We believe everyone should be able to make financial decisions with
confidence. While we don't cover every company or financial product on
the market, we work hard to share a wide range of offers and objective
editorial perspectives.
So how do we make money? Our partners compensate us for advertisements that
appear on our site. This compensation helps us provide tools and services -
like free credit score access and monitoring. With the exception of
mortgage, home equity and other home-lending products or services, partner
compensation is one of several factors that may affect which products we
highlight and where they appear on our site. Other factors include your
credit profile, product availability and proprietary website methodologies.
However, these factors do not influence our editors' opinions or ratings, which are based on independent research and analysis. Our partners cannot
pay us to guarantee favorable reviews. Here is a list of our partners.
JetBlue’s New Lounges, Premium Credit Card: What We Know So Far
JetBlue announced it would open two lounges and launch a premium credit card.
Harlan Vaughn is a freelance writer for Travel, with over a decade of experience in the credit card industry. He's also interested in personal finance, investing and financial independence. His favorite destinations (so far) are Iceland, Japan, Hawaii, New Zealand and Chile.
Claire Tsosie is a managing editor for the Travel Rewards team at NerdWallet. She started her career on the credit cards team as a writer, then worked as an editor on New Markets. Her work has been featured by Forbes, USA Today and The Associated Press.
Published in
Published
How is this page expert verified?
NerdWallet's content is fact-checked for accuracy, timeliness and
relevance. It undergoes a thorough review process involving
writers and editors to ensure the information is as clear and
complete as possible.
This page includes information about these cards, currently unavailable on
NerdWallet. The information has been collected by NerdWallet and has not
been provided or reviewed by the card issuer.
JetBlue announced on Sept. 19 that it would open two new airport lounges and launch a premium credit card.
This move is JetBlue’s latest effort to differentiate itself in a competitive space. By adding a premium lounge experience and credit card, JetBlue can better capture more of the high-spend traveler market while continuing to cater to budget-conscious flyers. Still, JetBlue is much smaller and has a limited route network compared with American Airlines, Delta Air Lines or United Airlines, so its offerings might be relatively niche, appealing only to a specific set of JetBlue flyers.
Who can access JetBlue’s new lounges?
This plan is the airline's first move into a standalone lounge experience, responding to growing customer demand for the “highly requested perk.” Each lounge will feature complimentary refreshments, high-speed Wi-Fi and quiet areas designed for travelers.
JetBlue will also sell day passes and an annual pass, though details on pricing and eligibility have yet to be finalized.
Airport lounges are in high demand
JetBlue’s future lounges won’t be the only new options at JFK or BOS. Airlines and banks are moving away from relying on third-party lounge networks like Priority Pass, opting instead to invest in branded spaces that allow for greater control over the customer experience. In 2024 alone, JFK saw some new lounges and plans, including:
Capital One Lounge: In June 2024, Capital One announced it would open a 13,000-square-foot lounge in Terminal 4; an opening date hasn’t been shared.
Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club: This lounge opened in early 2024 and is also in Terminal 4.
Delta One Lounge: The largest Delta lounge in the world, located in Terminal 4, opened in June 2024.
Chase also opened a Sapphire Lounge by The Club in BOS in 2023 and Delta added a nearly 21,000-square-foot Sky Club last year, in addition to two others that were already there.
This underscores other airlines’ commitment to branded lounges, as well as ways that banks are increasingly getting into the airport lounge space. More lounge options are welcomed, especially as overcrowding has become a notorious issue among even among the most upscale lounge offerings.
JetBlue's new premium card benefits
While details are scant, JetBlue has already made it clear its new premium card will include lounge access for the cardholder and a guest. JetBlue’s current credit cards are all issued by Barclays, which will also issue this forthcoming card.
With only two lounges planned so far, it’ll be interesting to see at what price point JetBlue lands with its upcoming card and what other benefits will come with it. It’s unknown if lower-tier cardholders will have discounted or limited lounge access.
It’s worth noting that several premium cards include Priority Pass Select membership to access over 1,600 Priority Pass lounges around the world. While quality varies, it’s a way issuers offer airport lounge access when cardholders travel beyond a smaller lounge network. If it’s not a perk of JetBlue’s new card, it’ll be a tough sell to enter two specific lounges unless the other benefits are truly stellar.
NerdWallet writers are subject matter authorities who use primary,
trustworthy sources to inform their work, including peer-reviewed
studies, government websites, academic research and interviews with
industry experts. All content is fact-checked for accuracy, timeliness
and relevance. You can learn more about NerdWallet's high
standards for journalism by reading our
editorial guidelines.