I already wrote to Speak UP about this. There are so many things which do make jetBlue different than legacy and non-legacy carriers alike. I just spent $550 on a round trip from California to JFK--more than I have ever spent on jetBlue on a non-holiday flight. Every company has to charge a fair price for its product and in most cases for US travel, I will fly to a more inconvenient airport and take the train or pay more to fly on jetBlue. My family lives more than 100 miles from the nearest airport served by jetBlue and I regulary pay extra to take Amtrak from NYC so I can use jetBlue.
The problem for me as a loyal passenger and a share holder of the company is that increasing change fees is not the best policy for either jetBlue or the passengers. If more revenue is needed, as I said, I am willing to pay extra for a nicer seat, better entertainment options, etc. I am not willing to throw away my ticket and then pay the higher fare because my old one has no value. At that point, one looks to see what the options are and this could easily mean lost revenue as passengers just buy a new ticket on another carrier.
Also the value of a true blue award is greatly devalued if I have to pay $100 to change my plans on a one way award. Usually the maximum value is around $219. Beyond that award availability is often not there. One change and that goes down to $119. Why stay loyal to jetBlue?
I really wish that the executives would dust off their business plan and look again at the reasons for starting up jetBlue. They saw a need for a carrier in the US that would be different than the legacy carriers. One that passengers can look to as providing better service and not taking advantage of people. This reputation has gotten them this far. Why alienate passengers now.
People do have to get used to paying higher fares. There is no question about that. They do not have to get used to being charged exorbitant change fees. This is my one argument against booking co-workers on a legacy carrier. They can change their mind and not be robbed blind.