JetBlue offer fare options that include different numbers of checked bags.
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The airline proudly proclaimed itself a holdout on fees for years, allowing passengers to check one bag for free.
The carrier will adopt a $25 fee for checked luggage.
JetBlue Airways had announced the change in November but didn’t detail how it would be implemented until Tuesday. Blue fares earn three points per dollar plus another three points for online booking at JetBlue.com. Airlines are working to get each passenger a plug or USB port, but they are not moving fast enough.
Any customer flying with a third bag that needs to be checked must pay $100. The second checked bag is $35. The new system will improve operating income by at least $200 million a year by 2017, the airline has said.
“Some of these changes are going to help pay for what’s the biggest product upgrade JetBlue has had in the history of the company”, he told The Associated Press in advance of the announcement.
Industry mavens seem unanimous in their view that JetBlue’s move is in response to pressure from Wall Street. Alaska, American, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest and United all offer such a service on a few – but not all – of their planes. They see those billions of dollars the giant airlines rake in from baggage fees and think JetBlue can strike gold by tapping that lucrative cash flow, too.
The New York-based airline still stands out in other ways. Your best bet to be entertained is on Delta, which offers the service on all but its 50-seat domestic regional jets and on more than half of its global fleet, and on Southwest, which has it on 80 percent of its jets – basically the newest ones. Passengers also get free access to more than 100 channels of live satellite TV and radio and JetBlue still has more legroom than its competition. The airline is set to introduce a new fare scale as soon as Tuesday and missing will be its signature, complimentary luggage policy.
Passengers who buy the “Blue” fares will have to add an extra $25 to check a bag at the ticket counter.
For Blue Plus fares, one checked bag is included and the second checked bag fee is $35.
Two checked bags are free for those in “Mint” class, JetBlue’s version of First Class. Starting later this year as many as 130 of its Airbus Group SE A320 jets will be retrofitted with so-called slimline seats, letting the airline accommodate as many as 15 more people on planes that now carry 150.
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Online travel agencies like Orbitz, Priceline and Expedia, will – for the foreseeable future – only sell the cheapest fares, those that don’t include a checked bag. Passengers will still have to pay at the airport for their checked bags.
