Capital One quietly re-added JetBlue as a transfer partner just last week, giving travelers with the popular *capital one venture card* and *venture x* in their wallets a new option for redeeming miles. But because miles transfer to TrueBlue at a relatively poor 5:3 ratio – so 1,000 Capital One miles get you just 600 TrueBlue points – the news landed with a thud.
Well, things just got a bit more interesting: For a limited time, Capital One is kicking in a one-time bonus of 5,000 TrueBlue points upon completing your first transfer to JetBlue. Even if you transfer just 1,000 Capital One miles (the minimum transfer amount) you can get that bonus and end up with a total of 5,600 TrueBlue points. Not a bad deal!
Even if you don't regularly fly JetBlue or can't think of an immediate way to redeem these TrueBlue points, this offer could be worth taking advantage of – particularly if you already have some JetBlue points in your account. While we normally recommend against speculatively transferring flexible points and miles to airlines, this huge bonus changes the equation.
But don't delay: Capital One isn't saying how long this bonus offer might last, but we're guessing it won't be long.
Several members of the Thrifty Traveler team were quick to test this out. We can confirm that even transfers of just 1,000 miles trigger the full, 5,000-point bonus. Transfer times (including the full bonus) to show up in our TrueBlue accounts ranged from just 10 minutes to nearly an hour. And we all received emails from Capital One alerting us when our TrueBlue points were ready to use, which was quite handy.
Critically, JetBlue TrueBlue points never expire. So it's not as if you'd be throwing away 1,000 Capital One miles by taking advantage of this bonus.
So what are JetBlue TrueBlue points good for?
Let's start with the obvious: You can use TrueBlue points to book any JetBlue-operated flight – now including the cheapest Blue Basic fares. Exactly how many points you'll need will vary by flight, largely depending on the cost in cash and which cabin you're booking.
On the low end, you can find one-way flights for as few as 2,400 TrueBlue points (or sometimes less), like this nonstop from New York City (JFK) to Nashville (BNA). With the current limited-time bonus, 1,000 Capital One miles would be enough to book a roundtrip at this rate. That's a steal!
Even if you wanted to hop the pond and head to Europe, you can find one-way flights for as few as 14,300 TrueBlue points, like this one from New York City (JFK) to Amsterdam (AMS).
If you want to fly JetBlue's excellent business class suite abroad, you'll need to pay up for it. Mint fares regularly go for around 150,000 TrueBlue points to Europe, though you can find them for as cheap as 35,000 points on shorter routes domestically as well as down to the Caribbean.
But nowadays, TrueBlue points are good for more than just booking JetBlue flights. Thanks to an growing network of partners, you can use TrueBlue points to fly some of the best airlines in the world, like Qatar Airways, at pretty reasonable rates.
Take this flight from Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) to Doha (DOH) in Qatar's award-winning Qsuite business class, for example. For 90,000 TrueBlue points, you can book this nearly 15-hour flight, complete with your own private suite, on-demand dining, and some of the best service in the sky. This 5,000-point bonus might not chip away much from that total, but it could at least be worth transferring 1,000 Capital One miles (getting a total of 5,600 TrueBlue points), then turning to another stash of credit card points to cover the rest.
Read our full review of Qatar Qsuites!
You can also transfer points to TrueBlue from Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou points at a 1:1 ratio, and American Express Membership Rewards at a less favorable 250:200 ratio (so 1,000 Amex points = 800 TrueBlue points).
While TrueBlue points aren't the most valuable in the world of points and miles, there's still plenty of value – and this offer from Capital One makes it easy to score a decent chunk of them.
Bottom Line
Capital One is out with a limited-time offer, giving cardholders a one-time bonus of 5,000 TrueBlue points after making their first transfer to JetBlue.
The minimum transfer amount is 1,000 Capital One miles, which gets you 5,600 TrueBlue points. Even if you don't regularly fly JetBlue or have an immediate plan to redeem these points, you might as well take advantage of this bonus while you can.