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.

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Using cash back credit cards is rewarding in two specific ways. First, you’re earning money when you spend. That’s the obvious part. But when you know that you’re getting a rebate when you use your credit card, you also feel better about spending than you would otherwise. Feeling good can be dangerous, as you might make mistakes like spending more than you should while chasing that good feeling.

That’s why I’ve identified ten traps for using cash back credit cards. The issuers know that many people will fail to handle their credit cards properly, and the resulting profit from customers’ mistakes helps pay for those cash back rebates.

Credit card users are generally aware of these traps and can avoiding them, but sometimes other problem occur, beyond the spenders’ control. Consumerism Commentary reader SteveDH recent encountered a problem with his cash back credit card.

Here’s his story:

When I received my last VISA statement it showed that I had redeemed $275 in Cashback awards — I hadn’t. I got in touch with my bank and also started looking at all of the web pages and we found the someone had added a “Transfer Account” from GE Capital Retail Bank in Draper Utah to the redemption page and apparently requested the redeemtion. The information that they had to enter was the ABA number and account number. That’s how I know which bank it is even though only the last four digits of the account number were there. How they got to the redeemtion page without going through my login (which my bank says wasn’t compromised) is a mystery.

Although my bank killed the credit card and promised to apply the missing money to the new VISA card, I’m stilling waiting for final resolution. I download into Quicken almost everyday but I hadn’t even thought of checking rewards balances. In fact I’m amazed I noticed it on the statement this month. Yet another example of the crooks out there — some are pretty darn creative.

This is insanity. Cash back rewards should be something consumers should be able to forget about; they should be able to trust that each purchase earns the correct cash back amount (it occasionally doesn’t) and that the cash back will be there when you retrieve it. It’s a mystery how this redemption bank account was added to the cash back rewards page without SteveDH’s account being compromised. Perhaps it was an inside job.

I confess that I rarely look at my accrued rewards balances. As I primarily use airline miles rewards cards now, I generally see my rewards only when I visit Continental’s and United’s websites. The miles I earn from spending are deposited monthly, and I’ve not yet noticed any discrepancies. Cards that earn cash back, however, can be less organized.

Since cash back information is not downloaded into Quicken or reported in other software like Mint.com, it takes extra effort to verify your cash back is accruing correctly and is available according to the rules of your agreement. Don’t forget to check once in a while. You won’t be able to prevent every problem, but you’ll be able to report it to your issuer promptly, and hopefully have the problem resolved without difficulty.

Thanks for staring the story, SteveDH. If any other readers have stories to share, please contact me.

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Cash back credit cards can help consumers practice responsible spending while earning a little extra for their efforts when used properly. It wasn’t long ago that the best cash back credit cards were offering rewards as high as 5% for all purchases, but that is unfortunately no longer the case.

Today’s cash back credit cards are all similar in nature, generally offering 1% cash back on all purchases. However, if you look hard enough, you’ll find a number of credit cards with higher cash rebates than just 1%. This article lists the best cash back credit cards you can find today, and I update the article when there is new information to share. Along with a brief description of each of the best cards, I have included the cash back percentages and any tiers or restrictions, so there are no surprises if your cash back credit card isn’t earning as much as you first thought. Keep in mind that in order to make credit card with rewards programs worthwhile, you must avoid interest charges and late fees by paying your bill on time and in full every single month.

Editor’s choice

Blue Cash Everyday℠ from American Express. Of all the cash back cards available, this offers the possibility of earning maximum rewards. The Blue Cash Everyday℠ from American Express Card offers $100 cash back bonus after spending $1,000 in eligible purchases in the first three months as well as 3% cash back on supermarket purchases, 2% cash back on gas and department store purchases and 1% cash back on everything else. This card is a new version of the standard Blue Cash Card and it even offers a $25 referral bonus. Blue Cash Everyday℠ from American Express also includes a 0% introductory offer on purchases for 12 months and carries no annual fee.

Because there are no limits to the cash back rewards and no need to track rotating categories, the Blue Cash Everyday credit card from American Express is the top pick as your “workhouse” cash back card. If you make your regular household purchases on this card, you should be able to get substantial cash back over the course of the year.

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