Best Use Of JetAirways JP Miles & JetPrivilege Award Chart

In the past I’ve tried to explore other programs. Since Jet Airways’ JetPrivilege (aka JPMiles) is one of a few transfer partners of Citi, I decided to give a peek and remake their award chart so it’s easy to understand.

I see a few good uses that might be worthy of a Citi TY points transfer. I’ll list all of the best uses, then show the award chart, and then dive in deeper about each use.

In short, the three best uses I see are: flights to Hawaii for 15k/30k, flights to Caribbean and Central America for 10k/20k, and possibly the cheapest Citi TY transfer to fly Emirates First or Etihad First.

However… there are a lot of details around these deals as each depends on the region of the US you fly out of. For deals, details, and the JP Miles Award chart, dive in.

 

Personal note / warning: As always with these lesser known programs I highly recommend calling and making sure whatever you want is bookable before transferring miles. I have not booked anything with JetPrivelege JPMiles, and this was research to see what the pros were in their award chart.

 

Best Uses:

• LA / Texas are in the same region as Mexico (NA 3), and flights within would be 15,000 miles.
  • Delta, & AA are partners.
• Hawaii appears to also be in in NA 3, meaning flights like Dallas to Maui are 15k/30k/45k!
• Caribbean (and some of Central America) appears to be in NA 2, meaning flights from Miami to Montego Bay are 10k miles.
• Flights from NA 1 to Southern Africa are 50k/100k/150k… which isn’t too bad.
• Flights within the Middle East for 15,000 miles.
  • Although Etihad regional /w Etihad Miles can be way cheaper (here).
• Flights within India  as low as 5,000 miles.
  • Again, Etihad Miles can be cheaper, even on Jet Airways flights (here).
• Most Intra-Region flights are reasonable.
• NA 3 to Pacific is 43k/86k/129k. Includes Qantas, Air New Zealand, and Air France (for LAX-PPT).
• Central Asia to Southern Africa for 32k/64k/96k.

In general prices are about 30% more than what I would pay with AA or Alaska miles. A oneway to Europe is 40k, instead of 30k.

Actually, it’s 40k to 50k, depending on what region you leave from. So the most annoying part of JP Miles, is that your price differs depending on what US city you leave from. The biggest rip off I see is that flying to Central Asia leaving from the Northeast is 60k/120k/180k… but leaving from the Southwest is 100k/200k/300k. That’s a huge difference on a oneway for a very small difference in flight time.

None the less, there are lots of decent uses.

However, I only see a few examples where I’d say that one should actually consider transferring from Citi TY points to Jet Airways miles.

 

Jet Airways JetPrivilege Miles Award Chart

Regions

• “N.A. 1” = Northeast, “Newark, Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago etc.”
• “N.A. 2” = Southeast, “Atlanta, Daytona, Carolina, Florida etc.”
• “N.A. 3” = Southwest, “Texas, Mexico, Los Angeles etc.”
• “N.A. 4” = Northwest, “Seattle, Denver, Portland, San Francisco etc.”

Notes & Rules

• Redeemable Partners:
  Air Berlin, Air Serbia, Alitalia, Etihad, Air France, Air New Zealand, Air Seychelles, ANA, American Airlines, Austrian, Bangkok Airways, Cathay Pacific, Delta, Emirates, Garuda Indonesia, Gulf Air, Kenya Airways, KLM, Korean Air, Lufthansa, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, South African Airways, Swiss, Turkish Airlines, Vietnam Airlines, Virgin Atlantic
• Original “Redemption Table” here.
• Anytime you see “N/A” you have to add two tickets together.
• No Stopovers. There is a lot of ambiguity, but it appears “stopovers” how we mean them are not allowed, or require two tickets. Connections must be under 12 hours and on the way.
• As mentioned, I know nothing about how easy it is or isn’t to book flights using Jet Airways JP Miles.

 

Finding intra-region deals

I noticed that the JP Award Chart’s region definitions left off Hawaii, Central America and the Caribbean… so to find out what region they are in, I used the JP Miles Calculator to choose cities and find prices.

Basically, what I did is try different routes on their Miles Calculator to see prices and figure out what region they consider a destination.

Based on those finding, I realized the follow…

Southwest (DFW, LAX, etc…) to Hawaii (also NA 3) = 15k/30k

This is a fantastic deal for those flying from “Texas, Mexico, Los Angeles etc.” to Hawaii.

 

Caribbean = NA 2

• Southeast to Caribbean = 10k/20k.
• Even Northeast to Caribbean is 15k… which is a good deal.
• Apparently Belize, Guatemala, (like Honduras) and Costa Rica is part of NA 2

To me, a direct Delta flight from Atlanta to Costa Rica for 10,000 miles is a great deal! Same with AA flights, and flights to the Caribbean or the rest of Central America.

 

Emirates or Etihad First for 150,000 miles

Oddly enough, to go from NA 1 / “America 1 Northeast” (which says “Newark, Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago etc.”) to North Africa or Middle East in First Class is 165,000 JP Miles… yet going to Southern Africa is 150,000.

Again, NA 1 to Southern Africa = 50k/100k/150k in JP Miles.

 

Emirates

Note that there are two other Citi TY transfer partners that can book flights on Emirates, Malaysia and Qantas.

Qantas, which is distance based, is actually cheaper if 1) you don’t live in a region of the US or 2) you’re just looking for a trip to Dubai. Chicago to Dubai with Qantas miles would be 45k/96k/144k. For longer flights, like to South Africa, it flips back so Jet Airways is a better deal.

 

Etihad First Apartments

The only Citi TY transfer partner that can book Etihad First is Jet Airways JetPrivilege JP Miles, and Etihad. However, Etihad charges 117,000 to 500,000 (or more) for First Class tickets from the US on Etihad. So Etihad would be better if you’re just going to AUH, or perhaps if you’re not starting from the Northeast.

Thus, it’s could be cheaper to book with JP Miles.

Technically, you can book Etihad on Garuda, but their rewards don’t book first (and I’m not sure how difficult that booking Garuda would be).

Currently Etihad only has its A380 (which has the First Apartments and Residence) Abu Dhabi to/from New York, London, Paris, Mumbai, Melbourne, and Sydney.

(I’m unclear about how an agent will enforce routing rules but it seems that you can not route from New York to any of those destinations.)

Obviously, you couldn’t fly to South Africa on Etihad Apartments… but you could do NYC to AUH on the Apartments, and then change to a regular First class flight. If you can get a flight to Southern Africa, as mentioned, then you save a few miles – 150k for first. However, if your goal is to fly apartments, perhaps 165k isn’t that bad of a deal.

 

Conclusion

10k/20k flights to the Caribbean and flights to Hawaii for 15k/30k are both great deals. However, just like everything with Jet Airways JP Miles, it depends on what region of the US you are flying out of.

So hopefully this will come in handy for people with Citi TY points that can take advantage of a specific route… Or hopefully it helps the likely many people who fly Jet Airways on a regular basis and have lots of JetPrivilege (JP) Miles.

And at the very least, hopefully having an easier to read award chart makes it easier to know your options.