JetBlue and Banco Popular have joined forces to launch two new credit cards aimed at the Puerto Rico market. The new products, the JetBlue Mastercard and JetBlue Mastercard Eleva, allow Puerto Rican consumers to earn TrueBlue loyalty points with every purchase.
JetBlue Mastercard Eleva
The JetBlue Eleva is a premium airline rewards credit card from Popular Bank. The card offers 3X points on JetBlue purchases and 1X points on all other purchases. It also comes with a 25,000-point signup bonus after making $3,000 in purchases within the first 90 days of opening an account.
New accounts also benefit from a 1.99% APR on purchases for the first six months and 0% intro APR for a year on balance transfers. In addition, cardholders get the usual perks from a premium JetBlue credit card, including:
- 50% in-flight savings with JetBlue
- First checked bag free (for up to three companions)
- $100 JetBlue Vacations statement credit each year
While the JetBlue Mastercard Eleva is available exclusively to the Puerto Rican consumer market, its $99 annual fee doesn’t offer the value of other JetBlue credit cards. The JetBlue Plus Card, for instance, features the same $99 annual fee but offers substantially better rewards.
The JetBlue Plus, from Barclays, earns 6X points on JetBlue purchases, 2X points on dining and groceries, and 1X points on all other purchases. Plus, the card offers 40,000 bonus TrueBlue points and a yearly 5,000-point anniversary bonus.
JetBlue Mastercard from Popular
The JetBlue Mastercard from Banco Popular is a no-annual-fee airline card. In fact, Popular claims it’s the only travel credit card in Puerto Rico without a yearly fee. The card earns 2X points on JetBlue purchases, and a single point for every other dollar spent.
While the no-annual-fee Mastercard doesn’t provide free checked bags, it does offer 50% in-flight savings with the carrier and a $50 statement credit for JetBlue Vacations each year.
The JetBlue Mastercard from Popular similarly trails behind the Barclays no annual fee version of the card. The JetBlue Card, from Barclays, offers 3X points on JetBlue purchases, 2X on dining and groceries, and 1X on everything else – all for no annual fee.
Does A Puerto Rico Version of the JetBlue Card Have Benefits?
Credit cards exclusively for the Puerto Rico market offer some benefits. Chief among these perks is that some Puerto Ricans have difficulty obtaining credit cards provided on the U.S. mainland.
While the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Truth in Lending Act, and Equal Credit Opportunity Act all stipulate that credit cards be made available for all U.S. citizens, some consumers in territories may find their options limited.
Popular Bank, as well as First Hawaiian Bank, are two lenders that help fill this gap, with the two new JetBlue Cards counting as decent additions to the ranks. First Hawaiian, for its part, offers versatile travel cards, including the First Hawaiian Bank United Card, a premium co-branded airline card from United Airlines available to Hawaiian residents and residents of Guam, American Samoa, and other Pacific territories.
Related Article: The Ultimate JetBlue TrueBlue Program Guide
