In a move we applaud, today JetBlue announced the availability of refundable fares. Personally, we never understood why many low-fare carriers offer no refundable fares. It is a value added service. If you are willing to shell out more money for a feature, why not offer it? We’d love it if all fares were refundable, but we know that is unrealistic in this industry.
JetBlue’s refundable fares allow unlimited reservation changes, including name changes, and a full refund anytime before departure time. After the flight departs, any unused funds are converted into a Jetblue credit which is fee-free and transferable. So if you fail to show up, you don’t lose your money, only the ability to get it back.
For those of you who are travel agents or in the know, the new fares will be designated in the Y class, which is the usual letter indicated the highest and unrestricted fare. The previous, nonrefundable Y will now be designated E. The new refundable fares will range from fifty to one hundred dollars higher than the highest nonrefundable fare in the same market, varying by route length.
To celebrate the launch of this service, refundable tickets will earn quadraple TrueBlue points purchased online through February 13th.