Comments on: JetBlue Won’t Let You Use Credits Online

By: Kate

Kate — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 02:12:57 +0000

Gotta credit? Gotta call. Might be ok, but then they shouldn’t charge the 10 bucks. I mean, come on!

Also note, to comment here we have to input our email address..I hope you don’t spam me, or I’ll have to forward it to random airline industry blog emails.

By: ptahcha

ptahcha — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:08:27 +0000

Virgin America is doing the same. Got a credit? Gotta call. No online options available.

By: Brian Lusk

Brian Lusk — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:52:27 +0000

DRG
Exactly, however you took Southwest to task for that very reason: “…it didn’t make as much sense to do things the way EVERYBODY else does them today because of the added sales and marketing advantages that come from having online profiles on your customers.” In that respect, both airlines should be alike in that they can be different. I never said anything negative about JetBlue, I only pointed out how we are different.
Brian

By: DRG

DRG — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:21:56 +0000

JetBlue isn’t Southwest and never will be. No airline should be expected to do everything in such a way that it will please everybody. JetBlue’s expectation that its passengers have a profile to use flight credits seems reasonable. I’m trying to use some flight credits on Air Canada at this very moment and I am having to call reservations to do it. AC being fairly far along when it comes to technology usually, I suspect there are other North American carriers where you can’t even use flight credits online.

By: Brian Lusk

Brian Lusk — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:33:24 +0000

DRG,
we do have profiles, but they aren’t required for booking. One of our big marketing differences and the subject of several recent threads on FlyerTalk is the lack of a change fee and the ease of changing your flights. It is far from a handfull doing this. While I don’t have solid numbers, I know that because of our high frequency in shorthaul business markets, up to half of a plane may have changed their plans because of meetings running short or running long. Granted most of these folks are Rapid Rewards Members, but it is so easy for them to make the change under the same PNR as long as the record is still active. I admit that I had to laugh at your comment becuase SWA has always done stuff differently than the other guys.
Brian

By: AN

AN — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:30:47 +0000

As a United 1K flyer for three years who just moved, switched jobs, and isn’t flying so much these days, I’d much rather be treated nicely by JB employees and cope with this minor issue than be treated like poo by UAL employees, even as an “elite” customer – and still face the stupidity of all these arcane rules.

By: DRG

DRG — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:29:50 +0000

“As Brian said, Southwest has been doing it with a record locator for 12 years without significant security issues. So if they can do it, so can JetBlue.”

If Southwest developed its system 12 years ago, then it developed it in the infancy of business on the Web in a time period when it didn’t make as much sense to do things the way EVERYBODY else does them today because of the added sales and marketing advantages that come from having online profiles on your customers. I would be surprised if Southwest’s approach didn’t change.

The advantages to the business of having passenger profiles far outweigh having a hand full of passengers annoyed at not being able to use their credits in the exact way they’d like.

By: Dawn

Dawn — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 04:54:17 +0000

CF JetBlue doesn’t do paper vouchers. It is all electronic.

By: CF

CF — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 03:16:09 +0000

I’m not sure that they even do paper credit vouchers, do they?

By: Andy

Andy — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 02:31:43 +0000

So why wouldn’t they give you a voucher when issuing you credit?