Details of the New Barclaycard Version of the JetBlue Personal and Business Credit Cards

by Gary Leff

Barclaycard picked up the JetBlue co-brand from American Express. And they even bought Amex’s ‘back book’ meaning that existing American Express cardmembers get transitioned over to the new JetBlue Rewards MasterCard issued by Barclaycard on March 21.

A couple of weeks ago American Express sent notice of the transition to its cardmembers. JetBlue communicated last week. And Barclaycard is sending out information this week that may start hitting mailboxes by tomorrow.

The card isn’t yet available for new signups, but we know what it offers now.

The JetBlue Card from American Express earned 2 points per dollar on JetBlue spend and 1 point on other spend. The Barclaycard product improves points earning:

  • 4 points per dollar on JetBlue spend
  • 2 points per dollar on restaurants and groceries
  • 1 point per dollar on other spend

The card’s annual fee stays the same at $40.

In addition to points-earning, the card will offer a 5% uncapped rebate on JetBlue TrueBlue points you redeem, no foreign transaction fees, and similar to Amex before it 50% savings on JetBlue inflight purchases and an annual $50 statement credit each time you book with JetBlue vacations.

Cardmembers being transitioned from American Express will also receive a one-time $100 companion discount after spending $500 on their new card by June 30th.

There’s also a jetBlue Business MasterCard. That card’s annual fee goes up to $99, but offers:

  • 6 points per dollar on JetBlue purchases
  • 2 points per dollar on restaurant and office supply purchases
  • 5000 points every year at card renewal
  • 10% rebate on JetBlue points redemptions

The 5000 points make the difference in fee worthwhile over the personal card, and the 10% points rebate is strong.

A JetBlue point is worth about a penny and a half towards airfare, so that’s a reasonable travel rebate on unbonused spend although not ‘top of the market’.

In general I prefer crediting JetBlue flights to Singapore Airlines Krisflyer (though those miles expire after 3 years whether or not you have additional activity in your account) although:

I think overall folks who used the JetBlue American Express card are going to be happy with the product they’ll be receiving from Barclaycard next month.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. This is much better than I thought it would be. It will be interesting to see what the sign-up bonus is when they unveil it to everyone. I would almost start flying Jet Blue again if their fares were not insanely high, when flying out of Newark/Philly nowadays.

  3. Worth switching over to this if I have a Barclaycard Arrival Plus? Also have Citi American Advantage Platinum…

  4. Hi,

    3 points:

    So its 4 points for using card personal & 6 points for using business on top of the 6 points Jet Blue gives for booking on their site regardless of whic card you use?

    For example a $100 booking on JB site with Amex used to get you 8 points now with Barclays card you get 10 poins personal & 12 points Business?

    Also,

    The points guy says the business will have free checked bags:

    “and it entitles you to a free checked bag for you and up to three traveling companions when you pay for a JetBlue flight with your JetBlue Business MasterCard.” Is this right for the business card?

    Is the $100 companion offer only the personal card & not the Business card?

    Thanks,

  7. if you cancel your jetblue card from amex before the new ones are rolled out.. Do you think you would be eligible for any promo associated with the new Barclay card once it rolls out if you “attempt” to sign up for one? like the 20,000 points for getting the card that amex/jetblue had???
    and I say attempt because I don’t know if one would be eligible..
    but what do you think?

  8. How can I be eligible for the JetBlue Barclay’s Mastercard sign up bonus if I currently have the JetBlue Amex?

  9. Just received the new JetBlue Mastercard as a replacement for my AMEX one, and it does not appear to be a MasterCard “World” card as advertised in the promotional material sent out earlier, and with the actual card.

  10. I had trouble activating my new card. When it became obvious that Barclays’ tech support didn’t understand their system very well and was just reading off a screen, I canceled the new card.

    AMEX had great customer support, but AMEX made no effort to sell me a new card, and they had no card that was as good for me as the Jet Blue card. I didn’t want their other airline miles, and found none of their other offers as good for me as the Jet Blue card had been.

    Result? AMEX and Jet Blue lost me, Barclays didn’t get me, and I no longer earn Jet Blue miles. Seems like bad business decisions all around.

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