Did anyone get an email invitation for a survey comissioned by JetBlue? From the questions, it seems like they are at least playing with the idea of monetizing the extra 4" of seat pitch by offering upgrades at check-in, or paying extra for aisle/window and front of plane seats. They were also questions about how limited or full internet access on flights. Another question was about how comfortable I was for paying for curbside check-in, priority baggage drop off, and priority boarding.

Unfortunately for them, I didn't respond positively. Many of these benefits can be had at full service airlines for FREE, at least for frequent fliers. Paying $45/$65 on top of the $75 ticket to "upgrade" to a aisle seat with extra 4"? No thanks. In the times that I had to take B6, I usually try to doze off anyway.

Many of those benefits are NOT FREE for regular customers on a bunch of legacies now, and are only free, as you suggested, for loyal frequent flyers. Presumably, JetBlue might consider making these upgrades free for full fare or frequent flyers, and charge the rest of us. I agree with you: I don't think it's a good idea either, but it should be noted that it would actually make JetBlue more like the "full service" airlines you speak of, not less.

Bad. Bad. Bad. DO NOT do this jetBlue. For the frequent flyers and leisure travelers alike, it's one thing that actually differentiates the brand.

Saving aisles/windows up front for higher revenue customers is perfectly fine. Great example...last night I booked my dad and his friend on the same flight with two separate confirmations/bookings. It is for a last-minute ticket down to Orlando. We got the last fare at $249 and the next ticket was $299. With the $299 ticket, I was able to book in row 3, while the $249 ticket got stuck in row 25. Even the phone agent and her supervisor could not override the system!

However, charging more for aisles and curbside checkin is a definite no no.

As a realist loyal NYC-based passenger who values many aspects of B6, my reaction is simply this: Most of those ideas sound fine, and they won't really impact loyalty. I think surveys will probably yield results which say nobody wants to pay more for anything. But if the B6 people read this board, they should know that some of us just like your airline, and will accept many of the changes needed in a tough economic environment, so long as they aren't disruptive to the basis good customer service and convenience we should expect, whether we pay more or not.

1. Yeah, charge a nominal fee for upfront extra legroom rows. Get the revenue from that. My only suggestion in this regard is to continue the practice that all of those unsold seats immediately become available at the 24-hour check-in window, and stop charging the fee at that point. While I won't pay for this service, there are too many hypersensitive passengers out there who will. It won't impact the experience that much.

2. I am somewhat resigned to the fact that B6 expects a revenue stream from the internet. In all honestly, thats OK. I think it would be a mistake to charge for the TV/radio, however. It really is something that makes me more likely to pick B6 over a similarly priced DL flight, particularly transcons.

3. Charging for priority boarding: Go ahead. It also won't impact a whole lot here. However, the only issue here is that those allowed to get the priority really need to be monitored for the carry-on requirement. I think this is only fair, as no amount of money should get you around the rules everybody is supposed to follow.

4. Curbside check-in: I have to laugh at this idea, only because , at least at JFK, one of my biggest complaints is how frustrating I find the curbside area. I typically check-in from home and then use the AirTrain to get to JFK. The curbside area is reserved for those who did check in at home, but the line is usually filled will clueless people who then clog up the sidewalk, making the curbside check-in both slower and more frustrating than just going inside and using the kiosk/bag check lanes. So the irony here is that I think they should go ahead and just charge for the use of curbside, because, as a loyal customer, I wouldn't miss it anyway. It was so poorly done for so long, its lost its intrinsic value already.

5. Priority bag drop off: There can be a charge for this, but I really really really wish there would be a dedicate priority line/agent(s) for those who 100% checked in at home. So maybe this can be that perk that is missing? What would be NICE would be to have a priority line where they charge a fee for people in a rush, OR, waive the fee for those who present the printed boarding pass at home. My feeling is it would improve the crowds at check-in at JFK, thereby saving staffing costs.

6. Some ideas not being floated around but things I thought about (some of which I might pay for):
a. Charge an extra dollar for wine/beer if you actually would like a real glass rather than a plastic cup. I loved the wine choices. (Tried them last month when I just really needed a drink but would have liked a real glass.
b. I am currently not a B6 cardholder, but I suspect I would think about it more if there were some intrinsic benefits, including an override of the fare requirement to get up front, or use the priority line. Not sure I would pay for this, but some might.

It used to be that TSA would frown upon this, just due to the potential use of broken glass as a weapon. Now, I'm not so sure.

Where did you receive this survey? ie, mail, email, etc.

Real glass glassware and glass wine bottles never disappeared from AA or UA flights (among other legacies), so I'm skeptical that anyone at the TSA has ever "frowned" upon the provision of glass onboard.

This hasn't been an issue for at least a couple of years. I've had real glass in F on CO and many other carriers since early 2006 and probably longer. I actually don't remember glassware ever going away, though knives did briefly. Now the only flights that I think bar real knives are the UK ones (though that may have changed as well), but CO has had real flatware for years.

It is interesting to see JetBlue trying to actually derive incremental value from their perceived advantages in the marketplace. Having the extra legroom is great for the consumer, but if you can't get extra money from it then the end result is a net negative. If JetBlue started just charging more for the flights themselves they'd sell fewer seats because the majority of passengers are price sensitive more than anything else. But if you can increemntally charge after the base fare you stand a chance of actually getting some of that revenue much more than if you have more expensive tickets. The trend towards Buy on Board for food on all the legacies, save CO, is proof of this. I'm pretty sure that AA already charges for curb-side bag drop. NW charges for aisle seats and exit rows. VS charges for exit rows. Some of these are waived for elites (NW charges are) and some are not (I don't think that the AA or VS ones are). It is very hard to start charging for things that used to be free and not pi$$ your customers off. I'm not sure that JetBlue will be successful, but I do understand their need to try. They're experiencing a liquidity issue right now, and they're doing anything they can to find cash.

There are a couple posts on the View from the Wing blog (one of the two official FlyerTalk blogs) here and here about the unbundling of "other" services from the base ticket price and I blogged about it a bit here.

The one thing on the list that JetBlue can do for free and engender a lot of customer goodwill is the dedicated lanes for baggage drop. CO does this at their hubs and they are very efficient. Fewer agents are required to handle these passengers and they can go much more quickly than folks trying to do all the "other" check-in tasks. It may only make sense at JFK and the focus cities based on the volume, but that is the one thing I can see working, and it should be free as it actually should reduce costs for JetBlue, which is about as good as increasing revenue.

You're kidding me, right? Do you even realize how much "regular crap" the TSA still "frowns up" today? I'm not saying outright banned. I'm saying, things that give the TSA reason to "search that bag" or "re-screen you."

2008 is going to be a rough year for everybody. We're trying to increase revenue to offset fuel costs while trying to keep to our core values. We want to know what the customers might be willing to pay a little extra for and what customer refuse to pay extra for. I'm glad the company is asking for input instead of making sweeping changes and causing heartache and driving away customers.

Agreed, very strongly. JetBlueFA, that's a great way of putting it. As we know, there's always a "but" .....

The but here is that I just hope jetBlue is surveying an ideal (size, demographics, etc.) audience. Far too many times surveys are not accrate due to not enough representation in the sample size. For example, USA Today's front page poll asks: "Are you happy with the way things are going in this country? Forget the results...funny thing is read the fine print: ~2,300 SURVEYED!!! Is 2,300 people really enough to draw an accurate conclusion when there are 310,000,000 people in this country! More importantly, are the RIGHT people being asked!?

As you know, I'm the BIGGEST jetBlue fan there is and a frequent flyer with B6! And, I did not receive this survey.

Maybe jetBlue management should hold a focus group with us FTers! @:-)

B6 should add a "BS" fare like the WN one that would be:
Refundable
Always have a seat avaible in first 10 rows
Free movie
Free alcoholic drink
More TB points
Priority boarding

B6 could charge $25-50 more depending on route for the BS type airfare. This would kill two birds with one stone 1. increasing revenue 2. adding refundable fares

That's something I might pay for depending on the flight (and what might be on TV when I'm flying). However, would some see that as feeding into the whole 2 classes of citizens/passengers? Something like that could be a lead into a second cabin.

I find this thought interesting as Jetblue already receives extra income from the "extra's (compared to other airlines) they offer.

Except for when they have a sale, it is rare that the Jetblue fare is the lowest or even matches the competition.

Up to now, I have flown Jetblue whenever possible for the live TV (this is a huge factor), the adavnce seat selection (this is a real up to now factor as the have pulled the exit row seats from the advance purchse option) and the overall "friendly" staff.

I did not receive the survey, I wish I had.

Since I did not receive this e-mail, let me reply to my friends at Jetblue now -

the questions,

it seems like they are at least playing with the idea of monetizing the extra 4" of seat pitch by offering upgrades at check-in Isn't it 2 inches???

paying extra for aisle/window NO

and front of plane seats NO

They were also questions about how limited or full internet access on flights.
Yes, they can charge for this. It is a new (and extra) feature. Not everyone will use it (as opposed to TV where 90% of the passengers use it).

Another question was about how comfortable I was for paying for
curbside check-in NO

priority baggage drop off YES (if it had a guaranty of five minutes or less)

and priority boarding NO, but if they do it they MUST police the number and size of carry on bags by those people that do use this service.