JetBlue is one of our favorite airlines. For us, they have a good number of destinations leaving from our hometown airport in Orlando. All of their planes are WiFi equipped and have DirecTV and SiriusXM entertainment options. They’re also in the process updating all of their older A320 planes with updated interiors, which is supposed to be done by 2019.
While we love flying with JetBlue, I never bothered to get the JetBlue credit card. The main reason is that the JetBlue frequent flyer program, called TrueBlue, is a (hybrid) fixed value program. That means the number of points needed for a ticket is dependent on how expensive that ticket is when you make the reservation. On average, you can get about 1.45 cents of value from each JetBlue point.
The reason I never applied for the card was that JetBlue is a transfer partner of both American Express Membership Rewards and Citi ThankYou programs. You can transfer points from them to JetBlue and occasionally AMEX and Citi will have special offers varying between 25% to 50% bonus miles when making a transfer. Why would I want to earn JetBlue points directly when I can earn more points with a flexible point card?
However, things change, as they tend to do. We started flying JetBlue more and I hated paying the $25 to check a bag each time we flew. Barclays and JetBlue temporarily increased the sign up bonus for the card (the higher bonus is no longer available), so I gave it another look.
Annual Fee – $99 per year (not waived the first year)
Sign Up Benefits – The JetBlue Plus card is currently offering a sign up bonus of 40,000 Bonus Points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 90 days and payment of annual fee. This has been the bonus level for all of 2018. Previously, the typical offer was 30,000 bonus points (except for a short stretch when it went up to 60,000 bonus points; that’s when I signed up). I like to use US Credit Card Guide to check what the sign up bonuses have been before signing up for any card.
Spending Bonus Categories – The JetBlue Plus card earns 6x points on JetBlue Purchases, 2x points at restaurants and grocery stores and 1x point on all other purchases.
No Foreign Transaction Fees – The JetBlue Plus card doesn’t charge any foreign transaction fees.
Free First Checked Bag – The cardholder and up to 3 travel companions on the same reservations, who have purchased Blue fares, will each receive their first checked bag free on JetBlue-operated flights that do not include first checked bag free. All ticket purchases must be made with your JetBlue Plus Card, and the primary cardmember’s TrueBlue member number must be entered at the time of booking.
Unlike Delta and American, JetBlue says that you do need to pay for the ticket with your JetBlue Plus card to get the free bag benefit. If you’re a family of four and each of you are checking bags, this benefit alone is worth $200 just for one trip.
10% Rebate on Redeemed Points – You’ll get 10% of the points back every time you redeem them. So if you use 25,000 points for a ticket, you’ll receive 2,500 points back (usually within 4-6 weeks).
Earn 5,000 Bonus Points Annually – Every year, after your account anniversary, you’ll receive 5,000 bonus points.
50% Savings on Eligible inflight purchases – When you pay for purchases in flight with your JetBlue Plus card, you’ll save 50%. This is for cocktails and food but doesn’t count for wireless internet or duty free purchases.
Earn JetBlue Mosaic status – After spending $50,000 or more on purchases annually with your JetBlue Plus card, you’ll receive TrueBlue Mosaic status (which usually would take 15,000 flight points or 30 segments and 12,000 flight points). Mosaic members get free changes and cancellations on tickets, first and second bag free, early boarding, bonus points and more.
Discount on Vacation Packages – You’ll get a $100 statement credit if you pay for a JetBlue Vacations package with your JetBlue Plus card.
Family Pooling – This isn’t a benefit of the JetBlue Plus card but it’s worth mentioning that JetBlue allows family members to pool points into a single account. This makes it easier to combine a few smaller account balances and have enough points to redeem for a flight.
JetBlue Points Do Not Expire – JetBlue is one of the few airlines where your points in the program never expire. You don’t need to keep the JetBlue Plus credit card. You don’t have to fly once every eighteen months. You don’t have to do anything. Your points will not expire. Period.
Chip & Pin Functionality – The JetBlue Plus credit card will work at credit card terminals that only accept Chip and Pin. Most US credit cards are Chip and Signature and will not work at these locations, mostly located at automated kiosks and gas stations around Europe.
Final Thoughts
The JetBlue Plus card is a great card if you have a use for TrueBlue points. If you like visiting Florida, JetBlue flies to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale non-stop from many cities around the US. JetBlue also has many flights to the Caribbean including Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Cuba and Mexico.
The 40,000 bonus points when you spend $1,000 is a decent value since those points are worth at least $560 in airfare and you only have to pay the $99 annual fee. The 10% rebate on point redemptions, free checked bag and 6x points on JetBlue flight purchases makes card a keeper. If you’re going to have the need for the points soon, you could sign up now. Otherwise it might make more sense to keep this one on the radar and wait to see if they increase the sign up bonus to 60,000 points again.
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