JetBlue Giving Refunds To Customers Trapped For 7 Hours On Tarmac
JetBlue is giving refunds to the passengers who were stranded on the tarmac in Hartford Connecticut for seven hours.
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Is In-Flight Advertising Getting Out Of Control?
Depending on the airline you choose, everything from the exterior of your jet to the overhead compartments to your tray table and the back of your seat to your airplane safety video can be sponsored by an advertiser. And considering the amount of revenue being generated by these ads, they probably aren't going anywhere anytime soon.
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Airlines Waiving Re-Booking Fees With Hurricane Irene On The Way
A really nasty woman named Irene is about to swoop in from the tropics and potentially screw up air travel for everyone. So in advance of the hurricane, many airlines are playing nice with their re-booking fees and policies for flights to and from destinations affected by the storm.
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JetBlue Selling "Boston All" Passes Through Thursday
If you fly frequently through Boston, here's a deal for you. Now through Thursday night, JetBlue is selling $1,999 passes that give you three months of unlimited travel, as long as you fly to and from Boston. When offered earlier this month, the "Boston All" passes sold out within a week.
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Urinating JetBlue Passenger Booted From U.S. Ski Team
So it turns out that the JetBlue passenger who
peed on an 11-year-old girl instead of heading to the toilet is a member of the U.S. Ski Team's development squad. Or at least he was until he went #1 in public.
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Drunken JetBlue Passenger Urinates On 11-Year-Old Girl
If you don't like air travel, one way to prepare for a five-and-a-half hour flight is to consume an alcoholic beverage or two. Or eight. But plan ahead, and make sure to use the bathroom before the situation becomes dire and you have to relieve yourself in the cabin without noticing that a child's leg is in your jetstream.
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How To Get A Tax Refund From JetBlue
If you have a ticket with JetBlue for dates between July 25 and August 2nd, here's how to get a refund on collected Federal taxes just by sending an email.
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Lawsuit: JetBlue Kicked Woman Off Flight After Accusing Her Of Going Pantsless
A New York City woman has filed a lawsuit against JetBlue, alleging that airline employees not only made a spectacle of her by removing her from a flight to see what she was wearing under her baggy shirt but added insult to injury by refusing to let her back on the plane.
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JetBlue Sells Out $4 Flights From One Side Of L.A. Area To The Other
With construction set to shut down I-405 in L.A. this weekend, area residents are crying "Carmageddon," with some saying what should be a 20 minute trip will take them hou,rs while the highway is closed. So, in an effort to give at least a few folks an option of skipping over this entire mess, JetBlue offered $4 roundtrip flights between Long Beach and Burbank, less than 40 miles away.
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Stun Gun Found On JetBlue Plane At Newark Airport
If you feel smug when you get away with bringing more than three ounces of shampoo in your carry-on, you ain't seen nothing yet — the FBI is investigating the discovery of a stun gun on a JetBlue flight into Newark Airport yesterday, officials said.
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JetBlue Now Offering Access To Speedier Security Lines For A Fee
Access to expedited security lines has generally been something that the largest airlines offer to their first class and business class passengers. But JetBlue, which has no first or business class seats, has just begun offering a service — for a fee, of course — that gives travelers access to the TSA fast lane at 14 airports.
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JetBlue Kills Off "All You Can Jet" Program
JetBlue will not be continuing its "All You Can Jet" (AYCJ) program for 2011, the company told members via email this morning. Last year AYCJ let passengers take an unlimited number of flights between early September and October for only $499-$699. For people who really flew enough to get the full value out of it, it was a great deal. They did give a promo code to participants for 15-30% off discounts, which tipster MissDeeJane described as "a concession prize."
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Jetblue And American Increase Fees, Airlines Dream Up More
The airline fees just keep edging up. Jetblue has increased the 2nd checked bag fee to $35 from $30. They have also increased the fee for their "Even More Legroom" seats by $5. Not wanting to be left out, American is increasing the fee for making a reservation by phone to $25 from $20. With fuel costs rising, airlines are looking for ways to increase revenue without increasing airfare, as they've already done that six times this year already. They use fuel costs as the reason, but you know if the price of fuel drops, they're not going to cut back on fees. And
according to the Journal, airlines are looking for more ways to add fees, like a surcharge for a chair that reclines more, a champagne brunch fee, or blizzard insurance.
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JetBlue: We Won't Be Stingy On The Free Snacks Anytime Soon
Last week, we brought you the sad news that the two-headed beast of United/Continental had decided that
coach passengers don't deserve free pretzels. It seems inevitable that this "luxury" is doomed to extinction, but JetBlue says it has no intention of killing off its gratis inflight snacks.
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Passenger Goes Through JFK Security With 3 Boxcutters In His Bag
A JetBlue flight from JFK Airport to the Dominican Republic was grounded for three hours over the weekend after a flight attendant discovered three boxcutters in the carry-on bag of a passenger — three boxcutters that no one at the security checkpoint seemed to notice.
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Get Your Airline Ticket Changed For Free Because Of Massive Midwest Storm
The Superbowl of storms is headed for the Midwest with 20" snow and 45 mph winds predicted for Chicago. Thankfully, a lot of airlines are waiving their usual ticket change fees for travelers who could be affected. 3,000 flights have already been canceled in advance of the potentially deadly weather. Don't go to the airport to see if you can make your flight, don't get stuck in an airport, stay home, stay over at your friend's house an extra day or two, and take advantage of this leniency. Here are links to the various airlines and their waiver and winter update pages and policies:
More »
Verizon Refunds Snowpocalypse Mobile Overages
Here are two nuggets of delicious customer service in one e-mail. Brock spent hours on the phone during one of America's recent massive snowstorms trying to straighten out his air travel plans. This made him use up cell phone minutes and rack up huge overage charges, which Verizon partially refunded. Oh, and JetBlue was extremely helpful too—once he got through.
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$100 Bribe Gets Mysterious Package On JetBlue Plane
Here's a deal you won't see JetBlue advertising on its website. All you need to get a mysterious package unaccompanied onto a JetBlue flight is a $100 bill in the hands of a JetBlue ticket agent.
More »
My Friend Was Robbed On A JetBlue Flight -- What Do I Do?
Robert says his friend, Y, believes she was robbed of $50 and an iPad on a JetBlue flight, and that the airline and authorities haven't much helped her in her quest to recover the property. Neither Robert nor Y knows what to do.
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Getting To Know You: All About The New Friends We Made In 2010
Behind every buzzworthy headline of the past year has been someone in charge, someone to blame, or just someone to laugh at and talk about. From the debacle of Toyota's millions of recalled automobiles, to a fed-up flight attendant with a flair for drama, we've become familiar with a few new faces in 2010, for better or for worse.
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JetBlue Takes Forever To Give Me Near-Useless Travel Voucher
Several months ago, Matthew booked a flight to take his family and in-laws from Rochester to Disney World. Then he discovered JetBlue was canceling the flight he had planned. The airline offered him a voucher but made him drive 75 miles to another airport to get a direct flight. It took too much back-and-forth to actually claim that voucher, and Matthew feels mistreated.
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Southwest, JetBlue Fly High In Zagat Airline Survey
For the 20th year in a row, the people at Zagat have done a survey of passengers on the major domestic and international airlines. And by the looks of it, travelers are much more pleased with the likes of Southwest, JetBlue and Virgin than they are the old-timers like United, Delta and American.
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Steven Slater Pleads Guilty
Ex-JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater plead guilty today to one felony attempted criminal mischief, one count of misdemeanor criminal mischief,
and one count of aggravated awesomeness.
More »
JetBlue CFO Gives Out Free Tickets Mid-Flight
Consumerist reader Tracy was flying JetBlue this Saturday when an announcement came over the intercom saying there was a "special guest" onboard. It was JetBlue CFO Ed Barnes! Big whoop, said the passengers, until the flight attendant added, "and the CFO is feeling really generous so we are going to have two people in the front row randomly pick a number and a letter and the person sitting in that seat will win a free JetBlue roundtrip ticket anywhere Jetblue flies."
More »
JetBlue Bringing Broadband WiFi To Planes... Eventually
The good news for air travelers: JetBlue has just announced a plan to install satellite-based WiFi internet access on their planes that it promises will deliver "the industry's best in-flight broadband for commercial aviation." The not as good news: It's going to take a while.
More »
How Do Airlines Compare On Fees?
It's hard to keep track of all the extra fees airlines have invented to pad a ticket purchase, especially since they keep introducing new ones; USA TODAY says revenue from added fees have jumped
nearly 16% from a year ago. The newspaper reviewed fees from 13 airlines in the U.S. and compiled this
handy reference chart of current fee schedules, to make comparison shopping a little bit easier. As expected, Southwest continues to be one of the best values.
More »
Zero Witnesses Back Slater's Story
Authorities have interviewed every single passenger that was on Steven Slater's last flight, and not a single one says events went down the way he's been describing them, according to a Port Authority police official.
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JetBlue CEO: Slide-Jumping Flight Attendant 'Not A Hero In My Book'
Three weeks after JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater earned his 15 minutes of fame by
freaking out and taking an unscheduled trip down the jet's emergency exit slide, the airline's CEO Dave Barger is finally speaking out on the incident. Let's just say he won't be watching Slater's reality show.
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JetBlue Passengers Try Out The Emergency Slide After Plane's Tires Catch Fire During Landing
The passengers on board a flight from Long Beach, CA, to Sacramento got to live out their
irate JetBlue flight attendant fantasies yesterday by taking a ride down a jet's emergency exit slide. But it probably wasn't as fun as one might expect since the plane's tires had just caught fire while making a hard landing.
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JetBlue 'All You Can Jet' Passes Are Sold Out, But You Still Might Be Able To Win One
After just a couple of days, JetBlue has already sold out of their
All You Can Jet passes, but if you're under the age of 25 and can think of a way to put the passes to good use, you might be able to win a pair of free AYCJ passes from the airline.
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Fly JetBlue Unlimited With $499 "All You Can Jet" Pass
JetBlue has brought back its very popular "All You Can Jet" pass which let you take an unlimited number of flights between Sep. 7 and Oct 6. for only $499-$699. Last year the AYCJs sold out very quickly. They are on sale now and you can start booking trips on Aug 23.
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Spirit Airlines Spoofs JetBlue Slide-Jumper With "Don't Be Blue" Coupon
We'll give it to Spirit Airlines — they know how to get attention with their e-mail coupons. First their was the
MILF Sale, and then the
MUFF Diving promo, and of course this summer's
Check Out the Oil On Our Beaches deal. Now the yucksters have turned their focus on last Monday's
JetBlue flight attendant flip-out.
More »
Don't Tweet Steven Slater Jokes Or JetBlue Will Chastise You
JetBlue Tweet-spanks comedian Andy Borowitz for making bad jokes about their cranky flight attendant.
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Dramatic Animated Recreation Of Flight Attendant Quitting, Using Emergency Slide
Taiwan news media produced this thrilling animated replay of how JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater quit his job, complete with cursing on the PA, beer grab, emergency slide run, and embracing his lover. This looks like the making of the best Sims mod ever!
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JetBlue Flight Attendant Gets Bail Following Flip-Out
Unless you've been living under a rock — or been stranded on a tarmac — you've heard about the JetBlue flight attendant who
flipped out, popped open the emergency door, grabbed some beer from the galley and escaped via the plane's emergency slide. Well, the attendant finally came before a judge for arraignment this morning.
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JetBlue Flight Attendant Curses Out Passenger, Uses Emergency Slide To Exit Plane And Run Away
Imagine this sight: Your JetBlue flight has just touched down at your destination when a flight attendant takes to the public address system, drops the F-bomb, pops the emergency door and exits the plane via the emergency slide. We're really hoping someone out there has video footage of this incident that went down at JFK Airport today.
More »
What's The Best Airline For Your Pet To Travel?
Sometimes you don't have a choice—you have to fly with your pet. In memory of
Paco, the dog Delta Airlines lost back in May, here's Petfinder.com's updated list of the best airlines for traveling with kritters. All of the recommended carriers have changed from last year. Spoiler alert: Delta is not on it.
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JetBlue Shipping & Handling Sale Starts At $39 Each Way
It's not their greatest sale ever, but if you're planning now to travel this fall, you should probably check out JetBlue's "Shipping & Handling" sale, with fares ranging from $39 to $159 each way.
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Your Complete Big-Ass Guide To Annoying Airline Fees
As reported earlier today, the Government Accountability Office thinks
airlines could do a lot more to be transparent about the fees they charge. And buried about 45 pages deep in the GAO's report are two very helpful tables detailing fees for checked bags and other items that U.S.-based airlines charge extra for.
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Fly Your Bike For Free On JetBlue In July
It's Tour de France time in, well, France. And though JetBlue can't get you to the world-famous bicycle race, they'll help get you in the spirit this month by allowing you to bring your bike with you free of charge.
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JetBlue Now Selling Food On Longer Flights
JetBlue is getting into the box-o-food business on flights longer than 3 hours 45 minutes, it announced yesterday. The boxes are priced at $6 each, and there are supposed to be five different styles, including a "Wake Up" box with breakfasty food, a "Cheer Up" box with cheeses and fruit, and a "Shut Up" box that's filled with nothing but peanut butter and saltines. (I may have made up that last one.) Fortunately for frugal travelers, the airline plans to continue offering free snacks as well, but they probably won't tell you what to do as decisively as the boxes.
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(Route map: jetblue.com)
Jet Blue COO: Flying From NYC To Boston Is Stupid
It's not often you hear an airline exec recommend alternatives to flying, but Jet Blue Chief Operating Officer Rob Maruster decided to wing it yesterday and told attendees at an air-travel conference: "I may be shooting ourselves in the foot here, with five daily flights from JFK to Boston. But it just may not make that much sense for an airplane on a 150-mile route to fly over 300 air miles to get there. Maybe there’s a different mode of transportation that may be better to carry those customers from point A to point B." Maybe we should be calling him
former Jet Blue COO.
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Airlines' Approval Ratings Rise
You love the airlines now! Or at least, you don't hate them any worse than you did back in 2007, according to a new survey released by J.D. Power & Associates.
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Huff Post Ranks Airlines On Safety Records
Even the Huffington Post admits that their Safest U.S. Airlines list is a bit unnecessary, considering the excellent safety records of everyone on the list. Still, it's fun to rank things, so
that's what they did. U.S. Airways and JetBlue came in near the top, while Delta, United and Continental came in at the bottom. Regardless, you're likely to remain alive after a flight on any of them.
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JetBlue Offers $10 Last-Minute Fares
Still celebrating its 10th anniversary, JetBlue announced this morning that it's offering $10 fares on a number of its domestic routes for May 11 and May 12. As an added bonus, the first checked bag will be free of charge.
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(Dan)
JetBlue Employee Shops While Pretending To Help Stranded Passengers?
Dan thought something was funny going on when a woman behind a JetBlue counter seemed less than capable when helping passengers stranded at JFK due to weather delays. He snuck around the back and photographed her shopping at Babies R Us rather than doing her job.
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Meet The Plane Small Enough For Your Garage
Have you always wanted a plane but didn't want the hassle of the whole hangar thing? Well, the folks at Icon are showing off their Icon A5, which has wings that fold up for convenient storage right next to the Bowflex you never use.
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JetBlue Pilot Says Someone Aimed Laser Into His Cockpit
The pilot of a JetBlue flight heading from Portland, Maine, to JFK Airport in NYC on Saturday night says that a yet-unexplained green laser penetrated the window of the plane's cockpit as he prepared to land.
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Senator Schumer: 5 Airlines Commit To No Carry-On Fees
In the aftermath of Spirit Airlines' announcement that they'll be
charging up to $45 for carry-on bags, five airlines have pledged that they won't jump on the fee bandwagon. New York Sen. Charles Schumer said today that American, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, US Airways and JetBlue have told him they won't start charging for carry-ons.
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Hawaiian Airlines Tops Quality Study, American Eagle Falls Flat
For the second year in a row, Hawaiian Airlines has topped a study that ranks 18 commercial carriers according to a formula that accounts for everything from on-time arrivals/departures to baggage handling to customer complaints. On the bottom end of the rankings was American Eagle.
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JetBlue Charges You $105 For Extra Bags Unless You Produce Your Toddler For Inspection
This story has a happy ending, but its still somewhat baffling. Reader S. recently flew JetBlue with his wife and three small children. They had 4 tickets and 3 bags to check. JetBlue allows one checked bag per ticket. So, there should be no fees, right? Here's where it gets complicated: S's wife went through security with the children while he checked the bags. The agent said that despite the fact that he was traveling in a party of 4, the baggage agent had to personally see the family, toddler and all, or S. had to pay $105 in extra fees.
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JetBlue Flight Forced To Return To Newark After Losing Engine Cover
A JetBlue plane bound for Fort Lauderdale, FL, was forced to return to Newark Liberty International Airport on Monday after an engine cover dropped off the jet shortly following taking off.
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VIDEO: How I Booked My JetBlue Flight For The Wrong Month
A reader wrote into Consumerist because he recently booked a flight on JetBlue, only to discover when attempting to check in at the airport that he'd somehow booked the return flight for a full month later than it should have been.
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JetBlue & American Trade Landing Rights To Expand Routes
American Airlines announced a deal with JetBlue today that would significantly increase their presence at JFK Airport in New York. Meanwhile, JetBlue will now have the ability to offer service to and from Washington D.C.'s Reagan National Airport.
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JetBlue Throws 2-Day Sample Sale
Through tomorrow night, JetBlue is offering deep discounts on dozens of flights as part of their 2-Day Sample Sale, with some flights starting as low as $29 each way.
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JetBlue 800 Number Leads To Sex Line
An unfortunate typo on JetBlue's website could lead some customers to "happy ending" instead of "happy jetting." They spell out 1-800-JETBLUE as 538-25
63, when it should be 538-25
83. The former connects you a breathless recording that starts,
More »
JetBlue Takes 2 Hours And Charges $15 To Redeem Customer's Gift Card
Angela won a "Wish List" contest from American Express, which let her buy a $100 JetBlue gift card for $70. JetBlue managed to wipe out that $30 savings and any good will Angela might have felt by making her waste 129 minutes trying to redeem the card—and then charging her $15 for the service. At the end of her letter to AmEx and JetBlue, Angela writes, "I don’t know about other AmEx cardholders, but spending almost two hours on hold in order to be able to use something you’ve already paid for is not on my Wish List."
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American Airlines, Jet Blue, Delta Seek To Delay Tarmac Imprisonment Rule
You know that
new rule that says airlines have to let passengers off the plane if it's stuck on the tarmac for more than 3 hours? It's supposed to go into effect in April, but at least three airlines are
hoping to delay it because they say runway repairs at JFK Airport will interfere with schedules.
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JetBlue Loses My Luggage, Doesn't Care
Justin says JetBlue lost his family's luggage, and ever since he's been locked in a long, losing battle in which he's tried unsuccesfully to get the airline to give a damn. He says he's been met with indifference at every stage of the arduous complaint process.
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Jet Blue Celebrates 10th Birthday With $10 Fares
Looking to book a cheap flight in the next few hours? Then check out JetBlue. The airline is saying "Happy 10th birthday" to itself with $10 fares from NYC to 10 other destinations — but only until 11:59pm CST tonight.
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What's The Best Airline For Bringing My Bike?
After yesterday's story about
cyclists being unhappy with United's exorbitant fee to check bikes on their planes, the folks over at Bicycling wrote to share their breakdown of the best and worst airlines for when you're taking your wheels with you.
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AUDIO: Listen As A Kid Directs Air Traffic At JFK
We know that JFK is woefully understaffed in the air traffic control tower, but this is downright silly. The FAA has confirmed that a newly uncovered audio file is indeed that of a young child controlling air traffic over the radio to planes waiting to depart the busy NYC airport.
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JFK Runway Work Forces 20% Cut In Flights For Next Four Months
Today marks the beginning of what could be an ugly four months at JFK International Airport, as the NYC-area travel hub loses its busiest runway for renovation work. This move has forced the airport to reduce the number of flights going in and out by 20% during this time.
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Mysterious JetBlue Creature Offers Free Tix To Passengers
If you wish hard enough on your next JetBlue trip, maybe the airline's People Officer will magically appear and hand out free tickets. That's what happened on David's flight home over the weekend. To be fair, the free ticket giveaway probably happened because JetBlue asked everyone to show up two hours early due to a computer glitch. It's still a much nicer airline story than what passengers usually send us. Also, this People Officer hinted to the OP about the airline's future Wi-Fi plans.
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JetBlue Responds To Tweet, Goes Looking For Passenger's Sunglasses
David Friedman, a photographer and blogger of
cool ideas, was at JFK airport in New York City earlier today and realized he'd forgotten his sunglasses at the security gate. He
mentioned it in a tweet, and to his surprise someont at JetBlue saw it and investigated for him.
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JetBlue Gives You $400 In Credits You Didn't Ask For
Reader Ryan is happy. He is happy because JetBlue just randomly emailed him to give him $400 in credits he didn't ask for.
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Reader's $400 In JetBlue Credits Expire With No Notice
S. had canceled two JetBlue flights some time ago. Instead of refunding customers' credit or debit cards after a reservation cancellation or change, JetBlue issues credits for future flights. Fine. The problem—and the detail that wasn't made clear to S.—is that these credits expire.
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JetBlue Is An Excellent Airline
—>Having taken JetBlue for the first time last week, I must say I throughly enjoy their services. First, I got a round-trip non-stop flight to Seattle for only $279.20, tax included. Awesome. More »
Trend Watch: CEOs Apologizing Via YouTube
—>Want to see a bunch of corporate executives apologizing? Thanks to the magical internet, now you can! More »
Man Offers To Do Anything For JetBlue Pass, Gets Wings
—>Looking to take advantage of a now-expired JetBlue promotion that lets you fly as much as you want in a month for $600, 28-year-old Brendan Ross polled the Craigslist crowd to see if anyone was interested in sponsoring him in exchange for doing, well, just about anything. More »
JetBlue's $599 Unlimited Travel Pass: Great Deal Or Great Gimmick?
—>Are you planning a vacation that involves spending large expanses of time waiting around in airports? Good news! JetBlue's new unlimited travel pass may be for you! For only $599, you can fly as many times as you'd like between the cities that JetBlue serves. More »
9/11 Ruins Another Customer Experience
—>Angela can't get a new American Express card because Amex can't verify her Social Security number. They have to verify it because of 9/11. Since they can't, they've canceled her application. Because of 9/11. More »
JetBlue Offers $1 Military Fare Through Today, Although It Comes With A Surprising Number Of Restrictions
—>JetBlue is offering an amazing deal to members of our armed forces in honor of National Military Appreciation Month, but once you get past that jaw-dropping $1 fee, it starts to look like they outsourced the fine print to Macy's. Here are the restrictions: More »
JetBlue Will Refund Your Ticket If You Get Laid Off Or Fired
—>Afraid you might get laid off? Too worried to book plane tickets? JetBlue thinks you are. They've launched a program that guarantees a full refund to those of you who get laid off at least two weeks before you fly. More »
Jetblue Changes Policy, Will Stop Charging $50 If You Check A Box With A Foldable Bike
—>Jetblue charged Carl $50 to check a small box. If Carl hadn't mentioned that there was a small foldable bike in the box, his package would have been checked for free... More »
JetBlue Passenger Forced To Cover Arabic Shirt Gets $240k From JetBlue, TSA Employees
In 2006, Raed Jaer, an Iraqi-born U.S. resident, was forced by TSA officials and JetBlue to cover his t-shirt—it read, "We Will Not Be Silent" in both Arabic and English—before he could board a flight. The airline and the two TSA officials (TSA was not named in the suit)
settled out of court last week for $240,000, although JetBlue still denies they did anything wrong, and the TSA says they don't "condone profiling in any way shape or form."
Here's what happened back in
August 2006:
After passing through security... [TSA and JetBlue officials] came up to him and asked him to change his shirt as, "people are feeling offended."
Jaer replied, "Why do you want me to take off my t-shirt? Isn't it my constitutional right to express myself in this way?" Inspector Harris said, "people here in the US don't understand these things about constitutional rights."
He added, "You can't wear a t-shirt with Arabic script and come to an airport. It is like wearing a t-shirt that reads "I am a robber" and going to a bank."
When the settlement was announced, JetBlue took pains to make it clear that they're only settling to avoid a protracted legal battle, and that they don't think they did anything wrong, according to this email to the Washington Post:
"JetBlue continues to deny, outright, every critical aspect of Mr. Jarrar's version of events," airline spokeswoman Alison Croyle said in an e-mailed statement. Croyle added, "JetBlue believes diversity adds great strength to our company; diversity among our crewmembers as well as our customers."
Diversity, and silence! And obedience! Lower your heads, cattle passengers of all colors, and submit to the skittish herd!
Anyway, we're happy for Jaer. We're also trying to come up with a good pseudo-terroristy tshirt design so we can try this ourselves.
"JetBlue, TSA Workers Settle in T-Shirt Case" [Washington Post]
RELATED
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Putting The Wrong Name On An Airline Ticket Is An $800 Mistake?
—>Here's an odd problem. Reader Austin bought some airline tickets for a business trip and wasn't sure who was going to go, so he booked an extra ticket with his name on it — thinking that the name could be changed later. Whoops. More »
JetBlue Addresses Your Email To "Dear Mr. Soandso"
—>JetBlue can be so cute sometimes. Apparently, they recently sent out and email addressed to Mr. Soandso explaining how much they missed all the Mr. Soandsos who had not flown with them in a year.
More »
Neutrogena Face Wash Comes With Free Headphones. What?
—>Reader Jeremy is wondering about this "added value" offer he saw at Target the other day — a tube of face wash that comes with free headphones. Huh? More »
JetBlue Flight Attendant Offered Nude Pics Of Himself, And Sex, To Passenger
—>The first thing we thought when we read this article was, at least something is still free on an airplane! Unfortunately, in this case the passenger claims it was unrequested and wouldn't stop, and the flight attendant, who no longer works for JetBlue, has been arrested "on charges of 'obscene and indecent exposure' and 'for making sexual advances.'" He has yet to enter a plea. More »
The Video That Got A Grandmother Escorted Off JetBlue In Handcuffs
—>JetBlue really doesn't know when to leave well enough alone! Remember Marilyn Parver, the grandmother who was arrested for videotaping a fight between two other passengers, and then refusing to delete it? Well, it seems that after the whole thing had blown over — JetBlue had to go and send the woman a nasty email in which they accused her of being “argumentative, condescending and belligerent” and refusing to obey the instructions of crewmembers. Dumb! Now Parver has released the tape in question and we can't see anything wrong with what she did. The fight is one of those basic "I've been on a plane for a really long time with your out-of-control child and I'm having a nervous breakdown" altercations. Nothing cookies and hugs wouldn't fix! More »
Top 3 Most and Least "Fee Crazy" Airlines
—>Airline fees are a controversial topic these days, so we look a look at the fees that airlines were charging and picked the top 3 most and least "fee crazy" airlines. Avoiding fees is hard, so why not try to avoid the airlines that charge them instead?
More »
Woman Removes Bra To Get Through TSA
—>Nancy Kates's large underwire bra set off the metal detector in the Oakland, California airport. A TSA agent pulled her aside and patted her down, which set off Kates' personal privacy alarm. "I said, 'You can't do that.' She said, 'We have to pat you down.' I said, 'You can't treat me as a criminal for wearing a bra.'" Kates was given the option to "submit to a pat-down in a private room" or not fly. Instead, she took off her bra and passed through security just fine. Hooray for personal freedom! More »
If you're curious about JetBlue's new JFK...
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JetBlue Has Grandmother Arrested For Refusing To Delete An Unflattering Video Recording
—>Marilyn Parver is taking her story to the media after JetBlue had her arrested and walked off the plane in handcuffs for refusing to delete a video recording she made of an altercation between passengers. She told Christopher Elliott that JetBlue accused her of interfering with a flight crew (a federal crime) and threatened to blacklist her by adding her name to the dreaded "no-fly list." More »
Morning Deals
Highlights From Dealhack:
The Ultimate "Rule 240" List
—>Some airlines still call it "Rule 240" and others a "contract of carriage" but no matter what the name, it still means the same thing: power to the traveler. But which airlines still use it and how much does it protect a traveler? More »
Scammed By Curb-Side Check In At JFK
—>Reader Andy decided to check his bag curb-side at JFK, that wretched hive of scum and villainy, and the curb-side check-in attendant scammed him out of $15 by promising to sneak his "overweight" bag onto the flight for a "big tip." Naturally, after the deal was done, Andy realized that his bag probably wasn't overweight and he'd just been scammed. Now he's writing in to tell his story so that other consumers can avoid a similar fate. More »
Updated: Whoa, That Airplane Is Really Close To Ours
—>Jon was freaked out when flying on Jetblue and his flight came in close proximity to another aircraft. He wonders if he should, and how he might, report such an incident. His story, and advice we got from an Air Force pilot, inside... More »
Oil! Airlines Issue Open Letter Asking You To Help Them Lobby Congress
—>In a letter signed by 12 CEOs, the US air travel industry has called upon you, their customers, to help them lobby congress. What's the problem that they need help solving? Oil speculation. Read the letter inside. More »
JetBlue Can't Decide If They Charged An Unaccompanied Minor Fee
—>JetBlue promised Catie's husband in March that the $798 fare charged to fly his children from Austin to Boston included the unaccompanied minor fee. But when Catie recently called to verify the reservation, she was told that her children wouldn't be allowed to board unless she paid an extra $200. More »
Help! JetBlue Let Me Get On The Wrong Plane!
—>All our lives we'd been walking around with the mistaken impression that when they scanned your boarding pass at the gate, they were making sure you were getting on the right plane. We assumed this for two reasons: 1) Because an airport isn't like a movie theater, where you can buy a ticket for a G-rated movie and go see "Killer Naked Women From Planet Sex And Violence." 2) To prevent people from accidentally ending up in New York when they were trying to get to Long Beach, CA. More »
Woman Punches JetBlue Flight Attendant In The Face For Not Letting Her Smoke
—>Once again we remind you not to drink too much at the airport before getting on your flight. We know airports are boring and sad and they make you want to kill the pain with copious amounts of gin. Don't do it — or you could end up punching a JetBlue flight attendant in the face. More »
Fliers Are Officially Fed Up With Crappy Airline Service
—>You may be thinking to yourself, "Congratulations, you've written the world's most obvious headline!" And you'd be right, but according to J.D. Power and associates there could be something of a sea change going on in the universe of airline complaints. It seems that crappy customer service may have reached a Gladwellian "tipping point" — more customers are choosing which airline to fly based on factors other than price. More »
CEOs Who Lost Their Jobs Talk About What Went Wrong
—>Fortune's new article "Lessons of the fall" is interesting and entertaining for two reasons. First, it humanizes brings a human face to the usually remote CEO, in this case the exes at Motorola, Starbucks, and Jet Blue. But more important if you're a wage slave who can admit to a little schadenfreude, it describes how each man was fired from his job. Former Starbucks CEO Jim Donald, who's in his fifties, says the hardest thing was letting his mother know: More »
JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight
—>Talk about crappy service! JetBlue is the number 1 and the number 2 airline! A man from NYC is suing JetBlue "for more than $2 million because he says a pilot made him give up his seat to a flight attendant and sit on the toilet for more than three hours on a flight from California," reports CBS News. We're not going to judge the airline too harshly until more of the story comes out, just in case it turns out to be another upset passenger overstating the situation—but if it's true, it's going to be hard for JetBlue to wipe this story from the public's memory for a while. Especially with all the joke opportunities. More »
JetBlue To Charge $20 For Second Checked Bag
—>JetBlue announced its first quarter results today and while things aren't as bleak as they are over at United Airlines, the discount carrier said that it was struggling under the weight of its fuel bill and was going to modify its baggage check policy in order to remain competitive with other airlines. More »
JetBlue To Charge For Extra Legroom
—>JetBlue announced yesterday that they'll be reconfiguring their Airbus A320 fleet to include several rows of seating with 38" of pitch. These "Even More Legroom" seats will be available to you—for a small fee. More »
Valentine's Day Ice Storm 2008? Everybody Panic!
—>Tomorrow is the anniversary of the Great Valentine's Day Air Travel Massacre—a storm that took down JetBlue's entire operation and ultimately their CEO, too. More »
Flying JetBlue? Prepare yourselves to become guinea pigs for Kraft's new low-fat cream cheese. [Marketplace] More »
JetBlue Now Selling Refundable, Pricier Tickets
—>Low-cost carrier JetBlue is now selling refundable fares, with a catch: they'll cost fifty to over a couple hundred bucks more. A nonrefundable adult ticket from Buffalo, NY to JFK on Valentine's Day, returning on Monday, will cost $69. Wanna upgrade to refundable? That'll be $299 total please. At that premium, the prospect of getting a refund hardly seems worth it for most travelers. For airfare nerds, the new fares will be designated class Y, fares previously designated Y will now be class E. The airline is promoting the refundable tickets by giving quadruple TrueBlue points for tickets bought before February 13. More »
Continental To Offer Free WiFi, Satellite TV For $6
—> Continental Airlines has announced that it will be offering Wi-Fi and satellite TV in some of its planes, thanks to a partner ship with LiveTV (owned by JetBlue.) More »
JetBlue Flight Attendant Takes Revenge On Passenger Who Asked Her To Stop Speaking Loudly
—>A JetBlue flight attendant threw a hissy fit when a passenger failed to return her jammed seat to the upright and locked position. The stewardess admitted that the seat's spring was broken, but still gave the passenger a "warning card" and had airport security meet the plane at the gate. Why? A fellow passenger explains, after the jump. More »
Unruly Passenger Forces JetBlue Flight To Make Unscheduled Landing
—>An unidentified passenger is being questioned by the Denver police department after his unruly behavior forced a JetBlue flight from New York to San Francisco to land at DIA. More »
Unexpected JetBlue vouchers cheer up the most jaded of frequent fliers. [Jaunted] More »
Lufthansa is buying a stake in JetBlue, says the New York Times. [NYT] More »
Some airlines, including JetBlue, Delta and Continental are waiving change fees due to a nasty storm in the northeast. [Newsday] More »
JetBlue Testing Inflight Email
Bad News: You can only use YahooMail and YahooMessenger, or your WiFi-enabled Blackberry.
More »
JetBlue Buys You Pizza While You're Fogged In At Portland International Airport
Hey. Flying to JFK from Portland tonight. The flight keeps getting pushed back and the flight tracker on the website is getting updated before the gate agents are. It's so foggy that it's difficult to see the ground below the terminal windows, so the situation is obviously out of the agents' hands. To compensate, they've set out several pizzas and bottled water for the waiting passengers. People seem pretty stoked. Might this be a new addition to their customer bill of rights?
Hey, that's nice! Good job, JetBlue.
More »
A Big List Of Airline and Airport "Tarmac Stranding" Policies
—>We've been looking over the Department of Transportation's spiffy new report about "tarmac strandings" (or "long on-board delays" as their now being called,) and have located some pretty interesting stuff. More »
Newspaper's Error Confuses, Angers JetBlue Customers
—>The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote an article about JetBlue's 1 year anniversary in Pittsburgh. In honor of that momentous occasion, JetBlue was offering a heck of a deal. TrueBlue members could "reserve a flight leaving Pittsburgh between June 26 and Nov. 15 and complete that reservation no later than June 30," and by doing so earn a free flight. More »
8 Airlines Raise Fares
—>Despite what may be the most frustrating summer ever for airline travelers, 8 airlines have decided to raise their fares. Why? Jet fuel prices are up 24% this year. More »
Remember that guy JetBlue and the TSA wouldn't let on a plane for wearing an Arabic shirt? He, joined with the ACLU, have just sued them for racial profiling. [Seattle Times] More »
Inside The Valentine's Day JetBlue Nightmare
For some reason, JFK stayed open even though no planes could take off in the ice storm. The back up got so bad that the controllers were literally yelling at the JetBlue pilots because the pilots had nowhere to park and were just sitting in the way of incoming planes. More »
JetBlue Pilot Refuses To Return To Gate, Fights To Keep Flight From Cancellation
—>"Hello, I've been seeing all these negative stories about airlines on your site, and I just thought I would share 1 positive one. Well, I have been flying jetblue since 2001, even before they had the TV's installed in their planes For years, I have taken jetblue only, but recently they have been pretty hit or miss, really disappointing. More »
JetBlue: 2 1/2 Hour Flight Takes 25 Hours
-hour flight from Fort Lauderdale to New York turned into a "25-hour odyssey" for 150 passengers.
More »
Continental and JetBlue Win Overall Satisfaction Awards From J.D. Power
—>Continental and JetBlue were the big winners in the annual J.D. Power North America Airline Satisfaction Study. The study asked 10,000 respondents to judge airlines on seven factors: cost and fees; flight crew; in-flight services; aircraft; boarding/deplaning/baggage; check-in and reservations. More »
The State Of The Passenger's Bill Of Rights
—>Time magazine has an article about the state of the passenger's bill of rights that is currently attached to the FAA authorization bill and is making its way through the Senate. More »
The 10 Worst Flights: Avoid These Regularly Scheduled Travel Nightmares
—>According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the following flights are the 10 worst flights in existence. They're regularly scheduled and they are late 92-100% of the time. Avoid them like you avoid drug-resistant TB. More »
Lightning Strike Causes JetBlue Flight To Arrive 20 Minutes Early
The JetBlue Airways Airbus A320 was heading from Rochester to John F. Kennedy International Airport when the lightning hit it, causing a smell similar to that of an electrical fire to enter the passenger cabin, company spokesman Bryan Baldwin said. There was no fire or smoke, he said.
Because it was potentially on fire, the flight got to skip ahead of other scheduled flights and arrived 20 minutes early. Hooray?
—MEGHANN MARCO More »
Midwest Airlines Has Good Customer Service
—>Midwest airlines has topped a Travel & Leisure magazine survey of airline customer service, according to MSN Money.
Midwest scored 75.64 in the 2007 World's Best Service readers' poll in the magazine's June issue. Readers evaluated airlines' customer service and in-flight service.
The runners-up were JetBlue, Hawaiian Airlines, Southwest, and Sun Country Airlines. Hooray for good customer service!
More »
Sorry Doesn't Cut It: JetBlue CEO Replaced Effective Immediately
—>Founder of JetBlue David "Mortified" Neeleman is no longer the CEO of his company, effective immediately. He'll continue on as "non-executive chairman," and play a "more strategic role." Whatever that means. More »
JetBlue Employees Charged In Credit Card Scam
—>Don't leave your credit card on the JetBlue counter at JFK! Four JetBlue employees and a city corrections officer are charged with stealing credit card numbers from JetBlue passengers, according to Newsday. The "JetBlue 5" as we've decided to call them, used the cards to go on a "spending spree" that included "restaurants, liquor stores, and shops including Bloomingdale's and Victoria's Secret." Naughty! More »
The Politics of Retail: How Money Spent on Consumer Goods And Services Ends Up As Campaign Contributions
—>When you buy a light bulb at Home Depot or a pair of pants at Walmart, you probably don't give much thought to the political leanings of said light bulb or said pants. Nevertheless, retail outlets, airlines, electronics manufactures, and record company executives do make campaign contributions, and when they do, we can look it up. More »
JetBlue: When Your Canceled Flight Is Not Actually Canceled
—>JetBlue, JetBlue, JetBlue. When you cancel a flight, should you be allowed to uncancel it? If you do uncancel it, shouldn't you tell your customers? Customers who may have left the airport when they saw that their flight was canceled? Grace Kim and her boyfriend had return tickets on JetBlue when their flight was canceled, forcing Kim to rebook on the next available flight 2 days later. When she heard JetBlue was offering vouchers to inconvenienced passengers she called and was told she qualified. Or did she? More »
Everyone Loves Southwest Airlines, Hates United And US Airways
—> The new Airline Quality Rating is out and Southwest airlines received the fewest complaints of any airline in 2006. United and US Airways both tied for the highest number of complaints. More »
Jet Blue Blues Continue, Even When You're On Continental
—>The bad thing about flying journalists to and fro is that when something goes wrong, they tend to amuse themselves by taking notes. Sadly, JetBlue does not yet have a policy prohibiting pens and paper from their flights. From the Boston Herald:
A passenger, talking loudly into his cellphone, says, "I went out of my way to fly JetBlue," he said, "and instead I'm on some Express Jet. It's a bait and switch." More »
BREAKING: JetBlue Cancels All NY Area Flights, Police Respond To Riotous Crowds
—>Police are responding to crowd disruptions in the Newark International Airport following JetBlue's announcement that it was canceling all flights in the New York Metro area. More »
JetBlue Canceled Twice As Many Flights Today As Anyone Else
—>Several airlines canceled flights today due to snow and ice in the northeast, with JetBlue canceling twice as many as the next guy. More »
JetBlue Getting Ass Kicked By Weather Today
—>A Winter Weather advisory seems to be kicking JetBlue's ass, still reeling from last month's flight cancellation debacle. More »
Above And Beyond: JetBlue Recap Edition
—>(Disclaimer: The author owns JetBlue stock.)
With JetBlue back in the air, we wanted to commend their ability to make the best of a horrible situation. Before we do, Mark Ashley pointed out several weaknesses in JetBlue's Bill of Rights that we must first address. More »
Point/Counterpoint: JetBlue's Apology Isn't Enough
—>Consumerist HQ responded positively to jetBlue's apologies earlier this week. Understandable: Airline CEO David "Mortified" Neeleman's words felt sincere, and it was good to hear him apologize for the unfortunate imprisonment of hundreds of people inside their airplanes for hours on end last week. It's tough to apologize, and they did it. Hats off. More »
JetBlue Announces Passenger Bill Of Rights
• Tripling the size of the group that schedules pilots and stewardesses
More »
JetBlue's CEO is "Mortified"
"We had so many people in the company who wanted to help who weren't trained to help," he said. "We had an emergency control center full of people who didn't know what to do. I had flight attendants sitting in hotel rooms for three days who couldn't get a hold of us. I had pilots e-mailing me saying, 'I'm available, what do I do?' "
More »
Arabic "I am Not a Terrorist" Tshirt
—>Now you too can bother Midwesterners and airport security, just like Raed Jaer, with your very own "I am not a terrorist" tshirt. More »
JetBlue Makes Passenger Change "Offensive" Arabic Tshirt
—>Haha, them reactionary mobs, worried that increased security measures will infringe constitutional rights. Ha ha ha, read this, motherfuckers. More »
The News is Too Short to Ride
• JetBlue, Continental, ranked a mile high above competition.
[LAT] "JetBlue Gets Top Ratings in Survey"
More »
JetBlu's Planes No Longer Delayed, Just Red
Gawker Media's Honorary-and-Most-Valuable-Unpaid-Employee, sent in this pic: More »
Southwest and the Airtravel Realities We're Ignoring
—>Steve reminds us why we love our readers by penning a nice and cogent op-ed on why "the current low fares are going to run one or two of the legacy carriers into liquidation." More »
Consumers Speak: jetBlue's Boston Boomerang
This is a special 'Consumers Speak,' as the consumer is us. We're currently sitting on a jetBlue flight at Logan Intl' in Boston. We arrived here at 4:00 for a 6:20 flight. More »
Morning Deals Round Up
• SlickDeals is reporting that the Sony DSC-S40 4.1-megapixel camera is going for a $100, in store only. Yes, that would be a good deal. More »
Consumerites Speak: jetBlue's New York -> Boston Route Snags
Reader Alexis offers this harrowing tale of jetBlue's new New York-to-Boston route:
Mechanical problems on Tuesday. So we had to wait until they had a free plane. Last night they didn't get the plane back from NY (might have been weather related). They handed out Dunkin' Donuts to make up for everything. Right. [That's actually pretty, well, not classy, but something. - Ed.] More »
