No Points For JetBlue

JetBlue is a great airline, but its frequent flyer program, introduced today, is a joke. The 30-month-old airline has instituted a program that all but assures that passengers will not be able to take advantage of free flights.

Chief Executive and founder David Neeleman reportedly said that the only reason JetBlue (nasdaq: JBLU - news - people ) started the loyalty program was because passengers kept asking about it. The program, called TrueBlue, differs from that of the major carriers--a category to which JetBlue has been added--in several ways.

First, the program is based on points, not miles. JetBlue awards flyers two points for short routes (New York to Vermont, for example), four points for medium routes (New York to Florida) and six points for long coast-to-coast routes. After building up 100 points, passengers are eligible for a free ticket....

...Based on that formula, travelers would have to fly cross-country on a round trip 8.3 times to be eligible for a free ticket. That compares with 4.6 round trip cross-country flights on a major airline like United Airlines (nyse: UAL - news - people ), where travelers are eligible for coach-class rewards after 25,000 miles flown. New Yorkers would have to fly to Southern Florida 12.5 times on JetBlue to be eligible for a freebie, compared with 10.4 times on other carriers.

http://www.forbes.com/2002/06/18/061...ahoo&referrer=