JetBlue “25 for 25” challenge: Get 350,000 points with this 25^th anniversary promotion

U.S. airline JetBlue just launched the “25 for 25” challenge for its 25^th anniversary! It’s an awesome promotion; you can earn 350,000 TrueBlue points (value of ≈ $5950 to UNLIMITED). It can be very interesting for some travelers! I think I won’t be able to resist (again)…

This is not at all as generous as the best promotion of the decade, the SAS million-point challenge that I did this fall. Not as exotic either: no round-the-world trip this time. But it’s also a bit easier to do logistically for many of you!

(By the way, I just redeemed my first SAS points for my return from Europe in a luxurious lie-flat pod seat in business class! It was worth $4,000+! It cost me the guaranteed fixed price of 50,000 points… so my million points earned are worth $80,000!!! Pretty crazy, right?)

I was secretly dreaming that the viral success of the SAS promotion would inspire other airlines to want to make people talk about them the same way, but I was afraid it would never happen again… So it’s pretty awesome that there’s at least one other similar promotion now! UPDATE: Another challenge for 1M points has been launched!!!

Here are the details of JetBlue’s “25 for 25” challenge.

Overview of JetBlue’s “25 for 25” challenge

If you missed the million points and the new million promotion is too intense for you, this promotion is pretty generous (even though I repeat that it’s really not as good as the one you missed, to be very clear).

Here are the basics of JetBlue’s “25 for 25” challenge:

• Consists of making you take flights operated by JetBlue
  • Not partner airline flights
• JetBlue has 114 destinations
  • From 6 hubs in the U.S.

Here’s what you need to do:

• You must visit 15, 20, or 25 different airports
  • It’s relatively easy to do
  • There are many cheap flights
• It’s the “destination” of each one-way that counts
  • So Boston-Tampa counts as 1 airport
  • But Boston-Tampa and Tampa-Boston is 2
• Connection airports count
  • Every flight is considered separately
• Different airports in the same city all count
  • So you don’t need to go to 20 “cities”
  • There are many cities with multiple airports

Here’s the incredible bonus you get at each level:

• 15 airports
  • 150,000 JetBlue TrueBlue points after
• 20 airports
  • 200,000 extra points
• 25 airports
  • The points + JetBlue elite status for 25 years

Here are the logistical details:

• The cheapest fare class doesn’t count
  • Basic economy (Blue Basic)
  • So it costs you a bit more
• You have all of 2025 to do the 20 destinations
  • That’s really a lot of time
  • You can start today
• You have no time limit to redeem the points (as almost always)
  • JetBlue points never expire (and you don’t need to do anything)
• No registration required (rare for a promotion)
  • You just need to create a JetBlue account
  • And obviously add your number with your bookings
• You can read the official details if you want
  • On the JetBlue promotion page

This is such a cool promotion!

The sweet spot of this promotion for Canadians is definitely to do 20 destinations, and that’s what I think I’ll do (that does not mean it’s worth it for you; see below).

Once you get to 15, it doesn’t really make sense not to do 5 more for 350,000 points instead of “just” 150,000 points.

However, doing 5 more destinations to get JetBlue elite status for 25 years isn’t really worth it if you don’t want to fly JetBlue that often: JetBlue isn’t part of a global alliance, so the status isn’t as useful for those who aren’t American.

(It’s not like my Air Canada elite status, which gives me elite status on 25 Star Alliance airlines around the world, including VIP private minibus transport from the terminal to the plane in a very random place like Shenzhen!)

That said, JetBlue could be acquired by United and maybe status would then be worth more (the points definitely would)… I’ll explain the details below.

How to do JetBlue’s “25 for 25” challenge?

Logistically, here are the concrete steps:

• Create a free JetBlue account (if you don’t already have one)
• Book flights to 20 different airports in 2025
• Fly the 20 flights and add your TrueBlue number
• Get 350,000 JetBlue TrueBlue points

Of course, I’ll help you find those 20 flights for less as well! That’s the key!

I wanted to share the promotion with you right away, but I’ll soon do a more detailed post with a turnkey itinerary for you, like I did for the fall challenge.

I’ll almost certainly take advantage of this promotion myself.

I love this kind of challenge too much, as I explained in the fall. And I obviously love the idea of having even more points of the more lucrative type, including for traveling in business class.

I’ll come back to this below, but JetBlue TrueBlue points can be redeemed for the world’s best business class. I really loved my experience in Qatar Airways’ Qsuite! It costs 70,000 JetBlue points (by being very flexible)… so doing 20 JetBlue airports gives enough points for 5 long 12-hour flights worth $3,800+ each, for a total of $19,000!!!

And I particularly love the challenge of having to build the most efficient itinerary that costs the least possible, like in the fall. 

How to maximize JetBlue’s “25 for 25” challenge?

You can maximize the value of the points of course (I explain that below), but the bonus points are what they are (350,000 points; that’s fixed).

So you maximize this promo by spending less to get the fixed bonus!

For EVERYTHING in the world of travel rewards, the goal is to spend as little as possible to get a specific reward (welcome offer, bonus points, benefits, etc.). Simple. That maximizes your return percentage!

It’s simple math. Here, the bonus doesn’t change: it’s 350,000 points. Let’s say you value that at $10,000 to have a round number. If you spend $2,500 to get $10,000, you get a return of 400%. If you spend $5,000 to get the same $10,000, your return drops by half!

So it’s not complicated: the goal is to do the most airports for the cheapest possible. At least if your priority is to do it at the lowest price, as is mine. If not, you can take advantage of this to visit a dozen cities you’re interested in!

The key to keeping the cost down will probably be to be strategic to avoid circling back to the same hub and to take advantage of short flights, cities with multiple airports, and flights to Florida.

(Why Florida? Because flight prices are low; these are leisure destinations and not business ones. That’s how plane ticket prices are set, even though so many people don’t understand: it’s always just how much people are willing to pay, quite simply. Nothing else matters!)

Just with cheap short flights in the Boston-Washington corridor and cheap flights from there to Florida, you can do 19 of the 20 destinations!!! The missing one shouldn’t be too expensive either.

JetBlue’s hubs are Boston (BOS), New York (JFK), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Orlando (MCO), San Juan (SJU) and Los Angeles (LAX).

Depending on where in Canada you live, the closest airports where to start, from East to West, are Presque Isle (PQI), Portland (PWM), Albany (ALB), Buffalo (BUF), Detroit (DTW), and Vancouver (YVR)… their only Canadian destination.

The upside of this promotion is that you can very easily split out all the flights into many separate trips if you prefer (and you have over 6 months to do them all).

Do I have to go to the US for JetBlue’s “25 for 25” challenge?

Obviously, this challenge involves going to many airports in the United States.

If you do the challenge as a mileage run, you don’t leave the airport so it doesn’t really matter. A mileage run is when you just line up flights without visiting anything, to get rewards or elite status. It’s what I might do.

That said, JetBlue has a few routes in the Caribbean and Latin America, and maybe there’s a way to do a few destinations over there. Those routes are a bit more expensive, but it might be worth it to avoid being in the US (whether it’s for the cost of living or the boycott).

Speaking of the popular boycott! If you want to make Americans lose money, why not do the 20 flights and then redeem the points by getting thousands of dollars more than you spent? That will be a net loss for them. 

Just to be clear, I explained recently that it’s not risky to enter the US. Some seem to think that post has anything to do with boycotting. No. I completely understand those who boycott. That was even explicitly written in the introduction… we’re just talking about those who are “afraid” of the border.

Everyone should always go (or not go) where they want. But when 82% of Canadian survey respondents say they’re “afraid” of the US border, then I really have to say it’s irrational. Even if not everyone likes hearing it…

Stay out of the U.S. if you want to boycott… but don’t stay out because of the border. That’s it. It makes objectively no sense: there are 60,000 Canadians who enter the U.S. every single day…

What is the cost of doing JetBlue’s “25 for 25” challenge?

Very quickly, I estimate the cost of flights will be $150 per flight or $3,000 total (about US$2200).

This expense allows you to unlock an extra welcome bonus, to get at least $500 in free travel (or even more than $500 if you don’t get as many cards as I do and are therefore eligible for more offers right now).

So a net cost of $2,500 for the flights, according to my very (very) preliminary estimates. I’ll try to get lower than that when I share the itinerary that you’ll be able to follow.

(Don’t forget you’ll also earn 6 JetBlue points per U.S. dollar spent on flights, so around 13,200 more points… ≈ $224 more to add to the already huge bonus!)

Flights are obviously much cheaper in the United States than in Canada, and often much less than $150 per flight.

But as mentioned, the basic economy fare class is excluded, so that raises the cost a bit (often around US$25 more than the cheapest price).

As always, the most basic thing for plane ticket prices is simple: the more flexible you are (on everything), the less it will cost you.

I’ll obviously use FlightConnections and Wikipedia to create an itinerary. Stay tuned.

Then, there is the cost of travel to the United States, however…

Is it worth doing JetBlue’s “25 for 25” challenge?

Like literally everything in the travel world, it depends! Every traveler is different.

A net cost of $2,500 for flights is not really less than the price for the SAS promotion that gave 1 million points (it was 3 times more points, and better points). So it’s really less interesting.

But if you think you’ll redeem JetBlue points well, it might be worth it.

It certainly helps if you have already had to go to the United States this year. But air travel from Canada to the U.S. is down 24% in May with the current boycott of the country, so that probably isn’t the case for some of you.

In my case, I already have to go there at least 4 times, so I think it’s worth it.

Many of the flights will replace flights I was going to book anyway, so those are effectively free for me since I know how to count well (or almost free since JetBlue will be a bit more expensive than what I would have paid).

I’ll also minimize the time spent in this terribly expensive country and do the other flights as a mileage run. It’ll cost very little over there that way.

I’ll try to have very few hotel stays. With my Amex Platinum Card (a new record-high offer was just launched), I’ll eat and drink for free in VIP airport lounges: the best premium card has unlimited free access to 1000+ lounges worldwide (for a guest, too).

But ultimately, whether it’s worth it obviously mostly depends on how you’ll redeem the points!

How to redeem TrueBlue points from JetBlue’s “25 for 25” challenge?

If you know the basics of airline points, you know that redeeming them on partners almost always gives more value (stop redeeming your Aeroplan points on Air Canada!!!).

Unfortunately, JetBlue isn’t part of an airline alliance. So you don’t have 40+ partners like you have with Aeroplan points.

But JetBlue has an extremely interesting non-alliance partner: Qatar Airways. There’s also Hawaiian Airlines, but that’s less interesting. Additionally, JetBlue and United have recently announced a new partnership that will soon enable point redemptions on the world’s largest airline (if it’s approved by the American government).

If you know the basics of travel rewards, you know that just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should do it. Being able to redeem points for something doesn’t mean it’s a good deal!

(A reminder that redeeming your points for anything other than travel is such a terrible idea!!!)

If you know the basics of airline points, you also know that these are the best points that exist because their value is unlimited. Especially for premium cabin flights that are so expensive with cash, but also for economy flights that are expensive with cash.

Redeeming TrueBlue points on Qatar Airways

Good news: TrueBlue points are excellent for the world’s best business class, Qatar Airways’ Qsuite.

It costs 70,000 or 80,000 points from North America to Doha (depending on departure city), including from Toronto or Montreal. The same price as with Avios points. However, the Qsuite is one of the most difficult in terms of seat availability (regardless of the rewards program used), so you need to be really more flexible.

We’ll help you very soon, as I explained to you recently. But Qatar Airways is really stingy (way more than other airlines), and I really want to stress that you need to be very flexible on all the things I mentioned in Step 2 of our guide on how to travel in business class (positioning flights, booking date, flight date, etc.)! 

It’s really not as easy as with Aeroplan points (or Amex points)!

If you want to travel in economy class, there’s obviously a lot more availability on Qatar Airways (plenty, really), and that’s still a very good deal: around 45,000 points to go to Doha or 70,000 points to go to Thailand and the surrounding areas.

You’d get plenty like that, and they can be worth $1000 per flight.

That’s really mainly why I’ll take advantage of this promotion. And also for the potential with United.

Redeeming TrueBlue points on United

We don’t know how pricing will work on United. So it’s really a risk.

But I took a luxurious lie-flat pod seat in United Polaris business class to go to Asia this winter (75,000 Aeroplan points), and it was really good too.

There are several rumors that United will acquire JetBlue. Your TrueBlue points would become redeemable on all Star Alliance airlines, which would be incredibly more interesting. But that acquisition is very far from certain.

Redeeming TrueBlue points on JetBlue

Otherwise, TrueBlue points can be redeemed for any seat on any JetBlue flight. But with that redemption option, these aren’t points of the more lucrative type. The price in points is simply tied to the cash price.

In economy class, JetBlue flights cost very few points. If you travel a lot in the United States, it’s very interesting. If you want to go to their Caribbean and Latin America destinations by leaving from the U.S. or Vancouver) or with a positioning flight, that too is great (but those who love those regions are often those who don’t like connections…)!

If not… redeeming points on JetBlue is probably not very practical.

JetBlue has a very well-rated business class with lie-flat pod seats, called JetBlue Mint. Those on its limited transatlantic flights often even have sliding doors. They also offer many flights between the U.S. East and West coasts.

But sadly, you often get pretty poor value with these redemptions (yes, usually worse than in economy… JetBlue is weird like that).

I’ll still probably test that too with my points, if I do the challenge.

(But who am I kidding? I’m trying to convince myself I’m analyzing this, but of course I’ll do it; even you already know that I’ll do it, I’m sure!😂)

How much are the 350,000 points from JetBlue’s “25 for 25” challenge worth?

If you book 5 Qsuite seats at 70,000 points each, they’re worth about $3,800 each. So the bonus is worth $19,000!

If you’re not flexible enough or you’re not interested in business class, JetBlue TrueBlue points have a very conservative value of ≈ 1.7¢/pt, so the bonus is worth ≈ $5,950.

I’ll do a guide on JetBlue points for those doing this promotion!

What is the elite status offered with JetBlue’s “25 for 25” challenge?

If you reach 25 different airports, in addition to the 350,000 JetBlue points, you’ll get Mosaic 1 elite status for “25 years” (with a caveat).

First… while Air Canada Aeroplan elite status is extremely useful on 25 airlines worldwide, JetBlue status is only useful on JetBlue. In 550+ flights in my lifetime, including visits to 47 US states… I’ve flown JetBlue only twice. So, imagine how useful that is for an average Canadian traveler…

However, it’s true that there will soon be benefits on United for JetBlue elite members, and that’s the world’s largest airline. But that’s still not that useful either, because it’s not a United/Star Alliance status.

Speaking of which, even though they say “25 years”… JetBlue might not exist in 25 years due to the potential acquisition by United. What happens in that situation?

Nobody knows. Either you would get United Silver status for the rest of the 25 years (awesome)… or you would have nothing at all anymore (not awesome). And even if you’d get United Silver status, it’s good… but not phenomenal either. You can already get it for free by having Marriott Bonvoy elite status (Titanium), as I do.

That said, it’s just 5 more flights… maybe it’s worth it as a gamble. I don’t think I’ll do the 5 extra flights… but I’ll think about it a bit more.

Here’s what you get on JetBlue with JetBlue Mosaic 1 status:

• 3 bonus points per US dollar spent (≈ 3.75%)
• 2 free checked bags (you and your companions)
• Free seats with extra legroom (at check-in)*
• Free seat selection (at booking)*
• Priority boarding, check-in, bag handling, and service
• 3 free alcoholic drinks per flight
• Free flight changes 24 hours before the flight*
• Free car rental elite status (Avis Preferred Plus)

*These 3 benefits don’t apply to the basic economy fare class (Blue Basic)

Here’s what you’ll get on United with JetBlue Mosaic 1 status (when the partnership goes into effect later this year, if it’s approved by the government):

• 1 free checked bag (you and your companions)
• Free seats with more space (at check-in)
• Free preferred seats (at booking)
• Priority boarding, check-in, and service
• Free same-day flight changes

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Summary

U.S. airline JetBlue just announced a promotion that can be awesome. The “25 for 25” challenge allows you to get 350,000 JetBlue TrueBlue points by visiting 20 different airports served by JetBlue by the end of 2025. It just can’t be in the basic economy fare class.

What would you like to know about JetBlue’s 25^th anniversary challenge? Tell us in the comments below.

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