Bilt has added yet another popular airline to its travel point transfer program.
About JetBlue’s Addition to Bilt:
Today, JetBlue became the latest Bilt Rewards transfer partner. As a result, members can now transfer Bilt Points to JetBlue’s TrueBlue loyalty program at a rate of 1:1 (1,000 Bilt points become 1,000 TrueBlue points. TrueBlue is now the 27th travel transfer partner for Bilt and the 24th to offer 1:1 transfers.
To transfer to JetBlue TrueBlue, Bilt members can head to the Rewards section of the Bilt app or site. Once there, they can navigate to the JetBlue tab and link their TrueBlue account. Then, they can make 1:1 transfers in 1,000-point increments (note: Blue, entry-level Bilt members must transfer a minimum of 2,000 points).
In Bilt’s announcement of this new partnership, they also noted that JetBlue Cardmembers could add their card to the Bilt app and teased “more cardmember features coming soon.”
The addition of JetBlue TrueBlue comes on the heels of Bilt introducing a new transfer partner category — Rails — with Amtrak joining the lineup. That announcement came just last month. However, unlike with JetBlue, Bilt Points transfer to Amtrak Guest Rewards at a rate of 2:1 (2,000 Bilt Points to 1,000 Amtrak Guest Rewards points).
What They’re Saying:
Announcing the arrival of JetBlue, Bilt’s founder and CEO Ankur Jain said, “Members have been asking us for JetBlue for a really long time, and it’s easy to see why. It’s New York’s hometown airline, it flies to a lot of the places our members already want to go, and it keeps the cost of getting there well within reach.”
Jain continued, “Every partner we add makes the points members earn on housing payments go even further, and that’s what keeps this ecosystem growing: more homes, more Bilt Members, and more places to use their points. JetBlue is a big addition, and we’re excited that it happens to be right in our own backyard.”
On the other end, JetBlue’s VP of loyalty and personalization Ed Pouthier said of working with Bilt, “Our focus with TrueBlue is making it easy for customers to earn and use their points in ways that work best for them. With Bilt, members have another option to put their points toward JetBlue travel, while JetBlue Cardmembers can add their cards to the Bilt app to access additional earning opportunities, with more cardmember features coming soon.”
My Thoughts:
It’s amazing that, even at this stage, Bilt manages to keep adding partners at such a clip. Then again, if you asked me whether or not JetBlue was already a Bilt partner before, I would have sworn they were. Oops.
As for what the “more cardmember features coming soon” tease could mean, I’d imagine that it will be something similar to what we’ve seen with Alaska, Air France/KLM, and Qatar credit cards. Basically, Bilt allows these cardholders to make housing payments with their credit card in order to earn extra points/miles, but it does charge a 3% fee. Again, this is just speculation, but it seems highly likely to me.
Speaking of speculation, we can probably expect JetBlue to be featured in a future Bilt Rent Day transfer bonus — perhaps even in November?
