A loyal SW fan who just booked jetblue

[dreamsofdisney]

Now that our April dates opened up, I ended up biting the bullet and booking jetBlue after many years as a faithful SW fan. The fares for nonstop flights were less expensive...and not quite as early a departure on our arrival day.

We're a family of 4 leaving from BDL (Hartford, CT) travel dates April 6th-16th and we booked the early nonstop flight out and the later nonstop flight home for.....


$1057 including taxes and fees!

Not too bad. I could've saved a little on another airline with 1 stop on one leg of the trip, but we're traveling with a soon to be 2 year old with lots of medical needs and a teen with Autism. Nonstop flights are my friend!

 

[DisneyForLife]

You will not be sorry, Jetblue is an awesome airlines.

 

[greg42]

Have you not flown JetBlue before? In general I think you'll find it quite acceptable, maybe even preferable to SW. I won't say for certain that it's better, exactly, as different people prefer different things, but personally I prefer JetBlue to SW, though I continue to fly both. Just came back from WDW and flew SW because only SW and AirTran have Orlando nonstops from here in Pittsburgh (soon to be only SW, I guess ).

On JetBlue you still get one checked bag free, usually all we ever have (we did a rare second checked bag on the way back, 3 total for 2 of us, just because we could on SW, but we didn't need to). You get the TV, which is a nice diversion. You get an assigned seat instead of open seating, which may be a plus or minus depending upon how you look at it. We use JetBlue to fly to Boston nonstop, usually a couple times a year.

If everything were the same: nonstop flight, suitable flight times, same fare, etc. I would choose JetBlue. If JetBlue is coming out as a better fare, with a better flight schedule for you, all the more reason to choose. Have a great trip!

Note: make sure you pack your own headphones! The TV is free but if you need headphones they will charge for those. (You get to keep them, but they're crappy.) Any standard headphones will do.

 

[focusondisney]

Ditto to the above posts! We used to fly SW. Have flown Jetblue the last 3 trips & we love them!! For all the reasons greg42 said. Have a great trip!

 

[ancestry]

I absolutely LOVE Jet Blue! I actually will pay higher fares (within reason of course) to fly with Jet Blue.

You will not be disappointed.

 

[Eveningsong]

Keep an eye on your airfare if it drops you phone Jetblue and request they honour the lower price. They will put the difference in a travel bank. Very easy to work with.

 

[sj24]

I looked into flying Jet Blue for our trip in April, just bought roundtrip tickets on Tues with Southwest, Boston to Orlando and back for $1715.20, Jet blue was so much more it wasn't even funny, just looked again before writing this and the same times (roughly) on the same dates are $5040.40.

 

[momtwoboys]

Good job Dreamsof Disney! That's just what we did. Sw has been our friend for years, but the TV's will be a lifesaver on the flight NONstop is our only way to fly too. Congrats and let the planning continue

 

[kimkoz]

You'll love jetblue. We're doing the opposite. Normally JB fans but SW is much cheaper so we're probably traveling the 2 hours to fly SW instead. I'm a bit worried. Love the seating on JB, TV'S are great for the little ones. Less entertainment to pack. reserved seating too.

 

[dreamsofdisney]

Thanks everyone!

I'm actaully getting a little excited about jetBlue now! We flew with them once, when the airline started up. It will be great to have the TV to distract the kids. Thanks for the tip about the headphones! I was wondering about that. We'll bring our own and I'll have to start preacticing wearing headphones with DD so she doesn't just pull them off over and over again!

Plus, I feel pretty good about getting the two nonstop flights at that price. DH said if I could save even $100 and have one flight have a stop/plane transfer that it was worth it, but I disagree. DS will be 18 but our DD will have just turned 2 we'll have her medical supplies (she's a former micropreemie) her stroller, car seat and carry-ons to lug around, so that would be a big hassle.

Thanks for all of the feedback!

 

[kimkoz]

honestly our only problem with traveling JB with our DS was on the way there it was morning so he had tons of cartoons to watch so on the way home I decided not to carry on the mini dvd player... wrong decision. In the evening I couldn't find anything for him to watch, cartoon network was much too old for him at that point.

 

[BigTigger]

You'll love JB. I'm not even sure why they call JB a "discount" carrier anymore as they have equal or better amenities to the old boys (Delta, United, AA).

Flying out of BDL is great too as parking is so cheap. We use Galaxy across the street and with the AAA discount, it's $5-6 a day at most to park and they shuttle you back and forth to the terminal for the whole two minute drive.

 

[tinkerbell313]

And the snacks are really cool as well...blue potato chips, terra chips, munchi mix, cashews, chocolate chip cookies...mmmm.

And they have have coke products, arizona iced tea, and dunkin donuts coffee...which my husband loves.

@kimkoz...we were delayed due to bad weather a year ago flying home from our trip to the world. Our plane ended up taking off at 10pm...the only cartoon on was Family Guy. Fortuantely my kids were exhausted by then that they did not want the head phones in...they just had the tv on until they fell asleep.

 

[gparr]

Family of 4 going to the world from April 1-9. SW at one airport (30 minutes drive) is over $1400 RT. Airtran and the closest airport (5 minute drive) is over $1900.00. Jet Blue at the 3rd airport (about an hours drive) is $790.

Jet Blue is getting 4 new customers more than likely this weekend!!!!

 

[greg42]

And the snacks are really cool as well...blue potato chips, terra chips, munchi mix, cashews, chocolate chip cookies...mmmm.

And they have have coke products, arizona iced tea, and dunkin donuts coffee...which my husband loves.

I never get to experience the good snack/drink service. Our flights PIT-BOS are so short (and on the E190 planes, not the larger Airbus) that it's always express service with only a few drink choices. Blue chips are the best tho! And we still get the TV.

BTW, would not recommend leaving behind portable DVD if you normally travel with one. In addition to timing issues as mentioned above, it's also possible for the TV system to be down for the entire plane. They'll give each passenger a $15 credit if that happens (you might have to pester them for it later, supposed to be automatic but ours wasn't), but that won't help you keep the kids occupied.

 

[mikehn]

I have no loyalty. I use whichever company suits my needs the best. Keeps everyone on their toes.

 

[Buzz's Buddy]

I have no loyalty. I use whichever company suits my needs the best. Keeps everyone on their toes.

I agree, but all things being equal, I'd fly Jet Blue every single time!

 

[WDWisTheBest]

I think you will find that both Southwest and Jet Blue are good airlines.