Great Card If
- You want a big sign-up bonus
- You fly JetBlue frequently
- You usually check bags
Don’t Get If
- You fly a wide variety of airlines
- There is no JetBlue hub close by (i.e. you live on the West Coast)
- You don’t want to pay for your credit card each year
Sign-Up Bonus, Categories, and Earning Points
Sign up for the card and get the sign-up bonus listed in the card summary table above.
The typical bonus value offered by the credit card issuer more than offsets the $99 annual fee.
Then, earn a whopping 6 points per dollar spent on JetBlue and 2 points per dollar spent at restaurants and grocery stores. You’ll also get 1 point per dollar on everything else you put on the card.
Bottom Line: The JetBlue Plus card earns 6x points on JetBlue, 2x points on restaurants and grocery stores, and 1x points everywhere else for a $99 annual fee.
Card Benefits
This rewards card offers no shortage of benefits, starting with a free first checked bag for you and up to 3 companions when you fly JetBlue. This offer is even good for award flights.
Considering it will cost you $25 to check a bag at the airport when you purchase a Blue fare, the benefit is worth up to $100.
Next, you’ll automatically earn 5,000 rewards points every year on your account anniversary.
As if that’s not enough, you will get 10% of your rewards back every time you redeem them so you can use them for your next redemption. For example, redeem 30,000 points for a flight, and you’ll get 3,000 back.
Unlike other credit cards, there’s no limit to how many rewards you can get back during the year. Talk about increasing the value of your points!
And that’s still not all! When you sign up for the card, you typically also get an introductory APR on balance transfers. If you have a balance on a high-interest card, you can transfer it over and save some money.
Bottom Line: Get a free checked bag for up to 3 companions, a 5,000-point anniversary bonus, a 10% rebate every time you redeem points, and an intro APR on The JetBlue Plus card.
More Credit Card Perks
Purchase a JetBlue Getaways vacation package with the card and receive a $100 statement credit. This benefit is good once per year, as long as the package is $100 or more.
As an owner of this airline credit card, you also save 50% on in-flight purchases. That’s 50% off cocktails, beer, wine, meals, and JetBlue movies on flights operated by JetBlue.
To give you an idea of what this benefit is worth, alcoholic beverages on JetBlue flights currently cost $6 – $9. That means you’ll pay only $3 – $4.50 when you use the card.
Just like with all JetBlue Barclaycard credit cards, there are no foreign transaction fees. You also receive $0 fraud liability protection.
TrueBlue points never expire and can be used for any seat on any JetBlue flight–no blackout dates.
Bottom Line: The JetBlue Plus card earns a $100 statement credit when you purchase a JetBlue Getaways vacation package, good once per year. You also save 50% on in-flight purchases!
Unique JetBlue Programs
JetBlue offers a couple of terrific programs for members of the TrueBlue loyalty program.
With Family Pooling, you and your family can earn and share rewards together. In fact, JetBlue is one of the only airline programs that doesn’t charge families for this service.
Up to 2 adults and 5 kids can collect points individually and then combine them together to redeem for a large group award.
The JetBlue Plus card can also help you earn JetBlue elite status. With this card, you’ll earn 1 tile (the metric used to determine elite status) for every $1,000 spent.
Bottom Line: JetBlue TrueBlue is one of the highest-rated loyalty programs out there, and has unique ways to earn rewards such as Family Pooling and Mosaic status. Add value to your frequent flyer experience with The JetBlue Plus card.
Which Is Better: The JetBlue Card or The JetBlue Plus Card?
We’ll look at the math later on in this article, but The JetBlue Plus card clearly has more features and benefits than The JetBlue Card, even if it does have a $99 fee each year.
When you consider the sign-up bonus, annual 5,000 bonus points, and 10% bonus points returned on redemptions, there is no question of value in the higher tier card.
You also get 6 points per dollar on JetBlue purchases, which is double that of The JetBlue Card.
Bottom Line: If you fly JetBlue frequently, The Plus Card will provide much more value even though it has a $99 annual fee. The JetBlue Card is a great card for those who don’t travel as much but want to earn some extra rewards.
Best Way To Redeem JetBlue Points
Redeeming JetBlue points for the highest value after earning them with this card is a little more challenging than on some other airlines, since there are no fixed-value awards for flight redemptions.
Instead, the amount of rewards required for a trip is tied to current fares. When fares drop, so does the number of points required for redemption, which can be a good thing.
To redeem, visit jetblue.com/trueblue and sign in to your account. Then you can search for flights using points and dollars.
There are also plenty of other ways to get value from your redemptions.
Tip #1: Donate to a charity of your choice. You can explore the charities under the categories of youth & education, community, and environment at the TrueBlue website. It’s important to note that point donations are not tax deductible.
Tip #2: Subscribe to magazines and newspapers using your points. Magazine redemptions start at 400 points.
Newspaper home-delivery redemptions vary by zip code and include the Dallas Morning News, Wall Street Journal, Denver Post, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and San Francisco Chronicle.
Tip #3: Use your rewards to fly on Hawaiian Airlines, the only JetBlue airline partner that redeems TrueBlue points. Book through 1-800-JETBLUE (538-2583).
Tip #4: Book a JetBlue Getaway (air + hotel) plus optional car and activities using a combination of cash and points. Visit jetblue.com/getaways or call 1-800-JETBLUE (538-2583) and choose option 3 to redeem.
Note that you cannot use rewards only for a Getaways package; it must be a combination of cash (or credit card) and points.
However, if you need more to qualify for using a cash and points option, you can buy them. The minimum purchase is 1,000 points for $37.63, and you can buy up to 30,000 in increments of 500.
Best Way To Maximize JetBlue Points
Clearly, the best way to get premium value from this rewards credit card is to use it to purchase JetBlue flights.
You will get 6x bonus points for using your card, another 3x bonus points for being a frequent flyer member, and then 3x-5x points (depending on fare class) for purchasing your tickets through jetblue.com. That’s a total of 12x-14x points!
However, we developed a list of additional ways to earn TrueBlue points below:
Tip #1: Sign up for the TrueBlue Dining Program to earn rewards for dining out. There are more than 11,000 restaurants worldwide in the program.
You’ll receive 1 point for every $1 spent eating at participating establishments. If you have earned the Mosaic Badge, you’ll get 2 points per dollar.
Tip #2: Earn rewards for shopping at the ShopTrue Mall and with other retailers.
Choose from over 700 online retailers at the ShopTrue Mall including Walmart, Best Buy, and Staples. You’ll even find bonus offers and coupons on the site.
JetBlue also has a wide variety of financial and home partners such as LifeLock (sign up for 4,500 points), NRG Home (7,500 points after 2 months of active service), and much more. Check out all your options at the TrueBlue website.
Tip #3: Transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to your JetBlue account at a rate of 250:200. Keep an eye out for special offers that give you even more value for your Membership Rewards.
We found a recent offer that allowed you to transfer at a 1:1 ratio.
Tip #4: JetBlue has a ton of travel partners that offer bonuses to TrueBlue members.
For instance, earn 2 points per dollar spent on JetBlue Cruises. Or rent a car with Avis, Budget, or Payless to earn bonuses. You can also earn points with Carmel, Zipcar, and the Parking Spot.
See the table below for hotel partner offers:
Finally, while JetBlue is not a member of an airline alliance, you can still earn points by booking with their partner airlines. All you have to do is add your membership number on the passenger info page at the time of purchase.
Tip #5: Earn JetBlue Mosaic elite status for a host of benefits. As we mentioned earlier in the review, you can earn it by collecting at least 50 tiles. There are lots of ways to earn tiles including spending on JetBlue flights, JetBlue Vacations, Paisly by JetBlue, or by spending on JetBlue credit cards.
With the JetBlue elite status, earn a 3x bonus when booking a flight. This brings your total possible rewards to 12x-17x!
However, earning elite status gets you more than just points. You can book Even More Space seats (with additional legroom) and receive 2 pieces of free checked luggage for you and anyone traveling within your itinerary.
Other benefits include complimentary alcoholic beverages during your flight, an expedited security line, early boarding, and a dedicated customer service line.
Many airlines, hotels, and travel programs partner with JetBlue to offer bonuses:
Airline Partners: Emirates, Silver Airways, JetSuiteX, South African Airways, Hawaiian Airlines, Singapore Airlines
Hotel Partners: VOILA Hotel Rewards, Hilton Honors, IHG One Rewards, Hotel Tonight, La Quinta Inns & Suites, Rocketmiles, Marriott Bonvoy
Getaway Partners: JetBlue Getaways, JetBlue Cruises, Adventure Canada
The information regarding The JetBlue Plus Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding The JetBlue Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding The JetBlue Business Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.