pricing for JetBlue flights just days after we wrote this news. See our story on how Qatar changed JetBlue redemptions for more details.
Qatar Airways announced in an email to its members that you can now redeem your Privilege Club Avios for awards on JetBlue flights. This latest development is exciting news and expands on a partnership that is more than ten years old. The Qatar–JetBlue partnership has now evolved from a simple, restricted codeshare to reciprocal earning and even award redemptions.
Redeem Qatar Avios for JetBlue Flights
Qatar still uses a distance-based award chart for partner flights. While JetBlue is primarily a U.S. carrier, it does operate several routes across the Atlantic — including from New York City and Boston to the London area (both Heathrow and Gatwick) as well as Paris, Amsterdam, and Dublin.
Not all the routes are flying at the time of writing. JetBlue is expanding its footprint through the spring and summer of 2024. All JetBlue transatlantic routes so far are from New York (JFK) or Boston Logan (BOS).
All of these routes fall between 3,001 and 4,000 miles. Therefore, a one-way award will set you back 20,750 Avios in economy class or 62,000 Avios in Mint. For reference, here are the costs (based on distance) for partner awards booked with Qatar Airways Avios:
| Distance | Economy Class Award (one-way) | Business Class Award (one-way) |
|---|---|---|
| 0-650 | 6,000 | 12,500 |
| 651-1,151 | 9,000 | 16,500 |
| 1,152-2,000 | 11,000 | 22,000 |
| 2,001-3,000 | 13,000 | 38,750 |
| 3,001-4,000 | 20,750 | 62,000 |
| 4,001-5,500 | 25,750 | 77,250 |
| 5,501-6,500 | 31,000 | 92,750 |
| 6,501-7,000 | 36,250 | 108,250 |
| 7,001+ | 51,500 | 154,500 |
For flights within the U.S., you have plenty of transcontinental options for JetBlue flights between its hubs on the East Coast and the West Coast. Almost all these routes span less than 3,000 miles, meaning these awards will set you back 13,000 Avios in economy class or 38,750 Avios in Mint.
No fuel surcharges when you redeem Qatar Avios for JetBlue
Qatar Airways typically passes along surcharges on partner award bookings. These can be hefty and detract from the value of an award. But that's not necessarily happening here. Take, for instance, a flight from New York-JFK to Amsterdam (AMS) in February of 2024. It carries just $10.10 in surcharges on top of the 62,000 Avios for the award.
Note that if you don't have enough Avios in your account, it will seem like the taxes and fees are high. For example, the screenshot below makes it seem like there are 539 euros in taxes and fees at first blush. However, that's because this account only had 42,500 Avios at the time of the search. The true cost is found at the top of the page: 62,000 Avios plus 79 euros one-way.
The only place where you have to look out is on flights departing London. Due to high taxes, a Mint (JetBlue's business class) ticket from London Heathrow (LHR) to JFK will set you back £261.31/$323.60 in surcharges. That is a substantial amount and makes these awards less valuable than they could be.
Redeem Qatar Avios for JetBlue Mint on domestic routes
Flying within the U.S. also has a lot of potential for value. Take, for instance, a flight from New York (JFK) to Los Angeles (LAX) in February. You'll pay 38,750 Avios in Mint, plus only $10.10 in fees. This makes for much better value than a transatlantic route.
Finding JetBlue Mint Awards
JetBlue doesn't have award availability in the traditional sense. All JetBlue flights are bookable with TrueBlue points, roughly based on cost. Also, JetBlue doesn't partner with many other airlines — especially now that the American Airlines-JetBlue partnership was struck down in court. So, JetBlue doesn't have dedicated award fare availability.
Instead, to find flights bookable with Qatar Avios, you need to find JetBlue availability in certain revenue fare classes:
- P for JetBlue economy awards.
- I for JetBlue Mint awards.
The easiest way to find qualifying flights is through ITA Matrix. For example, to find JetBlue Mint availability, click “show advanced controls” and enter “o:b6” into the routing codes box and “f bc=i” into the extension code box. This will limit the search results to JetBlue flights with I fare availability.
Any search results that come up should be bookable using Qatar Airways Avios. For example, on February 14, 2024, we are currently seeing options from New York to London Gatwick (LGW), London Heathrow (LHR), and Amsterdam (AMS):
Sure enough, when we search on Qatar Airways' website, these flights have JetBlue Mint availability bookable using 62,000 Avios:
Caution When Booking Qatar Airways Partner Awards
Booking some partner awards with Qatar can be very awkward, to say the least. The first thing you need to do is perform an award search for your desired airline, cabin class, route, and travel date. In this instance, we searched for a JetBlue economy award between New York (JFK) and London (LHR) on January 11, 2024.
Unfortunately, unless you have Avios in your account, you won't be able to search for awards. Instead, you will get the following dispiriting notification.
However, getting just a few Avios will unlock your ability to search for awards. And thankfully travelers have many ways to do so.
The Many Ways to Generate Qatar Avios
Travelers have numerous options for transferring their credit card points to Qatar Airways Privilege Club:
Additionally, you can transfer Avios between British Airways, Iberia, Qatar Airways, and Aer Lingus. Transfers are at a 1:1 ratio, free, and instant. Thus, transfers to any of those programs can be used to build up your Qatar Avios balance.
Finally, you can often take advantage of a transfer bonus, such as the recent 30% transfer bonus from Membership Rewards to British Airways. This allows you to leverage your points for even more value by using the transfer bonus and then moving your Avios from British Airways to Qatar Airways.
For instance, in the above example, a Jet Blue Mint award from JFK to London Heathrow would set you back 62,000 Avios or 47,693 Membership Rewards points if you used a 30% transfer bonus. Since you have to transfer in increments of 1,000 points, you'd have to transfer 48,000 points — which is still stunning value for a transatlantic business-class flight.
Related: Qatar Airways partner award sweet spots
Our Take
This latest development is fantastic news and provides another great option to leverage your points for premium travel. What is even better is the interconnected nature of the Avios ecosystem and the multiple arrays of partnerships. You now have a great option to leverage virtually every major points currency if you want to redeem Qatar Avios for JetBlue Mint awards.
Finding availability is more complicated than most. However, there is no hiding the fact that there is some excellent value to be had with this new redemption option.
Will you be booking any JetBlue awards using Qatar Avios? Let us know in the comments below.
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