JetBlue TrueBlue - JetBlue and Southwest to battle it out

Apparently, the JetBlue and Southwest reps on Twitter got in to a little debate over who is better, and decided to battle it out over a game of Guitar Hero on Monday night. Who will win...JetBlue in their home turf of NYC, or Southwest, the newcomers with some serious firepower?

http://www.eventbrite.com/event/347239603

I think this just goes to show how much cooler both JetBlue and Southwest are than pretty much every other carrier out there.

I think this just goes to show how much cooler both JetBlue and Southwest are than pretty much every other carrier out there.
Having a twitter presence and playing guitar hero makes them cool? Really?

Wow...I'm pretty out of touch I guess. :rolleyes:

haha..i do like both airlines though..i also enjoy twittering lol

Having a twitter presence and playing guitar hero makes them cool? Really?

Wow...I'm pretty out of touch I guess. :rolleyes:

Free liquor/beer is what makes WN cool. :cool:

JetBlue? Whatever.. they're going down.

Having a twitter presence and playing guitar hero makes them cool? Really?

Wow...I'm pretty out of touch I guess. :rolleyes:

In terms of being more in touch with their customers, yes, it does. That is Marketing 101 right there. Someone in their target audience who sees JetBlue is doing a guitar hero competition with a rival company will obviously feel more of a "connection" to the company than, say, United, where it is hard to get a customer service rep on the phone who really even cares about your travel needs unless you fly tens of thousands of miles in first class every year.

In terms of being more in touch with their customers, yes, it does. That is Marketing 101 right there. Someone in their target audience who sees JetBlue is doing a guitar hero competition with a rival company will obviously feel more of a "connection" to the company than, say, United, where it is hard to get a customer service rep on the phone who really even cares about your travel needs unless you fly tens of thousands of miles in first class every year.

I was mostly joking anyways, but since you bring up marketing and target audiences, I'd be interested to dive into that a bit more.

I agree that UA only really cares about their GS and 1K customers, but there is a reason for that - those customers deliver a TON of revenue to the carrier. Going after those customers is more profitable to an airline than going after the hip/cool but otherwise infrequent flier. Certainly there is a very broad gray line in the middle there where folks are in both camps, but which one should an airline actually be working to recruit?

What about a middle-ground carrier like CO who doesn't try to be cool and deals with all customers more or less equally (though that frequently means not great for all customers)? Or WN who has successfully appealed toa significant business travel segment, particularly on the west coast?

Having a twitter presence and playing guitar hero makes them cool? Really?

No. What makes them cool is that they're having fun being fierce competitors.

No. What makes them cool is that they're having fun being fierce competitors.
Precisely.

Sounds like a good idea to me . Its nice to see a sense of pride among workers. Hopefully the consumers will be the big winners with more competition.

Free liquor/beer is what makes WN cool. :cool:


They might be a little less expensive than the other airlines, they still charge me.

They might be a little less expensive than the other airlines, they still charge me.

I've gotten enough free drink chits to last me a lifetime from business select and earning reward flights and also from being on flights with mild delays where they forked it over freely to just being there and getting a free drink.

I agree that UA only really cares about their GS and 1K customers, but there is a reason for that - those customers deliver a TON of revenue to the carrier. Going after those customers is more profitable to an airline than going after the hip/cool but otherwise infrequent flier. Certainly there is a very broad gray line in the middle there where folks are in both camps, but which one should an airline actually be working to recruit?

I must say that's a pretty narrow-minded strategy. Not suggesting they don't do that (because airlines like UA obviously do), but they're eliminating all hopes of those "hip/cool but otherwise infrequent fliers" staying around if they ever do become frequent fliers. If you're routinely ignored - or better yet, belittled - as an Average Joe, then why even keep your business with that company if your travel circumstances do change one day (to the more profitable road warrior type)?

All this aside, this a cool idea for both WN and B6.

Because when you becme a road-warrior type, you will no longer stand for flying with the unwashed masses in coach and you will certainly need to avoid a carrier that is all coach. ;)

Of course, I have received better service from WN and B6 on some flights than I have received when sitting in the front of the plane on DL and CO. But I did get to feel special as all those suckers in Y had to walk past me. :)


I hope my sarcasm is apparent....

I should say that I am particularly not a fan of the UA approach - I agree that it is very limiting. But that is where the large gray area rests.

WN has been very successful in grabbing business travelers in certain markets. I'm pretty sure it isn't because the are "cool" but that it is because they offer a consistent product and good schedules in those markets.

B6 doesn't have the route frequencies in many cases though they generally do have the quality product most of the time.

Clearly there is nothing wrong with them having fun and doing this; like I said before I was mostly joking around with my initial reply (though I don't really get twitter - that part I'm serious about). I do understand marketing a bit, however, and I do not think that B6 is marketing to the business traveler market all that effectively.

I agree that UA only really cares about their GS and 1K customers, but there is a reason for that - those customers deliver a TON of revenue to the carrier.

This strategy is short-sighted because people more in and out of the 1K+ category over time.

Imagine you are a college freshman geek and the cute girl in your class won't even say hello to you. Then you sell the program you wrote for $500k and suddenly she wants to go out with you. Do you have warmer feelings for her, or for the girl who dated you before you had money? Which one do you think you can depend on more?

That's why treating every customer well is important. It's an investment of loyalty that will return loyalty in the future.

JetBlue and Southwest have different strengths and different route structure. They compete with each other to a much lesser extent than they compete with other airlines. A cooperative marketing effort like this makes a lot of sense.

Imagine you are a college freshman geek and the cute girl in your class won't even say hello to you. Then you sell the program you wrote for $500k and suddenly she wants to go out with you. Do you have warmer feelings for her, or for the girl who dated you before you had money? Is this even a question?

"Warmer" feelings? :)

The horny freshman geek is clearly enjoying the moment in the sun with the hot girl, regardless of what else waiting in the wings.

Use and be used! ^

Use and be used! ^

:D:D:D

Free liquor/beer is what makes WN cool. :cool:

JetBlue? Whatever.. they're going down.

probably shouldnt say jetblue is going down if you dont want the fbi knocking on your door

probably shouldnt say jetblue is going down if you dont want the fbi knocking on your door

Good thing its not an in-air competition. :eek:

BTW, welcome to FT.

Err, who won?

Err, who won?

Not entirely sure but I bet they're flyin' high right now. :D :D :D

I must say that's a pretty narrow-minded strategy. Not suggesting they don't do that (because airlines like UA obviously do), but they're eliminating all hopes of those "hip/cool but otherwise infrequent fliers" staying around if they ever do become frequent fliers. If you're routinely ignored - or better yet, belittled - as an Average Joe, then why even keep your business with that company if your travel circumstances do change one day (to the more profitable road warrior type)?

All this aside, this a cool idea for both WN and B6.

I guess I could say that I was one of those "hip/cool" infrequent fliers that used to fly B6 alot up until this past year. I finally gave them up because their flights were delayed at least half the time and they did not always go where I needed to go. Not 10 - 15 minute delays but like 2 - 3 hour delays. I remember once I was in LAS waiting to go home to LGB and the flight was so delayed that B6 had one of their reps walk all of us over to WN and bought tickets for us to go home! Eventually though this infrequent flier had to do a lot of business flying internationally and domestically. After I realized that my loyalty with B6 was not going to help me at all going to HKG or PEK and that I could never get upgraded to First or Business, I decided to look around and ended up with UA. True they didn't really give me any type of recognition on my first several flights (I lucked out getting overhead space with my carry-on being in zone 4 seating, probably because I bought the economy plus subscription) with them and I was astonished at what I had to pay for exit row seats on my first UA flight, but I eventually learned about their program here on FT and realized that it wasn't worthwhile to always just look for the cheapest flight.

Point of my post is that no matter how "bad" those infrequent fliers are treated they will still end up leaving B6 or WN if they don't just fly domestically or eventually want to have a flight in a First or Business class cabin no matter how well they are treated by WN or B6. I don't think airlines like UA lose all hope of capturing B6 or WN customers because people's needs and tastes change over time. I used to only go for the cheapest flights no matter how ridiculously early I had to get up but now I don't mind paying a few extra dollars to get a later flight or to maintain my flying with UA. I do miss the Directv on the B6 flights but half the time they didn't get any reception and the Trueblue program only offers free flights and no other perks . I don't even know what to do with my True blue points as I have about 36 that are going to expire in July. :eek: I do like to read about my old program from time to time to see if anything new is happening :)

I am an infrequent flyer and still fly B6 most of the time . Unfortunately I am based in NY and do not fly enough to qualify for status on any airline . Unfortunately I live in NY so that I must assume that there will be 2 hour delays no matter which airport I fly out of . I like B6 and manage to get a free trip to florida out of them every year . I have recently gotten a CO credit card and 25K miles so that with the advent of TV on there planes ( I travel with a 6 year old) , I will be able to fly them to Florida during winter breaks (B6's fares tend to me higher the CO's during the time) Although right now I feel that flying from White Plains beats EWR or JFK or LGA hands on .I also have some Delta miles but I don't like their terminal at JFK . This way I can slowly save up CO miles for a transcon or an overseas trip and I can happily use my B6 miles for trips to FLA . First class is really nice for transcons (I flew one on AA last year) . I think your choice of a *A airline was a good one as they have the most routes.