【2025.4 Update】JetBlue points can now be redeemed for Japan Airlines award tickets! Japan Airlines business class is still pretty solid. Across different routes, the redemption value is competitive, though the taxes and fees are a bit higher. JetBlue is a transfer partner with multiple credit card programs, so there are quite a few ways to redeem. Details below

  • JetBlue has not published a specific award chart, but based on actual search results, the required points by route are summarized below
  • The lowest mileage requirement is from Hawaii to Japan, at 30,000/55,000 points
  • The cheapest West Coast route is San Diego to Japan, SAN-NRT, which only costs 59,000 points. That’s a major highlight
  • Seattle to Tokyo business class costs 64,000 points, which is also quite good
  • East Coast to Japan economy class is 39,900 points, which is actually not bad
  • In addition to the U.S., there are also routes from Europe to East Asia, such as CDG-BKK
  • Besides Japan, the U.S. can also fly to India; the one-way business class price for SFO-BLR is 128,000 points

To sum up, Japan Airlines (JAL) itself has very few transfer partners, with only Marriott at a 3:1 ratio, which is at least somewhat acceptable. And American Airlines (AA), which is in the same alliance as JAL, also has no other transfer partners, while BA requires a very high number of points to redeem JAL tickets in business class. This time, JetBlue opening redemptions with JAL is still very good! For U.S.-China routes, the hardest segment to find is actually the transoceanic leg. There are still plenty of flights from Japan to China, and if nothing works out, spending some time in Japan is nice too.

About JetBlue

JetBlue Airways is a low-cost airline in the United States, owned by JetBlue Airways Corporation. It mainly operates domestic U.S. routes and international routes to the Caribbean, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Its headquarters are in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City, and its largest hub is also at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Although JetBlue is a low-cost carrier, it is known for excellent service.

JetBlue’s main destinations are shown below. In addition, they also partner with Hawaiian Airlines, Qatar Airways, and TAP Air Portugal, and points can be redeemed for flights on these three airlines.

Point Earning

JetBlue points mainly come from flying, credit cards, points transfers, and so on. I’ll skip other sources such as cashback sites and dining programs. If you’re interested, you can look into them yourself, but they are relatively small sources.

Flying

Flying, including vacation packages and car rentals, earns points based on the amount you spend. Bonus points are also calculated based on your elite status and whether you booked directly through JetBlue’s website. At the top end, you can earn up to 15 points per $1 spent.

Credit Cards

JetBlue has three personal cards and one business card, and the welcome bonuses are all decent.

Compared with the others, the JetBlue Plus card offers the best value, so I recommend prioritizing that one. This card also comes with a 10% rebate on point redemptions, which is pretty good.

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Barclays JetBlue Plus Credit Card

Earn 5k points every year!

  • Welcome bonus: 60,000 JetBlue miles (spend $1,000 in 3 months, pay the annual fee) + 20,000 (spend $6,000 within 1 year)
  • Rewards: 6x on jetBlue purchases, 2x at restaurants and supermarkets, 1x on everything else
  • Redemption: Redeem for jetBlue flights, worth about 1.2 cpp
  • Annual fee: $99
  • Apply now>>

Point Transfers In

JetBlue also has very rich transfer-in sources. AMEX Membership Rewards, Ultimate Rewards, and ThankYou Points can all be transferred in at a 1:1 ratio, with transfer bonuses popping up from time to time. Capital One points can also be transferred in, but the ratio is worse at only 10:6. Note that if you only hold the no-annual-fee version of a Citi card, the transfer ratio to JetBlue is 1:0.8.

Points Pooling (Family Account)

Another advantage of the TrueBlue program is that you can pool points with other TrueBlue members. JetBlue’s point pooling program allows 2 to 7 members to pool their TrueBlue points. Then the pool leader can use all the points in the pool to book flights.

Redeeming Points

When redeeming JetBlue points for JetBlue-operated flights, it works similarly to Southwest. As long as there is a cash fare, you can use points to book it. But redeeming partner airlines is different: you need to see whether the partner airline has award space, and you have to search directly on JetBlue’s website. Partner airline redemptions use a separate chart and are not tied to cash fares.

Redeeming JetBlue-operated Flights

The value of points when redeeming JetBlue-operated flights is basically fixed. For economy class, the value is around 1.5 cents per point, which means a $150 ticket would require about 10,000 JetBlue points. For business class, the redemption value is around 1.26 cents per point, which means a $126 ticket would require 10,000 points. So I still recommend redeeming for JetBlue economy class. For example, on the flight below

  • Redeeming Blue and Blue Extra both gives a point value of around 1.5 cents per point
  • Redeeming mint gives a value of around 1.1 cents per point

The exact redemption value also depends on taxes and fees, so it’s worth doing the math before you redeem.

Redeeming Qatar Airways

Now you can use JetBlue points to directly redeem Qatar Airways flights. That’s pretty great, since JetBlue points used to be limited to U.S. domestic flights, but now they can get you to the Middle East, Europe, and many other places. To book, just search directly on JetBlue’s website.

  • JFK-DOH is 70,000 in business class (34,000 in economy)
  • You can also connect onward to London
They summarized the approximate chart here

TAP Air Portugal

JetBlue announced that TAP Air Portugal has officially been added to its points redemption partners. TrueBlue members can now use TrueBlue points to book flights to Europe and beyond! Key redemption highlights:
  • You can now book TAP Air Portugal flights directly on JetBlue's website using TrueBlue points, so there’s no need to call customer service anymore.
  • Economy awards start at 19,000 points, while business class starts at 59,000 points, for flights from the U.S. to Europe, such as Newark (EWR) to Porto (OPO).
  • There are no additional carrier-imposed surcharges on these flights; you only need to pay $5.60 in one-way taxes, though taxes will vary depending on the departure airport in Europe.
The new partnership also gives you some interesting routes. In addition to round-trip routes from the U.S., there are flights from Lisbon to São Tomé and Príncipe, with business class awards available for just 69,000 points. If you want to search for available flights yourself, just search route by route

This is great news for TrueBlue members! The newly added TAP Air Portugal flights not only offer more options for travel to Europe, but also open up new routes to Africa, increasing the value of TrueBlue points.

Hawaiian Airlines

The Hawaiian Airlines redemption chart is below. You can compare current cash fares and decide whether to use JetBlue TrueBlue points or pay cash directly.

For example, the redemption below requires 20,000 points for a West Coast to Hawaii flight.

Best use

First, for domestic U.S. flights, I actually wouldn’t recommend redeeming for business class, since the flights aren’t that long. So for domestic economy redemptions in the U.S., I’d say to redeem whenever there’s availability, with a redemption value of 1.56 cents per point.

For international routes, especially partner-airline redemptions, you can calculate the redemption value based on the cash price. If it’s below 1.56 cents per point, you can skip it. Of course, if you follow the idea of using miles first, anything above 1.2 cents per point is generally worth redeeming.

If you don’t have JetBlue points and need to transfer points, prioritize ThankYou Points first, then Membership Rewards, and finally Ultimate Rewards. Just remember that it’s best to transfer only when the redemption value is above 1.5 cents per point; otherwise, it’s not a great deal.

JetBlue status

JetBlue recently revamped its status program, which now has four tiers: Mosaic 1-4. Tiers are determined by the number of tiles earned each year. As a Mosaic member, you can earn tiles when buying tickets (1 tile for every $100 spent). JetBlue credit cards can help you earn Mosaic status. For every $1,000 spent, you get 1 tile to help you move up to a higher tier. The number of tiles required for each tier is as follows

  • Mosaic 1: 50 tiles
  • Mosaic 2: 100 tiles
  • Mosaic 3: 150 tiles
  • Mosaic 4: 250 tiles

Mosaic members enjoy no change or cancellation fees, no baggage fees, priority boarding, and other benefits. At Mosaic 2, you can enjoy Even More Space seats, which is something to consider when redeeming JetBlue points (with elite status, redeeming for Blue Extra may not be worth it).

Conclusion

JetBlue’s points program is relatively simple, but the points still offer decent value. If your city has JetBlue flights, or is a hub, JetBlue can be a very good option.

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