What is going on with JetBlue?????

[DebbieB]

I used to fly a lot for work. East Coast in the summer is always bad, worse than winter weather.

 

[NYCgrrl]

The next time we fly, I will book the first flight out which is usually around 6am. Less likelihood of having delays.

First flight in, last flight out, is my norm for vacation travel.
Early out means I've other options to get to my final destination.
Late home means hopefully it's less crowded and I've more time at my destination plus those icky options open up.

 

[cluvsdisney]

We used to be loyal JetBlue customer but switched to Delta because of frequent massive delays. Up to an hour, I can roll with but we were getting banged around with 2-3 hours regularly for flights in and out of JFK & LGA from Orlando and Tampa. I would receive a notification on the way to the airport that our 5pm flight is leaving at 8:15 type of thing. So frustrating. We switched to Delta last year and haven't had anywhere near the types of delays we experienced with JetBlue in the 3 years prior. My mother lives in Florida and insists on flying JB. The flight up has been delayed 2+ hours for her past 3 visits up.

 

[Imamom2]

I loved flying JetBlue until 3 years ago. Flights have been delayed and there are fewer direct flights. Everything has a stop - when the direct flight is 2.5 hours I don't want to stop for 2 hours in Atlanta. Flying United again and they have been great our last 2 trips. I do think JetBlue had a better in-flight experience so I'm hoping to hear some read some good things here soon.

 

[Denise W]

I loved flying JetBlue until 3 years ago. Flights have been delayed and there are fewer direct flights. Everything has a stop - when the direct flight is 2.5 hours I don't want to stop for 2 hours in Atlanta. Flying United again and they have been great our last 2 trips. I do think JetBlue had a better in-flight experience so I'm hoping to hear some read some good things here soon.

What you are describing ARE direct flights - they make a stop and you don't change planes. It sounds like you would prefer *non stop* flights.
Denise

 

[NYCgrrl]

In my ever evolving travel plans (We're going out during serious high season) I worry about the "what ifs" .....what if the NE weather closes down the local airports? What if supply doesn't equal demand re: airplane reservations?.
So I decided to check on the cost of Amtrak NYC - Orlando.
Don't do it if you can help it.
Average price for the 3 of us (1 senior, 1 adult, 1 child over 3) is 950.00 r/t andddd that doesn't include a couchette room for that 22 hour trip.

Right now, a 3rd party booking site has gone up and down 40 bucks per plane ticket and I'm tired of the uncertainty. I'm booking our plane reservations tonight.

 

[pooch]

We booked Jet Blue for our trip home, MCO-BDL on November 18th, last flight of the night. SWA flights, for the first time in over 10 years of flying to Florida, were beyond ridiculous at over $300 PP one way. Hoping for the best! BTW, should we bring our own headphones/earbuds for the TVS?

 

[Imamom2]

What you are describing ARE direct flights - they make a stop and you don't change planes. It sounds like you would prefer *non stop* flights.
Denise

Yes I was describing direct "non stop" flights - there are fewer now on JetBlue. As I said, I don't want to have 1 stop on a flight that is only 2.5 hours direct (EWR to MCO). In the past there were more nonstop flights from the northeast to MCO. Now it's difficult to find a JetBlue nonstop flight. United always has nonstop flight throughout the day. Again, inflight service is better on JetBlue.

 

[NYCgrrl]

We booked Jet Blue for our trip home, MCO-BDL on November 18th, last flight of the night. SWA flights, for the first time in over 10 years of flying to Florida, were beyond ridiculous at over $300 PP one way. Hoping for the best! BTW, should we bring our own headphones/earbuds for the TVS?

Yes or accept the indignity of paying 3.00 @ piece for them. Blankets are 5 bucks so bring your own or wear a hoodie. No idea how much pillows are but did remember to bring that.

 

[pooch]

Yes or accept the indignity of paying 3.00 @ piece for them. Blankets are 5 bucks so bring your own or wear a hoodie. No idea how much pillows are but did remember to bring that.

Just standard old head jacks? And I always bring a jacket/hoodie. Planes are so cold!

 

[kandb]

In my ever evolving travel plans (We're going out during serious high season) I worry about the "what ifs" .....what if the NE weather closes down the local airports? What if supply doesn't equal demand re: airplane reservations?.
So I decided to check on the cost of Amtrak NYC - Orlando.
Don't do it if you can help it.
Average price for the 3 of us (1 senior, 1 adult, 1 child over 3) is 950.00 r/t andddd that doesn't include a couchette room for that 22 hour trip.

Right now, a 3rd party booking site has gone up and down 40 bucks per plane ticket and I'm tired of the uncertainty. I'm booking our plane reservations tonight.

We have done the autotrain twice. That was enough. Lol

 

[kandb]

Yes I was describing direct "non stop" flights - there are fewer now on JetBlue. As I said, I don't want to have 1 stop on a flight that is only 2.5 hours direct (EWR to MCO). In the past there were more nonstop flights from the northeast to MCO. Now it's difficult to find a JetBlue nonstop flight. United always has nonstop flight throughout the day. Again, inflight service is better on JetBlue.

We're flying Newark to Orlando and they have 8 flights per day that are non-stop. I haven't notice less direct flights, just more delays.

 

[Eriboo3]

Reading all this gives me anxiety! I'm flying JetBlue out of Newark in November to MCO. I booked early and already they moved the flight from 9:30am to 10:30am. I'm panicking about further delays and/or a cancellation. This is our first disney trip. I'm so worried.

 

[NYCgrrl]

We have done the autotrain twice. That was enough. Lol

Hehehe....I've continued to peruse Amtrak options for the trip down (already fine with a plane back home) and since we are going car less for DW the Autotrain is not an option with whatever faults it might have.
Just back from a supposed 7-8 hour train from NYC to Williamsburg, VA trip and I have a better idea of what to expect doing AMTRAK NYC to WD .

Firstly, there are only 2 trains that travel from NYC to Williamsburg so life must revolve on that reality. These regularly scheduled NE regional trains are not part of the Silver Service line or Auto train and as such differ in amenities. No roomettes, bedrooms or dining car but does have a cafe car and business portion.

One train is scheduled to leave at 3:25 AM and the other around 1 in the afternoon. The 1:17 PM train left 2 hours late for the man and DGD; the 3:25 AM train left almost 3 hours late for my departure. Neither train made up the time going South and one (mine) took another 1 extra . I now I read that Penn Sta trains schedules were screwy due to track work but thought it was only local. How wrong was I. I traveled in the quiet car going down and found it just what I needed. Having already eaten cafe car food stuff in the past I ordered takeout from a local restaurant and brought it with me. Tipped the cafe car attendant to heat up my food (had to press her to take the tip as she was willing to do it for free); bought a brownie ( delish!), cup of tea, and I was fine on that level.
Since we traveled separately going down I can give no insight for a group. Our return on the 5:15 PM included all of us so I'll speak of that. Brought take out from a local World of Noodles franchise and fresh fruit for dinner w/ us. Only cafe car purchases were hot beverages. Sat in a 4 facing seat opposite a mom traveling with 2 kiddos to Boston. Nice family who decided they'd bring their own food like us next trip. The mom stated that the cold Thai chicken wrap was OK but the 2 hot sandwiches she purchased was "meh" (can't recalled the names or ingredients of the sammies she bought). We all felt that the reclining seats were comfy for our families. My assessment of the bathrooms were they were certainly bigger than the average airplanes' in coach. Some problems hearing the train audio announcements but since the train personnel walked through the cars regularly we still knew what was said. On my trip down a train worker made sure to let me know when my stop was coming. Great since I was deep in the arms of Orpheus. I've read a bit on the 'net and heard relatively good about the dining car experience as opposed to the car cafe which is a plus for the complete trip from north to FL.

Finally, since the trip up North was on time and actually 10 minutes early, I've decided that the 21 hour trip on the Silver Meteor will meet our needs for the Christmas travel season even though we might cut the trip in half by stopping in either Williamsburg or DC.

 

[peteykirch]

Just changed our flight on JetBlue from leaving Newark at 5PM to leaving Newark at 5AM.

Did some research and saw the flight we were supposed to be on has awful numbers statistically in terms of being late/cancelled.

Luckily because JetBlue altered our original flight we were able to change that flight to a different one and they waived all the fees which was HUGE.

We were seriously considering dropping at least 350$ to get new tickets completely, to alter the tickets would've been nearly $450 in fees and charges.

 

[kandb]

Hehehe....I've continued to peruse Amtrak options for the trip down (already fine with a plane back home) and since we are going car less for DW the Autotrain is not an option with whatever faults it might have.
Just back from a supposed 7-8 hour train from NYC to Williamsburg, VA trip and I have a better idea of what to expect doing AMTRAK NYC to WD .

Firstly, there are only 2 trains that travel from NYC to Williamsburg so life must revolve on that reality. These regularly scheduled NE regional trains are not part of the Silver Service line or Auto train and as such differ in amenities. No roomettes, bedrooms or dining car but does have a cafe car and business portion.

One train is scheduled to leave at 3:25 AM and the other around 1 in the afternoon. The 1:17 PM train left 2 hours late for the man and DGD; the 3:25 AM train left almost 3 hours late for my departure. Neither train made up the time going South and one (mine) took another 1 extra . I now I read that Penn Sta trains schedules were screwy due to track work but thought it was only local. How wrong was I. I traveled in the quiet car going down and found it just what I needed. Having already eaten cafe car food stuff in the past I ordered takeout from a local restaurant and brought it with me. Tipped the cafe car attendant to heat up my food (had to press her to take the tip as she was willing to do it for free); bought a brownie ( delish!), cup of tea, and I was fine on that level.
Since we traveled separately going down I can give no insight for a group. Our return on the 5:15 PM included all of us so I'll speak of that. Brought take out from a local World of Noodles franchise and fresh fruit for dinner w/ us. Only cafe car purchases were hot beverages. Sat in a 4 facing seat opposite a mom traveling with 2 kiddos to Boston. Nice family who decided they'd bring their own food like us next trip. The mom stated that the cold Thai chicken wrap was OK but the 2 hot sandwiches she purchased was "meh" (can't recalled the names or ingredients of the sammies she bought). We all felt that the reclining seats were comfy for our families. My assessment of the bathrooms were they were certainly bigger than the average airplanes' in coach. Some problems hearing the train audio announcements but since the train personnel walked through the cars regularly we still knew what was said. On my trip down a train worker made sure to let me know when my stop was coming. Great since I was deep in the arms of Orpheus. I've read a bit on the 'net and heard relatively good about the dining car experience as opposed to the car cafe which is a plus for the complete trip from north to FL.

Finally, since the trip up North was on time and actually 10 minutes early, I've decided that the 21 hour trip on the Silver Meteor will meet our needs for the Christmas travel season even though we might cut the trip in half by stopping in either Williamsburg or DC.

We didn't "hate" the train, actually, some parts were neat, like eating in the dining car and watching the world go by as you sat in the train BUT everything was very compact and if you didn't have a roomette to lay down to sleep, no one in my family slept in the chairs the one time we didn't have a roomette. It's OK to do but when it costs as much as a plane, most decide the plane is a better option and this is from someone who really doesn't like to fly. The noise during the night of people going from one train car to the next was unbearable, even my young children at that time could not sleep. We all felt like zoombies in the morning.

 

[kandb]

Just changed our flight on JetBlue from leaving Newark at 5PM to leaving Newark at 5AM.

Did some research and saw the flight we were supposed to be on has awful numbers statistically in terms of being late/cancelled.

Luckily because JetBlue altered our original flight we were able to change that flight to a different one and they waived all the fees which was HUGE.

We were seriously considering dropping at least 350$ to get new tickets completely, to alter the tickets would've been nearly $450 in fees and charges.

Wow, you are lucky. I called a few weeks ago to see if I could get on the 6am flight but it would of cost $300, so I passed. Do you know how many minutes they changed the flight from? I think our original flight time was changed but it wasn't by much time. Have a great time.

 

[kandb]

Just changed our flight on JetBlue from leaving Newark at 5PM to leaving Newark at 5AM.

Did some research and saw the flight we were supposed to be on has awful numbers statistically in terms of being late/cancelled.

Luckily because JetBlue altered our original flight we were able to change that flight to a different one and they waived all the fees which was HUGE.

We were seriously considering dropping at least 350$ to get new tickets completely, to alter the tickets would've been nearly $450 in fees and charges.

I have kept my eye on those later afternoon/evening flights. They are always delayed. The last 2 of the night are ridiculously late. Think one landed last night at 3am.

 

[peteykirch]

Wow, you are lucky. I called a few weeks ago to see if I could get on the 6am flight but it would of cost $300, so I passed. Do you know how many minutes they changed the flight from? I think our original flight time was changed but it wasn't by much time. Have a great time.

The difference was only 20 minutes from what we originally bought to what they altered to.

We had to spend $80 because the only seats left were Even More Space, but that's peanuts compared to 450$ in fees or $350 for new tickets on their own.

 

[NYCgrrl]

We didn't "hate" the train, actually, some parts were neat, like eating in the dining car and watching the world go by as you sat in the train BUT everything was very compact and if you didn't have a roomette to lay down to sleep, no one in my family slept in the chairs the one time we didn't have a roomette. It's OK to do but when it costs as much as a plane, most decide the plane is a better option and this is from someone who really doesn't like to fly. The noise during the night of people going from one train car to the next was unbearable, even my young children at that time could not sleep. We all felt like zoombies in the morning.

I hear you on the cost differential big time.
I decided that since we regularly hear horror stories on the news about the local airports during the domestic Christmas traffic time that the train would be easier regardless of cost.
Not sure that I would bother train traveling during a less busy time for this destination. We'll travel home on Jan 2nd as I think the plane will be easier then.