JetBlue’s Condor award flights open up a great option for customers looking to travel to Europe in business class if you can find the award space.

For details on JetBlue’s award program, as well as sweet spots, please review our compilation here.

Condor award flights can be as cheap as 54,000 points in business

Let’s jump into the award pricing. If you’re looking for award flights in business class on Condor, you’ll find the most award space between New York City (JFK) and Frankfurt. Take this routing for example that costs 34,000 points in economy or 54,000 points in business class. The economy pricing is simply not attractive, but only 54,000 for business is excellent. Add onto that just a small cash copay of $14.40 and you’re in for a good time.

Thankfully, all these awards are bookable on jetblue.com.

Other airports besides JFK have business available for 54,000 points and economy as cheap as 19,000 points. Check out Boston (BOS) or Toronto (YYZ). Fees might be a little more pricey out of YYZ, but it’s still quite manageable.

West coast flights are more expensive

What if you want to fly from the west coast of North America? Unfortunately, the pricing is much higher. It seems like the pricing is capped at 99,900 points, like this flight from Vancouver (YVR) to Frankfurt.

There are times when you’ll find cheaper flights than 99,900 points. Take the example below that shows Frankfurt to Los Angeles (LAX) for 79,900 points in business. It seems fair to point out that taxes and fees will be higher out of Europe.

Of course, the day before had rates at the 99,900 max. Pricing seems to loosely be based on the number of award seats but it’s not an exact science.

At these prices, you might want to consider positioning to the east coast before taking off on this offer.

You can also take flights that don’t touch the United States

Sometimes I like looking at award flights between two completely different regions in the hopes that I find a gem. Well, Condor award flights out of Panama (PTY) are possible, but at 79,900 points. Not terrible, and it’s good to be able to link Europe with Central America.

How does JetBlue pricing compare to Alaska Atmos pricing?

Up until this point, Alaska’s Atmos loyalty program was the popular way to book Condor award flights. So how does JetBlue’s pricing compare to what Alaska charges? Let’s take a look at a few examples.

First up is the JFK to FRA route, which costs 34,000 JetBlue points in economy and 54,000 JetBlue points in business. The same flight with Alaska costs 27,500 miles in economy or 55,000 miles in business. Somewhat comparable if you’re looking at business (but it’s easier to acquire JetBlue miles and fees are smaller).

In fact, that’s the same pricing you’ll find for all cities out of North America where standard award seats exist. Just take a look at Vancouver YVR. Why would you pay 99,900 JetBlue points when you can pay just 55,000 Alaska Atmos miles?

The one thing I’ll say is that if you’re booking flights close to departure, JetBlue will at least let you book them. Alaska blocks the award space, making it a bit of a pain if you’re into last-minute travel.

And what about Alaska’s absurd pricing where rates can go significantly higher? Take this example below with business class for 185,000 miles.

What does JetBlue say? Well, it doesn’t exist. Alaska charges these high rates when saver awards are not available, and that seems to be the case here.

Using JetBlue points over Alaska Atmos miles is a niche case

To summarize the above, I think it’s fair to say that there are some times where you can save money and points by going with JetBlue. But it’s no slam dunk. I think it’s best to sum it up as the following:

• JetBlue has more transfer partners, so it’s easier to acquire those points and makes Condor award flights more accessible.
• JetBlue charges less money than Alaska charges, so there is a mild cash benefit to JetBlue.
• Focus only on award flights from the east coast of North America if you want to use JetBlue points. Award pricing for Alaska on the west coast can’t be beat.

How does Condor rates compare to other options via JetBlue?

One final look is to compare what JetBlue charges for Condor award flights with other options with your JetBlue points. You’re going to find that Condor flights are among the better options.

JetBlue’s own flights have points prices based on cash prices. If you can find a cheap cash rate, it will also be cheap with points. But you’re going to have a hard time beating the 54,000 points to Frankfurt on Condor. Like this random flight from Boston to London-Gatwick for 175,000 points. Yeah, I’d much rather take Condor, too.

But this continues the line of excellent award rates for JetBlue on its partners. There are some good options here like flying JAL to Japan for 59,000 points in business.

JetBlue could have taken the easy approach and just price these partners worse than their own flights. It almost seems silly that they constructed the program to be more rewarding to fly airlines other than JetBlue. But that’s where things actually stand–don’t use your JetBlue points on JetBlue flights. Save them for these other redemptions and you won’t go wrong.

Are you now looking to book Condor award flights?

Suggested reading:

• Review: JetBlue Mint A321 Neo BOS-LAX
• Why You Need to Collect JetBlue Points
• The Best Strategy Booking Award Flights with No Cancel Fee