JetBlue TrueBlue Award Booking Instructions

Undoubtedly one of the best low-cost airlines in the United States, JetBlue has made a name for itself with its low fares, added legroom and multitude of domestic and international routes. However, many travelers are unaware that JetBlue also operates its own frequent flyer program, known as the TrueBlue program. While this program definitely isn’t as robust as some other frequent flyer programs operated by larger airlines, the JetBlue TrueBlue program is still relevant to U.S. travelers who fly with JetBlue often.

Through the TrueBlue program, you can use points to book award flights on JetBlue and its partner airlines including Etihad, Qatar Airways, Icelandair, TAP Air Portugal and Hawaiian Airlines. And, while JetBlue-operated award flights typically don’t offer very good value per point, you can actually find excellent rates on Hawaiian Airlines-operated flights because the TrueBlue program prices these flights according to a fixed award chart.

Plus, searching for and redeeming points for award flights with both JetBlue and partner airlines is simple through the TrueBlue program. In this article, we’re going to explain step-by-step how to book award flights through the JetBlue TrueBlue program, including enrolling in the program, saving up enough points for a flight and making your booking.

Joining JetBlue TrueBlue

In order to earn and redeem TrueBlue points, you’ll first need to be a member of the TrueBlue program. So, if you aren’t a member yet, you can enroll by going to the JetBlue website and clicking the “Sign in” button on the top-right corner of the homepage and choosing “Join now” from the drop-down menu that appears.

From there, you’ll be redirected to a page where you’ll be asked to enter the email address that you want to use for your TrueBlue account.

On the next page, you’ll be asked to enter some personal information, including your name, phone number and date of birth. Once all of that information is entered correctly, click the “Next” button at the bottom of the page.

You’ll then need to enter some more information, including your gender, your home address and your Known Traveler Number (if applicable). Then, you’ll click the “Next” button again, proceed to the next page and enter your preferred airport.

Finally, click the blue “Sign up” button, which will create your TrueBlue account. You’ll be assigned an account number, which you’ll use to sign in going forward, and you’ll be eligible to earn and redeem TrueBlue points.

How To Earn JetBlue TrueBlue Points

Before you can purchase an award flight through the JetBlue TrueBlue program, you’ll need to have some TrueBlue points in your account. There are many ways to earn TrueBlue points, and some are considerably more effective than others. In general, the best ways to earn points are transferring points from credit card rewards programs, spending with JetBlue co-branded credit cards and flying with JetBlue or one of its airline partners.

In the following sections, we’ll briefly look at some of these earning methods so you can quickly earn enough TrueBlue points to buy an award flight.

Transfer Credit Card Points

One of the best ways to earn TrueBlue points quickly is to transfer points from eligible credit card rewards programs. Points can be transferred from American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou Rewards at varying transfer ratios. Make sure you pay attention to these transfer ratios before making a points transfer. The following table includes all of JetBlue’s credit card transfer partners and their respective transfer ratios:

So, for instance, if you had 75,000 Citi ThankYou points in your account that you earned from the welcome bonus offered by the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card, you could transfer those points at a 1:1 ratio to the JetBlue TrueBlue program and instantly receive 75,000 TrueBlue points. You could then immediately use these points to purchase award flights.

JetBlue Co-Branded Credit Cards

If you travel with JetBlue frequently, you may want to consider signing up for a JetBlue co-branded credit card. These cards can help you rack up TrueBlue points quickly, work towards earning JetBlue Mosaic elite status and get discounts on in-flight purchases. There are three credit cards available to U.S. consumers (two personal cards and one business card), all of which are issued by Barclays. The following table includes everything you need to know about these credit cards:

In addition to the spending bonuses and other benefits listed above, each of these cards offers a welcome bonus for new cardmembers who spend a certain amount on their card in a certain period after account opening. For instance, here’s the current welcome offer on the JetBlue Plus Card:

With these welcome bonuses, each card’s regular spending bonuses and anniversary bonuses, these credit cards can help you earn a ton of TrueBlue points quickly.

Flying With JetBlue and Partner Airlines

Of course, you can also earn points by crediting flights to the TrueBlue program, both on JetBlue and on partner airlines. And, while taking paid flights may not earn you points as quickly as using JetBlue co-branded credit cards or transferring points from other credit card rewards programs, it’s still a relatively effective way to boost your TrueBlue points balance.

When taking paid flights on JetBlue, your TrueBlue points earnings will be based on the cost of your ticket, your fare type, whether you book directly through JetBlue, whether you have a JetBlue co-branded credit card and whether you have Mosaic elite status.

You’ll earn 1X points for airfare booked in Blue Basic class and 3X points for airfare booked in Blue, Blue Plus, Blue Extra and Mint classes. On top of those earnings, you’ll receive an extra 3X points for flights booked directly through JetBlue (as opposed to a third-party booking engine).

So, for instance, if you were to book a JetBlue-operated flight in Blue Plus class directly through the JetBlue website for $400, you’d receive earnings of 6X points, which means you’d earn 2,400 TrueBlue points ($400 x 6 = 2,400 TrueBlue points).

You’d also earn another 3X bonus points if you purchased that flight with the JetBlue Card or 6X bonus points if you used the JetBlue Plus Card or JetBlue Business Card. Additionally, if you had Mosaic elite status, you’d earn another 3X bonus points. So, you can earn a maximum of 15X points on JetBlue flights.

When it comes to flight with partner airlines, each partner has its own TrueBlue points earnings rate. You can view these rates by going to the partner directory on the JetBlue website and clicking on the partner that you’re going to fly with. Then you can see how many points you’d earn on a flight with that partner.

How To Book Award Flights Through JetBlue TrueBlue

JetBlue-operated flights are priced according to a dynamic pricing model, which means that each TrueBlue point is worth about 1.2 cents apiece when redeemed for JetBlue flights. However, Hawaiian Airlines-operated flights are priced according to a fixed award chart, which means that you can sometimes find redemptions that offer higher value per point.

To book award flights with either JetBlue or its partner airlines through the TrueBlue program, you’ll first need to visit the JetBlue website and click the “Sign in” button in the top-right corner of the homepage. Once you’ve signed in to your account, go back to the homepage, where you’ll see the flight search tool.

In the flight search tool box, you’ll need to check the box that says “Use TrueBlue points.” From there, enter the information for your desired flight, including the departure and arrival airports, the type of flight (one-way or round-trip), the number of passengers and your travel dates. If you have a promo code, this is also where you should include that. Once you’ve confirmed that all of your flight information is correct, click the blue “Search flights” button.

From there, you’ll be redirected to a list of flight results that match your search query. You can also view important information about each available award flight, including departure and arrival times, flight duration, number of stopovers and the number of TrueBlue points required.

You can click the “Sort & Filter” button to filter the results by number of stopovers as well as arrival and departure airports. You can also sort the results by price, departure time, arrival time and flight duration.

When you find a flight that meets your needs, click on that flight to add it to your itinerary. Then, choose your fare type (such as Blue Basic, Blue or Even More Space). Once you’ve done that for your departing flight, you’ll repeat this process for your return flight (if applicable).

After you’ve chosen your flights, continue to the next page where you can confirm your itinerary details and add flight extras such as Group A boarding, free same-day switches, priority security and more. If all of your itinerary details look good, click the “Next: Traveler Details” button. On this next page, you’ll be asked to enter information for any passengers included on the itinerary, including name, date of birth and travel document number (if applicable).

After that, proceed to the next page, where you’ll need to enter payment information to cover any applicable taxes and fees. Finally, confirm your award flight booking and you should receive a confirmation number. You should also receive this confirmation number via email.

When it comes time to check in for your flight, you’ll need to enter your confirmation number in order to get your boarding pass.

The Bottom Line

The JetBlue TrueBlue frequent flyer program isn’t as valuable as the frequent flyer programs of the larger U.S. airlines, such as United MileagePlus or Delta SkyMiles. This is mostly because the TrueBlue program allows members to book award flights with either JetBlue or its partner airlines and because JetBlue award flights are priced according to a dynamic pricing model (meaning that you’ll always get a fixed value of about 1.2 cents per point).

However, one thing that the TrueBlue program definitely has going for it is that searching for and booking award flights on the JetBlue website is very easy. Just click a checkbox and search for award flights just as you would for cash flights. Then, choose your flights, fare types and flight extras and book your award flight within minutes.

If you need help signing up for the TrueBlue program, earning TrueBlue points quickly or making award bookings with those points, you can refer to the instructions in this article.