Earlier today, I applied and was approved for the JetBlue Card from American Express.  I had been aware of this credit card but was not interested because the standard terms on the official American Express site were 10,000 TrueBlue® points upon first purchase and a $40 annual fee.

A few days before, I had booked a couple of flights on the JetBlue website and noticed a banner for the same credit card, but the offer was for 20,000 TrueBlue^® points after spending $1,000 within the first three months, with the annual fee waived for the first year.  The $1,000 spending requirement is inconsequential since it is simply a matter of redistributing existing expenditure habits.

I might have applied for the standard American Express offer eventually, since 10,000 points is worth more than $40 but the immediate value is certainly not overwhelming.  Double the points and remove the annual fee, and now you’re talking.  I would value JetBlue TrueBlue points from 1.07 to 1.48 cents each, based on current ticket prices.  The lower part of the range is generally for the pricier fares on a given day while I would personally value them at the higher end of the spectrum since I am usually able to reserve a given JetBlue itinerary at the lowest possible offered price, usually a minimum of seven-day advance notice.

Given this valuation, the 20,000 TrueBlue points are worth approximately $296 to me.  Unlike the other airline credit cards I carry, the JetBlue Card from American Express does not include early boarding privileges or an additional bag free as part of its cardholder benefits.