TrueBlue Points to Bermuda?
 

I am fairly sure I got this right but let me see if others agree with me.
I recently got the NEW Barclay TrueBlue card with plans for a Bermuda trip this Fall. Received the card fine and have already met min spending standard for the 30K bonus.
BUT when I go to book the flights I find what to me is a strange scenario. Flights OUT of Boston are quite reasonable.... $$$ or points. Yet the flights returning from Bermuda are nearly double the cost... mostly because of the 'leaving airport fee'. Not unexpected. BUT the TrueBlue points needed is based on the FULL fare back from Bermuda AND THEN ADDS THE PORT FEE to still be paid in cash? BUT if I decide to pay the return fee in CASH the port fee is included. EX: Return flight might cost $218 cash but includes the $89 fee. IF I book with points I get charged 12000 points and STILL have to pay the $89 cash. Thus my 12000 points is really only netting me a bit over a $100? Am I missing something here? The flights out of Boston were only 7500 points plus the standard security fee of $6.50. Sorry if my math amounts are slightly off but it would seem using TrueBlue points for the return flight is a poor idea??? Am I wrong??:confused:

More like confused than wrong. :-: :)

The points always cover only the fare. In markets where there are high taxes/fees the cash component will be higher. That said, the point valuation is generally tied to the fare, not the all-in cost. So if the fare portion is ~$100 and you're paying 12,000 points that's not a great redemption versus some others we've seen, but it is based on the $100 number, not the $218 total.

And, FWIW, this is the same policy as all the other US carriers. None waive the taxes/fees when paying with points.

I agree...
 

I agree fees can not be covered by points. I have experienced this on European flights where many airports &/or countries commonly add a tax as you leave the country. To me the TrueBlue Point situation here looked like they were determining the point fee (12k) based on the entire cash fare (service fee included) even though nearly 1/2 of the fare was a service fee. I read somewhere Bermuda often has to 'rebate' airlines to fly non profitable routes to Bermuda. I wonder if JetBlue is getting one of those payments for its cash fare flights thus keeping the cash fare artificially low? Possibly JBlue is getting a 'rebate' from Bermuda on the cash fare flight but not on the flights covered by points?
In the meantime I may research a couple of the Caribbean & Mexican destinations to see if a similar price scenario exists. Probably just a small annoyance in the over all scope of things but it did get my attention. Return flight nearly halved the value of my points.

Don't forget that ~$35 of those fees are charged by the USA for arriving from any foreign destination.

I just did a search for 11-18 May JFK-BDA. The fares were $119 and $204 for the outbound and return. In points it was 6,800 each way and the return had the $85 in taxes/fees while the outbound was cheap.

Without the specific dates it is hard to know what you're seeing, but I don't believe the points required is being calculated on the all-in price and then taxes added on top of that.

You are correct... my mistake
 

The mistake was mine. I just re-did my search for October flights. Boston to Bermuda was $133 or 7800 points. Return flight $218 or 7800 points + $94. I was toggling back and forth on the site between cash and points. After I selected the Boston to Bermuda flight I thought it would stay on the screen to be matched with my return flight. I was overlooking the 7800 point return flight from Bermuda thinking it was the already selected Boston flight. Instead I was looking at $314 or 14000 point + $94 flight. The site also confused me by asking me to re-select flights when I toggled back and forth. I know understand the site much better. Mistake was clearly mine!
Pleased to see JetBlue has non stops to and from Bermuda!:cool:
.
Thank you for your assistance... and patience.^
BTW I did not know US shared in the return fees. I was blaming Heathrow and other European airports.

No problem. Glad we got to the answer eventually.
Heathrow-originating flights are bad because of the APD plus high airport charges. But the US is part of the problem. Here's a LHR-JFK breakdown:

UK
United Kingdom Passenger Service Charge (UB) $60.20
United Kingdom Air Passengers Duty (GB) $105.50

USA
USDA APHIS Fee (XA) $3.96
US Immigration Fee (XY) $7.00
US Customs Fee (YC) $5.50
US International Arrival Tax (US) $17.80