I Decided to Buy JetBlue Points

Oops, I Bought TrueBlue Points...

In my never ending quest for more TrueBlue badges, I had a great idea recently: to buy TrueBlue points. Usually this thought should never cross anyone's mind, as even the most lucrative and highly valued airline reward points are never even close to what they cost when purchased directly from an airline. In this case, JetBlue starts points at an increment of 1,000 for $37.50. Certainly they're not the most expensive in the industry, but this isn't a deal by any stretch either.

 

Why it was a Mistake

See, I'm level five in JetBlue's badge system now and starting to run out of easy choices for badges. I've got a few in the works but they take 6-8 weeks to register and frankly I'm impatient - I don't like a lack of progress in my leveling. So the bright idea was that I'd purchase some JetBlue TrueBlue points with my Barclay card which I've got a couple thousand extra points on that can be redeemed for any travel expense (airline, hotel, etc.) 

This way, I'd get the 1,000 TrueBlue points, new badge, and only be out a few thousand Barclay Arrival points which I really wasn't saving for anything specific. 

But it didn't work.

My unusually expensive badge for buying or gifting TrueBlue points.

As it turns out, purchasing points from JetBlue registers on a credit card bill as POINTS JETBLUE, which is quite different than just JetBlue the airline I found out. I went to wipe the travel expense, from an airline, off my statement but was shocked to see it wasn't on the list. I figured there must have been some mistake - so I contacted Barclays.

But no.

There was no mistake. 

Apparently the merchant code for purchasing points from JetBlue, which is what a credit card company uses to determine if the expense really is travel related, is not the same as the merchant code if you bought tickets. And this is chosen by JetBlue.

Learn From My Mistake!

So, here I am, out a few bucks because I didn't research this thoroughly enough before trying to step up my TrueBlue game. Sure, I still got 1,000 points and a badge out of it, but it really wasn't worth $37.50  to be honest. So let this be a warning for those of you who really want that buy/gift points badge but don't want to buy or gift any points!

- John