I made myself a kind of Advent calendar with 1 flight per day for 10 days for Christmas. This is my last (very) weird trip for a while! Yes, I’m (finally) completing the JetBlue flights challenge. It’s also my last trip of the year, after 4 extremely intense months. Since late July, to do the Turkish Airlines and JetBlue challenges (and all my already planned trips), my number of flights flown (60) is higher than my number of days at home (41).
I’m late to posting this as I prioritized our very detailed ultimate guide to the Air Transat strike and my media interviews on the topic. You MUST read it now if you’re affected, so you don’t make the terrible mistake of accepting a refund like so many poorly informed travelers sadly do (and don’t miss the next part tomorrow morning if the strike starts).
So this trip actually started a week ago, but my mileage run itself starts tonight.
We’re trying a shorter version of these trip introduction posts. This is in addition to my daily stories on my personal Instagram account, as with all my many trips.
Here’s the intro to my trip to complete the JetBlue flight challenge, specifically the reason and the itinerary. The tips and booking logistics, reviews, and experiences will follow soon.
Reason for my trip to complete the JetBlue flight challenge
I’m sharing why I’m doing this trip, to get straight to the point right at the beginning, as in all our posts.
Here are the 3 main reasons:
- To complete the JetBlue flight challenge
- To cover some events at Miami Art Week
- To review a nice hotel in Lake Placid
To complete the JetBlue flight challenge
I recently explained to you the big change to my plan for the JetBlue flights challenge that’s going to give me 350,000 points (and potentially even more): I decided to do the complete challenge after all, so 25 destinations instead of just 20.
I got approval from my girlfriend, who really enjoyed our roundtrip to Europe in luxurious business class, and who wants me to earn tons of points to do that again for every single trip (60,000 points is all that’s required for Canada–Europe business class flights in lie-flat pod seats).
So I have 8 destinations left to do. I’m going to do them all in 10 days, as a mileage run. A mileage run is taking a flight just to take a flight, without (too much) visiting.
It’s 10 flights in 10 days (instead of 8) as I have my first and only positioning flight of the whole 25-flight challenge (for 49 USD) and my return flight home since JetBlue doesn’t fly to Eastern Canada (finally I was reasonable and decided to avoid the terrible New York-Montreal train this time😂).
My priority was once again to reduce the price as much as possible, like for the 2 other big JetBlue runs this fall. And also not to be too intense; I could have done this in far fewer days (I did 5 flights in 3 days on the last run), but I preferred to be reasonable for once. Especially after so many flights in recent months.
I also liked the idea of a 1 flight per day for 10 days Advent calendar thing! My other 2 flight challenges had something unique (my first time going all around the world on the same trip and my first time visiting every continent on the same trip). But this one didn’t have anything memorable like that. It was a bit bland.
So I thought it was perfect to do my longest-ever stretch of consecutive days flying, and the Christmas gift angle (I LOVE flying, can you tell?).
As I also explained in my post about the JetBlue challenge, I usually love it when my flights are canceled. But in this particular context, where I absolutely have to complete the 8 missing destinations during this trip so I don’t have to leave again during the holidays, I wanted to give myself a buffer in case of issues.
I haven’t had any disrupted flights at all on my first 17 JetBlue flights, so the chances are good that there will be a regression to the mean, considering JetBlue’s less-than-exemplary reliability.
To cover some events at Miami Art Week
Since I have to go to Fort Lauderdale for the challenge (it’s one of JetBlue’s 4 big hubs), I decided to continue my annual tradition of attending Miami Art Week.
Almost every year, there are fabulous events organized by American Express and Marriott Bonvoy (and plenty of other brands, obviously), so it’s certainly a great week for fans of these travel brands.
This year, I once again covered many interesting events, including the American Express (with Delta Air Lines) VIP lounge on the beach (free if you have the Amex Platinum Card), an exclusive and intimate Citi Bank (with Mastercard) evening with superstar J Balvin, a couple of Capital One Bank live music evenings, an art evening at the Moxy hotel (Marriott), and many more.
I was invited to the launch party for Marriott Bonvoy’s citizenM hotel brand, but I’m extremely disappointed that I missed it because of the legendary and atrocious Art Week traffic (and my ADD problem of always trying to do everything/misjudging how fast time goes by).
I definitely recommend the event if you’re not boycotting the United States. It’s not even just the art. Art Week is for those who like unique events, cool parties, meeting interesting people, music, creativity, innovation, crypto, nightlife, etc.
To review a nice hotel in Lake Placid
The trip actually started with a separate weekend getaway with my girlfriend before I flew out, which I’m combining here.
It was in Lake Placid in New York State. I had agreed to review a superb hotel from Hilton’s Small Luxury Hotels of the World collection, for those who aren’t boycotting the United States.
The Mirror Lake Inn, an SLH Hotel, is definitely a magnificent option if that’s your case.
Itinerary of my trip to complete the JetBlue flight challenge
I’m sharing the general itinerary of my trip, so you can follow me.
Here’s my itinerary on a map.
It’s once again a very illogical itinerary, given the nature of the trip. It should be the last of its kind, considering it had been a decade since there was an incredible promotion (before the 3 recent ones). I’d love to be wrong, though; if airlines want to give other huge batches of points, I’ll be very happy!
Here are the destinations I’m going to visit during my trip:
- Lake Placid, New York
- Missing on the map (sorry)
- Miami Beach, Florida
- To position myself at a JetBlue hub (FLL)
- To attend Miami Art Week (my 9th time)
- Raleigh, North Carolina
- JetBlue destination #18
- Orlando, Florida
- My 1st & only positioning flight (49 USD)
- Throughout the 25 destinations
- Hartford, Connecticut
- JetBlue destination #19
- And a music concert in NYC by bus (32 CAD)
- West Palm Beach, Florida
- JetBlue destination #20
- Providence, Rhode Island
- JetBlue destination #21
- Boston, Massachusetts
- To position myself at a JetBlue hub
- Commuter train from Providence (13 USD)
- Richmond, Virginia
- JetBlue destination #22
- Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- JetBlue destination #23
- Long Island, New York
- JetBlue destination #24
- Daytona Beach, Florida
- JetBlue destination #25
- And bus to Orlando (15 USD) for my return flight
- Air Transat was (111 CAD) 😂
- But I paid (141 CAD) for Air Canada Rouge
I used Qatar Airways Avios points to book 4 of my 8 JetBlue flights, for 8,500 points each and (4.5 USD) in taxes. Every other flight was very close to my approximate average cost so far, under (150 USD) per flight.
I’m very happy with how I made this work, even managing to (mostly) avoid dreaded morning departures that I hate, and managing to fit in a NYC stop the exact evening to see one of my favorite bands’ special hometown holiday concert (Taking Back Sunday)!
I don’t want to brag too much, but objectively speaking, as with the other 2 flight challenges, I managed to complete this one extremely efficiently!
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Summary
This approximately 2-week trip is my last of the year, and most likely my last very unusual one for a while. In addition to doing my 8 missing destinations for the JetBlue flights challenge, I spent a few days in Florida for Miami Art Week and started with a short getaway in Lake Placid.
What would you like to know about my trip to complete the JetBlue flight challenge? Tell us in the comments below.
See the flight deals we spot: Cheap flights
Discover free travel with rewards: Travel rewards
Explore awesome destinations: Travel inspiration
Learn pro tricks: Travel tips
Featured image: Amex lounge at Miami Art Week and my itinerary (photo credit: Andrew D’Amours/Flytrippers)
