bluesmoon

No change fees for everyone on the same PNR are the biggest benefit IMO, especially when you consider the fact that a flexible fare in economy is sometimes higher than a regular fare in MINT. The dedicated phone line is also a big help with frequent snowstorms closing airports in the Northeast.

frieswiththat

For me, same day change confirmed with no fee is HUGE and worth more to me than anything else. I commute weekly FLL-NYC but never really know my work schedule until a couple days in advance. (I fly on my own dime, fwiw.) I need to book several weeks out to get decent fares, but I can change at the last minute to something that suits my schedule and do so all the time. Also. even the basic seats are pretty comfortable, and getting on plane first is worth something too. But getting confirmed on an earlier flight for free is the best!

vgrund

No change fees for everyone on the same PNR seems to be a nice benefit, but I have not had much occasion to use this since I hit Mosaic. Some of the destinations I frequent don't have more than 2 daily flights.

B6 should think about applying Mosaic upgrades to unsold EMS seats within X hours of a flight. Many times I see airline employees filling these seats or they go empty. IMO it would be revenue neutral for them while adding value to having Mosaic status.

sbm12

I've received such on an ad hoc basis every now and then but not consistently. There are some implementation challenges in making it work which would be difficult for B6 right now.

RWPrincess

I'm sorry but the program has been around long enough now that this should not be an issue. In fact, it should have been implemented when the program was launched. I know the loyalty team has had some turnover this past year but upgrades still should have been part of the initial program implementation and value proposition.

I have a friend who is Mosaic and commutes weekly out of Portland, ME. He was getting the upgrades pretty consistently when available.

sbm12

Do you understand the requirements in the system to make that work? And do you recall that there were a limited number of free EMS upgrades when the program launched?

It is not going to be a full benefit of Mosaic so demanding that is likely to leave you disappointed.

Unrelated topics.

RWPrincess

Do you work for B6? Based on your your posts, you seem to know a lot about what should be proprietary and not publicly known systems that they have. Why would anyone who doesn't work for B6 know the specifics of their internal systems? Has this information been published somewhere? If so, I'd love to read more about it.

I consult for another major airline but I don't discuss specifics of their internal ops with anyone outside of an existing business relationship that would require an NDA.

Nobody is "demanding" anything. From a marketing perspective, if competitors are regularly offering upgrades as part of their loyalty programs, naturally members of Mosaic will expect some type of similar benefit. We've seen that evidenced here by several posters. I've also seen it mentioned on other boards. That is a valid passenger expectation. I've worked on the back end of loyalty programs before and it always starts with the business side in terms of laying out the program benefits and value proposition and then it's up to the ops team to work together with the business side to make those benefits happen for customers. The ops team doesn't propose strategy. They execute it. If Mosaic upgrades are not part of the overall program value proposition, then that originated with someone on the business side(likely Marketing and/or Loyalty team) not including it in the program benefits.

sbm12

No, but I know a lot. Maybe I should and maybe I shouldn't. But I do. Some of it is through official channels and some is less official. But I know a lot about the TrueBlue program. I'm sure once I say too much I'll get cut off but I'm a few years in to this relationship now and I have not been cast off yet, so...

Among other things, the fact that there was a period of a limited free EMS upgrade option when Mosaic launched is probably my fault. I do not know that for certain but I was pretty insistent about that in a meeting shortly before the launch and I do not believe that it was going to happen prior to that meeting.

But I also understand how the technology works to integrate things like elite benefits into a PSS and handling all of that automation. It is not trivial and I know some of the things JetBlue has (and has not) done on that front.

Perhaps, though the benefits across programs vary. Should I assume that UA is going to give me free change fees because I get that with Mosaic? The programs are all different. I blame the customer more than the company for simply assuming it will all be the same. And, quite frankly, I prefer a company which doesn't just follow the rest of the pack, though that is very much YMMV.

So then you know that someone doesn't just say, "we should give free upgrades" and it suddenly happens. Even if JetBlue wanted to do that there is significant work required to get there.

Agreed. Which is why expecting that to change is Sisyphian.

kalkat

As a newly minted Mosaic I am already finding the no change fee policy to be a great benefit. I earned Mosaic status almost exclusively flying MInt, so upgrades have been a bit of a non-issue for me so far. For the one non Mint flight I booked for later this year, it's a long one FLL-SFO and I thought the $99 UG was a fair offer so I took it. I could have used points and probably should have, but I haven't quite figured out the B6 point thing.

I've been a diminishing UA 1K until I jumped ship to other airlines, sliding down in status year by year since the merger to my current lowly position of Gold on UA. I am not very impressed with that airline's free upgrade policy! I think getting free upgrades falls into the category of be careful what you wish for.

The main issue I have with Mosaic is the difficulty in figuring out how to earn and redeem miles. Byzantine.

Finally, as a fan of sbm12's posts, I applaud him/her for the kinds of insights which make FT such a worthwhile read.

RWPrincess

I never said there wasn't work involved or that this should happen suddenly. Nothing happens overnight especially when it comes to projects involving IT.

I also say never say never when it comes to change. 5 years ago nobody would have expected JetBlue to have baggage fees and more seats on each A320.

Kufat

AFAIK, JetBlue is the only US airline with Y+ seating whose loyalty program doesn't offer free upgrades to Y+ and is one of two with multiple cabins whose loyalty program doesn't offer at least some free upgrades to J/F. (The other being Virgin.)

I've gotten Y+ upgrades on by simply declining to pick a seat at booking on half of my recent crowded B6 segments. There are going to be at least a few Y-fare-paying butts in those seats on all but the emptiest flights; they might as well be Mosaic members'. (Mint benefits of some kind would be nice too, of course.) I won't discount the difficulties in implementing automatic upgrades, but I don't think it ought to be a big enough hurdle to be allowed to dictate policy.

sbm12

I don't think it is. Because they have worked around the challenges in the past.

Keep in mind that the other airlines where it is free for elites are generally offering 34-36" pitch there and 30-31" without. JetBlue starts at 34" on the A320s so the value proposition really is not as significant for passengers IMO. Yeah, getting something for free is great, but I care more about "will I be comfortable on my flight" and the regular product from JetBlue meets that need far more often than anything on other carriers does.

radiowell

Honestly, I would like to see B6 offer quasi-F by offering blocked middle seat on EMS seats that is affordable (not necessarily upgradable, at least not complementary, and have it on demand). Unlike the European models, you already have good legroom, and my experience on legacy exit rows with empty middle seat is sometimes better than F seats outright. I just want it to be affordable, and I don't care about the lounge, food, or other pamperings. I liked the AirTran model (no frills F). If this ever happens. I will seriously move more business to B6.

Sticky1

does anyone know if mosaic can pass thru the even more speed lines?

jay_dubya

Mosaics may use even more speed lines