JetBlue Customer Bill of Rights Put to First Test

[Matt Molnar]

There's a nasty winter storm hitting the midwest with snow, ice and high winds today and tomorrow, and set to arrive here in the northeast Sunday night continuing through Monday. Just received this press release from JetBlue's PR dept:

JetBlue Customers Booked for Travel To/From Cities
Affected by Winter Storm May Rebook Without Fare Difference or Change Fee

NEW YORK, Feb. 24, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- JetBlue is waiving change
fees and fare differences for customers booked to/from or through the
following cities due to winter storm warnings and inclement weather:

For customers booked today, Feb. 24, to/from Chicago/O'Hare:

JetBlue has cancelled flights to/from Chicago/O'Hare due to inclement
weather. Customers booked for travel today may rebook without change
fee or fare difference through Thursday, March 1. Customers are asked
to call JetBlue at 1-800-JETBLUE (1-800-538-2583) to rebook.
Alternatively, customers may cancel their flight and receive a credit
in the full amount of the fare paid to be used toward the purchase of
future JetBlue travel, or may opt to receive a full refund to the
original form of payment.

For customers booked Monday, Feb. 26 to/from the following cities,
customers may rebook anytime between Sunday, Feb. 25 and Thursday,
March 1 without change fee or fare difference.

Boston, MA

Chicago/O'Hare

Columbus, OH

Newark, NJ

New York/LaGuardia

New York/JFK

Pittsburgh, PA

Washington, D.C./Dulles

Customers are asked to call JetBlue at 1-800-JETBLUE (1-800-538-2583)
to rebook their travel.

Under key provisions of the JetBlue Customer Bill of Rights, JetBlue
customers who experience ground delays for any reason can expect the
following compensation:

Ground Delays upon Arrivals:

* Customers who experience a Ground Delay on Arrival for 30-60 minutes
are entitled to a $25 Voucher good for future travel on JetBlue.

* Customers who experience a Ground Delay on Arrival for 1-2 hours are
entitled to a $100 Voucher good for future travel on JetBlue.

* Customers who experience a Ground Delay on Arrival for 2-3 hours are
entitled to a Voucher good for future travel on JetBlue in the amount
paid by the customer for the oneway trip.

* Customers who experience a Ground Delay on Arrival for more than 3
hours are entitled to a Voucher good for future travel on JetBlue in
the amount paid by the customer for the roundtrip.

Ground Delays on Departures:

* Customers who experience a Ground Delay on Departure for 3-4 hours
are entitled to a $100 Voucher good for future travel on JetBlue.

* Customers who experience a Ground Delay on Departure for more than 4
hours are entitled to a Voucher good for future travel on JetBlue in
the amount paid by the customer for the roundtrip.

[cancidas]

wonder how much cash they'll loose doing this...

[Matt Molnar]

These vouchers don't really cost them anything until they're redeemed, which might be never. When they are redeemed it simply lowers the margin on the fare but doesn't cost them any actual cash. Win-win!

[Alex T]

Watch these Vouchers have major restrictions, if they do not, I will be very surprised.

Alex

[lijk604]

These vouchers don't really cost them anything until they're redeemed, which might be never. When they are redeemed it simply lowers the margin on the fare but doesn't cost them any actual cash. Win-win!

Doesnt cost any cash if redeemed??? Uh, what about the fare that was lost by the person taking that seat? If it's on one of their heavy load factor routes and you know have a "freebie" sitting in the seat of someone who would have paid, it DOES cost you money.

[T-Bird76]

Matt makes a good point though. I bet most of these customers don't use them. Its like a mail in rebate so many people forget to send them in.

[Matt Molnar]

Doesnt cost any cash if redeemed??? Uh, what about the fare that was lost by the person taking that seat? If it's on one of their heavy load factor routes and you know have a "freebie" sitting in the seat of someone who would have paid, it DOES cost you money.

The vouchers are really a marketing expense. Giving out a voucher for future travel increases the likelihood that a person displeased with your product will give you another chance. Most of the vouchers will be of the $25 and $100 variety. You can't get very far with $25 or $100 on jetBlue, so they're still going to be taking in some cash from a person who might not have been giving them anything had they not been given the financial incentive to do so. So the "loss" on the voucher is really negligible. They might take a loss on those few individual fares but it's really more of an investment in growing a regaining the trust of someone who could be come a frequent traveler.

That said, if I were ever stuck on a plane on the ground for 11 hours, there is absolutely nothing jetBlue could give me that would make me feel better about it.

[Midnight Mike]

Watch these Vouchers have major restrictions, if they do not, I will be very surprised.

Alex

A friend of mine received one last year, when her flight was cancelled, there were no restrictions....

[FlyingColors]

An absurd amount of cancellations of flights for this "storm"

Whats going to happen if we get a foot of snow? Call it a full blown Act of God catastrophe?! Suspend service until spring?