2025 is shaping as much as be the 12 months of the premium journey card. With a premium Alaska Airways card on the horizon and rumors of an incoming top-tier Citi card, competitors on this market is strengthening.
JetBlue is planting its flag on this house with the launch of the JetBlue Premier World Elite Mastercard® issued by Barclays. With a $499 annual charge, the cardboard is positioned because the premium choice for JetBlue loyalists.
Whether or not it is a good match is dependent upon how a lot you fly JetBlue. So, let’s look into the brand new product to see when you ought to apply.
The knowledge for the JetBlue Premier Card has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or offered by the cardboard issuer.
Welcome bonus
New JetBlue Premier cardholders can earn 70,000 bonus factors and 5 “tiles” towards Mosaic elite standing after spending $5,000 within the first three months of account opening.
In keeping with TPG’s January 2025 valuations, these JetBlue TrueBlue factors are price $910.
The JetBlue Enterprise Card has a extra modest $99 annual charge, with a welcome bonus at the moment providing simply 10,000 fewer factors, so we might’ve anticipated a better bonus for the Premier’s launch.
The 5 tiles you will obtain as a part of the welcome bonus get you 10% of the best way to Mosaic standing, which requires $50,000 in spending in a calendar 12 months. Evidently the 5 tiles included within the welcome provide are earned via common spending fairly than as a separate bonus, as per the phrases and situations:
“Earn 70,000 bonus TrueBlue factors and 5 tiles after spending $5,000 on purchases. …The bonus TrueBlue factors might be mirrored on the billing assertion after you’ve got certified to earn the bonus. Please enable 1-2 weeks for the tiles and 4-6 weeks for the bonus TrueBlue factors to be deposited into your Membership account.”
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When you get this card and wish to get pleasure from Mosaic standing via the top of 2026, you will have to spend a further $45,000 on this card in 2025.
The knowledge for the JetBlue Enterprise Card has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or offered by the cardboard issuer.
Card advantages
For a card with a $499 annual charge, the JetBlue Premier wants to come back out of the gate with sturdy perks for its cardholders — and it struggles to take action.
For starters, the cardboard has a $300 annual assertion credit score — but it surely’s solely relevant towards Paisly purchases. Paisly is JetBlue’s journey portal, via which you’ll be able to ebook lodges, automotive leases and actions.
This credit score is troublesome to maximise provided that it’s supplied as six separate $50 credit and you will need to spend at the very least $250 in a single transaction to set off every $50 credit score.
The cardboard gives a Precedence Cross Choose membership, which many different premium playing cards do — however with two visitors as an alternative of the one which the Premier card gives.
The cardboard additionally gives entry to JetBlue’s not too long ago introduced lounges at New York’s John F. Kennedy Worldwide Airport (JFK) — anticipated to open in late 2025 — and Boston Logan Worldwide Airport (BOS) — the opening date of which is unknown — for the cardholder and one visitor.
JetBlue lounge entry is a key perk of the cardboard. Nevertheless, with lounge openings typically topic to delays, it is price noting that cardholders will not have entry to those lounges for many of this 12 months. Given this, some could surprise if it will have made extra sense to launch the cardboard nearer to when the lounges open.
Cardholders obtain an as much as $120 World Entry or TSA PreCheck assertion credit score each 4 years, which is frequent on playing cards of this calibre.
Moreover, they will add approved customers for a (fairly excessive) charge of $150 every.
Different notable advantages embody:
- Group A precedence boarding (for you and as much as 4 companions on the identical reservation)
- A primary checked bag free on JetBlue-operated flights (for you and as much as three companions on the identical reservation)
- A ten% factors rebate on award redemptions on JetBlue flights
- A 50% inflight food-and-drink low cost
- 5,000 anniversary bonus factors
For semifrequent JetBlue flyers, the JetBlue Plus Card is the higher selection, because it gives the perks within the record above for a way more palatable $99 annual charge.
The knowledge for the JetBlue Plus Card has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or offered by the cardboard issuer.
Incomes charges
Cardholders will earn 6 factors per greenback spent on JetBlue and Paisly purchases, 2 factors per greenback spent at eating places and grocery shops and 1 level per greenback spent on all different purchases.
Sound acquainted? That may be as a result of it has the identical incomes construction because the JetBlue Plus Card. The one distinction is that the JetBlue Premier card earns bonus factors on Paisly purchases.
In our opinion, on the very least, the JetBlue Premier ought to have supplied 8 factors per greenback spent on JetBlue and Paisly purchases. That will make the $499 annual charge extra tolerable for JetBlue loyalists.
Cardholders may earn 1 tile towards Mosaic standing with each $1,000 spent on the cardboard. Meaning you will have to spend $50,000 on the cardboard to hit the primary degree of Mosaic standing via card spending alone.
Software restrictions
Word that those that at the moment have or have beforehand had the JetBlue Plus Card are usually not eligible for this welcome bonus. Somewhat, Plus cardholders are inspired to log into their Barclays account to see if there’s an improve provide.
If you do not have the Plus, you need to be OK to use for this card, as Barclays has comparatively lax utility restrictions in comparison with the opposite issuers.
Backside line
When you’re a die-hard JetBlue loyalist — particularly one based mostly in New York or Boston — this card is price contemplating. Nevertheless, it could be price holding off on making use of till the service’s lounges open later within the 12 months to get most worth from the primary 12 months of getting the cardboard. That stated, the welcome bonus may be decrease in a while.
When you’re a semifrequent JetBlue flyer, we expect the JetBlue Plus Card gives significantly better worth for a decrease annual charge — particularly if you have already got Precedence Cross entry via one other card.
If JetBlue is not one in every of your main airways, a common journey rewards card or one other airline’s cobranded card is the best way to go.
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