JetBlue has a bit of a reputation as an upstart airline bringing the fight to the Big 3 US carriers — American Airlines, Delta and United. We love that, a lot. From front to back, JetBlue just does things a bit differently, and that includes the airlines outstanding “Mint” business class, which has received rave reviews from just about everyone who has ever flown it.
As of today, Capital One has added JetBlue as a miles transfer partner, giving you yet another way to earn True Blue points with your credit card spending. At this point, you shouldn’t have any trouble getting your hands on JetBlue True Blue points whenever you want them.
Capital One has long allowed you to redeem miles for travel purchases at 1 cent per mile — a favorite method for those who like simplicity. In late 2018, Capital One introduced airline transfer partners to provide another useful way to use points. Count us as fans as they’ve shaken up the transferable points market by providing some interesting opportunities to book award tickets with miles, unlocking new airline partners as well.
You will now have the option to transfer Capital One miles to JetBlue True Blue at a 2:1 ratio. Keep in mind that you earn 2X Capital One miles with every dollar spent on both the Capital One Venture Card (Learn More) and the Capital One Business Spark Miles Card (Learn More), so you’re basically earning 1 airline mile for every dollar you spend. Thanks to transfer bonuses, you can do better too…
Transfer Bonus Promo
To make things a little more fun — and useful, Capital One has decided to launch its JetBlue partnership with a transfer bonus. So, from May 1 until May 31 at 11:59 PM ET, you can transfer your Capital one miles at a 2:1.5 ratio (1,000:750) to get even more value. During this promo, it will be as if you’re earning 1.5X JetBlue points for every dollar you spend on the Venture and Spark Miles cards.
Don’t forget: Unlike the points and miles you earn with most other banks, your Capital One miles generally post within 1-3 days of your purchase posting to your account so you don’t have to wait for the statement to close. This can be a huge help since JetBlue has a revenue-based award system which means the number of points you need is determined by the cash price of the ticket. The value of a True Blue point depends on the class of service. Generally, you’ll get around 1.4 cents per point for economy class and just under 1.1 cents per point when booking Mint.
Read on to see when it makes sense to transfer points to JetBlue, and when it makes sense to use Capital One Purchase Eraser instead.
Other Ways To Earn JetBlue True Blue Points
You can also transfer points to JetBlue from one of three other bank programs include Amex Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou Points. Some of the best cards to earn these points include:
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
- Chase Ink Business Preferred Card
- American Express Gold Card (Learn More)
- American Express Business Gold Card (Learn More)
Booking through the Chase Travel Portal if you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve will get you a value of 1.5 cents point when booking JetBlue (or any other flights).
Alternatively, you can also transfer points you earn with any of the Chase and Amex Marriott co-branded credit cards (Learn More).
Besides credit cards and booking cash tickets on JetBlue, you can also earn 30 True Blue points on every Lyft ride you take to and from the airport up to 1,200 points per year. All you have to do is link your Lyft account to JetBlue and you’re good to go. You’ll even earn 750 True Blue points if you sign up for Lyft via Jet Blue.
You can also link your Delta SkyMiles account. You’ll earn 1X SkyMile on everyday Lyft rides and 2X on rides to/from the airport. Yes, this stacks with JetBlue so you’ll earn both on airport rides.
Pros: you can use them anytime. Cons: you won’t get any insane values when you do. With that said, points are personal, so if taking money off a ticket helps, or you only like to fly JetBlue – rock on. There’s no right or wrong way to spend miles if they make you really happy, and using your points with JetBlue is solid value.
JetBlue’s revenue-based award system means you can’t really get outsized value for your points, which is similar to Southwest. However, if you have some JetBlue points and you need just a few more to book an award ticket, this is the perfect time to utilize a Capital One transfer. Rather than waiting for a statement to close with one of the other banks, you’ll have the points shortly after spending on the Venture or Spark Miles cards.
If you need to transfer enough points to take care of the entire cost of a JetBlue award ticket, take advantage of the Capital One transfer bonus or consider transferring Chase and Amex points at a 1:1 ratio
But Wait, You Might Want To Use Capital One’s Purchase Eraser Feature
If you’re stocked up on Capital One miles and see a JetBlue flight you’d like to take — perhaps, a Mint seat is calling your name — then consider the purchase eraser option. Rather than transfer your miles to JetBlue, you can simply book a cash ticket and pay with your Venture or Spark Miles card. Once the purchases posts to your account, you can apply your Capital One miles to the purchase at a rate of 1 cent per miles.
This means a $300 economy flight can be wiped out with 30,000 Capital One miles while transferring miles to JetBlue would require roughly 40,000 miles.
If it’s not obvious, having both the ability to transfer miles and erase travel purchases with miles makes Capital One miles super versatile. You just have to do a tiny bit of math to see which option you should use for each redemption.
Final Thoughts
The way JetBlue prices awards makes things tougher for transfer partners. However, there are ways to get solid value out of each in different circumstances. With Capital One miles, your miles will post to your account quickly so you don’t have to wait around and watch good award tickets disappear.
This makes it an excellent option when you need to top off your True Blue account — particularly useful for frequent JetBlue flyers. Alternatively, you can book a cash flight with your Capital One card to erase the purchase with miles or transfer Amex or Chase points to JetBlue.
If nothing else, you really have to appreciate the Capital One is looking for ways to expand its portfolio of transfer partners to make using the Venture (Learn More) and Spark Miles (Learn More) even more of a priority. This card is getting more flexible by the day, and in travel – flexibility is gold.
