JetBlue airline: ‘Your loyalty doesn’t have an expiration date’

jetBlue

jetBlue made an announcement this week that will make fans of the airline happy — the points on its reward programme will never expire. 

That’s great news. As someone who tries to stay on top of my frequent flier programmes, I recently lost 1,800 points on American, which is a double shame as I had flown AA the previous month and forgot to give my number and could have avoided that. 

jetBlue offers three points per dollar spent and you get six points if you book your flight on their website at www.jetblue.com 

jetBlue said in an e-mail to its members: “Your loyalty doesn’t have an expiration date, and your points shouldn’t either. That’s why we’ve dropped the fine print. Starting today, you can hold on to your TrueBlue points until you’re ready to redeem them. 

“No activity requirements. No asterisks. No expiration dates. Just points, glorious points.”

It used to be your points expired after 12 months, so this is a big step forward for people enrolled in its frequent flyer programme. 

Air Canada

For the fourth consecutive year Air Canada has been named the Best Airline in North America by the Skytrax 2013 World Airline Awards. 

Best Western

Is offering a free night stay by staying at the hotel three separate times between June 17 and August 18. If you’re not a frequent traveller, then that might be difficult to do in a two-month span. You have to register ahead of your first stay in order to earn your free night. Go to www.bestwestern.com and look under ‘Rewards’. 

American Airlines

It’s about to get a bit more crowded. The airline said it is adding seats to its B737 and MD-80 planes. It uses the 737 on both its New York and Miami runs to Bermuda. It can only add seats by one of two ways: Cut down the number of lucrative First Class seats or reduce the legroom in economy. It hasn’t said which one it is going to do, but my bet is count on less legroom in cattle class.

US Airways

With the summer holiday season upon us, US Airways has brought back its Charlotte and Washington (Reagan) flights. That gives travellers a few more options when leaving the island. Wednesday, LF Wade had 12 flights scheduled, which did not include either of the two Canadian airlines. More choice is always better for the consumer.

Cunard

The luxury line is having a ‘Big Balcony Event’ from now until July 31. One deal is for a transatlantic seven-day crossing leaving New York on July 27 to Southampton aboard the Queen Mary 2 with fares starting at $799. If I could be off from work over Cup Match and hadn’t already booked a cruise two weeks after this date, I’d be making arrangements to do this.

Cunard is also offering the Queen Mary 2 on a nine-day crossing from New York to Hamburg, Germany with prices starting at $1,199 on the August 15 sailing.

Things start to get pricier after those deals. A 23-day roundtrip from New York to Scandinavia on September 22 starts at $4,199. 

To book a voyage, contact your Travel Agent, call Cunard toll-free 1-800-728-6273 or visit www.cunard.com.