JetBlue Plus Credit Card Review 2024

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The information for the following product(s) has been collected independently by Business Insider: JetBlue Plus Card, Citi Premier® Card, Citi Prestige® Card, JetBlue Business Card. The details for these products have not been reviewed or provided by the issuer.

The JetBlue Plus Card
is a good companion for JetBlue travelers because of its passive benefits like a 10% rebate on redeemed points, a 5,000-point bonus each cardmember year, and free checked bags. However, you’ll rarely want to use the card for everyday spending. The card does come with an increased bonus of 60,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases and paying the annual fee in full within the first 90 days from account opening. That’s a 50% increase from the previous bonus.

JetBlue Plus Overview

The JetBlue Plus Card is the top-tier personal JetBlue credit card on the market. It comes with solid benefits if you’re a JetBlue flyer — but that’s a big “if.”

JetBlue isn’t nearly as prolific as US carriers like American Airlines, Delta, and United Airlines, which serve hundreds of destinations around the world. JetBlue is mostly found on the East Coast, and it flies to very few international destinations.

The $99 annual fee JetBlue Plus Card is great to have for benefits like free checked bags, points rebates, and the ability to spend your way to elite status. It even comes with a limited-time 60,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases and paying the annual fee in full within the first 90 days from account opening.

But there are better cards to swipe if you’re trying to generate JetBlue points.

For example, JetBlue is a Chase Ultimate Rewards®, Amex Membership Rewards, and Citi ThankYou Rewards transfer partner, so depending on your spending habits, you could earn more points with cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, American Express® Gold Card, or Citi Premier® Card
.

Here’s everything you need to know about the JetBlue Plus Card.

Rewards

The JetBlue Plus Card currently offers an elevated limited-time bonus of 60,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases and paying the annual fee in full within the first 90 days from account opening. Insider estimates JetBlue points value to be 1.35 cents each, on average. That means you should have no problem getting around $810 in JetBlue flights from this bonus.

Apart from that, the card offers a modest return rate. Here’s what you’ll earn:

• 6 points per dollar when spending with JetBlue
• 2 points per dollar for restaurant and grocery store purchases
• 1 point per dollar for all other eligible purchases

Cardholders will also receive a 5,000-point deposit (worth around $67 in JetBlue flights) into their account automatically after each cardmember year, so it’s a good card to hang on to. However, if your primary goal is to earn JetBlue points, spending on this card may not be your best option. You can transfer several flexible points currencies to JetBlue:

In other words, you can earn JetBlue points faster by using one of the following cards instead of the JetBlue Plus Card:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card — Earn 5 points per dollar on travel booked through Chase, 3 points per dollar on dining, streaming services, and grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), 2 points per dollar on other travel, and 1 point per dollar on everything else (read our Chase Sapphire Preferred card review)
• American Express® Gold Card — Earn 4 points per dollar at US supermarkets (on up to $25,000 in spending per year, then 1x) and at restaurants, 3 points per dollar on flights booked with the airline or American Express Travel, and 1 point per dollar on everything else (read our Amex Gold card review)
• Citi Premier® Card — Earn 3 points per dollar on air travel, gas stations, restaurants, supermarkets, and hotels, and 1 point per dollar on everything else (read our Citi Premier card review)

Redeem points with JetBlue

JetBlue does not use the same methodology as many other airlines to price award flights. The price you’ll pay in points is determined by the price you’ll pay with cash. If a ticket costs a lot of money, you’ll pay a lot of points; and if JetBlue is having a sale on flights, you’ll pay fewer points.

Because of this, you can’t get outsized value for your points when flying on JetBlue. Insider estimates you’ll receive a value of 1.35 cents per point toward flights — so if you’re reserving a $500 flight, you’ll pay around 37,000 points, give or take.

You can also redeem your points with JetBlue Vacations to discount a travel package that includes flights, hotels, and rental cars. The value per point is similar to using your points for JetBlue flights.

Redeem points with Hawaiian Airlines

You can redeem your JetBlue points for flights on JetBlue’s partner, Hawaiian Airlines, and potentially get significantly more (or less) value from your rewards. That’s because JetBlue prices Hawaiian Airlines flights according to a region-based award chart. Here are the one-way prices:

Depending on the cash value of these tickets, this could be a fantastic use of points. For example, business class flights from the West Coast can easily cost $875 one-way, but only 45,000 JetBlue points. Using your points in this way means you’d get a value of 1.9 cents per point.

To book Hawaiian Airlines flights with JetBlue points, you must call JetBlue. 

JetBlue Plus Card Benefits and Features

First checked bag free

You and three companions traveling on your reservation will receive the first checked bag free. Checked bags cost $35 on JetBlue, meaning you’ll save $70 per person for a round-trip flight (a potential savings of $280 per trip).

One important note is that you must pay for your flight with the JetBlue Plus Card to qualify for free bags. Simply having the card is not enough.

5,000 bonus points per year

Each account anniversary, you’ll receive 5,000 JetBlue points. Insider estimates JetBlue points to be worth 1.35 cents each, making the annual bonus worth $67.50, on average. This effectively knocks down your card’s $99 annual fee to around $32 per year.

JetBlue points never expire — if you don’t use them, they’ll roll over year after year.

Points Payback

You can use your JetBlue points for a statement credit (minimum $25 per redemption) to offset the spending you do on your card. You can redeem up to $1,000 worth of points in this way each calendar year. Points are worth 0.75 cents each when used this way, so it’s not a good deal. That’s significantly lower than Insider’s lowest reasonable redemption value of 1.1 cents per point.

Just note that your points can’t be used toward any minimum payment amount.

10% points rebate

You’ll earn 10% of your points back when you redeem them for an award flight, with no cap. That’s pretty great, considering JetBlue points are easy to earn by transferring points from Chase, Amex, and Citi.

For example, if you plan to redeem 140,000 points for a round-trip lie-flat MINT seat from Boston to St. Lucia, you’ll get 14,000 points back — just for holding this card!

Ability to earn elite status through spending

JetBlue TrueBlue Mosaic introduced elite status in 2023, spanning four different tiers: Mosaic 1, 2, 3, and 4. Each comes with the following benefits:

• Bonus points for flights
• Priority boarding
• Free same-day flight changes
• Free seat upgrades, when available
• First two checked bags free
• Free inflight alcohol

Mosaic 2 gives you up seat upgrades (Even More® Space seats) at booking. Mosaic 3 gives you four certificates to upgrade to Mint at no extra charge. Mint 4 offers BLADE airport transfers (helicopter rides) between Manhattan and New York (JFK) or Newark (EWR) airports — and an additional two Mint upgrade certificates.

Plus, every time you level up, you’ll get to choose one unique benefit such as:

• Pet fee waiver
• $99 statement credit for JetBlue Plus Card and JetBlue Business Card
  holders
• 15,000-point bonus
• Gift 20 tiles to someone else
• Receive Mint Suite Priority access (excluding the Mint Studio)

And when you fly American Airlines, you’ll get A-list perks such as up to two free checked bags, priority boarding, expedited security, complimentary Main Cabin Extra seats, and complimentary same-day flight changes when you attach your JetBlue TrueBlue number to your reservation.

With the JetBlue Plus Card, you’ll earn a status-qualifying tile each time you make $1,000 in purchases. You’ll earn Mosaic status after collecting 50 tiles — meaning you can earn Mosaic status by spending $50,000 in a calendar year with your JetBlue Plus Card. You’ll earn elite status for the calendar year in which you earn it, as well as the following calendar year.

$100 annual statement credit toward JetBlue Vacations

JetBlue Vacations sell vacation packages that allow you to bundle things like flight+hotel stays and flight+cruises. You’ll receive a $100 statement credit each calendar year you make a JetBlue Vacations purchase of $100 or more with the JetBlue Plus Card. The credit will appear within eight weeks after the transaction posts to your account.

50% savings on inflight food and drink

When you use your JetBlue Plus Card to pay for inflight food, cocktails, beer, or wine, you’ll receive a 50% savings in the form of an account statement credit. 

0% intro APR offer

The JetBlue Plus Card also comes with a 0% intro APR for 12 months on balance transfers made within 45 days of account opening, followed by a standard APR of 21.24% to 29.99% variable.

This can be handy if you’re trying to consolidate high-interest credit card debt from other credit cards, but you will have to pay a higher-than-usual balance transfer fee of $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer (whichever is greater). 

JetBlue Plus Card Fees and Costs

This card comes with a $99 annual fee, not waived the first year. That’s pretty standard for an airline credit card. 

This card does not charge foreign transaction fees, so it’s good to use overseas. However, as with most other credit cards, there are fees for cash advances, balance transfers, late payments, and returned payments.

Compare the JetBlue Plus Card 

*When you use your United℠ Explorer Card card to pay for your ticket, or the taxes and fees on an award ticket

JetBlue Plus Card Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)