Comments

1. laserjobs says:
   February 6, 2008 at 2:06 am

   Sure, why not. They are already advertising credit card offers. Try running an airline not an advertising pod.
2. MikeB says:
   February 6, 2008 at 2:07 am

   I think this is a good idea. Especially since they are giving away the food on flights that do not offer meals.

   “…handing out samples on a flight that offers no meals is a low-cost way to get people to try a new product.”
3. Erasmus Darwin says:
   February 6, 2008 at 2:55 am

   Assuming that they’re willing to accept a “no thanks” (which I can’t imagine they wouldn’t), I really don’t see the issue. Many passengers have nothing better to do (making this much more tolerable that the mall survey bullshit), and free food is free food. At the very least, this is better than the Sky Mall “magazine” — that’s a bunch of crappy marketing with no free food attached.
4. FrankTheTank says:
   February 6, 2008 at 2:59 am

   I don’t understand why more companies don’t do stuff like this. (as long as they keep it unobtrusive…)

   **People are hungry on planes, they are likely to enjoy most anything they get (especially the processed stuff with sugar and carbs).
   **It should be great “word of mouth” as people always ask “How was the trip?”. This would give them an opportunity to say “It was good, and I got to try this new cream cheese from Kraft”
   **The airlines would jump all over a cost-saving plan like this.
   **And people like free stuff (thus creating a nice “branding” moment).

   I’m shocked that they don’t do more of it, and I’d be shocked if we don’t see more of it over the next couple of years.
5. PotKettleBlack says:
   February 6, 2008 at 3:09 am

   @FrankTheTank: A low fat cream cheese is going to be inherently high(er) in carbs than a full fat cream cheese. Fat comes out, something must replace it.

   1 cup full fat cream cheese: [www.nutritiondata.com]
   6g carbs

   1 cup low fat cream cheese:
   [www.nutritiondata.com]
   17g carbs

   1 ounce fat free cream cheese: [www.nutritiondata.com]
   2g carbs (this is one ounce of weight, not volume… it’s very carby, for a cheese)

   Other than that, it’s nice. And, if done properly, should give Jet Blue a price edge, since their margin per flight would increase. Either a price edge or a profit edge. Either way, good reasons to buy stock.
6. chiieddy says:
   February 6, 2008 at 3:20 am

   @PotKettleBlack: Don’t forget the sodium trade-off on low fat products as well. Often the low-fat trade-off isn’t worth the product.

   In actuality cheeses seem to be the one food where the trade-off isn’t too bad.
7. magic8ball says:
   February 6, 2008 at 4:04 am

   Can I pay extra to get real cream cheese instead?
8. PotKettleBlack says:
   February 6, 2008 at 4:43 pm

   @chiieddy: Depends on what you’re looking for. I’m losing weight with something like Protein Power, low fat cheese is a terrible trade off.
   (Full disclosure, I’ve lost 55 lbs and counting with Protein Power)