Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links below. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
Back in June, JetBlue announced that starting today, September 6th, it would allow customers purchasing its Blue Basic (Basic Economy) fares the ability to bring on a carry-on bag at no charge. This goes against everything that has come to be expected with Basic Economy fares and makes these discounted tickets more appealing to passengers.
JetBlue’s Basic Blue fares come with restrictions and no frills. These include:
- No changes allowed
- $100-$200 cancellation fees
- No same-day flight changes allowed
- Seats are at an additional fee
- Boarding is in the final group
- 1x TrueBlue points are earned versus 3x on other fares
In addition to the above, only a personal item was allowed until today.
Marty St. George, President of JetBlue, said:
Carry-on bags are an important part of travel to customers, and when presented with a choice between JetBlue’s award-winning service and another carrier’s basic offering, we want JetBlue to be the easy winner. We’re always looking for ways to evolve our offering in response to customer preferences. This is a win-win as we improve the customer experience and keep JetBlue competitive in our industry.
As flying becomes cheaper and more accessible for a spectrum of customers, a one-size-fits-all offering no longer works. Whether a customer prefers more included benefits, or they shop solely on price, our fare options coupled with our great onboard service, makes JetBlue the best choice. No matter what fare a customer prefers, we provide clear and transparent information on what that selection includes.”
JetBlue has struggled over the past few years. This will allow it a competitive advantage over some of the legacy and low-cost carriers cheapest airfares. With this change, United Airlines’ Basic Economy is now the most restrictive as Delta and American have also made changes and exceptions to some of their most punitive policies.
Anthony’s Take: This is a smart move by JetBlue and one that will garner attention from its most price-sensitive customers. With all of the recent changes to Southwest (more here), Spirit (more here), and Frontier (more here), we’ll have to see how JetBlue further differentiates its offering.
(Image Credits: JetBlue Airways.)
User Generated Content Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat encourages constructive discussions, comments, and questions. Responses are not provided by or commissioned by any bank advertisers. These responses have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the responsibility of the bank advertiser to respond to comments.
Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
