The JetBlue Premier Card is a good credit card for frequent flyers who want a big initial bonus and up to $300 in travel credits each year. It’s worth paying the card’s $499 annual fee if you’re going to spend $5,000 in the next 90 days and you’re comfortable booking travel accommodations through TrueBlue Travel. Those things will enable you to take full advantage of the card’s bonus rewards/credits, which are the main differences between it and the other, less-expensive JetBlue credit cards. 

What I Like About the JetBlue Premier Card

100,000-point initial bonus

The JetBlue Premier Card offers 100,000 points after spending $5,000 and paying the annual fee in full within the first 90 days. All those bonus points can get you around $1,370 in JetBlue airfare, on average, according to our research. This is the biggest JetBlue credit card bonus by a wide margin. However, it’s not quite the biggest or most valuable bonus on the market right now. 
 

Up to $300 in TrueBlue Travel credits each year

TrueBlue Travel, formerly Paisly, is a travel booking portal where you can arrange rental cars, hotels, vacation rentals, activities and more. You can get statement credits to cover the cost of the first $300 you spend through the portal using the JetBlue Premier Card each year.

If you’re going to make TrueBlue Travel purchases with or without the card, or you can get your preferred travel accommodations there without overspending, this is a good deal. 
 

Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credits

Unlike the other JetBlue credit cards, the JetBlue Premier Card will reimburse you for your TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee, saving you up to $120 every four years. That said, this has become a fairly common feature among travel rewards cards in recent years, and many non-JetBlue cards offer it. 
 

Lounge access, priority boarding, and free checked bags

Cardholders get the opportunity to enroll in Priority Pass Select at no extra charge. That gets you access to over 1,500 airport lounges around the world. 
The card also entitles you to Group 3 boarding and a free checked bag for you and up to three travel companions on JetBlue flights. Both could definitely come in handy if you frequently travel with luggage. 

What I Don’t Like About the JetBlue Premier Card

$499 annual fee

Sure, a lot of this can be offset by the card’s annual statement credit offer and ongoing rewards, but you’re starting each year in quite a hole that you then have to earn your way out of to avoid losing money.

This is about 18 times what the average credit card charges, according to our research. If you don’t think you’ll get 18 times the value, you should probably keep looking. 
 

High APR

If you don’t pay off your purchases by the due date every month, you’ll spend a lot more on interest charges than you earn in rewards. Balance transfers are a slightly different story early on, but you can do much better than this card if reducing the cost of debt is your main objective. 
 

Most features are available on cheaper cards

To be clear, I like the fact that you earn 6 points / $1 spent through JetBlue and TrueBlue Travel, as well as 2 points/$1 spent at restaurants and grocery stores. Even the 1 point / $1 you’ll get on all other purchases is alright. What I don’t like is the idea of paying $499 per year for these reward rates when I can get the same exact rewards from the JetBlue Plus Card, which charges just $99 per year. 

The same goes for the Premier Card’s free checked bags, in-flight discounts, award-flight rebates, and anniversary bonuses. You can get the same things from the JetBlue Plus Card. 
 

Requires good credit at a minimum

You can check your credit score for free right here on WalletHub to see if applying makes sense. Just remember that if you have a good enough credit score to qualify for the JetBlue Premier Card (700+ should do it), then you also have a good chance of getting approved for most of the best credit cards on the market. If you have a lower score, you can check out our picks for the best credit cards for building credit.  

Bottom Line: Is the JetBlue Premier Card Worth It? 

The JetBlue Premier Card is worth it if you fly frequently, always with JetBlue and its partners, and you spend around $1,700+ per month. That said, most people will be better off with the JetBlue Plus Card, the JetBlue Card, or a general-purpose travel rewards card with a big initial bonus and a relatively low annual fee. 

Whichever card you choose, make sure to pay your bill in full every month. Airline rewards cards aren’t known for low interest rates, and the JetBlue Premier Card isn’t changing that reputation.