Suggestions for JetBlue to improve their product
 

Not saying that anyone will read this, but who knows. In case anyone from JetBlue customer relations or product department is reading. Things I think they can make their product better that's not too costly.

1) Offer the option to purchase food items before the flight (include hot food + whatever they already serve). This is something I find always available in Asia when I'm flying one of the ULCCs, so I would imagine it has to be profitable for them. I'm always intrigued by the aromas of hot food that people ordered in advance when they bought their ticket. This seems to me a pretty easy thing they can add without adding extra requirement to their onboard galley area. Just load it when the flight is ready and serve it when the drinks are served. I would imagine this would be very popular on those longer flights.

2) Improve service standard for EMS. Maybe this will make EMS a little more expensive to purchase, but they should add some of the things that other carriers do to make Y+ more appealing like one complimentary alcoholic beverage and one complimentary food item (maybe one they can select before the flight).

3) A fix number of confirm-able EMS upgrades for mosaic members. Not applicable to me, but seems like something simple that would make mosaic more attractive.

4) More places to earn miles and more redemption partners than just HA.

I'm a frequent Jetblue flyer. I 've never had an option to buy food that wasn't a snack box or the cheese plate. This could be because I mostly do east coast flights that are not longer than 4 hours. I think having a couple of sandwiches /wraps as options are a good place to start - even for flights that are more than 2 hours.

I would also like to see some type of Even More Space seat perk for Jetblue Plus cardholders.

Airlines are remarkably sophisticated when it comes to understanding their own operations. There's no reasonable suggestion that you could make that hasn't already been considered by the folks with MBAs working at the corporate office.

I'd also add that although it sounds reasonable to serve hot food, it's really not a simple task. Just in the United States, JetBlue serves over 65 different cities. They can't just push a button and have hot food delivered to the aircraft door. They'd need a supplier in every city (assuming there's no onboard refrigeration that can hold a day's worth of food). Any miniscule profit they'd make wouldn't be worth the logistical headaches involved.

I could see a complimentary food item on Mint transcons for EMS passengers being an easy add; DL does that for Comfort+.

Reserving overhead bins would be a nice touch -- a perceived enhancement at the cost of a sticker.

I strongly suspect that B6 doesn't have the IT systems to make this work. That said, they could do a much better job of marketing the EMS-for-miles benefit.

Back when they had Blue Plus fares, I thought it would make sense to give Mosaics EMS in lieu of bags, but that fare option's gone now.

This one seems like a no brainer given their existing relationships, and it's baffling that it hasn't happened yet.

Agree that the window for real food is too long. I've noticed people getting frustrated when they can't get a sandwich on a DFW-BOS flight.

If you mean giving EMS free to cardholders, that's never going to happen. Would be a huge revenue hit for B6, and Barclays isn't going to pay for it.
Something like a free drink would be more realistic; they have the systems to do that for Vacations passengers.

Agreed; it's not straightforward. There's a lot of food safety considerations involved in anything hot -- it would have to either be heated from cold on the plane at time of service, or maintained at a safe holding temperature (>140°F) from the minute it left the kitchen to the time it was served. I don't believe JetBlue has ovens for the former on non-Mint aircraft, and catering companies just aren't set up for the latter strategy.

There's a lot they can do to make room temperature food better, though, and I don't see much evidence they've tried that in earnest.

Just loading more food for purchase would be a good start; they always seem to run out.

Re food, I'd be happy if they got what they promised to work correctly.

For example, the half off "buy on board" usually ends with the "buy on board" showing up as "jet blue gate retail" without any discount on my jetblue mastercard.

Essentially this already happens. For Mosaic, the EMS seats are a steal if purchased using miles, usually about 12 to 15 percent the equivalent cost in cash. (If I recall correctly, an upgrade that would have been about $45 in cash required about $6 worth of points for BOS to PBI.) Mosaic members get a 15,000 mile bonus annually, which B6 promotes as being for EMS upgrades, so there are essentially unlimited upgrades to EMS. I haven't flown in a regular seat in the three years I've earned Mosaic from my JetBlue card.

I have the reverse view. All three legacies do a lousy job of their hot food catering in standard domestic F. Rather than trying to heat up a tiny piece of chicken and rice, I would be much happier with a selection of full-sized sandwiches and salads which can all be stored in insulated food carts or container spaces where the ovens used to be.

I don't see B6 doing any of the above because I doubt that doing any of it would increase net revenue. If it does not do so, why would B6? I presume that its marketing research shows that it won't.

Only the Mint A321s have ovens, and it's a single oven unit in the forward galley. Only the Mint-trained crewmembers are trained on oven operation.

-J.

That may be true for you, but that's far from reality for the vast majority of Mosaics. A transcon flight requires 1,000-1,200 miles per EMS seat, so it's only ~7 roundtrip flights to hit 15k. Additionally, the legacies also offer free companion upgrades to EMS (& some even offer up to 8 free EMS upgrades on same PNR). At a bare minimum, I think Mosaic members (& a companion) should have EMS points refunded if EMS section doesn't fully sell out on the flight. After all, why should B6 employees traveling get free EMS upgrades when Mosaic customers are being charged for it? Since every other airline with EMS seats already gives it to their top-tier customers, it's beyond crazy that B6 doesn't. I think that's even more important now with the basic economy devaluation for Mosaics.

Premium cabin on all flights. Doesn't have to be lie flat like Mint, but something above EMS at the front of the plane would be nice.

This sounds like a reasonable compromise. Then nobody has to deal with ovens and heating stuff up.
They could even deliver the sandwich components separately so that the bread doesn't get all soggy and sticky and smushed together.

I am not suggesting that B6 will do this. Merely a commentary on how little value there is in the standard F meal on a standard legacy domestic flight.

I do wonder what the legacies' marketing research shows about what motivates people to pay more -- and how much more, to fly F. Same thing for B6 with MINT (J).

I think you overestimate the skill of a bunch of people with MBAs. Large companies make strategy mistakes all the time.

Worth noting that for the first year of the Mosaic program this was a published benefit. It mostly worked, though required calling to request and the IT associated with it was not pretty.

At this point the cheap points-based advanced EMS purchase or just ask at the airport for free options are not so awful. Especially when considering that the regular seats have nearly the same space as E+/MCE/C+.

1. JetBlue really needs to work on its website. As of this point, I still can't change or refund TrueBlue/award tickets online. The website is often offline and it is just clunky. It should not take more than 24 hours to post points on JetBlue operating flights.
2. It costs ridiculous amount of points to redeem a ticket on its partner airlines. I hope TrueBlue will post a more realistic award chart for the partner airlines. It should be easier to research on amount of points to use on your partner flights.
3. Food wise - I don't think hot food is possible, but how about changing your buy on board menu more frequently? You should change your buy on board menu every four months. I also want a pre-order option because JetBlue often runs out of fresh food on these transcontinental flights. Encourage people to pre-book these fresh items! It is a win-win for both airline and customers, when JetBlue can have a more realistic estimate of how much BOB items to board on each flight!