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.
What's the inevitable catch?
...Ray Neidl, an independent airline analyst, said it's "not quite as crazy as it sounds on the surface."
He said that JetBlue has a limited number of routes and often has fares of $99. So, while the San Francisco example above makes it sound like a great deal, Neidl said, some passengers might need to make six trips to make it worthwhile.
"There are not a lot of people who can travel that much," he said. "It's students or retirees."
By September, of course, students are back in school, so they aren't ideal candidates for this promotion. You just know that someone is going to find a way to fly to all of the cities JetBlue serves using the pass during the promotion month, and write a blog about it.
Ridiculously Cheap Travel Deals: JetBlue Offers Unlimited Flights for $599 [ABC News]
All-You-Can-Jet Pass [JetBlue]
(Photo: mrkathika)
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Comments:
"You just know that someone is going to find a way to fly to all of the cities JetBlue serves using the pass during the promotion month, and write a blog about it."
Well, NOW...
Weekend commuters - folks who work in L.A. but live in New York and go back for weekends. Of course if they are already doing this, they can afford a lot more :)
meh, at first I thought this was for a year, not a month. Doesn't really seem like a great deal unless you are the business executive type that has to fly all over the country but yet their company doesn't have their own jet.
I'll pass...
Great deal for people who make their living in multiple cities. Freelance designers, photographers, models, stylists, etc...
Hell, anyone who likes traveling... $600 for the year, to go whenever, wherever (well, limited to JetBlue's services)... I'm tempted myself, honestly.
And clearly I'm blind. I thought this was for a year, not just for a month.
Drats.
I'd be all over this if I didn't have an overseas trip that takes up half of September. Not a bad deal; seems there are not a million restrictions in place.
I'm glad to see something like this.. maybe other carriers will come up with a similar idea?
...Nah.
Hawaii air used to offer an "island hopper" pass for a similar price. It was an awesome way to work multiple islands into your vacation.
I'm trying to calculate how much time I spent actually flying the last time I flew (my honeymoon). I think we spent about 12 hours in airports or on the tarmac, 9 hours in a hotel because the airline made us miss our connecting flight, and about an actual 4.5 hours of total round trip flight time.
20 hours to achieve 4.5 hours of flying doesn't appeal to me.
To change or cancel All-You-Can-Jet Pass travel:
* Greater than three (3) days before a flight: $0 change/cancellation fees
* Less than three (3) days before a flight: JetBlue's standard change/cancel fees apply
In the case of a no-show, the customer's pass will be placed on hold, any reserved pass flights will be canceled, and no new flight segments wil be able to be booked until the customer pays a $100 no-show penalty.
Bah, screw blogging about it, I wanna see someone take unemployment money, and fly as close to non-stop for the whole month. Subsisting only on in-flight meals, and turning right around and hopping on the next plane out of whatever airport they just landed in.
That. Would. Rock.
Nie Deal
Looking more at this... small print at the bottom:
"Travel is subject to availability and seats may not be available on all flights"
Curious how strict the capacity controls are. Possibility that only like three seats are available for pass users on each flight?
@drgmobile: How do you consider yourself "living" somewhere if you're only there 2-3 days a week? Tax wise, is would NY be their residence?
@Crenshaw13: And while on the plane, they have to cook single item in "Mastering the Art of French Cooking."
@DarkKnightShyamalan: ...every *single* item in "Mastering the Art of French Cooking."
Kind of undid the zingerness of that one with the correction. Oh, well.
You guys completely missed the biggest catch:
$599 DOES NOT include taxes, which are calculated for EACH FLIGHT.
Taxes on flights to just about any of JetBlue's several Caribbean destinations can easily run $80-$100 round trip.
Air Canada has offered similar things in the past, though with more restrictions on dates. Worked out very well for me -- I used it to commute from Toronto to New York for improv and writing classes on weekends. WAY cheaper than staying down for week-long intensive courses and paying for a New York hotel room. (And there's something kinda neat about getting up on a Saturday, flying to another country, doing improv for 7 hours, and flying back -- with only your purse. Customs agents were entertained.)
Point is, there are a lot of creative ways to put a pass like this to use.
@nycaviation: Sorry, I meant to say each way, not round trip, and my high end was too low. Taxes can reach $127.60 each way, according to jetBlue. After a few flights your $600 pass can easily cost over $1000.
This is a brilliant idea, if the JetBlue CS is top-notch. A bad experience will make people regret the purchase, but if each flight (2-3) taken in the month is relatively enjoyable, they've probably broken the Kayakism and actually garnered some brand loyalty.
If I pay a little more can I get them to stop the plane in Atlanta?
@nycaviation: You fail.
Actually -
* Domestic taxes and fees included
* International and Puerto Rico taxes and fees not included
Still a good deal in my book. Highly tempted to take the month off and go visit friends around the U.S., maybe a few nights at one of the out-of-country destinations
They will stop the plane in Atlanta, but getting it to leave again is a different story (from my experience).
@SexCpotatoes:
My co-workers were discussing the same thing.
You could try for a red-eye that includes a meal which you could save, then eat for breakfast when you arrive, hang out in whatever city you are in until mid-day, catch a flight somewhere for lunch
Charge mobile devices at each airport, watch tv on flights ... seems almost tolerable and a hell of a lot cheaper than my living expenses for a month
@arsonisfun: Oops, you're right.
By the way, not saying it's not a good deal, but people just need to know what they're getting into. That might be why they're making people call to purchase these passes rather than selling them online.
If they flew out of DCA, I would take them up on it. No way I'm shuttling out to IAD for weekend flights. Otherwise it would be pretty awesome.
@Neophiliack: Home is where the heart is. If your work takes you out to another state most of the time, but the spouse and kids are back in New York, you're probably likely to say you live in New York, but you don't get to spend much time at home.
@Crenshaw13: I doubt it's doable. JetBlue says it serves 57 cities, and the conditions of this offer say you may only fly to/from a city a maximum of once per day ("one flight per city per day"). So unless you're moving between cities by car or something, highly unlikely you can cover 57 cities in a month.
@HRHKingFridayXX: That's kinda why I held off. Since it's IAD, I'd need to find a friend that wouldn't mind dropping me off all the time or pay 10+ bucks a day to park in economy or spend more for the garage.
$599 out of DCA would have been sweet. I can get to a Metro station easily.
@Saboth:
sounds like you had bad luck. Normally, flights go fine. Are you saying you're going to drive across the country instead because of that one experience?
This would be awesome to do a baseball park tour. too bad i have a job.
@s25843: How much does that cost?
I don't know.. I'm not sure if it's the transportation issue or just the airport in general. Dulles.. you have to take that those 1940s people movers to the concourse and such and air/take off traffic is sometimes much worse than DCA. DCA is just so much easier.
@Wuhao: @arsonisfun:
As someone currently on unemployment, there are rules about traveling out of state for more than 4 consecutive days. I suppose you could just go back home (wherever that is) every fourth flight...
@ZeGoggles: no, probably you just have to declare your intention to use the pass for a specific flight before the flight sells out and there's some penalty if you welsh.
I wonder..if you miss a connecting flight does that count as a failure to show up and incur the fine?
I'm tempted to do this and go visit my family on the weekends.
A single month, what a joke.
@wcnghj: I think he means the ones with huge tires that are ridiculously outdated, break down A LOT, and only depart for the main terminal like once every three hours on days whose names end in Q in months whose names end in L.
@NickWV: Yeah, I think people are overlooking the fact that this is for one month only. I can't imagine who'd want to be traveling around the country enough to recoup the expense of this pass during the month of September.
JetBlue does have fares for $99, but honestly, try flying round trip to anywhere from JFK and most of the time, you won't get $99 fares each way. Flights back into JFK are significantly more expensive and can go up to $300+ on weekends or busy weekdays, so this pass is definitely a good deal.
This would actually be a good deal for a business/commuter traveler - I could have used it when I was commuting to Orange County by plane twice a week.