Last year, an interview with a SAS EuroBonus executive suggested that the airline only expected a handful of people (like maybe 10) to complete the EuroBonus Millionaire challenge. Some observers likely assumed that the airline must have regretted its commitment to dole out 1,000,000 miles to each of the more than nine hundred people who flew across the globe and completed the challenge. However, it was certainly clear to me that the volume of publicity that the airline bought with those ~900 million miles was an epic return on investment. If you would have questioned me on that statement, this week would likely prove you wrong as we have seen the highest form of flattery from both JetBlue and Turkish. Both have clearly followed the SAS Blueprint with big promotions that will surely both encourage significant incremental business and buy them far more publicity than their advertising budgets otherwise could.
For us, these challenges are like playing a live action puzzle game that we just can’t resist playing — and the airlines surely know that. I have to hand it to JetBlue: on the brink of financial meltdown, they offer a chance to essentially earn back miles that can more than cover the cost of your flights knowing that even though that is a costly proposition, the marketing they will get both in terms of media coverage and the Instagram feeds of all of the world’s mileage nerds is clearly worth more than their cost to print miles (that in some cases may not be redeemed for years!). I am excited not only for these two promotions but for the fact that I know there are other airline executives taking notice of this trend — I can’t wait to see what comes next.
This week on the Frequent Miler blog…
Awesome JetBlue promo: Earn up to 350K points + 25 years of TrueBlue status
JetBlue managed to break through the Sapphire Reserve headlines this week with a SAS EuroBonus-esque promotion that surely has many customers looking more closely at flying JetBlue in the coming months. With the chance to earn up to 350,000 bonus points and twenty-five years of elite status, even through award bookings (yes, even award bookings made with another airline’s miles!) on offer, this could be somewhat easier to complete than the SAS challenge and it’ll almost surely be cheaper. Hats off to JetBlue for drawing attention in a week when nobody else likely expected it. Side note: the person at SAS responsible for the EuroBonus Millionaire campaign clearly deserves a nice raise. If you weren’t quite sure how brilliant that marketing campaign was, let JetBlue and Turkish step to the plate to show you….
Turkish Airlines launching its own 1,000,000-mile contest…is it a delight?
Turkish has caught SAS-fever and is offering a million mile challenge of its own. On the surface, this challenge is way easier from a time and planning simplicity perspective since the rules are clear: fly to 6 continents on Turkish from or through Turkey and get a million miles. If award flights counted or if Turkish miles were a bit easier to use or if the miles didn’t expire in ~2 years or if Turkish hadn’t devalued its award chart, I might be more tempted by this. Unfortunately, the opposite of all of those things is true, particularly regarding the ease of using Turkish miles. Investing time and money in this only to risk Turkish’s website going out of order for months at a time (like when there was no button to submit payment for an award ticket for many months a year or two ago!) seems unappealing to me. However, I know that some readers will be all-in and the truth is that this certainly could be fun, particularly if you have the bankroll to do it in business class (which would buy you 3 more years of validity on the miles).
Intrigued by JetBlue’s epic mileage run opportunity / 1.4 million+ JetBlue points for 582K Membership Rewards points (How to rock JetBlue 25 for 25 with a family)
Unable to get the JetBlue 20 for 25 promotion out of our heads, both Greg and I wrote posts this week looking at the promotion from slightly different angles (see the two separate headline links above). While Greg tried to consider how he could logistically fit the flying into his schedule in “Intrigued by JetBlue’s epic mileage run opportunity“, I wanted to know the best combination of time and cost management to complete the requirements for my entire family of four with the aim to pool our points together and end up with 1,400,000+ JetBlue miles for a cost of about 582,000 points. If JetBlue sticks around, the thought that I could help my kids get airline status that would last well into their adulthood has me excited about this even if it is hard to imagine actually doing it.
JetBlue’s 25 year 350,000 point mileage run | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep312 | 6-27-25 | Podcast
Speaking of imagining the JetBlue mileage run, Greg and I discussed the promotion at length on this week’s Frequent Miler on the Air. Anyone seriously considering the challenge should both listen to the discussion about whether we really think this is worth it and ways to fast track to Mosaic 1 so that you can enjoy the benefits while completing the challenge. I’m personally going to keep my eye on the Dunkin flight because if we do decide to go after this promotion, getting Mosaic 1 for free checked baggage, priority check-in, and extra legroom seats at check in would certainly help smooth the journey.
“Refreshed” Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card Review (2025)
In almost any other week this year, the relaunch of the Chase Sapphire Reserve card would have dominated headlines all week long, but a combination of a weaker-than-expected welcome offer on the Sapphire Reserve card and the increased complication of the card has caused this one to land a bit less gracefully just as JetBlue took off with the collective interest of miles and points hobbyists. Nonetheless, the Chase Sapphire Reserve card is freshly refreshed and as such our top-to-bottom review of the card has been dusted off and updated to match all of the new card details.
“New” Chase Sapphire Reserve vs Sapphire Preferred
Given the lofty new price tag and supercharged couponification of the refreshed Sapphire Reserve, many readers have wondered whether whether it makes more sense to go after the Reserve or save $700 out of pocket with the Sapphire Preferred. Like our card review, this comparison post has been completely updated to reflect the many new changes to the Reserve card.
Are those Sapphire Reserve offers worth pursuing? | Coffee Break Ep60 | 6-24-25
With the much-anticipated new welcome bonuses finally out on both of the Sapphire Reserve cards (read more about them here), we had to talk this week about whether either bonus is worth pursuing and which one might be the right fit if either. This week’s Coffee Break is an examination of the offers and a discussion of who might consider one or the other. I have to admit some disappointment with the offer on the consumer card, though the collection of benefits on the consumer card seems much more compelling. Listen to the episode for more.
Chase’s new application rules for the Sapphire Reserve aren’t working
When the new Sapphire Reserve consumer card re-launched earlier this week, it included a new set of application terms. Unfortunately, in practice, the rules haven’t worked out the same way we expected based on an early read of the terms. The newly introduced Chase pop-up hasn’t gone so smoothly and it certainly seems like they are still working through the kinks in this new application system. More details in the post.
Evaluating Chase’s new Points Boosts
One new feature on several popular Chase cards is Points Boosts. Instead of a fixed increased value per point when booking through Chase Travel℠, those with qualifying cards now see varying Points Boosts depending on what they are booking. While value can be as high as 2 cents per point for Sapphire Reserve cardholders, you might need to comparison shop to be sure how much value you are getting. Still, some of the new opportunities at the 2c per point range could be quite appealing, so this is worth a look.
An Avios solution to Nick’s 100K Vacay plans
Given the current point transfer bonus from American Express Membership Rewards and a couple of strong uses of Avios both for flights and maybe even for hotel bookings, I may lean heavily on Avios for our 100K Vacay trip. One of the things I love about that idea is the broad applicability: since all of the major transferable currencies can be moved to Avios, any trip I book using Avios could theoretically be booked by any competitor (and most readers). On the other hand, I do have some tempting alternatives, so the jury is still out.
(Reminder) Amex to Hawaiian transfers ending on June 30th
I am including this reminder that we are in the final days to transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles. That of course is an appealing move for those who highly value Alaska Mileage Plan miles since Alaska owns Hawaiian and intends to merge programs (and it is already possible to move Hawaiian Miles to Alaska). Since I have a Hawaiian Airlines credit card that allows for free point transfers, I’ll have a couple of family members move points to their Hawaiian accounts and then combine those points into my Hawaiian account so that we can eventually move them all to a single Alaska Mileage Plan account. The JetBlue 25 for 25 promotion has had me second-guessing my transfer plans here, but I do intend to transfer at least a few hundred thousand points to Hawaiian, perhaps up to half a million. While we do not generally recommend speculative transfers, this is a rare exception given how difficult it ordinarily is to earn Alaska miles and their many good uses.
That’s it for this week at Frequent Miler. Keep your eye peeled for this week’s last chance deals to make sure you pick up the many scheduled to end on June 30th.
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Nick, which airline would you like to see offer one of these crazy promotions? What would it look like? Maybe a team article.