UPDATE: BARCLAYCARD OFFERS REFERENCED BELOW ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE
Awhile ago it was announced that JetBlue was getting rid of their credit card and cutting ties with American Express. Many people wondered who JetBlue would decide to eventually partner with and what the future of their credit card offer/benefits would hold.
Well… fortunately that information is now known! There will be three new JetBlue MasterCard credit cards available – 2 personal and 1 business card. The partnership will be with Barclaycard and include the following details:
The JetBlue Card (personal, no annual fee):
- Bonus Offer: 5,000 points after you spend $1,000 on the card within the first 90 days
- Point Earning Structure: 3x points on all JetBlue purchases, 2x points at restaurants and grocery stores, and 1x point on all other purchases
- Other Card Benefits: 50% discount on in-flight purchases (i.e., wine/beer, food, movies); No foreign transaction fees
- Annual Fee: No annual fee
The JetBlue Plus Card (personal, annual fee):
- Bonus Offer: 30,000 points after you spend $1,000 on the card within the first 90 days
- Point Earning Structure: 6x points on all JetBlue purchases, 2x points at restaurants and grocery stores, and 1x point on all other purchases
- Other Card Benefits: 5,000 bonus points on every account anniversary; 1 free checked bag for primary cardmember and up to 3 companions on same reservation when you use your JetBlue credit card to purchase a JetBlue-operated flight; Earn Mosaic status after spending $50,000 or more on purchases in the calendar year; 10% back in points when you redeem for a flight; 50% discount on in-flight purchases (i.e., wine/beer, food, movies); No foreign transaction fees
- Annual Fee: $99 annual fee
The JetBlue Business Card (business, annual fee):
- Bonus Offer: 30,000 points after you spend $1,000 on the card within the first 90 days
- Point Earning Structure: 6x points on all JetBlue purchases, 2x points at restaurants and office supply stores, and 1x point on all other purchases
- Other Card Benefits: 5,000 bonus points on every account anniversary; 1 free checked bag for primary cardmember and up to 3 companions on same reservation when you use your JetBlue credit card to purchase a JetBlue-operated flight; Earn Mosaic status after spending $50,000 or more on purchases in the calendar year; 10% back in points when you redeem for a flight; 50% discount on in-flight purchases (i.e., wine/beer, food, movies); No foreign transaction fees
- Annual Fee: $99 annual fee
I personally like that they will be Barclaycard cards. There will be no Chase “5/24” rule or American Express once in a lifetime rule. There also aren’t as many popular Barclaycard cards so getting approved for one of these three cards should be slightly easier, but you never know. Also, all three cards at separately, so there might be the opportunity to apply for all versions of the card and receive the sign up bonus for all (upon approval and meeting the minimum spend requirement). While not a huge sign up bonus for any of the cards, that would give you a total of 70,000 points.
In my opinion, JetBlue points are worth approximately 1.4 cents per point. That means a 10,000 point sign up bonus is giving you about $140 in future travel and a 30,000 point sign up bonus is giving you about $420 in future travel. And remember, with JetBlue the number of points you redeem is tied to the cost of the ticket. While there is not an exact calculation, there really isn’t too many ways to increase your redemption value.
If you currently have the JetBlue Card from American Express, you will automatically be issued the JetBlue Rewards MasterCard by Barclarycard. Those that currently have the business version of the JetBlue Card from American Express will automatically be issued the new business card by Barclaycard. The new cards can then be used starting March 21, 2016.
Overall, I love when new cards are added, so this will only be a benefit to some. What are your thoughts?
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Thanks for the news, and I really DO like JetBlue — my favorite airline for coach travel. Decent legroom, lots of amenities, including movies, and yes, great flight routes throughout the Caribbean….. Even better, the points required for reward travel are based off of the price of the underlying ticket, like Southwest, not based on a static award chart.
But these cards are priced terribly. You get only 30K for a whopping $99/year. (by contrast, you can regularly get 50k on SW for the same fee or less)
Not starter. (will wait for Barclays to get with it…. they used to know how to do it when they had the USAirways cards)
“non-starter” that is. Hey, maybe Barclays is just starting this out “modest” — seeing if they get much interest, then down the road will do what they often did with USAirways card — double the miles offer. For that, I’d think about it.