In my post Are frequent flyer miles becoming worthless? I’ve mentioned that I tend to apply for mileage bonuses (US-based programs) without a specific goal in mind. The idea is, even if they devalue, I should still get 1 cent apiece at some point in the future. At least that’s the hope. Naturally, it’s not advice I would give someone who is starting out. You should focus on flexible points and exhaust your options there first. For me personally, miles are the next best thing after flexible points and cash back.
However, when I recently applied for Barclays JetBlue Plus card in my husband’s name, I had a specific goal for points. I’ll get to it in a minute, but let me first describe the offer itself. You will get 70k points after spending just $1k in 90 days, the annual fee of $99 is not waved. Application link (pays us no commission). DoC blog has a link for 75k points bonus that should work in theory, though it’s supposed to be targeted.
I should mention that this particular offer was higher in the past, though no guarantee that it will ever come back. I’ve decided not to hold out and went ahead and applied. Approved!
Why I’m a big fan of Jet Blue
I like the simplicity of the program where the points’ cost is tied to the price of a flight. We are economy flyers, and I usually get around 1.3 cents on our award tickets. To me that’s fantastic. Jet Blue won’t be very useful for someone who lives in the Midwest, but there is decent coverage from Florida. I strongly prefer non-stop flights, and Jet Blue has come through for us on a number of occasions, at a reasonable cost via points.
We have flown from Orlando to Salt Lake City, San Jose (Costa Rica) and Washington DC. Just recently I booked a convenient flight from Sarasota to NYC for 13k points per person before 10% cardholder rebate. It’s not dirt cheap, but flights from tiny Sarasota airport are usually prohibitively expensive. I’ve never used it before for that reason.
Each time we have flown Jet Blue, we had zero issues, aside from a slight delay once. I will say that our experience probably isn’t typical, since Jet Blue isn’t known for punctuality. Also, they tend to schedule obscure routes and then cancel them a few months later, which happened to our relative. I also don’t like their cancellation policy for award tickets, where you get a voucher that expires 1 year after booking. It’s not a huge deal for domestic tickets ($5 tax), but can be a pain if you are flying internationally.
But I’m still a fan, and the biggest reason is decent leg room in coach. My husband is very tall, and Jet Blue is his favorite domestic carrier. I signed up for Platinum challenge on AA via Hyatt last year (see Nancy’s post), which enabled us to select Main Cabin Extra seats on American flights. The legroom in those seats was comparable to regular economy in Jet Blue. It’s a small thing, but still. When you spend 4 hours flying from Orlando to Salt Lake City, extra legroom does make a difference.
I also like that Jet Blue offers assigned seating, unlike Southwest. I wish the latter would change their policy because I absolutely detest it. I won’t really be interested in flights to Europe, operated by Jet Blue, unless they start flying from Florida. And I seriously doubt that will ever happen. As it is, the cost via points for a flight from New York to Amsterdam is prohibitively expensive in the summer.
So, our Jet Blue points will likely be used on domestic itineraries, and maybe for another trip to Costa Rica. It goes without saying that I hope that their merger with Spirit will go through. Yes, the fares will likely rise as a result, but I will have access to more nonstop routes as well.
My plans for Jet Blue stash
At the moment I have 135k Jet Blue points, which is significant. However, I am hoping to fly my family to Las Vegas and rent an RV in 2025 with the idea of touring the great West. Yes, I’m the crazy person who is already thinking about travel plans for 2025. I’ve been toying with this thought for years, and kept putting it off. I’m just not that into camping. But I really want to do it while my kids are relatively young. We can still force them to come with us and drive each other crazy in an RV for a week, which will be harder to do once they turn 18.
Also, my MIL wants to join us, depending on what her health will be like in 2025. Some of my husband’s favorite memories are when his parents drove out West in the early nineties for three weeks, pulling a pop-up camper. My MIL was basically a frontier woman, waking up at 5 AM and doing laundry late at night. But my husband and his siblings sure had fun, and I want to try to recreate it with my kids. But no pop-up camper, and we will be flying in order to cut off a week’s worth of driving.
Anyway, the cost of a roundtrip flight from Fort Lauderdale to Vegas next June currently runs at around 30k Jet Blue points. We might even fly to Vegas and leave from San Francisco if we can secure a one-way rental from CruiseAmerica. That means I need at least 150k points for five tickets, and likely more.
On top of it, I set a goal to have one nice getaway with just my husband each year that doesn’t involve a Florida beach. Don’t get me wrong, I love our beaches, but the idea is to fly somewhere that looks quite different from our current surroundings. I’m thinking Jackson city in Wyoming. We spent a short time there in 2019 while driving through Grand Teton National park on our way to Yellowstone. I remember thinking that we need to come back someday. I seriously regret not making more of an effort to take my European parents there while they were still able to get visas.
It. Was. Epic.
This just might be the most beautiful area in the United States.
We would need to fly to Salt Lake City, since Jet Blue doesn’t serve Jackson airport. For hotels I will likely utilize Hyatt points and book Rusty Parrot Lodge and Spa (an SLH property). It’s currently closed due to fire, but should reopen early next year according to their Facebook page.
So many possibilities thanks to miles and points!
Author: Leana
Leana is the founder of Miles For Family. She enjoys beach vacations and visiting her family in Europe. Originally from Belarus, Leana resides in central Florida with her husband and two children.
I happen to love JetBlue and reside in NY, so its always been Delta or JB for me and my family. You really can’t beat the reach from NY to soooo many caribbean islands.
@John You certainly can’t beat NYC when it comes to choice of nonstop flights! No other place comes close. I would probably go broke planning trips to various corners of the world.
It’s funny but as a NYC based miles redeemer it’s not always the case. Like AA had so many direct flights from JFK, often available with low mileage redemption level – gone. Munich, Bogota, Medellin, Cali, others. Delta, well, very rarely you can find value. United completely moved to EWR. Cathay – you know better than me. Qatar is very inconsistent with releasing space. Korean is available only in Y. I am still finding opportunities but much more limited and harder to pick up new miles. Are you going to Machu Pichu?
@Boris Oh yes, the mileage game is getting harder even for NYC folks. It’s an overall trend in the hobby, and all of us are affected. Not complaining, just stating the fact. I was comparing it to someone like me, who has to drive two hours to Orlando for most nonstop options. And even then, it’s slim pickings for places I actually want to visit. Even if I was willing to pay cash( which I’m not), I would have to connect in most cases.
Yes, we are still planning to visit Peru (and Machu Picchu) next year borrowing civil unrest or some other major issues.
Be really careful with the sign up bonus. Mine didn’t post according to Barclays’ terms so I asked them to look into it. It took repeated requests and another two months for the points to be posted. Some of them, anyway. So I had to wait for another month for the issue to be completely resolved. In total I waited for FIVE months after completing the requirements. No excuses and no compensation from the bank.
@Giorgio Thanks for the heads up! Sorry this happened to you.
Hoping for the best, but will see. Fortunately, we won’t really need the points for another 9 months or so.
I hate jet blue but just did this card for 70k. From NY some of our Caribbean routes are only serviced by jb
Harmony, I completely understand! Their track record for on-time performance isn’t the best, among other things. It’s likely that our good experience was an outlier. Fortunately, we use Jet Blue for leisure trips with some wiggle room in the schedule and avoid doing connecting flights. Fingers crossed, we won’t have any issues in the future.
Jet Blue has tons of Caribbean flights from NYC, so I get why it’s worth a gamble for you.