OK, here is what was sent to them via their website today. If I hear anything from them, I'll let you know. Just for the record, I want to say that I'm probably someone who would rank at the bottom of the list of "hard to please" people. Maybe after hearing everyone talk up Jet Blue so much I expected too much, I don't know. But aside from my comfort, the part about learning only middle seats are available AFTER I pay for the change, to me, is just plain rotten.
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I'm very disappointed in Jet Blue. Several of the attorneys I work with had recommended Jet Blue to me as they have used Jet Blue to travel from the San Francisco Bay Area to our east coast offices in NY and DC. One went so far to tell me that "you'll never want to fly another airline" before I left for me trip. I've got a story for him when I get home ...
I scheduled a trip to visit my mother in Harrisburg, PA and booked a flight on Jet Blue (Flight 318, Saturday, May 20, 2006) from Oakland to DC. From there, I took a United Express flight from DC to Harrisburg since Jet Blue does not serve the Harrisburg area. I honestly have to say, I was more comfortable in the regional United Express Jet than I was on my Jet Blue flight.
I'm a fit 6'2" (weight around 190 lbs), so leg room is something I have paid a premium for in the past (by purchasing first class tickets). I'm not a "frequent flyer" so when I do fly, I try to make it as comfortable of an experience as possible. I've heard so much about the extra leg room Jet Blue provides, I was curious to experience it. The price of my round trip ticket was good ($338.60), but in all honesty, I would have paid double to be comfortable.
I'm not exactly sure whether or not the seats on a Jet Blue flight recline at all -- if they do, there must be a secret lever I was unable to find, because it was impossible for me to get my seat to recline, but then I noticed none of the seats around me were in a reclining position. From the moment I got in my Jet Blue seat, I noticed my knees were higher than the base of my spine which set the stage for a very LONG and UNCOMFORTABLE ride. I hate the feeling of having someone's head in my lap as much as the next person, but for me to sit up straight for a 4.5 hour flight made this the most uncomfortable flight I ever recall traveling on. The pillow I found on the floor under my seat did nothing to alleviate the pressure on my lower back. If I were shorter, I would have at least been able to slouch for a bit on and off but I felt stuck in a position I was neither comfortable in, let alone able to sleep in (this was a night flight). There was no one in the middle seat (I can only imagine what that would have been like) and the young man in the aisle seat was taller than me and it would have been impossible to get around him without having to wake him up and have him get up without (and he gave new meaning to the words "sound sleeper").
I knew Jet Blue didn't serve meals but a bag of cashews is hardly what I'd call "generous snacks" -- particularly on a flight of this length. The 1/2 pint of bottled water I was handed was lukewarm, at best, and no ice was offered with it. I tried to get the attention of a flight attendant on a couple of occasions but eye contact was never made. Taking a walk to the galley wasn't an option with Rip Van Winkle blocking my exit, so I tried to stay focused on the nice breakfast with something COLD to drink I would have when I landed in DC and decided to watch TV instead. Unfortunately, that only led to more frustration -- my TV screen had a big scratch in it running corner to corner which made watching anything annoying. If that wasn't bad enough, I needed a hammer to change the channels or the volume because the buttons on the arm rest were so difficult to push (trust me, I'm not a weakling -- I work out 5 times a week).
Maybe it was like this because it was a night flight? I know none of the attorneys I work with have ever taken Jet Blue on a night flight. I wondered if maybe the flight attendants purposely made themselves scarce because they thought everyone would want to be left alone and those that needed anything would get up an help themselves (I could have if I had the aisle seat I guess). In any event, it was a LONG 4.5 hours.
To make it worse (and I realize this is not Jet Blue's fault), even though my flight landed in DC at 6:50 a.m. and my flight from DC to Harrisburg didn't depart until 8:15, I ended up missing my connection because of the time I had to spend getting my bag from the Jet Blue baggage claim and then standing in United's long check in line, and then having to stand in an even longer line through the ever-slow security at Dulles. I didn't get to the gate until 8:17 and the flight had left. I was booked on the next United Express flight to Harrisburg which didn't leave until 1 p.m. (after being up all night), but I did get to eat that nice breakfast and have plenty of COLD drinks at the airport.
I was apprehensive, but curious, about how my return Jet Blue flight would be as it is a day flight, not a night flight. But I don't think I'm going to have the opportunity to find out because I've been trying to book my return on another airline to spare me another 4.5 hours of being miserable. Let me tell you why:
I was scheduled to return to Oakland on Saturday, June 2, but thought I'd try and reschedule a return on Tuesday June 6th instead (I only get back to visit my mom every two years and I knew we'd both enjoy the extra time). I made my change to my United Express flight no problem (for a $100 fee). I decided to make my change to my Jet Blue flight online and save the $5.00 ($25 change fee versus $30), but was disappointed that this small change was going to cost me a total of $175.00 (price difference). Still, I decided to go ahead with it even though the total cost to add 3 more days with my mom was now $275.00 (United & Jet Blue change fees). While I was online making the change (and providing my credit card #), I noticed I was not able to select my seating assignment which bothered me -- the system wouldn't let me but the message it was giving me was rather cryptic -- something along the line of "this flight is filling up fast - the system will automatically assign you your seat". Well, "the system" never did, but I did get confirmed on the same flight for Tuesday June 6th. So I called Jet Blue and told the agent that I had changed my flight but was unable to get my seat assigned online. It was then that I learned THE ONLY SEATS AVAILABLE ON THE FLIGHT WERE MIDDLE SEATS.
In all honesty, if I would have known the only seats available on this return flight were middle seats, I would have just kept my original reservation and returned home on 6/2. I find it very disappointing that this tidbit of knowledge surfaces only AFTER I bought and paid for the change. As uncomfortable as I was on the flight to DC, I cannot imagine going through the same thing IN ADDITION to being sandwiched inbetween two people. So I can only assume that the reason the little diagram of the plane with the open seats didn't appear on my computer screen when I was making the change in my return flight was because Jet Blue didn't want me to see that I'd be stuck in a middle seat -- what other reason would there be??
I've decided to chalk up the cost of the return flights + the $275 I've spent to change them to the "live and learn" account of my budget and I'm going to just go ahead and book a different flight(s) home in first class on another airline where I'll spend about four times as much money but at least I won't spend the next day and a half in anxiety over what horrors lie ahead on the flight home.
I guess I won't have the opportunity to see if my return day flight on Jet Blue would have been any different than my outbound night flight. I know Jet Blue has alot of fans and I'm sorry I didn't get to be one too. I don't really think I'm that hard a person to please. I know I sure can't wait to tell the attorneys who have been oozing Jet Blue so much about my Jet Blue experience though ... as well as the other folks I work with who have yet to try it out.