There’s a new way to earn miles with a major U.S. airline when you stay at a vacation rental property.
On Monday, JetBlue announced a new partnership with Vrbo.
As part of the link-up, you can now book Vrbo stays using JetBlue’s Paisly platform, the carrier’s travel booking site for nonflight reservations. That means you’ll be able to earn JetBlue TrueBlue points for Vrbo reservations and work your way toward Mosaic elite status — including a hefty bonus opportunity over the next couple of weeks.
The move is a win for customers who want to book vacation rentals that are more spacious than a traditional hotel room, like a beach house or a cozy mountain cabin for a fall getaway.
Though Vrbo is already part of a loyalty program known as One Key, which also includes online travel agencies Expedia and Hotels.com, this Vrbo-JetBlue partnership offers travelers a way to earn loyalty currency with a major airline program when they stay at a Vrbo property.
What is Paisly?
Paisly by JetBlue is a travel product service subsidiary of JetBlue. You can use the site to book nonflight trip aspects, from hotel stays to car and home rentals — including, now, through Vrbo.
Earning TrueBlue points through Paisly
TrueBlue members who book travel or otherwise make purchases through Paisly can earn 1 TrueBlue point per dollar spent. They can also work their way toward Mosaic elite status; each $100 spent on Paisly purchases earns 1 Mosaic tile.
Keep in mind that 50 tiles is the qualification benchmark for first-tier Mosaic 1 status. However, when you earn just 10 tiles, you’ll get your first shot at the Perks You Pick menu, which includes rewards like free inflight alcoholic beverages on one trip, early boarding and priority security, among other choices. (You can choose additional perks as you reach 20, 30 and 40 tiles.)
For example, let’s say I wanted to book a week at North Carolina’s Outer Banks and spent $2,500 on an ocean-view beach house booked on Vrbo through Paisly.
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That would earn me 2,500 TrueBlue points and 25 Mosaic tiles — halfway to Mosiac 1 elite status. A $5,000 reservation would earn you the status outright.
Keep in mind that you can also earn 1 Mosaic tile for every $1,000 charged to certain JetBlue cobranded credit cards, so if you’re a JetBlue cardholder, it’s a convenient way to stack those earnings.
August promotion
In celebration of the new partnership, JetBlue is also offering a bonus points promotion.
Between now and Aug. 25, you’ll earn 3 TrueBlue points per dollar spent on Vrbo reservations made through Paisly.
That means a $3,000 stay would earn you 9,000 TrueBlue points, which is often more than enough for a one-way domestic flight on its own — and could get you a good chunk of the way to earning a larger redemption.
Bottom line
Finding ways to earn loyalty currency with a major airline or hotel program often requires a bit of creative thinking when you book on a site like Airbnb or Vrbo — though there are ways to do it.
This new partnership between JetBlue’s Paisly and Vrbo gives travelers a new option to do just that.
Those long weekend or weeklong stays common on Vrbo bookings can add up in spending, and this new partnership offers another way to be fully rewarded for the price you pay — beyond whatever you’re charging to a rewards credit card.
If you’re a regular JetBlue flyer, that $3,000 beach house reservation could help put you over the top for Mosaic elite status — or make it possible to enjoy a redemption in the airline’s premium Mint cabin.
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