JetBlue Premier Credit Card Refresh: 100K Bonus, Mosaic Status Potential, $300 Travel Credit & BlueHouse Lounge Access
Recorded in May 2026, Justin Vacula and returning co-host Darren discuss the refreshed JetBlue Premier Credit Card and whether it’s worth the $499 annual fee. They explain the new limited-time 100,000 point welcome bonus, JetBlue Mosaic status opportunities, the annual 25-tile bonus, earning 1 tile per $1,000 in spend, and whether high spend on the card can make sense for travelers chasing Mosaic 1 or Mosaic 2 status.
Justin and Darren also discuss key JetBlue Premier Card benefits, including the 15% points rebate after award travel, up to $300 in annual statement credits for hotels and car rentals booked through TrueBlue Travel, and JetBlue BlueHouse lounge access, with JFK open now, Boston expected in summer 2026, and Fort Lauderdale being discussed as a future lounge location.
They also cover companion pass statement credits tied to $15,000 and $75,000 in annual spend, the $150 authorized user fee, Barclays approval standards, and downgrade options such as moving to the $99 JetBlue Plus Card.
Later in the episode, Darren shares a quick trip report from his one-night stay at the Waldorf Astoria Washington, D.C., booked with a Hilton free night certificate, plus how he used spa gift cards during the stay.
Timestamps:
00:00 Podcast Intro Theme
00:32 JetBlue Premier Overview
02:23 100K Bonus Breakdown
04:17 Mosaic Status Math
09:00 Points Rebate And Credits
12:17 Earning Rates And Strategy
13:43 BlueHouse Lounge Access
15:29 Support The Show Break
18:15 Companion Pass Spend Perks
22:51 Fees, Authorized Users, And Approvals
27:14 Keeper Card Or Downgrade
29:16 JetBlue Flying Experience
30:38 DC Waldorf Trip Report
35:43 Wrap Up And Outro
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Rough Transcript:
Travel at low cost with points and miles. Credit card rewards bring the smiles. Many adventures, tales to be told. Make and save money, the world will unfold.
Fight the war on happiness, pick up the gold. Hurdy Gurdy Travel Podcast breaks the mold.
You’re listening to the Hurdy Gurdy Travel Podcast. I’m your host, Justin Vacula, here to help you make money, save money, and travel the world at low cost with credit card points, miles, benefits, and loyalty programs. Returning co-host Darren joins me to talk about the newly changed and enhanced JetBlue Premier Credit Card that now offers a strong 100,000-point welcome bonus, progress towards JetBlue Mosaic status, [00:01:00] travel credits, and more.
Is it worth applying with a $499 annual fee? Stay tuned and find out whether the card is right for you. On with today’s episode, recorded May 12th, 2026. Welcome back to the show, Darren. Thank you, Justin. Feels like we just recorded an episode about a new card, and now we have a new challenger, so excited to dig into the details .
I haven’t spent much time looking at the JetBlue status program, and enjoyed the opportunity to dig in a little and learn about that. We had discussed the new Royal Caribbean credit card. I think this one is more interesting with JetBlue. No war on happiness this time.
We have good news for listeners with this promising credit card for JetBlue flyers, especially people flying out of Boston, JFK, and other popular JetBlue airports. Yeah. Certainly those that are flying from the northeast or into the northeast, [00:02:00] this seems like it would be a good card to consider if you’re in the game of acquiring sign-up bonuses and maybe status.
Certainly some status opportunities here with the card and some high spend we’ll get into in a minute. There’s a lounge, Justin, not at the home Boston airport, but at JFK, and maybe one coming to Boston soon. Possibly summer of 2026. We’ll get into that, but let’s start with the most interesting benefit, the 100,000-point welcome bonus at this time of recording.
It’s up from 80,000 points. This 100K I think easily worth more than $1,000 worth of travel with JetBlue, especially if you’re finding better redemptions with them. I was even looking at business class one-way flights to Iceland with Icelandair and was finding some flights, I believe it was somewhere around 80K for a one-way in business.
I have gone on Mint from JFK to Las Vegas. I had a move to Mint upgrade through a status match, and I also flew [00:03:00] JetBlue Mint, which was the lie-flat to London and another one to Amsterdam, both out of Boston. Good experiences with JetBlue Mint. Yeah, I haven’t had the chance to fly JetBlue Mint, but it’s certainly been on my wish list.
Certainly again, flying out of the Northeast is pretty reasonable for us in Philadelphia, around Philadelphia. Quick hop up to Boston or JFK and then hopping on JetBlue metal across the ocean or as often you do, Justin, out to Las Vegas. Yes, although it’s quirky from Philadelphia ’cause it’s Philly to Boston and then Boston to Vegas or Philly to JFK and then to Vegas, but it could make sense, especially if you have a short trip in that area.
And domestic flights, JetBlue going to Florida from Philadelphia, and some listeners also did the JetBlue 25 for 25 challenge in 2025, so they’re familiar with a lot of the routes. I think that 100k welcome bonus can get you a lot of travel. Yeah, great reminder [00:04:00] about the 25 for 25.
I know you and I talked about that a little bit, but one of our loyal listeners, Gene and his wife did the challenge. Gene, if you’re listening, buddy, this card’s for you if you don’t already have it. You can really parlay that status into some excellent miles and points here.
And for those that did not do the 25 for 25 challenge and do not have Mosaic status, this card is giving you the ability to fast-track to Mosaic status. The text here, very precise, “Receive an annual 25 tile bonus after year-end to fast-track your Mosaic status for the next year.” Also, earn one tile per $1,000 spent.
This isn’t mentioned on the application page. So because America loves math, you could spend $25,000 on this card, not in 2026, though, but in 2027 if you were to apply for it in 2026. That would give you another 25 tiles [00:05:00] for 50 tiles total. Again, after year-end. This is a little quirky, as it’s not an incentive to spend on the card in 2026.
What are they thinking here? Get the card in 2026, spend toward the sign-up bonus, let it sit for a little bit, and then put big spend on the card in 2027 if you were to go for this status. I don’t think that’s what they’re thinking, Justin, but that’s probably what we’re thinking, right? I think they’re thinking we don’t wanna give it all away at the very beginning, so we need folks to keep the card long enough so we get some, Oh, pay that annual fee again.
Yeah, exactly. All right. They need to get their pound of flesh out of this deal, right? They’re giving away these miles, so they need to make sure that it’s a good deal for them, too. It’s an interesting idea, right? Do you sign up now or do you sign up later on in the year?
I guess you could spend now and then wait or, maybe this deal’ll come back around in December, maybe November. Sign up for it then. End of the calendar year it says?
[00:06:00] Yes. End of the calendar year and then if you spend 25k you can get 50. So that’s Mosaic 1. Or there’s a high spend bonus of 75k. We’ll get into that in a minute, but that would get you 75k plus your bonus 25 tiles. Ooh, lots of math. Yeah, America loves math, Justin, but I’m pretty good.
75 and 25 equals 100. I’m pretty confident of that. Yep. Yeah. That would get you to Mosaic 2. Something to think about as you’re looking at status for JetBlue. Right now it’s the 100k welcome bonus. If you waited for November, December, it might go down to 80 and even lesser than that. Yeah, it could. So it’s up to you, and if there’s an immediate need for the miles, then you’d wanna sign up midyear, as we’re recording.
You do have choices. You always have choices in this game, but in an optimal world you would apply in December, early to mid-December, let the card sit until January 1, and then when that ball drops, [00:07:00] go out and spend.
This is the Premier card, but there’s also a Plus card at a lower annual fee. Could you do the old upgrade/downgrade?
Who knows? Always your miles may vary on these shenanigans, but, it’s an intriguing card to start with. I agree with you, if you’re really excited about JetBlue status and the 100,000-mile sign-up bonus, it’s certainly worth lobbing in an application. This Mosaic 1 status, it gives you a free checked bag.
You already get a free checked bag through the credit card, so I would think that you would then get two free checked bags, but I could be mistaken. You get a free alcoholic drink when flying. You get even more space upgrades at check-in for you and two guests, if they’re available. You get same-day flight changes, presumably no additional fee for those.
Preferred core seating at booking then you would get better seats. Priority boarding, priority security where available, dedicated check-in, dedicated phone [00:08:00] support, and you also get a perk from a long list, most notably a 20 tile bonus or 15,000 bonus JetBlue points.
If you take those 20 tiles, you wouldn’t have to do as much spend on the credit card to maintain Mosaic 1 after you earn it, presumably in 2027, if you were to apply for this card in 2026. Yes, Justin, and I did confirm that the JetBlue 25 For 25 guaranteed JetBlue Mosaic 1 status for 25 years you could start stacking some of those tiles together, 20 from that, 25 from the card.
You’re at 45 already, and it’s not very far from there to get to Mosaic 2. I see the big advantage of Mosaic 2, you get to confirm even More Space at booking for you plus two companions compared to at check-in.
Okay. That’s nice if you’re a little taller or looking for a little extra space there’s certainly some advantages of having that extra status. [00:09:00] Another nice perk of the card, get 15% of your points back after you redeem for and travel on an award flight. Pretty good. I think a lot of airlines are going in this direction.
We’ve seen something like that with United. Delta added the 15% off, and now JetBlue is continuing with that 15% back. This benefits frequent flyers, of course. If you were to only fly with JetBlue once or twice a year, this wouldn’t be as dramatic, but if you’re flying a lot with them, that 15% rebate, that could be very good, especially when considering the annual fee.
You’re paying a close to $500 price and getting a very big points rebate after you redeem and travel.
Hopefully not too long of a wait then to get that points rebate. Yeah. I wish it was at the time of booking, but it’s still a very good deal. Once you travel, those points come back to you.
We have another benefit, earn up to [00:10:00] $300 in annual statement credits on purchases toward hotel and car rentals when booked through TrueBlue Travel. That’s very likely the JetBlue travel portal. It’s nice to see car rentals here, as many listeners deep in the miles and points space likely have many hotel credits.
I think it was past podcast guest Beth who had said that she needs more hotel credits like she needs a hole in the head. It’s our first world problem of all these different hotel credits. The ability to have a car rental offset by the JetBlue portal is nice, and I believe that’s rare. Not many points or credits will allow you to do that.
If you value this $300 travel credit same as cash, the 499 annual fee is effectively 199, which is pretty good. I have the Barclays JetBlue business card, I’m paying a 99 annual fee on that, so just 100 more for all these benefits is looking pretty good.
Yeah. Too bad you [00:11:00] can’t upgrade that business card to this card, Justin. But you and I were talking before the show, it sounds like there may be opportunities for current personal JetBlue Plus card holders to upgrade their accounts or their cards to this and still get the bonus. Did I hear that correctly?
I don’t think and still get the bonus. Oh, okay. But if for some reason- That makes more sense … they weren’t able to get approved for the Premier card, this new card or newer card, then it might make sense to bite the bullet and upgrade, especially on or around mid-December and then start spending on the card in January.
We’ll talk about this a little bit later. Barclays can be a little bit stricter with approvals, so it is nice that they would offer that upgrade option, and maybe in the future they would send mail offers or email offers to say, ” upgrade your existing card, and we’ll give you maybe 30,000 or 40,000 points, maybe even more.”
Yeah. Always looking for those upgrade offers, Justin, whether with Barclays or [00:12:00] Amex or anybody. Something certainly worth looking into. I think pretty good, and hopefully some listeners are seeing a lot of good things with this card. If you’re on YouTube, you can comment on my Hurdy Gurdy Travel Podcast YouTube channel on this episode with your thoughts.
We have some more card features. Earn 6x on eligible JetBlue Vacations, and TrueBlue travel purchases. Pretty standard. Usually airline credit cards are bonusing spend on the airline. 2x dining and grocery. Nothing too special here. Many other cards bonus dining and grocery better, but you’re getting the 2x earn, and then when you’re redeeming and traveling, you’re getting that 15% bonus.
Maybe this 2x is more like 2.3 in some interpretation. And for those who have lots of prepaid card spend, gift card spend at grocery stores, this could be another useful card as you’re earning the 2x plus the status or maintaining status. You’re also getting 1x on all other [00:13:00] purchases.
Definitely not interesting there. Not horrible on the earn side, but I think this card is more about spending for status and some of the benefits rather than looking at it like something like the Amex Gold, where you’re getting the Gold mainly because of the welcome offer and keeping it maybe because of that 4x grocery and dining.
It’s a good first-year card. Maybe after your first year, you consider a downgrade and a little less annual fee. If you need that card then to book more or you know you’re gonna have a JetBlue trip coming up and you wanna spend towards status, you can do that.
I believe all the cards earn one tile for $1,000 in spend, so achieving that goal is still pretty reasonable. We mentioned complimentary access to Blue House. This is their special lounge for card members with eligible fares. I think you have to go on at least the basic but not the lowest cost or the lowest points for this.
We have JFK [00:14:00] as the only current Blue House as of recording in May of 2026, but the Boston location should be coming in summer of 2026, and then Fort Lauderdale in the future, the JetBlue future, Darren. It’s a lot of blue sky there, Justin, for sure. These lounges look pretty nice. I found pictures from the lounge description of the areas.
It is very blue indeed, so they live up to the name. Grab-and-go food too. I think that’s helpful for people who don’t have as much time on a layover, or maybe they get to the airport at a later time, or they can eat in the lounge and then take some grab-and-go food on their flights.
I really like that grab-and-go option, Justin. If I have a long enough layover or get there early for some reason, it’s nice to be able to duck in there and spend some time there. You and I were just talking about the opportunity to get some work done in the lounge and certainly that’s been fantastic, especially in the Philadelphia [00:15:00] Chase lounge.
But oftentimes on a layover, you don’t have a lot of time and you’re just looking to grab a quick bite to eat, so those grab-and-go options are fantastic. Glad these lounges like Capital One and Blue House, not The Blue House, Justin- Not The Blue House, yeah … just not Oceans, Justin, just Ocean have these flexible options for their cardholders and status holders.
A really good start for this card, and we have more benefits after the break. Make some announcements here. This show is like a job for me, and it’s free for listeners with no paywall. I spend time editing audio, creating transcripts, and prepping for the show. I also pay for software and subscriptions.
Please support the show through affiliate links, hurdygurdytravel.com, and becoming a Hurdy Gurdy Travel Podcast patron on subscribestar.com. You can also comment for free on YouTube and engage on social media. Ads are included here, just like on many other shows. [00:16:00] Visit meetup.com/PhillyMilesAndPoints to RSVP for monthly Greater Philadelphia travel, credit miles and points meetups I host in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania.
Join us for upcoming events on June 28th, July 19th, and August 16th, 2026. Find a link in the show notes. We just ended a very successful meetup with Rove. Carissa and Gigi a new employee with Rove, came to the meetup, as did Stacey Travel Points, and Matt Clausen, past podcast guest. We had about 15 people.
It was a really well-attended meeting, and thanks again to Carissa for helping promote and giving a presentation.
Sorry I missed that one, Justin, but glad you guys had a great meetup. I would say also, you do all that singing Justin, the beginning and the end of the episode, so people wanna make sure that they’re rewarding you for that. It’s indeed not me singing. Oh. Oh, okay. Okay. [00:17:00] That’ll be another time.
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Returning to the show with co-host, Darren, as we’re discussing the JetBlue Premier Credit Card Refresh, and its enhanced 100,000-point welcome bonus as of recording May 2026.
We still have more benefits, Darren. How about this? Lots going on with this card. But wait, there’s more, Justin. Earn up to $2,000 in JetBlue Premier Companion Pass statement credits after qualifying account activity. $500 in Companion Pass statement credits after spending $15,000 on your card in a calendar year.
Additional Companion Pass worth up to [00:19:00] $1,500 after spending $75,000 in a calendar year.
Some benefits if you were to put a lot of spend on this personal card. Yeah, Justin, and we talked about that 2X multiplier at grocery stores not being that exciting, but if you knew you were gonna use those companion certificates, you get essentially $2,000 in companion passes or certificates to use for $75,000 in spend total, it’s an extra 2.5%.
If you’re using that card at a grocery store, you’re closer to 4.5% rewards on that. That’s pretty competitive. There’s some other cards out there that are at 4% or 4X MR, right? The personal gold from Amex, for example. But I think this is a very competitive card if you knew for sure that you were gonna spend $2,000 or more in JetBlue flights in a year. Something to think about for those in the Northeast or that travel [00:20:00] into the Northeast pretty frequently. Pretty good. You wouldn’t be spending just 2X outside of going for status probably, but you have to commit to it.
Commit to spending towards status, commit to spending to the 75K, otherwise you would probably skip this. This is an extra incentive for those high spenders. Yeah, you don’t wanna end up at 60K at the end of the year. That would not be, or 74. 74.999. Yeah. Yeah. That’s, yeah. And remember- Disaster
the annual fee does not count towards spend. If you’re new to the game, just make sure that you’re getting 75K and just over that threshold of spend for the year. Yeah, war on happiness. You thought the annual fee took it over, but it didn’t, and sorry, but we’re not giving you all these benefits, and we’ve made a business decision to not just give you that extra dollar.
That’d be brutal. Irregularities on your JetBlue account. Sorry, we couldn’t do it. Oh, [00:21:00] irregularities are coming for us all, Justin. They’re coming for us. Some other benefits, these are the minor ones. First free checked bag, early boarding, group three boarding on JetBlue-operated flights, probably JetBlue metal, as we’ve said before, and again, this $499 Annual fee, but with the first year welcome bonus, the benefits of status, the $300 travel credit, there are a lot of ways to reduce that annual fee, and this could be a keeper card, especially for those who are putting high spend on the card.
I would encourage people just to think about that first year for the most part, and not stress about that annual fee that you would have to pay in a future year, because you almost always have the option to simply downgrade or cancel the card.
You don’t have to be married to the card. You could just have the card for one year and split or downgrade the card.
I think this is an excellent [00:22:00] initial offer for a card. It has enough benefits that if you were planning on flying JetBlue anyway and doing some travel, you can use the $300 annual statement credit, even if things are a little inflated through JetBlue travel. That does drop your annual fee, and so now you’re at, 1,000 plus dollars in JetBlue points for about $200. I think that’s something that you and I would happily pay pretty much any day of the week. It’s compelling, and it’s no longer Paisley. I believe the portal used to be called Paisley, which was an odd name, so now they’re more on brand.
Yeah it’s not blue, Justin. I’m not sure why- … why they would do that. It’s not a blue color. It’s purple, right? I think pasty. I don’t know what they were doing- Yeah … with that one. Not blue. It needs to be blue. One thing unappealing, $150 for an authorized user.
I generally suggest that people don’t have authorized [00:23:00] users, as if you have a player two, then they could just use a different card rather than paying for the authorized user, or they could just get the JetBlue, maybe you could help manage the account. Pretty lame, 150 for an authorized user, and I don’t think the authorized user is getting many benefits.
Correct me if I’m wrong. Yeah, I’m not sure about the authorized user there. Especially now with cell phones, it’s easy enough to load the same card on two cell phones and tap-to-pay. I don’t see a big advantage of the authorized user especially for $150.
Unless they’re getting maybe lounge access and you’re using that lounge often, they’re getting the checked bags, they’re getting- Some other benefits, but that appears not to be the case. I could be wrong. This is a refreshed card, so there is room for error. And this is also, as we mentioned, a Barclays card.
Barclays may be strict with approval. For me and many others, they usually pull TransUnion, which can have activity from other issuers, especially Chase. If you have a lot of TransUnion [00:24:00] activity, Barclays might decline you. And there’s also a soft rule of 6/24, that if you’ve opened six or more cards in the last 24 months, Barclays might decline you.
It might be hard to get approved for this one for people with very extensive credit profiles, or as they say to us, too many open accounts, too many recent inquiries. I would think, Justin, someone that applies and gets a lot of credit cards and spends a lot of money on those credit cards would be attractive to these credit card companies, but-
just doesn’t seem like that’s the case. 75, $75,000, I’m willing to give you it. Yeah. Please. I’ll give you all the interchange fees on 75k, just give me a shot, just be cool.
Barclays no longer has American Airlines either, so you’re not competing JetBlue versus AA in this case with the same issuer.
They do have the popular Wyndham Business Earner Credit Card, not the Wyndham Business Earners Credit Card, no S. That still has a decent welcome bonus, 45,000 Wyndham [00:25:00] points at the time of recording, but is down from higher offers around 60,000, as far as I remember. The Wyndham Business card also has the nice 8X gas category, but no more Caesars status matching.
I think most people got the Wyndham Business to match Wyndham status to Caesars status several years ago, and that’s no longer a thing, at least not with the credit card, and at least not unless you’ve stayed many nights with Wyndham. There’s also the Wyndham Plus personal credit card, 75,000 point welcome offer at the time of recording, and 4X grocery.
Barclays also has the Frontier credit card. It gives you Gold Elite status And a 50,000 point signup bonus. It could be nice for people with the Go Wild pass that would value the status, getting some benefits, I believe free checked bags. I’m not a Frontier flyer, and I’m definitely not a Spirit flyer either.
But hopefully there is a future with JetBlue, and I think maybe not too much [00:26:00] competition here, unless you happen to be going for Wyndham points or you’re a Frontier frequent flyer. Yeah, to be clear, Justin, I don’t think anyone’s flying with Spirit right now, so I heard repo men were coming.
Yeah. I enjoyed all the Spirit Halloween memes that went around. I think that Wyndham Business card, it has been very popular. Bummer that the Vacasa opportunities there have largely fallen away using Wyndham points.
I know there’s still been some good value for you using those at hotels in Las Vegas as well as some places overseas. That’s right. Good Wyndham options, and my past guest, Matt Clausen, also mentioned that he stayed at or will be staying at a Wyndham in New York, that he found a really good rate where the rates were usually much higher, at least on the cash rate side, and it was close to the location he was going.
Still some [00:27:00] possibilities with Wyndham, but not as good as it used to be, and you can also transfer Wyndham points to Caesars. 30,000 Wyndham points will get you $300 in comps with Caesars for those looking for extra casino credits to use. So what do you think? Is this a keeper card? I think it depends on the person, as usual.
If you’re a high spender and a frequent JetBlue flyer, I think so. If you’re looking for that first year bonus, and you don’t fly them too much, and you’re not going to spend high for status, probably just get it for year one. But I think there’s somewhere in the middle where people can choose to keep the card considering that $300 travel credit, considering many of the other benefits, that 499 annual fee, maybe looking something like 199 annual fee to get those free checked bags, the lounge access, and more.
You’re exactly right. I think it’s an excellent first year card, and then depending on where you live, largely how much you’re [00:28:00] flying JetBlue to some extent how much you’re able to use them with partner airlines, all that. It’s not as easy as some other airlines of course. This certainly could be a keeper card.
It could be one that you get into the ecosystem with, and then you can downgrade and upgrade. It would be a good opportunity for those that are, maybe a little more experienced in the game to find the right balance between this card and the cheaper JetBlue Plus Card.
And that JetBlue Plus Card has a $99 annual fee. It gets you the 2X at restaurants and groceries still. You get 10% of your points back if you redeem and travel with JetBlue. You get 5,000 bonus points each year after your JetBlue Plus Card account anniversary, and a first free checked bag for you and three travel companions. If you don’t value the status as much, you’re not using the lounge, you’re not using some of the other benefits, you have a downgrade path, $99 annual fee [00:29:00] for the free checked bags, a points anniversary boost, 10% rebate, and more.
Pretty good for a 99 annual fee on that JetBlue Plus Card if you choose to downgrade.
A very reasonable opportunity depending on how Barclays feels about the upgrade. Any other JetBlue thoughts? From just a flying standpoint I certainly have flown JetBlue a few times and I find those flights to be largely enjoyable. They have excellent service in the sorta northeast corridor, Boston, New York, et cetera. Certainly down to Florida. That’s the flights I’ve taken most often, Philly to Florida. But with the expansion into the Mint and longer haul flights again, it’s something I would love to experience, and I think this card, for those that have a similar idea, this card would be a great step in that direction.
Wi-Fi gate-to-gate is a cool feature with them, too, and the Wi-Fi, at least in my experience, has been reliable. Some others, and I’m talking about you [00:30:00] Delta One, I would get announcements, “Oh, it’s not available on this flight. It’s not available overseas.” But the JetBlue Wi-Fi has been pretty good.
Whether you’re a leisure or business traveler the opportunity to have Wi-Fi from gate to gate is fantastic. Streaming videos, trying to get work done I think it’s valuable. Families that are traveling, right? You’re trying to get your kids settled and sometimes that first 10 or 15 or sometimes longer time period is the most challenging trying to get your kids settled in and ready for a trip.
If you’re in economy, I think it’s a good hard and soft product and I’ve enjoyed it. Certainly something I would fly again.
Very good. We have some additional time at the end of the episode. You recently went to Washington, D.C. as it was your birthday. Birthday and Mother’s Day combination. My wife and I went down for just one night at the Waldorf Astoria, D.C.
We used a Hilton free night certificate, so offset about 110,000 [00:31:00] Hilton points. The certificates are gonna be expiring this summer, so it was a good use of one of those. Was upgraded to a king deluxe room instead of a king standard room. Not sure how much difference that made.
But it was a nice room. Certainly the old classic luxury of the Waldorf Astoria. The room had, the gold inlays and the chandelier in the room. very well appointed. The hotel itself is right next to the mall which is a fantastic location.
Maybe a 10-minute walk, less even, down to the Washington Mall, a large grassy area between the Capitol Building and the Washington Monument. That’s where a lot of the museums are and they’re getting ready for the 250th anniversary of our country.
A lot of hustle and bustle going on down there. Didn’t have a chance to visit the museums. We got in kinda late. And then we did hit up the spa at the Waldorf Astoria using some gift [00:32:00] cards that I had purchased using some Amex Business Platinum credits. So we’re able to- AP- Yeah. Able to get some good value out of those.
A nice enjoyable opportunity there. And then much to your chagrin, Justin, we did not use the Bilt Cash or Bilt Buck. Oh, no Oyamel. I know. I know. No Oyamel. I know. That Bilt Cash is gonna expire. It’s gonna expire. I’ll be cranky in December. You’ll be reminding me, but, You should have went for those tacos.
I was starting to say this and then got sidetracked, but the hotel itself is the old US Postal Office.
I’m not sure when it was built, but it’s that classic old I’m not an architect, but Gothic maybe architecture. It’s an impressive building. There’s a huge atrium as you walk into the lobby. Reminds me of maybe a Las Vegas hotel minus the gambling slot machines in the atrium.
There’s a couple restaurants there. Peacock Alley or Peacock’s Alley. Maybe Peacock Alley is the- Yeah, [00:33:00] Peacock. No S on that one either. That one’s- No S on that one either … that’s also in the Las Vegas Waldorf Astoria. Okay. All right. And then there’s a new restaurant there, Bazaar. Jose Andres, Oh, yeah
new restaurant That’s also in Vegas. Yeah. How about that? Yeah. There you go. Also a Bilt Cash target . We had breakfast there the next morning. Used $50 in food and beverage credit from my diamond status that I have through my Aspire card.
The Waldorf Astoria DC is not on the resort list that I can find. Oh. Why? Why isn’t it? I know. Why isn’t it? It doesn’t make any sense, Justin. Doesn’t make any sense.
But- What do they need to do, have more peacocks to be a resort? I didn’t see- A pool? Is there a pool? There’s not enough… It’s not big enough? I don’t know. We did not see the pool. We did not see any peacocks either. There is a clock tower, for whatever that’s worth, I think, Oh, not resort-if, not resort enough
n- yeah, apparently not resort-y enough. Yeah, for those folks that are interested in staying close to the Mall in DC, spending some time down there [00:34:00] visiting museums visiting the Capitol, any of those sort of classic touristy things, would highly recommend the hotel. Excellent service, as you might expect from a Waldorf Astoria and really a lovely location, and the whole setup was well done.
We had a wonderful time there. And, that’s one of those things, Justin, where we wouldn’t have done that had we not been in the points and miles game, right? And speaking of Gothic, I really liked the Gothic Quarter in Barcelona. That was a cruise stop.
Really cool buildings and alleyways out there. And also, speaking Gothic, one of my favorite bands, Draconian, they have Gothic metal, doom metal, and they’re going to be touring in Europe. They’re not coming to North America. They said there were some problems with visas, so I’m considering going to Iceland and then going to Paris or perhaps finding a different way to go to Paris and then seeing them perform.
They came out with a new album. We’re recording May 12th, 2026. The new [00:35:00] album, In Somnolent Ruin, making sure to say that correctly. S-O-M-N-O-L-E-N-T. Draconian.
Regarding the architectural style, the building, according to Wikipedia, is an example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture. So apologies. Ooh not quite the Gothic architecture.
Apologies to all those- Oh they’re all in the comments already. Gotta delete your comments. We got it now. Yep, it’ll be the most commented, most- What was that again? What kind of architecture was that again? Richardsonian Romanesque architecture. Oh. Popular in the late 19th century United States.
You, you just forgot about that one for a brief minute. Yeah, yeah. It was on the tip of your tongue. My tip of my tongue yeah.
Very good. A quick update for listeners at the end, and I think a bright future for this JetBlue Premier card, at least for the first year. And if not for two years, then you have a downgrade path to the JetBlue Plus personal card. Maybe will be in my [00:36:00] wallet soon, a little bit more blue compared to usual.
It’s a lot of black cards recently. There you go, Justin. You can spice it up a little bit. All right. Thanks everyone for listening. Thanks Darren for coming back on the show. Always a pleasure, Justin. Appreciate the opportunity to talk points and miles with you. I enjoy it every time. Stay tuned for future episodes.
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