10% Transfer bonus from Amex to JetBlue (it’s a bad deal)

American Express Membership Rewards is offering a limited-time 10% transfer bonus when you transfer points to JetBlue TrueBlue. That doesn’t even bring the transfer ratio to 1:1, making this a really poor deal as compared to the ordinary transfer ratio from some other transferable point programs. Given the fact that JetBlue TrueBlue points mostly have a fixed value, this offer just isn’t worth considering for most people.

The Deal

• American Express Membership Rewards is offering a 10% transfer bonus when you transfer Membership Rewards points to JetBlue TrueBlue. With the transfer bonus, this brings the transfer ratio to 250 American Express Membership Rewards points equals 220 JetBlue points.

Key Terms

• Valid through 5/11/26.
• Transfer in increments of 250 Membership Rewards points.

Quick Thoughts

This transfer bonus is hardly worth a mention apart from the need to mention that it’s not a very good deal. JetBlue TrueBlue partners with most of the major transferable currencies, with some of the other transferable currencies offering one-to-one transfers. Ordinarily, American Express Membership Rewards points transfer to JetBlue TrueBlue at a ratio of 250 Amex points to 200 JetBlue points. With this bonus, you’ll get 220 JetBlue TrueBlue points, which isn’t even a transfer ratio of one-to-one. When you also consider the fact that American Express charges a tax excise fee on transfers to U.S.-based programs, I just can’t imagine recommending that anybody transfer to JetBlue TrueBlue. JetBlue TrueBlue points have a more or less fixed value of around 1.3 cents per point when used towards JetBlue flights, so you’re just not getting enough value here to consider a transfer in most circumstances.

JetBlue does have some foreign airline partners whereby you can use JetBlue points to book higher-value international travel awards. Still, if I really wanted JetBlue TrueBlue points, I probably wouldn’t be looking to Amex due to the combination of the poor transfer ratio and the tax excise fee that nobody else charges. This transfer bonus just wouldn’t change my perspective on that unless I needed a very small number of points to top off for a particularly valuable award, and I didn’t have other points to transfer to JetBlue.

I am particularly surprised to see this transfer bonus limited to being valid for just one week. It’s due to expire on 5/11/26, and I can only imagine that is meant to create a sense of urgency that encourages some folks to transfer without doing the math.

Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.