First of all I want to say that I know my story is nothing compared to the people who were stranded on the tarmac for hours as Jet Blue’s hostages. It doesn’t even compare to the bizarre stories of the man who was locked in a bathroom for his flight or the woman who was taken into custody because she refused to delete a video she took while on a Jet Blue flight. Seriously, who does Jet Blue think they are? Apparently it is alright for corporations to strip us of our rights.
That being said, what happened to me should not happen to anyone who has paid for a service. In this case I paid for the service three times:
1. When I purchased my tickets from Jet Blue.
2. When I had to purchase over-priced tickets from Delta when my Jet Blue flight was canceled.
3. When I paid my taxes because of government bailouts for the airline industry.
My spouse and I were booked on flight 217 departing August 15, 2008 from JFK to LGB (that’s from
This just wasn’t true.
After I paid for tickets on another airline (Delta, and it was outrageously expensive because we had to book the tickets the day before due to Jet Blue’s incompetence) I checked to see if there were any flights with vacancies through Jet Blue. There were multi-stop flights available to LGB and flights to
They filled up quickly but they were available and Jet Blue didn’t bother to even try to book us on one of these flights.
You see if we had been booked on one of these flights we wouldn’t have given them any extra money because they would have been making up for a flight they canceled whereas someone else who booked one of those flights would have to pay Jet Blue’s inflated last minute flight rate. Why would they want to get us onto any of those flights when they could charge someone else hundreds of extra dollars for the same flight?
Below is a copy of the correspondence between Jet Blue and I.
I have registered the domain name jetbluesucks.net. I will post this and any other information I receive from them once I figure out how to do so. I am technically backwards when it comes to web site design.
I remember how much I loved to fly on Jet Blue. They treated you as if you were a human being and there was a reasonable amount of leg room. Those days are over. I hoped that after the Valentine’s Day fiasco they might clean up their act but instead they have gotten progressively worse. Aren’t there any decent airlines out there?
I’ve noticed that many blogs about Jet Blue have strongly worded responses that are obviously posted by people who either work for Jet Blue or the airline industry. They always make the consumer seem unreasonable for expecting to get what they pay for and be treated decently in the process. Wonder if any of this propaganda will show up here?
I sent this via the comment section on their website on the day the flight
was canceled, August 15, 2008: The response you give will help me decide whether or not I will ever fly jetBlue again. I am extremely
upset because my flight from JFK to LGB was canceled on August 15, 2008. In fact, you canceled
not one but two completely booked flights on this day. I would like to know why - and don't tell me it
was because of the weather. I live a few miles from JFK and there weren't any storms to speak of
until after our flight was supposed to leave. Furthermore you did not cancel flights leaving from JFK
going to either BUR or ONT so it couldn't be because of the weather. I would also like to register
my disgust at the way we were handled when we called to find an alternative flight or receive a
refund. We were told that all of the flights were booked on both Saturday and Sunday. Which was
both true and false. There were a couple of flights with connections that had spaces. We should
have been offered one of those. There were also flights with open seats that flew into BUR. It
didn't occur to us at the time to fly into Burbank
were going to miss my husband's family reunion due to your error. However it should have occurred
to your customer service representative to offer us the option of flying into another airport in
Southern California . Can you give a reasonable response as to why we were not offered this
option? The attitude was also too-bad-so-sad-for-you instead of wanting to help us solve the
problem and get us to our destination. And, while you are offering acceptable responses, can you
offer one for the fact that a supervisor and a 5-10 business day wait were required in order to have
a credit processed? We are flying out today on Delta. Because we booked at the last possible
minute it is extremely expensive and my husband was flagged for a security check. You have
caused us a great deal of inconvenience and pain (due to missing the family reunion.) Give me
a reason to return to jetBlue. Give me a reason not to go on rating websites to tell my story and
strongly discourage people from flying jetBlue. I was a happy and loyal customer. Give me a reason
to at least remain loyal. This was their response. Sent on August 22, 2008. I love how long it
took them to respond: Dear Ms. ************, Thank you for contacting JetBlue Airways regarding your recently cancelled JetBlue flight on
August 15, 2008 to Long Beach Airport (LGB). We appreciate your time spent writing and we
sincerely apologize for the delay in response. Due to the volume of JetBlue flights originating at New York John F. Kennedy International Airport
(JFK) and the size of our operation, at times it does become necessary to cancel flights. On
August 15, due to residual weather, Air Traffic Control, ground delay programs, and forecasted
showers for the eastern portion of New York and New England areas, unfortunately we did
experience some system wide cancellations. We are sincerely sorry for the inconvenience and
frustration that this has caused you. Multiple factors do go into making the decisions as to which
flights are cancelled and we are not privy to this information. We do recognize how disappointed you are with our customer service and we apologize for the
way that your call was handled when you called seeking a resolution to your situation. We deeply
regret that you were not offered connecting flights or possible nearby destinations such as Burbank
and we will forward your remarks to our Leadership Team for review and training purposes. One
would expect to be offered options as well as excellent customer service and we apologize that
your experience fell short of your expectations. We appreciate your bringing this to our attention
as we take our feedback from our customers very seriously. As a gesture of our apology to you, we have issued you an electronic voucher. Your electronic
air-only vouchers are valid for one year from the date they were issued. They will be connected to
your original reservation number as a credit and may be used either online, or by calling
1-800-JETBLUE (538-2583) with your confirmation number. JetBlue travel vouchers must be
used by the person to whom they were issued and are not transferable. Confirmation number: ******
Voucher amount: $100
Voucher information:
CGW My name
CGW My spouse’s name
Expiration Date: August 22, 2009 Vouchers may now be redeemed online by entering your voucher code and number on the payment
screen, near the end of the online booking process. If the amount of your voucher exceeds your
total fare, please call 1-800-JETBLUE (538-2583) so that we may reissue the remaining voucher
balance. Thank you for your business and for this occasion to be of service to you. We will hope that you
will consider choosing JetBlue as your future choice for air travel. We will strive to deliver to you the
excellent customer service that you expect to receive from JetBlue. Kind regards, AnnieCustomer Commitment Crew
JetBlue AirwaysCrewmember 25487 Their response was polite but canned and I was annoyed because I
didn’t feel that they had addressed all of the issues. It also bothered me
that she brought up the weather when I’d already said that I knew they
would say it was because of weather issues but knew this to be false as
I live close to the airport. I sent them this in response on August 25,
2008. Right after I arrived home from my vacation: I also haven't been refunded for the full amount of my ticket. I find your explanation insufficient, and frankly a little insulting. How simple do you think I am? I know many factors go into the cancellation of a flight and I hardly need to be reminded of this. You offered me no new information regarding the cancellation especially given the fact that you
continued sending flights out of JFK on that day and other airlines continued to send flights out that
day. If JFK is too busy to accommodate all of the flights then DON'T SCHEDULE AS MANY FLIGHTS. Canceling flights should not be an option unless extreme weather or a natural disaster dictate that
it happen. You cannot make up for the fact that we missed a family reunion or that in order to make our other
reservations and appointments we had to shell out $2600 for plane fare on another carrier. You
also cannot make up for the fact that, due to the last second ticket purchase, my husband was
flagged for extra security and had to endure the indignity of having his civil rights violated in front of
an audience as he was searched and swabbed in front of the other people in the security line. Here is their response. It has ceased to be polite, and that isn't my name.
I also find it interesting that she conveniently forgets that they didn’t
offer us an “accommodation on the next available JetBlue flight” and
that now they feel it is a TSA issue rather than their responsibility.
My favorite part is the travel insurance.
Why didn’t they just send me a picture of someone flipping me off?
Received on August 25, 2008: Dear Ms. Cole, Thank you for contacting JetBlue Airways regarding my response to your email. I apologize that
you find my response insulting. I have provided you with the facts that are available and we are not
responsible to offer you any compensation for a cancelled other than a refund or accommodation
on the next available JetBlue flight to your destination. The TSA issue is between the TSA and
you and I will provide you with the link below. https://contact.tsa.dhs.gov/DynaForm.aspx?FormID=10 We apologize but due to the compensation that you were issued as a goodwill gesture, we can
only suggest that you secure travel insurance in the future. We hope that you will consider choosing
JetBlue in the future and we appreciate your time spent writing. Regards, Annie
Customer Commitment Crew
JetBlue Airways
Crewmember 25487 This was my response. I haven’t heard from them since.
It is now October. Sent on August 27, 2008: Wow. I didn't think it was possible for you to make the situation worse but you did.
Your response completely disregards JetBlue's responsibility and the content of my email. I was pretty severely irritated before but now I am downright angry. If this is how JetBlue thinks it is appropriate to treat its customers then I can't imagine that I will fly JetBlue again - although I still hope that something will happen to change my mine.
Your airline used to know what customer service meant and how to treat their passengers with respect and dignity. I see that those days are over. This issue is not between the TSA and I, it is between me and JetBlue. You did not even address any of the problems which I brought up in my email let alone give me a reasonable response. Your reply is dismissive. Telling me to "purchase travel insurance" is a euphemism for telling me that your company does not care and is not interested in my business. It also does NOTHING to make up for the fact that JetBlue's incompetence caused us to miss a family reunion or my spouse to be publicly humiliated. I assume your indifferent and flippant response stems from the fact that you assume I am after financial compensation; this could not be further from the truth. I sought to have someone listen to my issues, take them seriously, reply to them honestly, and show me that JetBlue cares about their customers, including me. Instead I have seen that JetBlue thinks it can stay in business no matter how badly it treats passengers.
Expect to see all of my emails to JetBlue along with your responses online alongside all of the other emails and responses I have already seen online from once-pleased-but-now-disgruntled customers who actually believed that we deserved to be treated with a minimal amount of decency.
The voucher with which you provided us is not a courtesy, a goodwill gesture, or a perk. It is something to which all of your customers are entitled per the JetBlue customer bill of rights as quoted from jetblue.com: "All customers whose flight is cancelled by JetBlue will, at the customer’s option, receive a full refund or reaccommodation on the next available JetBlue flight at no additional charge or fare. If JetBlue cancels a flight within 4 hours of scheduled departure and the cancellation is due to a Controllable Irregularity, JetBlue will also provide the customer with a $50 Voucher good for future travel on JetBlue."
Furthermore, I would like to add that I had already booked my flight home on JetBlue before this mess. I was shocked by the numerous additional fees, such as the two dollars for curbside luggage check-in; the decline in the quality of in-flight service, only one beverage service across country when there had been two; the plane itself looked rather shabby and in need of repairs on the inside, my headphone jack only worked sporadically; the bathrooms were foul; and it took over an hour for me to get my luggage after we landed. Perhaps JetBlue should stop spending its money on building a new terminal at JFK and begin putting their money back into keeping their customers satisfied by providing well-staffed flights at reasonable prices. When JetBlue did this they made money - when they stopped they began to run in the red.
