Update: Unfortunately as of late June 2022, it’s no longer possible to redeem Emirates Skywards miles for JetBlue Mint. Economy awards continue to be possible.
Emirates Skywards is primarily a useful frequent flyer program for the ability to redeem miles for first & business class travel on Emirates. Historically the program hasn’t had many useful partner redemptions.
Fortunately not that long ago, Emirates started allowing redemptions on JetBlue (including in Mint!), and in many cases it’s a good deal. Initially it wasn’t possible to redeem Emirates Skywards miles for JetBlue’s London flights online, but that is now possible… and it’s an excellent deal! Let’s go over all the details.
Emirates Skywards redemption rates on JetBlue
Emirates Skywards has a distance based based award chart for travel on JetBlue, allowing redemptions in both economy and Mint (which is the name of JetBlue’s business class, available on select A321 aircraft).
Here’s the Emirates Skywards award chart for travel on JetBlue (pricing is per segment):
Most significantly for those looking to redeem in Mint business class, you can expect to pay:
- 52,000 Skywards miles for Mint on a 2,000-3,000 mile flight, which covers all transcon flights
- 64,000 Skywards miles for Mint on a 3,001-4,000 mile flight, which covers transatlantic flights
What is JetBlue award availability like?
An interesting wrinkle here is that JetBlue’s own frequent flyer program is revenue based, meaning the cost of an award is directly correlated to the cash cost of a ticket. Therefore JetBlue hasn’t historically had a special fare class for awards.
With Emirates having a more traditional distance based award redemption model on JetBlue, what is award availability like? Award seat availability is based entirely on which fare classes are available:
- JetBlue economy awards are available when there’s “P” class availability
- JetBlue Mint awards are available when there’s “I” class availability
This is awesome, as you’ll often find many “I” class seats available on JetBlue flights.
American AAdvantage and JetBlue TrueBlue are also rolling out reciprocal mileage redemptions. While you can redeem American miles for travel on JetBlue, the pricing is steep, and on top of that London flights are excluded.
How can you book JetBlue awards with Emirates Skywards miles?
JetBlue awards using Skywards miles can be booked directly on emirates.com. Initially flights to & from London weren’t bookable online, but that has now changed.
To book an award, visit emirates.com and click on the “advanced search” section above where you’d enter your departure and arrival airport.
Then click “Book Classic Reward Flight” and then click “Search partner flights only.” Enter the origin and destination you’d like to travel between, and the date. Note that while there’s an option to search flexible dates, don’t click this — it will cause an error message to come up with your search.
On the next page all the flight options will be displayed, and as you can see, there are often quite a few options available.
What’s really exciting is that as of recently JetBlue flights to & from London are also bookable online. While Emirates Skywards ordinarily passes on carrier imposed surcharges, I’m delighted to see that these don’t apply for JetBlue flights, including those to & from London.
A New York to London flight will cost you just 64,000 Skywards miles plus $10.10.
In the other direction you’ll pay ~$335. That’s not because there are fuel surcharges, but rather because you’re paying the hefty UK Air Passenger Duty.
64,000 Skywards miles for a transatlantic JetBlue Mint ticket without any fuel surcharges is a great value, especially for such a good product. You can read my review of the JetBlue Mint Suite here, and read my review of the JetBlue Mint Studio here.
Is redeeming Emirates Skywards miles on JetBlue a good deal?
Whether or not redeeming Emirates Skywards miles for travel on JetBlue is a good deal really depends on how you look at it:
- Redeeming 52,000 Skywards miles for a one-way transcon business class flight might not sound like a great value on the surface
- At the same time, award availability is excellent, and JetBlue’s Mint product is my favorite in the United States
- This can also represent quite a good deal compared to paid tickets, because transcon “I” class tickets in JetBlue Mint can otherwise easily retail for $1,000+ per flight
Redeeming 52,000 miles for a flight that would cost $628 isn’t a particularly good deal…
Meanwhile redeeming for a last minute flight that would cost $1,562 is a much better deal, if you ask me.
The area where this redemption really shines is for transatlantic flights, where you can redeem 64,000 Skywards miles for a ticket that costs a minimum of $2,504 is quite a good deal (though in fairness roundtrip pricing is typically more attractive).
Earning Emirates Skywards miles is easy
One reason this opportunity is so valuable is because of how easy it is to earn Emirates Skywards miles. The program partners with virtually all transferable points programs, including Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou.
Bottom line
It’s possible to redeem Emirates Skywards miles for travel on JetBlue, including in Mint. You can expect to pay 52,000 Skywards miles for a one-way transcon Mint award, or 64,000 Skywards miles for a one-way transatlantic Mint award, all with no fuel surcharges.
This has the potential to be a solid deal, particularly given how good award availability is, and for situations where paid fares are expensive. Emirates Skywards offers the all around best value proposition for redeeming in JetBlue Mint, and I’m happy to see London flights finally bookable online.
Anyone plan on redeeming Emirates Skywards miles for travel in JetBlue Mint?
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