JetBlue and TAP Air Portugal are extending their existing partnership through the addition of reciprocal point earning and redemption for award travel.
According to the airline, members of JetBlue’s TrueBlue loyalty program and of TAP’s Miles&Go program are now able to earn and redeem points via the program of their choice when flying on either airline. This marks the first time JetBlue TrueBlue members can redeem points for flights on one of the airline’s European airline partners.
This news comes less than a week after reports of United being interested in purchasing some or all of JetBlue, which had some speculating that the New York based carrier could become part of Star Alliance (TAP and United are both members of the alliance). The airline shut down merger rumors but left the door open to an asset purchase.
Chris Buckner, Voce President of Loyalty and Partnerships at JetBlue, had this to say about the partnership:
“We continue to look for more ways to reward our customers and provide them with the high-value travel experiences and point-earning opportunities they love from JetBlue. This partnership expansion provides both TrueBlue and TAP Miles&Go members more ways to earn and redeem on travel, more options to tailor their travel journey, and makes exploring both networks even more rewarding.”
Sofia Lufinha, Chief Customer Officer at TAP Air Portugal, added:
“We value this cooperation that will enable our customers extended ways to earn and redeem, through an extended airline network. We look forward to achieving milestones together.”
It will be interesting to see if this partnership goes any further in the near future. JetBlue has been expanding its transatlantic route network of late and I could see them adding Lisbon flights if the are able to tap into TAP’s network for connections.
TAP already serves JetBlue’s major hubs at Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) so we could potentially see code sharing on routes from both airlines if they expand this partnership.
For now, we’ll have to wait and see but, there seems to be more smoke related to JetBlue and Star Alliance. For more information on the expanded partnership, visit JetBlue.com.
Summary
JetBlue is expanding its partnership with TAP Air Portugal. The two airlines are adding reciprocal loyalty benefits and could expand their partnership further in the near future.
(Image courtesy JetBlue)