Buying JetBlue Points

[anchorman314]

I received an offer from JetBlue for a 125% bonus when purchasing points, but I'm trying to decide if it's worth it. I know that, generally speaking, buying points doesn't save you money. But that's not my direct goal -- I'm trying to protect against getting travel credits if the flights go on sale. So say I book them at $400 roundtrip and they go on sale for $200 roundtrip, repricing the trip would normally end up with me having a lot of travel credits. But if I book them using the equivalent amount of points, I'd just get the difference back into my account for use on a future trip with no expiration.

I ran the math, and purchasing the number of points I'd need comes out to basically the same cost of the flights in cash -- a few dollars more or less depending on the exact taxes for the points-based booking. So if the flights didn't end up coming down, no harm no foul. But if they do, I have points to use on a future trip with no rush on using them.

Am I missing something, or does buying the points to do this actually make some amount of sense?

 

[Weather_Lady]

I know this reply is very tardy, but I think you're right: buying JB points is rarely a good deal.

Earning them through a JB credit card spend (where you pay off the balance in full every month so you don't ever incur interest charges) is the best and cheapest way to get points. I may pay $100/year for the card fee, but my family of four has flown a couple times a year for the last 10 years solely on the points we earn on my Jetblue Mastercard (formerly Jetblue AmEx).

 

[mkt]

If you’re a few hundred/thousand points short from the award you want, then it’s worth it. But buying them as a strategy to earn more is not.