A search for value in JP Miles Redemption – In Vain
With a stash of around 350,000 JP Miles, I was definitely tense due to the incoming bad news about Jet Airways on a daily basis. While Jet Privilege which runs the JP Miles program is a separate entity, I was still worried. An email from their CEO did calm the nerves but I knew I had to use these miles up quickly.
I usually value JP Miles at 1 Rs/mile and only look at redemption options only when they provide a better return. Jet Privilege launched “Select Flights” which allowed you to redeem your JP Miles against flights of other airlines, but these offered really terrible value of anywhere between 0.25 Rs/mile to 0.50 Rs/mile
The only partner airline where these miles were still useful was Etihad Airways and all other airline partners had stopped allowing redemption of JP Miles. A quick search on the JetPrivilege website showed Mumbai to Paris first class at 126,000 JP Miles in Etihad. A chance to experience Etihad First class on an A380 apartment seemed like a logical way to burn my miles at a value of approximately 4 Rs/mile.
With over 9 million Jet Privilege members, I am sure there must be a lot of redemption pressure but it took them almost 10 days to revert on my request. Worse still, Etihad had stopped flying an A380 between Mumbai and Abu Dhabi quite some time ago and a mixed cabin itinerary had to be priced as two different segments and would cost more miles. A one way journey from Mumbai to Paris via Abu Dhabi on Etihad cost 42,000 JP Miles in Economy / 84,000 JP Miles in Business / 126,000 JP Miles in First (Unavailable) / 48+105 = 153,000 JP Miles in Business till Abu Dhabi and First till Paris. While it was frustrating I still felt it offered some value and asked them to make the reservation
I was really shocked when I was told the surcharges for a one way business ticket was around INR 42,000 and around INR 86,000 for my mixed cabin request (Business + First). I have seen friends travel on the same Etihad First apartment after only paying around INR 16,000 of taxes and this was 5 times the amount. I even sent them a screenshot of a ticket with only 20% of the charges as proof but it seems the message did not get across and I simply got a templated reply stating I was comparing a Fare ticket against an award ticket. Inability to speak to the ticketing agents directly simply adds to your frustration. Customer care and booking agents are different and cannot interact with one another.
Paying INR 86,000 in taxes did not make any sense especially when I found a one way ticket from Delhi to Paris for my dates at only INR 70,000. Even the business class redemption at 84,000 miles + INR 42,000 in taxes looked extremely poor in comparison at only Rs 0.33/mile.
When I tried to reason out with Jet Privilege about the high surcharges I simply received a templated response. With increasing level of surcharges, our JP Miles balances have become even less valuable. While the search for value continues, the situation continues to grow perilous. I have stopped earning JP Miles on my credit card spends and am sure most of the other members are also shifting their spends. For the JetPrivilege program to survive, members need to continue to earn JP Miles and this can only happen when they see value in it (aka redemption options). I hope someone takes over the airline soon!
All this effort over multiple days ended up in utter disappointment. Euphoria if any was short lived and quashed by the high surcharges. Have any of you had better luck in redeeming JP Miles? Any tips will be helpful.
Updated June 2019: I booked a one way flight from London to Mumbai in First/Business in approximately 95,000 INR all inclusive(including taxes). Read the full details here. Comparing it with 153,000 JP Miles and 84,000 INR in taxes brings the value of JP Miles to a pathetic INR 0.07 per JP mile or USD 0.001 (1/10 cent) per JP Mile. Award travel prices from London to India have higher surcharges and I have not even factored those.
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