JetBlue Now Sells Basic Economy Award Tickets

Updated: February 11, 2025, 1:04pm CST

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Redeeming JetBlue TrueBlue Points for Blue Basic Awards
Final Thoughts

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Basic economy tickets, whether you love them or hate them, are an inevitable part of modern air travel. And for those who don’t mind flying on basic economy tickets, you’ll be happy to know that JetBlue TrueBlue is now offering basic economy award tickets.

Until now, the carrier hadn’t offered redemption flights in Blue Basic, but that has changed.

Redeeming JetBlue TrueBlue Points for Blue Basic Awards

JetBlue’s TrueBlue program previously didn’t offer award tickets for Blue Basic — the airline’s version of basic economy. That meant the cheapest option for redeeming JetBlue points would put you in Blue, which is JetBlue‘s standard economy fare.

However, that’s now changed. If you run a search for award flights today, the cheapest option displayed for any given flight will be the Blue Basic option. How do 700 points plus $5.60 for a flight between New York-Kennedy (JFK) and Washington Reagan (DCA) sound?

JetBlue Blue Basic award JFK DCA 700 points — The advantage of basic economy tickets is that they will almost always be cheaper than the others. Image Credit: JetBlue

After clicking on a given flight, you’ll see the available fare options, such as Blue Basic, Blue, or EvenMore (when available).

JetBlue Blue Basic award JFK DCA 700 points fare options — You can pay more points to score a free carry-on and seat assignment if you don’t want to book a basic economy award ticket. Image Credit: JetBlue

Hot Tip:

JetBlue’s Blue Basic fares allow you to bring a carry-on bag, but they don’t include checked luggage. Neither do Blue fares. Check out our guide to JetBlue’s checked bag fees and how to avoid them when possible.

When using JetBlue’s calendar, you’ll see 2 months’ worth of dates at once. The lowest price displayed will be the Blue Basic fare, and you can use this to hunt for the cheapest flights, assuming your travel dates are flexible.

JetBlue TrueBlue award calendar pricing JFK LAX — Image Credit: JetBlue

There’s a positive and a negative here. The positive aspect is that the option to book basic economy award tickets allows you to find extremely affordable flights using your JetBlue points.

The negative aspect is that you could previously use the calendar to find the cheapest Blue (main cabin) fares, knowing whatever you booked wouldn’t come with the restrictions of basic economy. Now, that’s not the case. If you’re trying to avoid basic economy, you’ll need to intentionally choose the Blue fare.

Final Thoughts

Those hunting for a bargain will be happy to know they can now redeem their JetBlue TrueBlue points for basic economy fares — tickets the airline refers to as Blue Basic. If you want to avoid the restrictions of basic economy tickets, remember to check the fare type you’re booking to prevent any unexpected surprises.

Most of the time, the most affordable option available for JetBlue award flights will be the basic economy fare, similar to what the airline displays for paid tickets.