Last weekend, I blogged about an insanely-lucrative status match offer from JetSmarter where you can get a free (actually ended up being $1 in the end) 3-month “Simple Membership”. I knew the promotion would not last long, and I am surprised it even lasted a full week.
I’ve take a few free JetSmarter flights previously through prior promotions, and I loved the experience. I’ve considered a membership on numerous occasions, but it didn’t financially make sense for family travel. However, I will say that it’s absolutely great for those who travel solo and have a flexible schedule!
While the JetSmarter Simple membership does not give you full access to every flight available or custom charters, you can book any of the empty legs or a free seat on most of the scheduled shuttles that are under 3 hours within the US (and Europe too), such as:
- New York – Atlanta, Chicago, Boston, Washington DC
- Los Angeles – San Francisco, Las Vegas
- Miami – Bahamas
- Orlando – Miami
- London – Paris
- Paris – Nice
The good news is that those who submitted their credentials early on now have their memberships up and running. I was blissful to say the least when I learned that I’d been approved for the match. Given my proximity to the New York airports, especially Teterboro which is like in my backyard, I have been thinking about all the ways I could use the membership!
Spontaneous One-Way With a Friend
There are a number of empty-leg flights that become available throughout the day that are either last-minute or the next day. You have to keep checking the app, but the Simple Membership gives you 2 free seats on any of those flights, so it can be a fun time for you and a friend to hop on a plane somewhere and then either buy a ticket back or use miles for the return. I recently saw some golden opportunities, such as Teterboro to Houston and Teterboro to Hamilton, Bermuda.
I recently visited Bermuda for the first time for a night and was really impressed. Jetblue often has cheap return flights (in money or points) from Bermuda to JFK, and since I have the JetBlue Plus Card, I receive 10% back in redeemed miles. I think it would be a fun trip to take with one of my kids for a night or two if that empty leg pops up again.
Weekends in Other Cities
If you live in a “gold mine” JetSmarter city such as Los Angeles or New York, you can essentially take totally free flights to new cities each weekend (or weekdays too), when flying commercial is relatively-expensive. If you’re in LA, you can fly to Vegas or San Fran pretty much on demand, and those on the east coast can fly to Chicago, Boston, D.C, and Atlanta pretty much whenever you please. I’d love to use my membership to seamlessly visit some friends in nearby cities instead of spending 4 hours on a train to Boston or D.C, for instance.
Positioning Flights
Another idea that popped into my head was using the JetSmarter shuttle flights as a way to position for another flight. There are often incredible fare sales from many major cities and hubs, that it may make sense to position for. For example, this morning I just saw that there is a fare sale from Boston to Stockholm, Sweden on American for under $400. Keeping the JetSmarter shuttles as an option in mind can help save money and take advantage of a great fare sale that’s not in your home city.
Create “Connections”
Unfortunately the shuttle between New York and South Florida is not included; however, it’s still possible to get to South Florida from New York for free. Here’s how:
The shuttle between New York and Atlanta is free for Simple Members, and so is Atlanta to South Florida. My thought is traveling between New York and South Florida via Atlanta and the times work out perfectly to be able to do that.
Example: On 6/17, there’s a 3:30 pm flight between Teterboro and Atlanta, that arrives at 5:30 pm. Then, there’s a a 6:30 pm flight between Atlanta and Miami that is also a free shuttle for Simple Memberships. If you don’t mind the extra leg and short flight, you can get between New York and South Florida entirely free.
Intra-European Flights
Not many people were aware that this membership also gives access to flights within Europe too! Aside from the dozens of empty leg options each day between European city pairs, you can also fly for free on European shuttle flights such as London to Paris, Paris to Milan, etc. Sounds like a great alternative to taking the train (or RyanAir)!
Did you get approved for the JetSmarter match? If so, how do you plan on using your membership?
This is a great option for people are flexible in their travel. I’d like to use the membership for flights In Europe. Particularly to islands in the Aegean or Ibiza … especially after seeing the Ryanair flight with the couple having sex in the cabin.
Haha! Seems like a much better alternative to Ibiza, especially after the mid-flight romp!
Being based in Atlanta and with a sister who works in NYC, I immediately thought of positioning flights to take advantage of inexpensive weekends exploring Europe with her. Or having her come see me. Sadly I don’t have sufficient status with any of the airlines they’re matching.
Bait and switch. They said the promotion is good until July 1 then removed it. They said they would give me three months free if I paid for a year. They shouldn’t run a promo and not honor it. A poorly run bunch of jokesters.
Oh wow, I do know some people got in for the 3 free months and I knew it sounded too generous to last long. Bummer :(
They pull tricks…. sign up for a 3 month pay as you go trial… in two weeks they shut you down unless you buy a membership.