The news: JetBlue rolled out a premium co-brand card, the JetBlue Premier World Elite Mastercard issued by Barclays, per a press release. The Premier card will carry a $499 annual fee, plus a $150 fee for each authorized user.
The Premier card rounds out JetBlue and Barclays’ co-brand portfolio, which also includes the annual-fee-free JetBlue card and the $99/year JetBlue Plus Card.
What the card offers:
- Premier cardholders will earn 6 points per dollar on JetBlue and Paisly purchases, 2 points at restaurants and grocery stores, and 1 point on all other purchases.
- They will get $300 in statement credits on Paisly purchases and a $120 application fee credit toward Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.
- Cardholders will also get complimentary access to JetBlue’s future lounges. The airline will open two premium airport lounges this year.
The bigger picture: In December, JetBlue kicked off a new strategy called JetForward to boost profitability, which includes a $400 million investment in premium products between 2025 and 2027. The Premier card is a key part of this plan, along with the lounges, adding domestic first class, and offering preferred seating.
It’s not the only airline pushing into premium cards to boost profitability push. Alaska Airlines opened up the waitlist for a premium co-brand card in December that will launch over the summer.
Our take: Adding a premium card to its portfolio will help JetBlue’s card program compete with major airlines like Delta, United, and Southwest, which all have their own premium tiers.
On top of the hefty annual fees that help offset rewards expenses, Premium cards also tend to bring in more volume than lower-tiered cards.
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