Trip Report: jetBlue Airlines, New Orleans to Providenciales (July 2021)

Stay Report: JetBlue Airlines - New Orleans to Providenciales
comment below and let me know your thoughts :)

I wanted to travel to Turks & Caicos and I had originally booked travel on another carrier but then dates changed so had to look for another option and in my search Jetblue came up.  I have flown Jetblue before and really enjoyed their service so decided to try them for Caribbean service and see if their reputation held up.  At the time of booking, Jetblue had partnership with a variety of airlines so you could earn AAdvanage, Skyward or TrueBlue miles on this flight.  

My flight operated from New Orleans to Fort Lauderdale to Providenciales.  My flight was early in the

morning with a 6am departure on an Airbus A320 from New Orleans to Fort Lauderdale and then a 2.5hr layover prior to departing on an Embraer E190 to Providenciales at 12pm.  I had booked the 'Blue' fare which includes a carry-on, a personal item, and seat selection; checking luggage on this fare requires a cost.  Jetblue also introduced 'Blue Basic' to compete with ULCC's and that only includes a personal carry-on, no additional carryon or seat selection is available.  In every class, every passenger gets access to the inflight TVs and the wide variety of snacks.

My first flight was on an Airbus A320 with a 3-3 seat configuration.  The plane had a small business class followed by standard economy.  There were some seats that had extra legroom, which required an extra charge, but the standard legroom on Jetblue was very generous.  I am 6'1 and the seat pitch was extremely good and I could easily fit my legs in the seat.  The seat itself was very comfortable and wide.  Each seat came with a PTV screen and the plane was equipped with wifi.  The PTV had access to movies and TV shows as well as live TV.  After take-off, Jetblue's signature inflight service commenced.  I say signature because Jetblue is the only one to offer a wide variety of snacks including chips, popcorn, and cookies and these are offered throughout the flight and you can go up to the FA to request more.  In addition to these complimentary snacks, complimentary drinks are served and you can also purchase additional food and beverage items.  The extra seatpitch, the PTV and access to free content, and the access to quality snacks are some of the main reasons that people choose Jetblue; its good that they have kept those options all these years.

We landed in Fort Lauderdale and had a very long layover in a small airport (Fort Lauderdale airport

was not built to handle the capacity that it currently operates at).  About an hour before our flight to Providenciales, passengers were called to the gate so that documents could be checked - these included passport but also COVID tests and T&C health screenings.  Once all documents were checked, we were able to board the plane.  The flight from Fort Lauderdale to Providenciales was operated by an Embraer E190 with a 2-2 seat configuration.  The plane was small and it felt small - even though the flight time was 1hr50min and T&C can accommodate bigger planes; I am not sure why Jetblue operated the smaller plane.  The seats on the E190 were the same in terms of seat pitch and width and each had a PTV screen, but these were older and so did not have access to all the content from the previous plane; free live tv was still available.  After take-off, the signature service commenced with complimentary snacks and drinks and then it was time to enjoy the Jetblue experience before we started our descent into Providenciales.  

Overall, it was a nice flight experience with Jetblue.  The comfortable legroom, the comfortable seat, the access to PTV screens, and access to complimentary snacks made the overall experience a very pleasant one.  The FA's onboard were nice and friendly so it made the experience that much more pleasant.  Since taking this flight, Jetblue has increased its partnership with American meaning you can earn and redeem AAdvantage points on Jetblue flights.  This is just another reason to choose Jetblue. 

Trip Report: JetBlue, New Orleans to Boston, New Orleans to New York (July 2017)

Trip Report: jetblue, New Orleans to Boston & New York

comment below and let me know your thoughts :)

Ever since JetBlue first introduced service in 1998, it operated a bit differently.  It was one of the first carriers to introduce free live TV, one of the first carriers to provide free quality snacks, and one of the fist carriers to provide all leather seats.  Since its inception, JetBlue has made some changes to its operation to increase revenue but has maintained some of the perks that first adhered customers to their brand.  One change that has been beneficial to customers are the interline agreements JetBlue has with many international airlines.  JetBlue has partnerships with a variety of international airlines which allow you to book flights all on one ticket, which allows easy transfer of luggage.   Even better, JetBlue follows that carrier’s baggage policy.  JetBlue charges for checked baggage, but if the interline carrier offers free luggage then so will JetBlue on that ticket.  I have used JetBlue on interline many times and find the service very convenient.

In the month of July, I was going to be travelling twice on JetBlue through interline services – first from New Orleans to Boston connecting to Aer Lingus and second from New Orleans to New York and then connecting to Etihad Airways.  Each jetBlue flight was booked as a partner flight operated by jetBlue, so with this information I called JetBlue reservations to obtain my jetBlue confirmation number, preselect my seat, and to add my ff number.  JetBlue allows you to preselect your seat for free, or you can purchase an extra legroom seat. 

New Orleans to Boston:  This flight was scheduled to depart New Orleans at 11:51a and arrive into Boston at 4:14p for a scheduled flight time of 3hr28min.  I had signed up for flight alerts, which turned out to be very useful as I got notice that the flight was now delayed by an hour.  The inbound plane arrived a little after 12pm, and the airline tried to push a quick turnaround but we ended up pushing back on the delayed schedule.  Boarding was fine as it happened in groups, and the group numbers were enforced, and those who boarded last were still able to find overhead bin space.

On board the Airbus A320, the leather seats were laid in a 3-3 and the legroom on the plane was extremely gracious.  I am a tall person (6'1) and there was room between my legs and the seat in front of me - and this is standard economy as you could pay for 'even more space' seats with additional legroom.  Very generous legroom.  The leather seat was generally comfortable and was good for the 3+hour flight.  Behind each seat was an individual PTV, and the control was in the armrest on your right.  The PTV provided free live TV, which very nice, as well as certain free movies.  The only negative was the small screen of the PTV (it seems the screens on the plane have not been updated since jetBlue's inception) and the location of the control - every time the passenger next to me put their arm down on the shared armrest they would hit the controls and change the button.  This was frustrating.

jetBlue is also generous in their on-board service.  The attendants first came around to offer their snack boxes which are available for purchase, and afterwards they came back with the free snacks.  jetBlue offers a variety of free snacks including Terra Chips, cookies, pretzels, cheez-its, and popcorn chips.  You can take as many as you want, and there are more snacks available in the rear throughout the plane.  The attendants also came by to serve complimentary drinks as well.  Overall,the service on the flight was very good and the on board amenities were generous.  

My flight to New York was very similar.  It was also operated by an Airbus A320 in a 3-3 seat layout and each seat also had older PTVs which screened free live tv and free movies.  The legroom on the seats were again very generous – I had more than enough legroom in my seat.  Complimentary snacks and drinks were also served on the 2.5hr flight.  Both flights also had complimentary wifi or FlyFi which allowed free access to the internet while flying.  This enabled you to access your emails and social media while in the air.  Another perk of flying with jetBlue.

Overall, flying is a positive experience.  The seats are generally comfortable and provide really good legroom.  The onboard service of complimentary snacks, complimentary TV, and complimentary wifi are very nice perks.  The only negatives of flying with jetBlue are 1) you have to pay for your luggage and 2) if you are transferring in New York there is no transfer between terminals so you have to exit one terminal to switch to another – it’s a pain and while not all together in jetBlue’s control, it does affect the overall passenger experience.