Credit Card News
Barclays Renews Co-Branded Credit Card Partnership With JetBlue
Over the past several months, travel-centric credit cards have been seeing a bit of a shakeup due in part to the overall disruption in travel. As a result, several cards have added limited-time perks, taken on permanent revamps, or debuted some of the best welcome bonuses on record.
With that backdrop and despite previous rumors that they’d be jetting elsewhere one airline is standing by its credit card issuer partner. JetBlue and Barclays have announced a multi-year extension of their current co-branded credit card partnership. This includes both consumer and business cards. Additionally, the duo will continue working with Mastercard as the exclusive network of the co-branded card line-up.
Barclays began its relationship with JetBlue in 2016 after the airline broke things off with American Express. Prior to the announcement, reports suggested that Goldman Sachs was pursuing the JetBlue co-branded card portfolio. Goldman has been expanding its consumer credit card business since launching its first card with Apple in 2019. Last year, the bank saw General Motors choosing to move its credit card line up over to them from Capital One. However, even if Goldman and JetBlue did reach a deal, it was expected that it would be several years before the partnership went into effect due to the existing Barclays agreement.
Currently, the JetBlue-Barclays credit card line-up includes three products: the JetBlue Card, the JetBlue Plus Card, and the JetBlue Business Card. The no-annual-fee JetBlue Card earns customers 3x points on JetBlue purchases, 2x points at restaurants and eligible grocery stores, and 1x points on everything else. Additionally, cardholders enjoy such perks as 50% savings on eligible inflight purchases.
Meanwhile, the JetBlue Plus earns 6x point on JetBlue purchases (plus 2x at restaurants and eligible grocery stores and 1x points on everything else) and cardholders get their first checked bag free when flying the airline. Other Plus perks include earning a $100 statement credit after cardholders purchase a JetBlue Vacations package of $100 or more with their card, earning a 10% point rebate on point redemptions, a 5,000 point account anniversary bonus each year, and more. However, the JetBlue Plus Card does carry a $99.
Announcing the partnership extension, Barclays US Consumer Bank head of cards and partnerships Bob Highland said, “During the past five years, we have built a sizeable credit card portfolio with JetBlue. We are thrilled to have the privilege to continue our strong and collaborative partnership, and we look forward to providing JetBlue cardmembers with robust rewards, benefits, and experiences for years to come.”
Elsewhere, JetBlue’s VP of loyalty Don Uselmann remarked, “We have had a highly successful collaboration with both Barclays and Mastercard. Building on our current best-in-class products, we are already acting on a plan that will disrupt the industry and bring even more value to our cardmembers,” adding, “Over time, we will introduce an enhanced product set, reimagined benefits, and a high degree of personalization and choice.”
With this JetBlue-Barclays deal extension, it seems as though flyers can expect some updates to the current products in the relatively near future. Moreover, with just two consumer cards in its portfolio, it’s quite possible that another co-branded card could be in the works to better compete with fuller co-branded card lineups from the likes of Delta, United, and American. In the meantime, JetBlue flyers can find more information about the current cards on the JetBlue website.
