JetBlue Plus Card Review: Great Travel Rewards for Frequent Flyers
Jetblue Plus Card: Among the numerous airline-branded travel rewards credit cards, the JetBlue Plus Card stands out for the ease with which cardholders can accumulate frequent flyer points.
The Barclays-issued card is a good value for dedicated JetBlue passengers. It is less valuable for those who do not regularly fly JetBlue, as you can only redeem points for airfare (on JetBlue and Hawaiian) and magazine subscriptions.
Who is This Credit Card Best For?
If you have an excellent credit score, fly frequently on JetBlue airlines, and also want to earn top-notch rewards, this card might be a good choice for you. JetBlue most times, serves the U.S. East Coast out of its New York (JFK) hub, so this card may not be a very good match if most of your travels take you outside the airline’s primary service area.
Pros
- High earnings rate: This card offers lots of ways to earn points, including unlimited earnings on grocery store, restaurant, and JetBlue purchases. Also, you will get a 5,000-point cardholder anniversary bonus, and a 10% redemption bonus when you redeem your rewards for flights.
- Introductory APR on balance transfers: This card is not necessarily a first-choice balance transfer card. But if you have a balance on another credit card, you can transfer it and have 12 months to pay it off interest-free. (But note that you will pay a 3% balance transfer fee or $5—whichever is more.)
- First checked bag free: You will get one free checked bag for you and up to three people traveling on the same reservation with you every time you fly.
- Points pooling (up to seven friends and family members can combine rewards)
- $100 statement credit after using the JetBlue Plus Card to purchase a JetBlue Vacations package
- Annual 5,000 bonus points after account anniversary
- 50% off on eligible in-flight purchases, including food and cocktails
- Get 10% of your points back when you redeem points for a JetBlue-operated award flight
Cons
- Annual fee: This card costs $99 per year. Not waived in the first year. If you’re looking for a fee-free way to earn JetBlue rewards, consider the JetBlue Card instead.
- Potentially high interest rate: Your interest rate on purchases could be as high as 26.49% APR with this card, depending on your creditworthiness.
- Limited redemption options: You can only redeem your rewards for JetBlue or Hawaiian Airlines flights, magazine subscriptions, or the airfare portion of JetBlue vacation packages.
- No introductory APR for purchases
- High spending threshold for TrueBlue Mosaic status ($50,000 annually)
- Late payment and returned payment fees
- Balance transfer fee equal to the greater of 3% or $5
JetBlue Plus Card’s Sign-Up Bonus
The JetBlue Plus Card offers a good sign-up bonus of 40,000 TrueBlue points if you spend at least $1,000 in the first three months after getting the card and pay the yearly fee. We value this bonus at $600 max, which is almost in the middle of the pack when compared to the bonuses offered by other major airline-branded credit cards in its class.
The sign-up bonus is only made available if you have never had this card before.
Earning Points & Rewards
Each purchase you make will earn the following number of TrueBlue points:
- 6 points for purchases made with JetBlue
- 2 points for purchases made at grocery stores and restaurants
- 1 point for all other purchases
If you book an award flight with points, you will get a 10% bonus back to your TrueBlue account. For instance, if you book a flight worth 10,000 points, your account will be credited with a 1,000-point bonus. Additionally, you’ll earn a 5,000-point bonus every year on your cardholder anniversary.
Redeeming Rewards
The JetBlue Plus Card’s rewards program is straightforward if compared to some other airline card rewards programs. The primary way to redeem rewards points is by using them to purchase awards flights.
Sadly, TrueBlue does not publish an award flight chart with points-prices spelled out for various types of flights. Award flight prices could go up or down depending on route, schedule, day of the week, and so on.
You can also use your TrueBlue points to book award flights on Hawaiian Airlines, to pay for the airfare portion of JetBlue vacation packages, or to pay for magazine subscriptions.
Finally, a unique feature of the TrueBlue program is that you can pool your points with family members or friends (up to seven, in fact) and also share them with one another.
To use your rewards, log into your JetBlue account and search for flights—and also be sure to tick the “TrueBlue points” checkbox under “Select Fare.”
How to Get the Most Out Of This Card
Make sure you pay the annual charges and spend at least $1,000 on the card in the first three months in order to earn the 40,000-point sign-up bonus. After that, maximize the number of points you earn by using your JetBlue Plus Card to make purchases from JetBlue and by using it at the grocery store and at restaurants to earn double points.
You may want to pair this card with any other card that earns 2% cash back or 2 travel rewards points per dollar spent. You could use that card for everything you buy that don’t fall in the JetBlue Plus Card’s bonus categories.
JetBlue Plus Card’s Excellent Perks
Besides the free checked bag and the 5,000 points you will get on your cardholder anniversary, the JetBlue Plus Card has some of other benefits our editors regard as standing out from the typical perks offered by travel cards. Here are the best ones:
Sign-Up Bonus
The JetBlue Plus card signup bonus rewards new cardholders with 40,000 points who pay the $99 yearly charge and who make at least $1,000 in purchases within the first 90 days of creating their account.
JetBlue Credit Card Points
With the JetBlue Plus Card, you can earn 6x the points on JetBlue purchases as well as 2 points at restaurants and grocery stores. Every other purchases will earn you 1 point per dollar. The value of points can differ depending on how they’re redeemed but generally average around 1.6 cents each.
Cardmembers also receive 10 percent of their points back each time they redeem for use towards their next redemption.
$100 Statement Credit
JetBlue Plus cardholders who buys a Vacations package with their card can earn a $100 statement credit. The Vacations package must be valued at $100 or more and must be bought at jetblue.com or by calling 1-800-JETBLUE.
The credit will appear on your statement within six to eight weeks of the transaction posting to your account. The card must remain open, active, and in good standing, and you are limited to one $100 credit per calendar year.
Other JetBlue Credit Card Perks
Being a cardmember also helps you gain access to other benefits as well. They include:
- No foreign transaction fees
- No blackout dates on JetBlue-operated flights (redeem for any seat any time)
- 50% in-flight savings on eligible purchases, including food and cocktails
- 0% introductory APR for 12 months on balance transfers made within 45 days of account opening
- Chip-card technology
- $0 fraud liability protection
- TrueBlue Mosaic status after you spend $50,000 annually (includes 15,000 bonus points, waived change and cancellation fees, a second free checked bag, complimentary alcoholic beverages, and early boarding)
- JetBlue Vacations $100 credit: If you use your card to purchase a JetBlue vacation package, you’ll get a statement credit for $100 within six to eight weeks. You can get one statement credit per year.
Security Features
The JetBlue Plus Card offers $0 fraud liability protection, which implies that as long as you report any dubious business within a reasonable amount of time, you will not be held responsible for the charges.
JetBlue Plus Card’s Fees
Most of the fees of this card are in line with other cards of its type. There is a 50-cent minimum interest charge, which is not that common among credit cards of this nature.
Also note that this card charges no foreign transaction fees. JetBlue flies to some overseas destinations, including London starting in 2021, so it is quite nice to know that if you take one of these routes, you will not have to worry about extra fees.
