Flew to Aruba. Full flight. Overhead spaces relatively empty. Much much quicker boarding and deboarding.

DP:

Booked RT JFK-SJU, Blue Basic each way. I have the plus credit card. Paid with travel bank
During booking, website indicted that 1 checked bag was included for me and my wife. However at checkin at JFK, the kiosk wanted $35 for my wifes checked bag. Went to agent who was confused and started saying no checked bags at all unless full fare paid with credit card. However because my ticket was rebooked due to Hurricane Henri, I did not have the no-carry on text on my boarding pass so was able to bring the bag as a carry-on :) after moving some liquids over to the checked bag
On the way back, fully expected to be dinged for the $35 but to my surprise the kiosk took the 2 checked bags free. My boarding pass had the No Carry on text for this leg.

No idea what happened, but B6 have appalling IT

Lol. Never would have guessed! ;)

-J.

It seems this observation can be generalized to every airline (and perhaps most companies). I don't think I've ever read anyone comment that airline X's IT platform is fantastic. Maybe AA back in the 60s when Sabre came of age? A complicated business with lots of ever-changing business logic rules and thin IT budgets lends itself to imperfection. Even WN, which has probably the simplest business of the bunch, still has terrible IT systems which limit their ability to do business.

With my post, I meant to emphasize that JetBlue has especially poor IT for an airline in this day and age.

-J.

I find Southwest's IT to be good, it is light years ahead of B6. DL also has a good IT backbone.

Yes, but that's because Southwest is the most recent adopter of a system (Amadeus) that other airlines have been using for many years. DL's backbone is questionable when an aircraft swap dumps everyone off a flight. Or a schedule change that affects thousands of people who now have to call because their website can't handle letting people rebook themselves. There's a 119 page thread over in the Delta forum where people go to gripe about this!

Although my experience with DL irrops is limited, it's been pretty good as it's the only airline IME that sent me a delay/cancellation notice and allowed me to to go to MMB and choose from a variety of alternate flights/connection options myself without having to call in. I was actually able to book a better connection/schedule than my original flight (which I probably didnt buy outright due significant price difference) basically getting the flight I actually wanted for less.

Blue Basic No carry-on bag allowed (personal item only)

Are there any data points of how strict is JetBlue in EWR, JFK and LAX on this "blue basic" fare for carry-on?.

Thanks-

IME every station has been strict about it. I was in ABQ the other night and there were only 60 pax booked on the flight, and I saw three bags get checked. The gate agent made several announcements. They are not playing around with it.

-J.

I almost got burned by this yesterday. Saw a really cheap LAX-SLC fare that perfectly fit my schedule for next week, and went to book it. Good thing for the warning messages -- I forgot I wouldn't get a checked bag or even a carry-on, which would not have worked for me in this case. I'll be making alternate arrangements. If I was just doing a day trip or even a simple overnight, this would have been a great option.

-J.

i dont understand, do the gate agents walk around the gate area and ask/know what type of fare you booked, and therefore force you to gate check your bag?

Your fare class is shown on your boarding pass. The gate agent can easily see whether you are eligible for a carry-on bag or not when you board.

ah ok, i usually book an EMS seat, so hopefully they don't come around and bother, even though December 2020 my spouse was forced to gate check 2 bags because we boarded last for some odd reason, even though we had EMS seats.

the JFK boarding that day was a s**T show

The blue basic boarding passes have NO CABIN BAG in headline titles across the front - you cannot miss it