Jet Blue and Marriott Rewards

[DCBoy]

Just got an email from Jet Blue this morning indicating that I can earn points in the Jet Blue frequent flyer program if I join the Marriott rewards program. It also looks like I can earn points for any charges made to the Marriott Vacation Club. Sounds like it might be a good deal for folks like me who only own resale units and have a unit where Jet Blue has service.

 

[m61376]

I got that too this morning, and was wondering if we were better off directly getting miles or using the points for travel packages, including perhaps miles on Jet Blue- any thoughts from the points experts here?

Finally took the plunge and realized I was an idiot for not getting the Marriott cc- time to teach an old dog new tricks I guess - so awaiting my new card. They instantly approved it, but no indication of the initial credit line. So I was planning on accruing those MR points and now JetBlue adds to my cc confusion (which is why I hadn't done anything even though I realized about a year ago that my BOA card's program had changed so that their rewards were barely worthwhile (which was a shame, because for years they had been good but slowly devalued more and more).

 

[rthib]

Depends on how often you stay

Depends on how often you stay in hotel.

With points you get 10X spend + Bonus for status + check-in Bonus.
Plus with MegaBonus, it is easy to get lots of points.

So if you stay a lot then go for points and convert to miles or travel package.
(Don't forget the cheaper 5 day package)

Also, most of the airlines (not sure about JetBlue) usually have a promotion sometime during the year when you get bonus miles for a conversion transfer.


That said, since I travel so much. I do miles during bonus miles periods where there is no points bonus (like right now).

You can switch back and forth as often as you like.

 

[Nickfromct]

I got that too this morning, and was wondering if we were better off directly getting miles or using the points for travel packages, including perhaps miles on Jet Blue- any thoughts from the points experts here?

Finally took the plunge and realized I was an idiot for not getting the Marriott cc- time to teach an old dog new tricks I guess - so awaiting my new card. They instantly approved it, but no indication of the initial credit line. So I was planning on accruing those MR points and now JetBlue adds to my cc confusion (which is why I hadn't done anything even though I realized about a year ago that my BOA card's program had changed so that their rewards were barely worthwhile (which was a shame, because for years they had been good but slowly devalued more and more).

Just paying your maintenance fees on the card , you can rack up a decent amount of points at 5 points per $ spent. The credit card has been the main reason I've been able to attain platinum status with marriott over the past few years.

 

[Nickfromct]

Depends on how often you stay in hotel.

With points you get 10X spend + Bonus for status + check-in Bonus.
Plus with MegaBonus, it is easy to get lots of points.

So if you stay a lot then go for points and convert to miles or travel package.
(Don't forget the cheaper 5 day package)

Also, most of the airlines (not sure about JetBlue) usually have a promotion sometime during the year when you get bonus miles for a conversion transfer.


That said, since I travel so much. I do miles during bonus miles periods where there is no points bonus (like right now).

You can switch back and forth as often as you like.

I usually buy a travel package each year when US Air offers their transfer bonus for hotel points. It's been a 50% bonus each time, so I've been able to turn 120,000 US air miles into 180,000 miles.

 

[BocaBoy]

I usually buy a travel package each year when US Air offers their transfer bonus for hotel points. It's been a 50% bonus each time, so I've been able to turn 120,000 US air miles into 180,000 miles.

Really? When did you do this and how many times? All the bonus promotions I have seen specifically exclude miles you get from travel packages and apply only to simple transfers of points into miles.

 

[Nickfromct]

I did this twice. US air has their hotel miles transfer promotion in May usually. Everyone that transfered miles got a 25% bonus, if you had a us air credit card you got an additional 25% and if you were elite with US air you got another 25%. So you can get up to a 75% bonus.

I never heard of travel package miles not eligible and i know alot of folks on flyer talk do this.