The JetBlue Card from American Express is offering 10,000 points after your first purchase. Each purchase on the card earns one TrueBlue point per dollar, and some purchases can earn up to eight points per dollar. Is the $40 annual fee worth these and the card’s other benefits?
JetBlue operates major hubs in New York, Boston, Long Beach, Orlando, and Fort Lauderdale. If you live or work in one of these cities, you might even have tried JetBlue as an alternative to a legacy airline. Industry experts credit JetBlue with shaking up their business by blending the service of a traditional airline with the pricing model of an upstart discount carrier. They also installed free DirecTV monitors in every seatback, freeing passengers from the tyranny of boring, in-flight entertainment.
JetBlue’s TrueBlue frequent flyer program resembles the kind of rewards points system used for certain Chase, American Express, and CitiBank credit cards. Instead of earning miles based on your flight distance, you earn six TrueBlue points for every dollar you spend on airfare at JetBlue.com. You’ll earn a bonus point for using your JetBlue Card on the airline’s website, along with the regular point for every dollar you spend with the card.
Converting TrueBlue points into airfare
Earning up to eight points per dollar can lead to free tickets pretty quickly. Scanning JetBlue.com, I found a sample weekend flight from JFK Airport in New York to San Francisco for just under $480, round trip. I’ll need 35,800 TrueBlue points for the same journey, plus just $5 in taxes and fees. If I just used by JetBlue Card for everyday purchases, that’s about a 1.3 percent rebate, in line with the most popular cash back credit cards.
However, if I’ve been using my JetBlue Card almost exclusively for airfares, I’ll only need to spend $4,475 on JetBlue.com if I want a free coast-to-cost trip. That’s a 10.7 percent rebate, which blows nearly every rewards credit card out of the water, including American Express’s own Blue Sky series. Of course, reward values can vary based on market demand. However, JetBlue promises reward round trips for as few as 10,000 points, making this one of the fastest ways to earn free travel.
Getting more from the JetBlue Card
As with any airline credit card, you’ll only get the most value from the JetBlue Card if you’re willing to make most of your trips on a single carrier. That’s not a hard commitment to keep if you live near one of JetBlue’s hubs. Yet, this American Express credit card carries additional benefits that can make it a valuable addition to your wallet, even if you’re just planning to save your TrueBlue points for occasional leisure travel.
Like other American Express cards, the JetBlue Card comes with purchase protection that will reimburse you for lost, damaged, or stolen merchandise that you replace within 90 days of your original transaction. The JetBlue Card also extends the warranty of most consumer goods for up to a year after the expiration of the manufacturer’s warranty. You’ll even get roadside assistance included with your card, saving you money if you replace similar, paid coverage from another provider.
Seasoned road warriors may notice a few perks lacking from the JetBlue Card. The airline doesn’t operate traditional airport lounges, so you won’t get that popular perk that comes with some Delta or American Airlines cards. On the other hand, JetBlue lets you check your first bag for free, a privilege that many traditional airlines now save for their elite customers or cardholders. With a moderate annual fee and a middle of the road APR, you’ll want to ring up and pay down big balances every month to really make this card pay for itself.
To take advantage of the 10,000 points offer, apply for the JetBlue Card from American Express today. You will need excellent credit in order to be approved, and be aware of the $40 annual fee.
Published or updated March 2, 2012. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the RSS feed or receive daily emails. Follow @flexo on Twitter and visit our Facebook page for more updates.
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