JetPrivilege, the frequent flier program of failed airline – Jet Airways, has been sending out reassuring emails to its program members.
The program, owned by Etihad Aviation Group, believes that it can continue trading despite the fact that the airline has ceased all flights and is likely not going to find an investor to restart operations.
Here’s the email in text:
We thank you for being part of our growing JetPrivilege family which stands strong at 9.8 million members. As our airline partner, Jet Airways, navigates through these turbulent times, we understand that you may have concerns around the value and validity of your JPMiles.
We, at Jet Privilege Pvt. Ltd., as part of the Etihad Aviation Group, want to reassure you that your JPMiles are secure and their value remains intact. We know that you have earned and nurtured your JPMiles over the years and we consider it our foremost duty to safeguard the trust you and our partners have placed in us.
Keeping you at the centre of our business, we have introduced our air reward offering,
‘Select Flights’, which allows you to redeem your JPMiles across more airlines, any destination in India and globally. What’s more, you can redeem your JPMiles for any seat available on the flight, starting with the same JPMiles requirement as before which was applicable on Jet Airways and its partner airlines.As always, you can continue to use your JPMiles on hotel stays, fuel & 2500+ merchandiseoptions at the JetPrivilege Reward Store.
Over the last few years, your passion for collecting JPMiles has inspired us to constantly expand our partnership network. And today with over 150 programme partners, JetPrivilege offers you diverse JPMiles earning and redeeming opportunities.
We remain focused on creating memorable and rewarding experiences for you.
This is our commitment. It is a continuum.
On behalf of Team JetPrivilege,
Sincerely,
Manish Dureja
Managing Director
Jet Privilege Pvt. Ltd.
Conclusion
What is the value of a frequent flier program when the airline with which it has been associated with ceases to exist?
Topbonus, also owned by Etihad, had similar hopes first, but soon after Airberlin collapsed they realized that there were no business case behind. The program soon went into liquidation.
How is JetPrivilege going to handle all the award reservation for the flights that have been ticketed under Jet Airways ticket stock? Soon those tickets won’t be accepted by partners if they are not going to be paid (partners only get paid once they turn the used coupon for settlement) or IATA clearing house has stopped accepting them. Is JetPrivilege going to pay market price for those?
Etihad is not going to support a program that is only hemorrhaging cash. The airline has its own problems due to losing close to five billions over the past three years.
If you have any JetPrivilege miles, it would be wise to use them at any value for hotel stays or merchandise.
