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JetBlue just launched a new buy points promotion. Now through June 30, 2022, this new offer gives TrueBlue members the ability to buy points for as little as 1.77¢ each. But, is that a good deal? Let's take a look at when it makes sense to buy JetBlue points—and when it doesn't.
General Note on Buying Points
Generally speaking, buying points or miles without a bonus or discount isn't a good idea. Airlines and hotels typically sell points for a lot more than what they're worth. This is especially true for programs—like JetBlue—that utilize a fixed-value, revenue-based points currency.
However, there are a few exceptions. If you only need a few more points to confirm a redemption you'd like to make, a points sale can be the perfect time to top off your account with a bonus or at a discount. Additionally, buying points can save you some cash if the price to buy points for a redemption is cheaper than paying for the same product outright.
Buy JetBlue Points Key Terms
- This promotion is valid through June 30, 2022.
- Purchases of TrueBlue points are non-refundable.
- Purchased points will generally post within 72 hours.
- Any purchased TrueBlue points will not count toward qualification for Mosaic elite status.
- TrueBlue members may purchase a maximum of 70,000 points per transaction, and a maximum of 120,000 points per calendar year.
- See all terms and conditions here.
There's at least one version of this buy points promotion:
40% discount (1.77¢ per point)
- 1,000 – 2,000 points — no discount
- 3,000 – 19,500 points — receive a 20% discount (as low as 2.56¢ per point)
- 20,000 – 39,000 points — receive a 30% discount (as low as 2.07¢ per point)
- Buy 40,000 – 50,000 points — receive a 40% discount (as low as 1.77¢ per point)
You'll find the best rate when purchasing between 40,000 and 70,000 points. With the 40% discount, you can buy 70,000 points for $1,241.63 (including the 7.5% tax recovery fee). That's roughly 1.77¢ per point.
You'll notice that there is a 7.5% tax on this sale. Interestingly, you may not have to pay it. When domestic airlines levy a Federal Excise Tax on mileage purchases, it's with the assumption that the purchased miles will be used for domestic air travel. However, as many award travelers are probably aware, this might not be the case. If you use those purchased miles for international travel, hotel stays, gift cards, or any other redemption, you should be able to get it refunded.
To learn more, check out Gary Leff's post about it at View From The Wing.
If you get the fee refunded, this promotion's best rate drops to just 1.65¢ per mile — which is still pretty bad.
Great JetBlue Redemptions
Unlike zone-based award programs (like American Airlines AAdvantage) or category-based programs (like Marriott Bonvoy), JetBlue's TrueBlue currency operates at a fixed value of between 1¢ and 1.5¢ per point. The advantage of a program like this is that the ability to use points is steady. You don't have to find award availability to get a good redemption. The disadvantage is that you're rarely going to find any outsized value for your points.
But just because you're not going to find any ‘sweet spots' in JetBlue's non-existent award chart doesn't mean that there are no valuable point redemptions. With fixed-value currencies, if cash fares are cheap, award prices are also cheap.
For example, this transcontinental route between New York and Los Angeles shows several flights available for just 9,400 points+ $5.60.
JetBlue also happens to offer one of the best domestic business-class products available. If you're keen to try JetBlue ‘Mint', there are some great deals out there for points redemptions. For example, you can book this New York to Las Vegas itinerary in JetBlue Mint for only 42,200 points.
At the optimal purchase rate of 1.77¢, that's $747 in points respectively, plus $5.60 taxes and fees. That may sound fairly reasonable — until you realize that the cash rate for the same flight is just $433:
In this case, it would make much more sense to buy the flight outright than buying JetBlue points for this redemption. However, if you don't have quite enough TrueBlue points, it could make sense to top off your account with a purchase.
Maximize Your Purchase
TrueBlue point purchases are processed by Points.com, meaning your purchase will not qualify for any standard travel category bonus. With that in mind, if you decide to buy JetBlue points, your best options are to use the purchase to meet the minimum spend for a sign-up bonus, or to use a card optimized for non-bonused spending.
If you're looking to build your stash of TrueBlue points, three of the best options would be the:
- Citi Custom Cash℠ Card – which earns 5X ThankYou Points in the category you spend the most in when paired with a Citi Premier® Card or Citi Prestige® Card.
- Citi® Double Cash Card – which earns 2X ThankYou Points when paired with a Citi Premier or Prestige Card.
- Chase Freedom Unlimited® – which earns 1.5% cashback on everyday purchases, which can be transferred to Ultimate Rewards points if you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®.
Both Citi ThankYou Points and Chase Ultimate Rewards are 1:1 transfer partners with JetBlue. That means you'll earn between 1.5X and 5X JetBlue points on purchases by using these cards.
Other Ways to Earn TrueBlue Points
If you're not in a bind for time, perhaps a better way to earn TrueBlue points might be with a sign-up bonus on a JetBlue co-branded credit card:
- JetBlue Plus Card — Earn 70,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 90 days and payment of the annual fee.
- JetBlue Card — Earn 10,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 90 days.
- JetBlue Business Card — Earn up to 70,000 bonus points. Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases within the first 90 days, and earn 20,000 bonus points after spending $6,000 on purchases within the first 12 months.
JetBlue TrueBlue is also a transfer partner of the following programs, with instant transfer times:
- American Express Membership Rewards (250:200 transfers)
- Chase Ultimate Rewards (1:1 transfers)
- Citi ThankYou Rewards (1:1 transfers)
You can also transfer points from IHG Rewards to JetBlue at a ratio of 10,000:2,000.
Bottom Line
Even with a 40% discount, this promotion to buy JetBlue points presents a pretty poor value for your money. This is one of the poorer prices we have seen during a promotion to buy JetBlue points. It falls far short of the 1.38¢ per point value of TrueBlue points in typical redemptions. After all, due to the currency's fixed value, buying points will make sense in very few situations.
If you're right on the cusp of being able to afford an expensive redemption, then this promotion could be the fastest way to get there if you don't have transferrable points. Otherwise, you should probably steer clear.
Can you think of any other time when it makes sense to buy JetBlue points?
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
I am glad you posted this JetBlue offer, and the mileage data as well. It’d be nice if you could also advise us about
(possible?) Jet Blue plans to join any of the larger airlines mileage cards. Otherwise, it becomes rather difficult to
earn actual flying miles.
Ana Maria – there are 3 cards for JetBlue already, so I’m guessing maybe you meant to say “join any of the larger airlines alliances”, is that what you meant? As of now, I’m not aware of anything. Their partnership (in the works) with American Airlines could make it easier to book JetBlue flights with miles, since you could book using AA miles in the future. Would that be an indication that JetBlue would join oneworld alliance? I’m not sure. Oneworld now has 2 airlines in North America (AA and Alaska). As of now, we haven’t heard anything about alliance plans.
Even with this bonus the redemption rates are usually sky high so really not a great deal
Is Jetblue part of any alliance? Otherwise it’s a big disadvantage…
JetBlue isn’t part of a global alliance, but it’s getting closer and closer with AA by the month: https://awardwallet.com/blog/american-airlines-jetblue-mileage-elite-earnings/
Great offer here from Jet Blue, I’m impressed
Is there any redemption on a partner Airline flight ? If so, I’ve never heard of that before.
I really want to try JetBlues Mint. However, I will probably be transferring from Chase or Amex to get the points needed for a flight. I think that I would only buy the miles if I have another use for my transferable points.
Can I still reedem the true Blue miles with Emirates Flights or is the partnership between them over?
I’m not 100% certain on this, but I believe you can only redeem Emirates Skywards on Jetblue flights, but not TrueBlue Points on Emirates flights.
Nice promotion and I almost feel tempted but ultimately think there are cheaper ways to earn miles.
I seriously can’t think of a way that buying points makes sense for this program.
Topping up the account for an expensive redemption is always mentioned and can be a good tool, however, to get the best value, you have to buy 30 000 points! That is a lot more than a top-up! I think most people will pass on this.
I agree with a lot of the other posters. I’d be interested in this offer if there was any value to these points outside of B6… their program is still to limited and insulated for me to bite here.
A discount on points to (maybe) get a discount on flights. I’ll pass, and just keep taking the surveys for free B6 points.
I’ve been having some issues with looking up flights using JetBlue’s ‘Best Fare Finder’. Flights within 1-2 months don’t seem to show up. Does anyone else have that issue?
Definitely easier to redeem points with Jet Blue than AA. And these bonus points sound like a good deal, will look into it, thanks! For that reason and more I still prefer JetBlue over most airlines, but they are slowly losing me as they keep adding more and more fees for everything and taking away benefits.
That’s very similar to the ongoing IHG dynamic “mystery bonus point offer.”
The problem with JetBlue miles is that you can’t use them on any other partner airline cuz it’s not part of the big three (Skyteam, Star Alliance, or OneWorld) airline teams, which I think is a big disadvantage. Would have been nice to use it in the affiliated flights with American from JFK tho.
The AAdvantage alliance benefits AAdvantage members so much more.
I agree in general that buying points is a bad proposition. In this case, with the high price for point it is even a worse proposition.
The fact that JetBlue is a standalone airline is a big disadvantage in my opinion.
Unless you a small amount of points to top off your account for an award, this offer makes little sense….I wonder why they even bother to offer it sometimes
JetBlue is great for personal travel. They have consistent routes and the kids love the experience.
I’ve really enjoyed jetblue flights and love them. One really good is that their points don’t expire.
I used to like the jet blue redemption but see less deals these days as far as using points and better off just paying cash for the cheap flights so definitely wouldn’t buy points!
I agree, as usual, unless you have an immediate use for the miles, it is not wise to keep miles for the future. You would not know what the value of these miles will be in the future.
I agree, I’m worried that frequent flyer programs will be seen as easy pickings for cost savings after COVID.
Now since JetBlue partners with American I could see if you had more with JetBlue miles and see that you can redeem it on American for your trip it would be better. I don’t have that since I live in an American hub. Unless I use JetBlue miles for an American flight or have to get a flight for a trip that they service I won’t be able to use their miles.
Hard pass. When I resume flying, I’ll buy flights via Chase Travel.
Best to only buy points to top an an award. Especially now when travel us such a volatile prospect.
When it comes to Jetblue, I just want to purchase a budget fare ticket and be done with it.
JetBlue is actually running a 100K mileage bonus by signing up for their credit card. You get 50K with $1K of purchases within 90 days and an additional 50K for spending a total of $6K within the 1st 12 months. This offer is available for the personal and business card, so potentially 200K miles plus 12K for the spend.
I received the 40% off plus 10% bonus offer which was 33K miles for $495.00. I don’t have either of the credit cards yet, so will opt for these and spend the money on the things I actually need over a 12 month period. Both cards have a $99.00 Annual Fee not waived. That’s still easier since I haven’t started air travel yet and want to start accruing miles again, especially Jet Blue.
You’re right! We are in the process of updating our card details to reflect the new bonus.
I will not be buying JetBlues miles or any other airline miles at this time. I prefer to hold onto my cash!
Never buy the points unless you have immediate use for them. They not only devalue with no warning, the state of the airlines now are precarious. You dont know if they will all survive.
Jet blue is a quality airline. this sixty percent off deal is a real bonus during this time of unnecessary covid panic and real fear of rioters. Travel would be a great escape both from fear for your life and for your mental health.
Yes, it’s rather disappointing that something so wonderful as travel, that would likely help mentally, is one of the very things that puts us at risk and spread the disease in the first place.
Mint often (if not always) actually has a lower value redemption rate than standard economy. Slightly disappointing.
Non-refundable purchases of TrueBlue points is one of the main problems of this offer.
Can someone actually explain the definition? I do not know what it means.