Etihad Assures that Your Jet Airways Miles are Safe. However …

JetPrivilege, the frequent flyer program of Jet Airways, has an interesting history. Before Etihad had invested in Jet Airways, Naresh Goyal had plans to IPO the loyalty program and to run it independent of Jet Airways. This would have been one of the rare cases of an airline loyalty program being listed.

In 2012 when Etihad bought 24% stake in Jet Airways, it also bought 50.1% stake in JetPrivilege. In other words, Etihad became the controlling shareholder of JetPrivilege.

Etihad Assures that JetPrivilege is Going Nowhere …

As of today, Jet Airways has finally suspended operations. The fate of the airline along with thousands of its employees hang in balance. A lot of its customers are worried about the future of their JetPrivilege miles (also called JPMiles). Some even converted their JPMiles to Amazon vouchers at a pretty poor conversion rate.

As the majority owner of JetPrivilege, Etihad has sought to contain the rumors. I received an e-mail from JetPrivilege which stated

“Jet Privilege Pvt. Ltd. is a separate, independent entity part of the Etihad Aviation Group formed with the sole purpose to market, develop and grow JetPrivilege – an internationally acclaimed award-winning loyalty and rewards program.

It’s our foremost responsibility to safeguard your faith & would like to assure you that your JPMiles are safe and that we are committed to fulfilling your aspirations.

So, don’t stop collecting & redeeming your JP Miles for all your favorite rewards and create memories for a lifetime!”

I have about 80,000 JPMiles in my kitty, so I am comforted by this.

Although, I was secretly hoping Etihad would let me convert my JPMiles to Etihad Guest miles. After all, Etihad Guest is one of the most versatile airline currency to hold. You may read my ultimate guide to redeem Etihad miles – Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Sadly, it wasn’t to be.

… However, JetPrivilege Miles Have Been Devalued

JetPrivilege also put out a rather confusing table on the e-mail I received.

Sector	Standard Flights#	Select Flights##
Mumbai – Delhi	8,500 JPMiles	Starts from 8,500 JPMiles
Mumbai – Goa	5,000 JPMiles	Starts from 5,000 JPMiles
Kolkata – Delhi	9,500 JPMiles	Starts from 9,500 JPMiles
Bengaluru – Delhi	12,000 JPMiles	Starts from 12,000 JPMiles
Mumbai – London	42,500 JPMiles	Starts from 42,500 JPMiles
Delhi – Singapore	30,000 JPMiles	Starts from 30,000 JPMiles

^#Standard Flight awards on Jet Airways can be booked online through jetairways.com or jetprivilege.com or through the JetPrivilege Service Centre. Standard Flights on Airline Partners can be booked only through the JetPrivilege Service Centre.
^##Select Flight awards can be booked only through jetprivilege.com

In essence, if Jet Airways is not operating, the second column is useless. Standard flights cannot be booked till then. At least, this is my understanding of the situation.

Select flights are open seats on other airlines which JetPrivilege will buy for you. While it increases your options, the value received is lower. You can fly on AirAsia, Air India, Indigo, Spicejet and even Qatar Airways. Let us see some examples

Sector	Minimum Miles Required on May 2, 2019	Price for Revenue Ticket
Mumbai – Delhi	15,000 JPMiles	INR 5,270 / $75
Mumbai – Goa	12,500 JPMiles	INR 3,940 / $56
Kolkata – Delhi	9,500 JPMiles	INR 3,484 / $50
Bengaluru – Delhi	12,000 JPMiles	INR 5,479 / $78
Mumbai – London	177,500 JPMiles	INR 52,396 / $749
Delhi – Singapore	56,250 JPMiles	INR 24,276 / $347

 

 

The best value you can get from per JPMile is INR 0.45 / 0.65 cents. I think it is still better than converting your miles to Amazon vouchers.

Final Thoughts

It is good news for Jet Airways frequent flyers that their miles are safe. It is obvious that many wouldn’t be pleased by the apparent devaluation. However, it is still miles (pun intended) better than getting no value at all.