Guide to Badges Part III

TrueBlue Badges Part III

In the introduction to badges, I detailed how to sign up and start getting some of your first badges and over 1,000 TrueBlue points in just a few minutes. Then there was the Jet Blue badges guide part II to net you 2,000 points in total. This next installment will cover earning your next few badges....

The Next Four Badges

At this point most of the low hanging fruit has been picked in the badge program. It's been relatively easy to score those 2,000 points without having to make a single purchase or even flight a single mile. Now, though, the level portion of badges begins to come into play as some badges won't be unlocked until you achieve the proper level so progress will be a bit slower and will take more creativity to keep earning for free.

The social media badges are an easy grab as always and Opinionator will require about 10-15 minutes in total to signup and get through a survey or two that you qualify for. I actually stuck with E-Rewards for a while and earned $25 worth of credit on their site, which translates to 500 more True Bleu miles. It took a bit longer than I expected, about 1-2 weeks by doing one survey per day (many I didn't qualify for) and I wouldn't say it's the most effective method for earning free points. It is a direct and reliable source, though, if you're only a few hundred points behind on a reward flight but don't want to spend any cash to buy miles. 

Another unique badge is ShopTrue. While this does require a purchase, which I try t stay away from for the sake of these guides, Shop True has a great selection of stores (Macy's, Home Depot, etc.) so it shouldn't be too hard to find an occasion to purchase through the portal. No points to be earned here with the badge, but your qualifying purchase will earn you at least 1pt/dollar if not more - so the earning potential here is up to you. This will also help moving up towards the next level, where more social media badges lie waiting.

That's 450+ points for these badges (and 950+ if you commit to doing E-Rewards) to round out at almost 3,000 points without flying a single mile! That's 3/5 of the way towards a domestic one way flight via reward points and we've still got plenty more free miles to earn so be sure to check out part IV coming soon.

 - John

JetBlue: Cheap, Satisfying Flights

An Airline's Survey is Telling

After my most recent flight with JetBlue, I received an email a few days later asking if I wanted to take a customer satisfaction survey. These days, surveys of this sort aren't uncommon: almost any interaction with a customer service rep will lead in an optional survey, viewing many companies' websites will prompt a random poll on feedback, and many businesses will call you to check up after a new purchase (like with my latest web domain purchase). 

Despite the popularity and pervasiveness of this, it seems as though airlines have always been willing to sit back and take feedback from those who speak the loudest - the ones who go out of their way to compliment service or deride delays angrily over social media or through customer service hotlines.

JetBlue's inclusion of a customer happiness survey illustrates that despite their cheap and affordable prices, they still highly value feedback and aim to improve their standards as an airline. In itself, this is not a huge step up, but rather shows attention to detail on JetBlue's part. Much like with their TrueBlue program, in flight amenities, and fair pricing, a little bit can go a long way when the time is taken to treat the customer well and keep our best interest in mind. 

While I secretly hoped to be rewarded with a badge or extra points at the end of the survey, I didn't mind as it was a well developed questionnaire with brief length, easy controls, and the data it asked for seemed relevant without being too detailed or laborious to recall. 

Blue's News - Oct 23

What's new with JetBlue

• J. Crew Factory and JetBlue's promotion is still going on through October! Enter up to once per day to win any JetBlue Getaway destination including:
• Roundtrip airfare on a JetBlue getaway
• Hotel Accommodations 
• and a $2,5000 J.Crew Factory shopping spree
  
  
• Terminal 5 at JFK in NYC turns five! A lot has happened with Jet Blue and other airlines at the youngest terminal over the last few years, including the new Airspace Lounge, WhereTraveler Books + More store, and a Taylor Swift concert.
  
  
  





• Big Blue made LifeHacker's Top Ten Best Airline Coach Seats list - the only truly domestic airline in the list (Virgin has so few flights it doesn't count). It had some tough competition like British Air, but came in at a respectable #7.
  
  
• Tomorrow morning JetBlue debuts their FDNY Foundation tribute plane, "Blue Bravest", flying it over the West side of Manhattan, NYC. Catch the plane at 7:15AM and tweet a picture of it to win:
• Snap a photo of our newest custom livery “Blue Bravest” (Tail# N615JB) as it comes to New York in the morning of October 23rd. Not in New York? Don’t worry, you can use the photo we’ll tweet in the afternoon!
• Post the photo to Twitter between 7:00:00 AM EST and 11:59:00 PM EST on October 23, 2013
• Your Twitter update must include the hashtag #BlueBravest and mention @JetBlue
• You must be following JetBlue’s Twitter account @JetBlue
Grand Prize (one winner)
• Two (2) roundtrip domestic travel certificates between any of JetBlue’s US destinations

Family Pooling by JetBlue

JetBlue Brings Family Pooling to TrueBlue

Jet Blue is introducing a revolutionary new feature to their reward points - free point pooling within a family. The best part? You don't even have to be related!

A "family" is defined as two adults over the age of 21 (who don't have to be related) and up to five children under the age of 21. Members of a family can see the total reward points being used in the family and once a goal is reached, the "head of household" (one of the 21+ adults) can redeem the entire family's points towards a trip for everyone.

When setting up a family, the head of household can also make a one-time point contribution to another member and set up a yearly contribution amount as well for years thereafter. This helps to consolidate points for not even just cheap, but, well, free - which no one else does. In most cases points transfers are prohibitively costly so it's not even worth doing.

These features are not rivaled by any other airline and create a truly easy way for couples, friends, and families to enjoy travel together without worrying about ridiculous exchange fees or worrying about who has what points on their frequent flyer account.

I plan to set one up soon and will do a followup post once I have some time to explore it. Sound off if you are planning to sign up for family pooling and check the video below for some more information. 

 - John