One of my favorite çredit cards in my wallet is the Jetblue Plus card. It’s definitely not the sexiest card, but I’m at the point in my “career” where I choose my favorite cards based on my travel needs, not what everyone tells me. I’m not here to review the card – honestly I couldn’t tell you the value of the current sign up bonus. (Update: Googled it, 30K/$1000 at time of writing). While free checked bags and 2X points on groceries is good, the ability to earn Jetblue Mosaic status via the Jetblue Plus card is the reason I keep the card.
To earn Mosaic status, you need to spend $50K on the card in a calendar year. You can do this fairly cheaply thanks to the 2X on grocery spend (gas points FTW). Let’s take a quick look at the benefits of the Mosaic status and how to expedite your status. I finished my spend in August but still don’t have Mosaic status since it takes 4-6 weeks to update. But there’s a way around that gate!
Why I value Mosaic status
I had Jetblue Mosaic status last year and really enjoyed it. The basic status perks are:
- Waived change and cancellation fees
- 2 free checked bags (but you get one with the Jetblue Plus card already)
15,000 bonus points upon qualification(can’t get this via card spend)- Complimentary alcoholic beverages
- Access to Even More Speed at security and priority boarding
- Ability to buy Even More Space seats with points
- Other stuff
Some of these benefits don’t present much value to me. TSA Precheck nullifies the benefit of Even More Speed, I don’t drink a lot on planes in economy because I constantly need to use the restroom, and I don’t need all the checked bags.
Waived change and cancellation fees, on the other hand, come in very handy, especially with a family. I earned a ton of points making my spend, points which have a fixed value (usually 1.3-1.6 cents per point). While that might not seem amazing, it should be pretty straightforward to earn for under that value.
The fact that Mosaic status allows me to change my award (and paid) flights without a cancellation fee comes in super handy. That way I can play with my itineraries to find flight times that work best for my family. I like to lock in preliminary flights early but tweak them if the price drops or better prices become available for more desirable flight times.
The second handy feature of Mosaic status is the ability to buy Even More Space seats with miles. You can purchase these seat upgrades for anywhere between 200-1000 points (give or take). Since those upgrades go for $20-$120 (give or take), this is a great deal, especially considering how easy it is to earn the points.
How to expedite your Mosaic status
The terms and conditions state that after you meet the spend, it may take 4-6 weeks for Jetblue to award your Mosaic status. According to the Barclays agent I spoke to, Barclays sends the information that you met the spend to Jetblue after the second statement close post spend. Past that it takes another couple weeks for Jetblue to update your status, it feels a little longer than 4-6 to me.
If you want to speed things up, there’s a way to do that. Give Jetblue a call and tell them that you have the Jetblue Plus card and you’ve met the 50K spending. At this point you should be transferred to a supervisor. If you want to be awarded Mosaic status as quickly as possible, they can call Barclays and confirm that you have met the spending. Then they start the internal machinery to award you your Mosaic status (1-2 weeks).
If you’re in a bit of a time crunch (or the supervisor is), they can also apply Mosaic benefits without actually giving you the status outright. I wanted to upgrade to Even More Space seats less than a week out from the flight I’m currently sitting on – my Mosaic status wouldn’t update in time.
The supervisor has the power to apply the benefits, not only did I buy this exit row seat for 800 points, I also cancelled a future flight with the cancellation fee waived at the same time. Wonderful!
So if you have met the spend for Mosaic status on your Jetblue Plus card and don’t want to wait for status or need to use the benefits, just call up Jetblue and they will help you out. From both supervisors I spoke to, it sounds like this is a fairly regularly thing. It’s great to see customer service agents use common sense – both mentioned to me that it was obvious I had made the spend because they could see how many Jetblue points I had earned via my credit card!
Final Thoughts
Jetblue Mosaic status is the first status I’ve ever chased, since its benefits are valuable to me. While it’s more of a low level status, there’s a lot that you can do. If you want to expedite your status or benefits, just call Jetblue. The status is good through the next calendar year so you can just keep repeating the 50K spend if you want to keep Mosaic status indefinitely.
Manny Steinberg says
Just to clarify.
If i were to complete the 50K spending in march of 2018.
I would get mosaic status until December 2019? (21 months)
Joe says
That’s correct. And then you’d never have to be without it if you make the 50K spend every year, as is my plan!
Menachem Steinberg says
Thanks for the reply.
I got wrong information from a Barclays phone agent.
She said that i wouldnt get the mosaic. Unil jan 2019!!!
Joe says
No it took about five weeks. Forget if I updated post or not
Sad says
Calling JetBlue supervisor they said they never expedite Mosaic status nor do verbal calls with Barclays to confirm spend.
Joe says
Bummer it worked for me last year. Sorry about that
Joey says
I met my 50k this year within DAYS my status was automatically updated and I also received 25k bonus…. maybe something changed?
Joe says
Oh nice, IDK! Now that I’m mosaic I didn’t pay attention to whether the status updated. Good dp
Joe says
Oh nice, IDK! Now that I’m mosaic I didn’t pay attention to whether the status updated. Good dp thanks
Lea says
Is it based on actual dollars spent on credit card or the points that translates to in true blue (i.e. I spent $3k on flights on jetblue which translated to 18k on true blue?) Above mentioned 2x bonus for supermarkets so wasn’t certain. thanks
Joe says
If you spend $3K on jetblue flights and book on the website with your card, you should get 18K TrueBlue points. If you spend $3K on your JB card at the grocery store, you should get 6K TrueBlue points. (If I understood your question correctly)
Menachem Steinberg says
If your question is, do i need to spend 50k actual dollars to earn Mosaic status or need to earn 50K Trublue points to earn Mosaic status.
The answer is that you need to spend 50k dollars regardless of the points earned.
Joe says
Oh yes, definitely that – sorry if I misunderstood the question. That’s 100% right
RHB says
Just FYI – I don’t believe JetBlue will provide the service of expediting Mosaic status processing anymore. When I called today to politely ask for this to be done (I just earned Mosaic status and wanted to make changes to an upcoming flight), I spoke with a customer service agent who said it couldn’t be done. When I asked to speak to a supervisor, I was again told (rather rudely) that this was absolutely impossible and that JetBlue has no power or ability whatsoever to confirm a card spend with Barclay, or to move the 4-6 week process along. After a good 30 minutes on hold and being passed around, I was told I had no choice to wait out the 4-6 weeks, regardless of whether I’d already earned the benefits I was asking for or not.
Joe says
🙁
D Karp says
Having qualified for Mosaic status, Jet Blue says there is no way to expedite Mosaic status.
Having met the spend criteria, not being able to book for a month or two will lose them all the bookings made during that period. Silly way to treat their good customers.