Okay, so if you don't no already, many airlines offer to give you your money back after booking a flight if its within 24 hours of purchase. Well, JetBlue is NOT one of those airlines. Instead, they charge an additional $150 dollars to change your flight, as well as deduct a $150 dollars for canceling a flight (not to mention, after that deduction, your money is only returned to you in JetBlue credit). The reason I am expressing myself on this forum is actually not to ridiculue JetBlue, but actually praise one of it's employers named "Debbie". Recently, something came up in my life where it demanded that I book a flight immediately. Because I had obligations for the day and was unable to access a computer, my mother was kind enough to log on to JetBlue and book me a flight. My mother being 68 years old and unable to use technology as well as others, ended up booking my flight on the wrong day. After recognizing this, which was about 2 hours later, I went on the website to find out what I had to do to switch the date. As I mentioned earlier, there was a fee of $150 dollars no matter what option I chose. Thus, I called up services where they told me there was nothing they can do etc. Finally, I became so frustrated, I called back one last time to let some anger out(in other words, I was going to yell mean things). But instead of hearing a tone of voice that I found to be unwilling to help, I heard a person with a soft tone and a desire to help. This person was "Debbie". She listened and took the time to focus on what I wanted. She was sincere and took the time to do all she could to help me. Because of Debbie, I was able to switch the date to the correct one with "no additional fee". And better than that, she actually gave me $30 back in JetBlue credit. The moral of this story is even though we live in a world where sometimes it's hard to find the good in someone, EMPATHY still exists and I can thank Debbie for showing me that.

Welcome to Flyertalk!

Although JetBlue does have some of the best customer service reps, you're mistaken about their cancellation policy:

Customers will have 24 hours from the time of their original booking to cancel their reservation without being charged a cancellation fee if travel was booked seven (7) days or more prior to the departure date (not applicable for Getaways reservations). Bookings that have been changed are not eligible for a credit card refund and are subject to a cancellation fee, regardless of being within 24 hours of the original booking.

moulder is correct, that's a US law that requires full refund on cancellations within 24 hours of making a reservation:

http://www.dot.gov/affairs/2012/dot0812.html

Or the ability to hold, and it only applies for travel more than 7 days from the date of booking. If the OP was booking for immediate travel (within the week) then there is no obligation to allow for the 24-hour period. And, while some airlines do anyways JetBlue does not.

I booked a round trip on JetBlue last week. It is a business trip and I need to submit a receipt for reimbursement, but the folks who handle the receipts are not very accommodating, and I plan to take a little side trip after the business is completed. So I did as I normally do under these circumstances: I booked the flights to make it appear that I was flying home immediately after concluding my business, generated my receipt, then changed the itinerary to suit my side trip needs (returning a few days later).

In this most recent case, I was booking more than 7 days before my departure, but changing the itinerary generated a $100 change fee. So I called JetBlue and they agreed the change fee was incorrectly charged. I was given the choice of cancelling the whole itinerary and rebooking >24 hours later (full refund), or a $100 travel bank credit.

However it took a good 30 minutes on the phone, at least, to obtain resolution, with plenty of long holds.

If I'm reading this correctly, it looks like OP booked a flight (or actually had someone else book for him) less than 7 days in advance; that person booked the wrong date, and the OP is refusing to own up to the mistake, and incorrectly assumed that JetBlue's policy is different than most other airlines.

Charging a change fee is not incorrect. The policy states that you can cancel/refund for free, not make free changes. To do what you wanted you would have to book the trip, get a receipt for expenses, cancel and then book anew at the new price.

Sounds like good service recovery IMO.

Well, JetBlue's policy is different from the other major carriers. DL & UA don't enforce the 7-day part of the rule; AA does holds instead of refunds. All are valid per the DoT requirements.

OP is wrong and took advantage of the system by trying to bully.

1. He was not entitled to a fee-free change or a fee-free cancellation. DOT rules requiring a 24-hour fee-free cancellation only apply to bookings made at least 7 days in advance. OP says "immediately" and I take that to mean <7 days. B6 follows the DOT rule and chooses not to be more "liberal". That is clearly stated on its website.

2. The rule permits a fee-free cancellation. It does not permit a fee-free change. Sometimes that amounts to the same thing and a carrier will permit the change rather than a cancellation and a new ticket. That all depends on fare bucket availability. But, the rule is clear on this point.

"Debbie" may well get her hat handed to her by her supervisors if they listen to the call. But, it's way over the top to come here and blast B6 for following the law and then following its own policy.

Almost certainly not. The company culture on this sort of thing is very, very employee and customer friendly.

Or at least for suggesting that the company policy doesn't comply with the DoT rules.