JetBlue's TrueBlue Members Turn Points into Charitable Donations With the True Giving Program

NEW YORK, Dec. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- JetBlue Airways (Nasdaq: JBLU), New York's Hometown Airline™, today announced the launch of its True Giving program, a unique enhancement to the airline's TrueBlue customer loyalty program that provides members with an alternate way to use their TrueBlue points. TrueBlue customers now have the choice to redeem their points for future travel or donate them to benefit others. Points can be donated locally or globally to more than 2.5 million causes in the True Giving database which is powered by KULA Causes, Inc. During the season of giving, JetBlue will match all customer donations made through this program, up to $25,000, from December 10 - 17, 2012 (a). TrueBlue members can donate points at Truegiving.jetblue.com.

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"We know giving is very personal. With True Giving our customers can turn their TrueBlue points into dollars and support non-profit organizations around the world that they are passionate about," said Mike Stromer, JetBlue's vice president of customer connections.  "On a corporate level, JetBlue proudly supports youth, education and the environment throughout the cities we serve. We also understand that each community has its own unique needs and each TrueBlue member has causes that are important to them. True Giving is one more way JetBlue is personalizing our customer's experience and offering them more choices."

Caring and passion, two of JetBlue's core values, were the motivation for True Giving. JetBlue partnered with KULA Causes, Inc., the world's largest online giving platform to create the True Giving program providing its customers with a choice in their charitable efforts. JetBlue proudly supports a number of national non-profits on a corporate level including Carbonfund.org, DoSomething.org, KaBOOM!, and FirstBook. Customers can make donations to the charity of their choice by entering a charity name, a keyword or selecting the regions and countries or local causes of interest. Next, customers can view their selected cause's profile for additional information and then, click donate. Donations are made in increments of points; transaction fees apply. Customer donations can be applied to categories specific to each charity including development, training, advocacy, etc. Once the donation is completed, a receipt is emailed to the customer from Kula Causes.

"KULA Causes is proud to be partnering with JetBlue Airways, a company that is redefining frequent flyer programs for the 21st century," said Gerrit McGowan, KULA Causes Founder and CEO. "This partnership has demonstrated that JetBlue is committed to their charitable giving efforts. They are an airline that consistently pushes the envelope in the ways that they engage with passengers, customers and crewmembers. KULA is proud to be a part of their vision, as our technology powers a giving platform that democratizes the charitable giving process, enabling customers to contribute to the causes they care about most on a local and global scale, while also increasing JetBlue's brand equity."

True Giving is an evergreen donation program and it follows JetBlue's most recent donation campaign for Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.  Throughout the month of November, JetBlue quickly mobilized to engage customers and TrueBlue members to raise funds for the Red Cross. In one month, customers donated more than $835,000. The donation site, also powered by KULA Causes, provided the platform for customers to donate directly to relief efforts right in their local communities in the New York tri-state area. For every one dollar donated via the site, TrueBlue members received six TrueBlue points in return. Through this transactional giving program, JetBlue's loyal customers became donors and brand advocates providing much needed, time sensitive charitable donations.

About KULA Causes:
Founded in 2010 and based in Boulder, Colorado, KULA Causes helps companies create meaningful brand loyalty. KULA's loyalty technology, CLM™, is an innovative business-to-business SaaS application that enables companies to measure, engage, and reward their customers through democratized charitable giving. This puts the power of choice in the hands of customers, creating rich customer engagement and meaningful brand loyalty. With over 2.5 million charities in 80 countries to choose from, CLM reaches virtually every customer giving affinity — from local schools and places of worship to international development and aid organizations. CLM calculates and drives the ROI of corporate philanthropy, while increasing the visibility of non-profits across the world. For more information, please visit www.kulacauses.com.

About JetBlue's TrueBlue Program:
TrueBlue is free to join and includes the ability to use points for any seat on any JetBlue operated flight and with no blackout dates. (b)  TrueBlue customers earn points by booking flights and for usage of the JetBlue Card by American Express.  Points do not expire if you earn points from flying JetBlue, purchasing a JetBlue Getaways vacation package or using your JetBlue Card at least once every twelve months. Additional information about TrueBlue and registration can be found at https://trueblue.jetblue.com/.

About JetBlue Airways
JetBlue is New York's Hometown Airline™ with other focus cities in Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, Orlando and San Juan. Known for its award-winning service and free TV as much as its low fares, JetBlue offers the most legroom in coach of any U.S. airline (based on average fleet-wide seat pitch) as well as super-spacious Even More Space seats. JetBlue is also America's first and only airline to offer its own Customer Bill of Rights, with meaningful and specific compensation for customers inconvenienced by service disruptions within JetBlue's control. Visit www.jetblue.com/promise for details. JetBlue serves 75 cities with 750 daily flights and plans to launch service to Charleston, South Carolina and Albuquerque, New Mexico in early 2013. With JetBlue, all seats are assigned, all fares are one-way, and an overnight stay is never required. For information call +1 800-538-2583 (TTY/TDD +1 800-336-5530), or visit www.jetblue.com.

(a) Transaction fees of up to 12.25% for donations to US-based charities and up to 19.25% for donations to non-US based charities apply to donations via True Giving, powered by KULA Causes.  These transaction fees do not impact JetBlue's matching donations.  JetBlue will match True Giving donations from December 10 – December 17, 2012, up to a maximum of $25,000 in all matching donations.   

(b)  All seats on JetBlue flights are available for booking using TrueBlue points. Even More Space seats are also available for the applicable fee; TrueBlue Mosaic members may purchase Even More Space seats using the specified number of TrueBlue points required for the particular flight. No blackout dates apply to JetBlue operated flights. Blackout dates may apply to code share, interline, and partner flights.

SOURCE JetBlue Airways