JetBlue Card Review

If you’re in the market for a good entry-level airline rewards card, the JetBlue Card is definitely worth it. The card gets you 3X points on JetBlue purchases and accelerated rewards on restaurant and grocery store purchases. It also offers 50% savings on eligible JetBlue in-flight purchases — all for a $0 annual fee.

That said, the card has a mediocre sign-up bonus and doesn’t offer common travel benefits provided by many other airline rewards cards, like free checked bags.

But if you fly JetBlue more frequently (more than twice per year), you may want to consider the JetBlue Plus Card instead. Although the card charges a $99 annual fee, it comes with a more valuable sign-up bonus, a higher rewards rate on JetBlue purchases and more robust benefits — which can easily cancel out its annual fee.

• Sign-up bonus

  The JetBlue Card lets you earn 10,000 bonus points after making $1,000 in purchases within 90 days of account opening.

  While this sign-up bonus is low compared to the top travel rewards cards currently available, it’s on par for airline cards that don’t charge annual fees. In fact, you may be able to squeeze a cheap domestic plane ticket out of it. For example, we found a one-way nonstop Blue flight from New York (JFK) to Los Angeles (LAX) for 8,700 JetBlue points.

  What’s the sign-up bonus worth? Around $130 in JetBlue airfare

  Who’s eligible to earn this offer? To qualify, you must live in the United States. You may not be eligible if you already have a JetBlue Card or had one in the past.

• Rewards on every purchase

  With the JetBlue Card, you’ll earn 3x points on eligible JetBlue and Paisly purchases, 2x points at restaurants and grocery stores and 1x points on all other purchases. This is a competitive earning rate, particularly for a $0-annual-fee travel card.

  What purchases qualify for elevated points?

  JetBlue purchases include tickets, goods and services purchased directly from JetBlue. Note, however, car rentals and hotel reservations purchased outside of a JetBlue Vacations package and the purchase TrueBlue points do not qualify.

  The restaurant category includes goods and services purchased directly at restaurants, bars and fast food establishments.

  The grocery store category includes eligible purchases made at grocery stores and supermarkets. However, purchases made at large warehouse-type stores, like Target, Walmart or Costco, typically will not qualify for this category.

JetBlue points can be redeemed for any JetBlue-operated flight or flight plus hotel package. We peg the value of JetBlue points at an average of 1.3 cents per point, which is in line with the value of the average airline mile.

How to redeem JetBlue Card points

Booking a JetBlue ticket with your rewards is pretty easy: You simply start a flight search at JetBlue.com or on the mobile app. Choose the option to use TrueBlue points, and then select “search flights.” The cost of JetBlue award flights will depend on the type of fare, the route, the time of year and whether you’re flying coach or first class. You can find tickets ranging in cost from less than 10,000 JetBlue points all the way up to over 100,000 JetBlue points.

There are different types of fares to choose from, and each offers different benefits. However, you cannot redeem TrueBlue points for Blue Basic fare or for a Blue Basic advance seat select fee. Here are the main differences among the different types of fares:

Types of JetBlue fares

Examples of JetBlue redemptions that would offer good value include:

• Take a Caribbean vacation – We found a round-trip ticket from New York to Antigua for a weeklong escape in March 2024 for just under 27,000 JetBlue points.
• Go on a foodie tour of Peru – If you’re into gastronomic getaways, we found a round-trip ticket for a two-week trip to Lima for around 37,000 JetBlue points in November 2023.
• Take your Valentine to Europe – Go to Paris in the offseason for as little as 46,200 JetBlue points for each roundtrip ticket in February 2024.

There are plenty of good values to be had on JetBlue — for both domestic and international flights — so it’s not hard to maximize your JetBlue points.

• 50% in-flight savings

  Get half off in-flight food and drink purchases as a credit on your account, which you’ll receive four to six weeks after the purchase is posted. In-flight purchases eligible for the discount include meals, beer, wine and cocktails on JetBlue-operated flights. However, you won’t receive the discount on other in-flight items, such as earbuds, pillows or seat upgrades.

• Points pooling

  Points Pooling is a free program from JetBlue that lets you form a group of up to seven TrueBlue members. All the members’ points automatically go into one big pool, then the person designated as the “pool leader” can then choose anyone in the group to redeem JetBlue points in the pool.

• Intro APR on balance transfers

  The JetBlue Card offers a 0% introductory APR for the first twelve billing cycles following each balance transfer that posts to your account within 45 days of account opening (after which an APR of 20.24% - 29.99% variable applies). This allows you to pay down high-interest credit card debt faster and to pay less interest overall while also reaping the other benefits of an airline credit card.

• No foreign transaction fees

  The JetBlue Card doesn’t charge any foreign transaction fees, which makes it a good choice to use for international travel. A foreign transaction fee (FX fee) is a surcharge (typically, up to 3%) that some cards tack onto purchases made outside of the United States.

JetBlue Card vs. JetBlue Plus Card

 
The JetBlue Plus Card provides double the rate of rewards on JetBlue purchases — Earn 6x points on eligible JetBlue purchases, 2x points at restaurants and eligible grocery stores and 1x points on all other purchases. It also offers better airline benefits, like a free first checked bag. If you fly JetBlue often, these additional benefits can easily justify the annual fee.

JetBlue Card vs. Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Premier Credit Card

 
The Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Premier Credit Card charges an annual fee and has a significantly lower rewards earning rate than the JetBlue Card. The higher welcome bonus is nice, but the annual fee, low earnings rate and sparse benefits make the JetBlue Card the superior option, especially for loyal JetBlue travelers.

JetBlue Card vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card

 
The Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card is one of the best general purpose travel credit cards available, and it soundly beats the JetBlue Card in terms of benefits, flexibility and rewards. You’ll enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases, $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit, plus more. These points are far more valuable than JetBlue points — you can transfer them to your JetBlue loyalty account, along with a handful of other airline loyalty programs.

If you’re loyal to JetBlue Airways, the JetBlue Card offers a great opportunity to earn rewards that can be redeemed for free travel without paying an annual fee. But if you fly JetBlue more than twice a year, you may want to consider the JetBlue Plus Card, which offers more perks, including free checked bags. The annual fee can easily be canceled out by the extra rewards and benefits you’ll receive if you spend enough on JetBlue each year.

Still, many travelers may find more value in the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card or another top general purpose travel credit card. As long as you’re going to pay an annual fee, you may be better served by the added flexibility, the ability to maximize rewards through a large number of transfer partners and the available travel insurance benefits.