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JETBLUE AT 13: STILL A COOL WAY TO FLY
By Chris Barnett
May 23, 2013 -- It's hard to believe that JetBlue Airways is 13 years old. It seems like only yesterday when it started coddling budget-conscious vacation travelers with luxuries and conveniences the legacy carriers never dreamed of giving away, especially in coach.

All-coach JetBlue was the first to install a video screen at each seat and give flyers dozens of channels of free, live television and free satellite radio. There were baskets of trendy, quasi-healthy snacks. And, mamma mia, leather seats that, after reconfigurations in 2003 and 2006, offered 34 inches of standard legroom.

What's more, discount fares were really discounted in those days. As low as $39 one-way for short hauls on new routes that JetBlue launched and $99 for transcon flights. JetBlue founder David Neeleman was the first airline boss to regularly waive ticket-change fees when foul weather disrupted flights. Best of all perhaps, JetBlue's fare structure was built on one-way prices and there were no Saturday-night or minimum-stay restrictions.

For some reason, though, I hadn't flown JetBlue in years. Strange because it had won me over from the start with its stretched-out seats and personalized TV that allowed me to watch Law and Order and Letterman on the same flight. And still have enough space to work comfortably on my laptop.

I rectified the oversight recently when I had to do a San Francisco-Boston roundtrip over a long weekend. It certainly didn't hurt that I was able to score a $345 all-in roundtrip, nonstop fare at JetBlue.com. And I was able to reserve aisle seats, too!

My 8 a.m. San Francisco departure didn't start off encouragingly, however. I couldn't check in online. Even an apologetic JetBlue telephone agent couldn't make it happen, so I hightailed it to the airport just in case there was a delay or cancellation. There was neither.

At SFO, JetBlue is located in the cavernous International Terminal. Only two check-in agents were working before dawn and one was a sourpuss. But I lucked out: The friendly face checked me in quickly and smoothly. Only then did I remember that JetBlue doesn't charge for the first checked bag, a generous consideration it does not seem to tout as much as it should given the pay-for-every-bag policy of the legacy carriers.

I didn't think JetBlue had made many changes since my last fight. Same blue-and-white livery. Same Airbus A320s. But once aboard, there were clearly differences. The most noticeable: a premium service called Even More Space with a 38 inches of legroom, priority boarding and use of an expedited TSA security lane that otherwise costs $10 if purchased separately. An upgrade to the roomier seats would have cost me $66 for the transcon flight.

Other changes from JetBlue's earliest days as a discount darling: an expanded entertainment console with 36 channels of free live TV plus three movies at $5 each. The $2 earphones are still flimsy. Even the airline reminds you to bring your own set for better sound. Sandwiches and fancier snacks are now for sale to supplement the free snacks and soft drinks.

JetBlue has made other in-flight improvements since the last time I flew it. The most obvious was the caliber of the flight attendants. The six attendants that worked my two flights were all seasoned pros: genuinely personable, attentive but unobtrusive. Several times, I asked for milk and coffee when the rolling cart had been put away and my request was answered without a trace of attitude.

But JetBlue misses the boat in a couple of key areas. Virgin America has power ports at every seat. JetBlue only had them at its Even More Space seats on the Airbus A320s. JetBlue doesn't have in-flight WiFi yet, either. Still, the extra legroom and the entertainment console with a clear, strong sound system more than make up for it. (One note: JetBlue's fleet of EMB-190s offers less roomy coach seating, although even on the 190s there's more legroom at a standard JetBlue seat than on the legacy-carrier configurations of the same aircraft.)

In the beginning, JetBlue didn't attract too many business travelers, mainly because of the skew of its route network: flights into Florida and the Caribbean where it grabbed market share from higher priced legacy airlines. The TrueBlue frequent flyer program wasn't attractive, either.

That has changed, too. The TrueBlue program now has an elite level called Mosaic. Reflecting founder Neeleman's anti-status mentality, JetBlue refuses to call Mosaic an elite status, but it is. It offers substantial point bonuses and extra perks based on the frequency of your travel with JetBlue.

And the route network has been adjusted. Besides its hometown hub at New York's Kennedy Airport, JetBlue rules Boston/Logan, too. Lots of the routes that JetBlue flies from those cities are clearly more popular with business travelers than leisure flyers. And on my Boston-to-San Francisco return flight, for example, despite the temptation to watch the Red Sox-Oakland As game live, at least 20 passengers were on computers or filling out reports.

Rod Leavitt, product designer with a Massachusetts software firm, says he booked his JetBlue transcon flight from San Francisco because he also landed a $350 fare and the 8 a.m. departure meant he'd get home in time to watch his son play basketball. He'd actually re-ticketed from a later flight and only paid a $50 change fee.

"If I was flying United, I would never have paid the $200 fee to change my ticket," says Levitt, who adds that he also wouldn't have had the extra coach legroom in economy or been able to watch the network morning news from his seat. His only complaint with JetBlue? "The Dunkin' Donuts coffee [the airline's in-flight blend] is weak."

Jon Melamut, a Boston-based vice president of a British firm, frequently flies American, Japan Airlines and other Oneworld Alliance carriers to Asia and Europe. But on U.S. transcon trips, Melamut books JetBlue and, thanks to a limited partnership between JetBlue and American, even earns AAdvantage miles. "It's all about the legroom," he says.

Still, Melamut thinks JetBlue has a gaping hole in its in-flight service. "It's very frustrating the airline doesn't have real food for a five-hour flight," he says. "I don't consider a box of snacks a meal."

Don't expect a meal anytime soon, but other changes are afoot as JetBlue makes a bigger play for business travelers. JetBlue chief executive Dave Barger told a trade magazine this week that he and his team are busy working on a makeover. The goal: To create an airline that's a hybrid between a legacy carrier and a bare-bones low-fare operator.

ABOUT CHRIS BARNETT Chris Barnett writes about business-travel tactics and strategies that save time and money and help minimize hassles. He is based in San Francisco and has written for a wide variety of major newspapers and national magazines.

THE FINE PRINT Joe Brancatelli makes this space available to Chris Barnett in the spirit of free speech and to help encourage editorial diversity and the wider discussion of important travel issues. All of the opinions and material in this column are the sole property of Barnett. This material may not be reproduced in any form without the express permission of Chris Barnett.

This column is Copyright © 2013 by Chris Barnett. JoeSentMe is Copyright © 2013 by Joe Brancatelli. All rights reserved.