JetBlue is one of my favorite airlines. They have one of the best domestic first class products, a decent baggage policy, and also have a pretty easily obtainable elite status. One additional thing that I always liked about the program is that you could earn miles with them when shopping through Amazon.com.
However, recently this program was overhauled and some major changes were made to the earning ability. In this article, I will explain what these changes are and what alternatives still exist for you to earn JetBlue TrueBlue miles with Amazon.com.
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Can you still earn JetBlue TrueBlue points with Amazon?
Yes, you can still earn JetBlue TrueBlue points when shopping with Amazon but now there are new restrictions that don’t make this opportunity as lucrative as it was in the past. In a nutshell, in order to earn TrueBlue points, you’ll need to make these purchases when flying on a JetBlue flight (subject to certain exceptions and limitations).
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The JetBlue Amazon Partnership that ended
For a while it was possible to shop through the JetBlue shopping portal and earn 3X TrueBlue points on Amazon.com purchases. This represented one of the most lucrative miles earning opportunities for shopping with Amazon since no other airline offered a similar earning rate (not counting the occasional portal bonus).
Amazon.com is such a common marketplace to shop from and you can buy essentially any item from them, so this became a virtually automatic way for JetBlue customers to rack up 3X the miles on everyday items. Unfortunately, that partnership was overhauled in 2018.
The new JetBlue Amazon Partnership
The new JetBlue Amazon partnership still allows you to earn 3X went shopping on Amazon but the big restriction is that you have to be shopping when flying on a JetBlue flight.
Obviously, shopping at home through a portal is much more convenient (and practical) than shopping while flying through the air, so this change represented a major devaluation to this lucrative earning opportunity.
This also marked the end of earning airline miles with Amazon purchases.
The United MPX App at one point allowed you to earn one United mile per dollar spent at Amazon.com but then they reduced that to half a mile per dollar spent and eventually the earning rate went away entirely. (I’m not sure if it will ever return or not.)
Now, you can still use Cashback Monitor to find other portals that are paying out decent rates for certain Amazon purchases but currently at the time of this article there are no other ways to earn airline miles when shopping through Amazon.com via shopping portals.
Alternatives to earn miles with Amazon
You still can utilize certain credit cards to earn points that you can then turn into airline miles, however.
For example, the Chase Freedom card sometimes earns 5X on Amazon purchases up to $1,500 per quarter (usually towards the end of the year). That could net you up to 7,500 miles that you can then transfer out to certain partners such as JetBlue or even United.
You could also use the Chase Freedom to purchase Amazon gift cards from places like grocery stores or pharmacies whenever you can earn 5X on those categories as well. So that could be another way to net 5X miles on Amazon purchases.
Another option would be to purchase Amazon gift cards from office supply stores like Staples or Office Max. If you have a card like the Chase Ink Business Cash that will allow you to earn 5X on up to $25,000 worth of purchases each year which can add up in a hurry.
Note: The drawback of going the gift card route is that you can lose out on valuable purchase protections that you would otherwise get by using a credit card at Amazon directly.
JetBlue Amazon Prime Video
Whenever you fly JetBlue, you can also stream Amazon Prime Video. The Wi-Fi speeds on JetBlue are known to be very good so streaming is more practical on these flights than with many other airlines.
Here is what JetBlue has to say about getting started Amazon Prime Video:
To start watching Prime Video, connect to Fly-Fi® to download the Amazon Video app on your mobile phone or tablet. Open the app to browse Prime movies and TV shows. There may be periods inflight where the connection is temporarily lost or degraded due to weather conditions, moving out of coverage area or other normal aircraft movements.
Things to know about the new partnership
Here are some of the key points that you need to keep in mind when taking advantage of the new partnership.
Log in to Fly-Fi
In order to start earning points you will first need to log in to Fly-Fi using the name and email associated with your TrueBlue account, then go to Amazon.com to shop and earn on eligible products.
Mobile app does not work
Note that this does not work with the Amazon mobile app. Instead, you need to be shopping on Amazon.com through your mobile browser.
Logging in as a guest
It is possible for you to log in as a guest on Fly-Fi using the “Guest Access”, but if you would like to earn points you will need to click on the Amazon carousel ad that appears on the landing page and then follow that redirect to the TrueBlue sign in/sign up page to shop and earn as a TrueBlue member.
How long will it take to receive my points?
JetBlue states that it could take up to 30 days from the time that your items ship for you to receive your points.
Do I need a TrueBlue number?
Yes, in order to earn points with this partnership you will need to have already signed up with a TrueBlue number.
Can I earn points on every purchase?
No, there are some products that are explicitly excluded from earning points with this partnership.
Here is the list of excluded items:
- Any product or service sold on a site linked to from the Amazon Site (e.g., a product or service listed through our “Product Ads” program or sold on a site linked to from a banner ad, sponsored link, or other link displayed on the Amazon Site)
- Any wireless service plan offered through the Amazon Site and not sold or fulfilled by Amazon
- Any product, including games and other applications, sold through the Amazon Appstore for Android
- Any product sold on fresh.amazon.com
- Restaurant takeout
- Any Gift Card (physical and electronic)
- Any alcoholic beverage product
- Any digital Kindle product purchased as a subscription (e.g., Kindle newspaper subscriptions, magazine subscriptions, blog subscriptions, etc.)
- Any free trial subscription
- Any purchases made through an Amazon Business Account
Can I use my TrueBlue points to purchase items on Amazon?
No, this is not currently possible.
Final word
Losing the ability to earn 3X on Amazon purchases through the JetBlue shopping portal was a major blow to those who are loyal to JetBlue and Amazon. And while the partnership did not entirely go away, its new form of allowing you to earn Amazon miles when shopping in the sky is not nearly as lucrative. Luckily, there are still some ways to maximize rewards for JetBlue when shopping with Amazon and you can utilize those with cards like the Chase Freedom.
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, and CNBC. Read my bio.