Weirdest Frequent Traveler Perk So Far
Delta Diamond to Jet Blue Mosaic 4 Status Match includes 4 Blade Helicopter transfers
My 2024 frequent flyer status is basically “all of them” thanks to generous extensions, credit card promotions, etc around the end of Covid restrictions and downturn in corporate travel. I have Delta Diamond, American Airlines Executive Platinum, Turkish Airlines Elite Plus, Frontier 100K, Marriott Ambassador, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond+Ambassador, Caesars Diamond, Trump Gold, National Exec (RIP Executive status), Hertz Platinum, Sixt Diamond, and probably a few more. Maintaining all of these is difficult, but is helped by being able to put pretty massive business expenses for consulting clients on various credit cards and get 100% reimbursement, along with a fair bit of actual travel (150k miles/yr, mostly international premium cabin, 150 or so nights/yr in hotels).
One of the benefits of all of these: cross-promotions, so you can either directly status match e.g. Delta status onto some other competing airline, or sometimes top-tier airline to mid-tier car or hotel status. Often these are restricted (one time per lifetime, or per 3-5 years, etc.), so it’s only worth doing it when you’re going to benefit. They’re also often structured as a “status challenge”, so you have to travel a fair bit for a month or two to show you produce revenue in order to either earn or maintain the status.
One of the big stories of Q4 2023 in travel last year was Delta screwing up their own frequent travel program — making it very explicitly revenue-based (Medallion Qualification Dollar or MQD is now the only criterion for requalification; USD 28000 for Diamond status in 2024 for 2025). As a result of this, which angered/disenfranchised many existing Delta travelers, other airlines were doing aggressive solicitation of Delta elites. One of those was JetBlue, which competes pretty well with Delta on one of my most frequent routes: SJU-JFK (sadly I can’t fly into LGA due to the Perimeter Rule; SJU-LGA is 20 miles too far to be allowed, except on Saturdays, and no airline does the Saturday option.)
JetBlue offered Mosaic 4 status for Delta Diamonds for a few months, and if you had the JetBlue credit card, it was extended for the entirety of 2024, even without taking a single JetBlue flight. Since I already had the JetBlue card (kind of useless, but whatever), I went for it; I was unlikely to ever need/want a JetBlue status match anyway. Mosaic includes a lot of benefits (especially around luggage), and Mosaic 4 is the top. This is all great, but only if you fly JetBlue, and they’re generally not my first option — I take Delta SJU-JFK if it’s not absurdly overpriced, AA SJU-MIA, and Frontier if I have to fly SJU-TPA (but I usually just fly into Miami, rent a car, and do a 3h drive instead of a 1h drive from TPA; MIA has better rental cars, although SJU is by far the worst American Airlines outstation in the world.)
Mosaic 4 perks include Blade helicopter transfers, 4 per year! This is a helicopter transfer on a (shared) Bell 407 (usually) helicopter from JFK or EWR to a Blade heliport on East or West side of Manhattan (on the water; since the 16 May 1977 New York Airways Flight 971 crash at the Pan Am building, rooftop landings for Part 135 operations have been banned in NYC). I was attending a Bitcoin Investor Day conference in Midtown West so this worked out well, and since it was a pretty short trip, I figured I could meet the carryon weight restrictions for the offer — one of the main reasons I’ve never used it before. Unlike fixed wing aircraft, where even if there is a nominal weight restriction on carryons, I can usually get away with a 50 pound Rimowa Cabin Plus plus a 30 pound backpack, they have a combined 25 pound weight limit on both personal item and carryon, and size limits (although the weight limits are more strictly enforced; slightly too big is probably ok).
I got my 0400-0800 JetBlue flight (after only 30 minutes of sleep…); a little late in departing, but I had an exit row seat and empty middle seat next to me, so it was basically as good as Delta (where 50-75% of the time I get upgraded to First on this route, especially on low-demand times like early morning midweek). Picked up at T5 in a Mercedes-Maybach GLS with massage seats; driver was excellent (and I tipped him $20, my only cost for the service). About 10 minutes on the ground at their lounge, where they weighed my bags; regretfully informed me my combined weight was 45 pounds, but as a one-time/first-time exception they’d waive the $175 ($145 if prepaid) surcharge, and escorted me to a Bell 407 helicopter, where it would turn out I was the only passenger (which also meant weight limits didn’t matter as much).
I’ve probably been a helicopter passenger for 500+ hours: back in Sealand/HavenCo days, a lot of Twin Squirrel and single engine time, and then in Iraq/Afghanistan/etc., lots of Blackhawk. Chinook, Sea Knight, Super Stallion time (and a few MD-500/MH-6 flights, although never got to be the cool guy clipped in on the skids). Since 2010, haven’t been in any helicopters, though, so this was new to me, and also the first time since 2001 I have flown through a (non-horrible) city in a helicopter.
Flight took about 10 minutes; modern noise cancelling headseats are great compared to the older David Clarks I was used to (also civ helicopters have more noise isolation; the Blackhawks were bigger and dual engines, and often flew doors-off). Landed at lounge, walked out (luckily these helicopters have high and inflexible rotors so you can walk around the entire frontal arc; just need to avoid the tail rotor danger zone). Went to lounge, got an espresso and Perrier, ubered 10 blocks to my event, and had a great day (which ended with oysters at Grand Central Terminal Oyster Bar, then an Uber to LGA, LGA-YUL flight, uber trip to the W, and falling asleep in my hotel suite around 0100h.)
Overall, big fan of Blade; would love to book a pure sightseeing trip, and if it weren’t for the baggage restrictions, probably would use the service more. The best case scenario for me using it in the future would be flying JetBlue SJU-JFK, dropping all my luggage at JFK (either at the TWA Hotel or check in early for flight), taking Blade with just a backpack into the city, then (paid flight? or Uber) back to JFK later that day to either take a JetBlue transatlantic (or other connecting) flight, or an international carrier flight from JFK (usually way cheaper for me to book flights O/D at JFK and then a separate connection from SJU-JFK, especially if I’m doing miles redemptions.)