JetBlues
Q: If God is all-powerful, can he make a flight so early that even he can’t catch it?
A: Yes, but he can’t make a flight so late that JetBlue will reschedule it.
That basically sums up our recent experiences with my former favorite airline. A couple weeks ago, I flew to NYC for a conference, and Mrs. X and the boys flew to Cali by way of NYC to tend to Sr. X and the family for a week. Both flights were delayed, mine for an hour and hers for almost three. A few days later I returned to Richmond, only to have that flight delayed by 2 1/2 hours. A few days after that, Mrs. X’s return flight was cancelled, along with almost everything else flying in or out of the Northeast that day, but you could only tell that by reading the news, putting two and two together, and getting five. Neither the web site nor the customer service line could handle the traffic they were getting, but I somehow managed to book them a return flight for the next day to DC, which was not experiencing the blizzards that froze up the Northeast. That flight was – you guessed it – delayed. Once again, 2 1/2 hours, not counting the hour it took them to get the luggage to the baggage claim, or the additional half hour it took to report a lost car seat while waiting behind another family off the same flight who had also had a car seat lost, and a stroller, to boot. And speaking of boots, that couple was doubly screwed since they were planning to catch a flight to Italy the next morning. So as annoyed as we were, we were the lucky ones. Then they called the next day to tell us they’d found the missing car seat, but weren’t going to deliver it to us because the distance we’d driven to IAD was too long for their driver’s delicate sensibilities. Apparently they only thought of this after sending the seat to IAD instead of RIC.
Between this, their well-publicized meltdown a month earlier, and an abysmal frequent flyer progam, I’m ready for a new preferred airline. As soon as any other carrier adds TV sets to their flights and goes where I want to go, I’m there. Any takers?
March 24th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
Frontier’s treated us pretty well. The bankrupt biggies seem to have trashed pre-boarding for families with little ones, but Frontier still uses it. TVs in the backs of the seats, moderate fee ($5 maybe?) for DirecTV reception. We had a delayed flight one time, but apparently not rough enough that I remember for how long or where we were, and they comped us the TV receptino as a result. Not that I can watch O’Reilly with The Bean on my lap, but it’s nice of them nevertheless.
Irrelevant but cute: animals on the tailfins keep the Bean occupied speculating which animal we’ll get on our plane.
March 25th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
USAirways hub in foul, fetid, fuming, foggy, filthy Philadelphia has been plagued with problems recently, part due to the weather, but in part due to massive computer failures. So, it isn’t just JetBlue.
March 25th, 2007 at 6:22 pm
you’re complaining about what appears to be no higher than the third most important criteria, behind TVs and available destinations, that you use to choose airlines. Me, I’d give up the TVs in a heartbeat to go with an airline which got me where I wanted when I wanted.
March 25th, 2007 at 10:12 pm
Huh? I’m not complaining about the TVs or available destinations, although admittedly, having to drive to IAD or fly through JFK does put a crimp in that. The TVs are nice for me, but essential when traveling with the little ones.
March 26th, 2007 at 12:22 am
Got laptop? Baby Einstein DVDs and you’re set.
March 26th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
What Anwyn said – if you get a cheap DVD player (and they’re very very cheap now), you can choose any airline.
I don’t know where you need to go, but I’ve found Southwest to be perfectly tolerable… and most importantly on time. (Also, the flight crews all seem to make jokes during the safety brief, which is amusing.)
And they do preboard families with infants, perhaps unlike others.
April 5th, 2007 at 6:21 pm
Used to love JB. With the new girlfriend on the other side of the country on a JB route, it should be great.
Unless I want to cash in the awards I’ve managed to earn. Seems that there’s a capacity clause (which I’ve never found) on their awards program. It also seems that unless they haven’t sold any seats on the flight, the flight meets the capacity clause.
Oh, and the awards expire.