JetBlue cancellation fee confusion

[Miffy]

Because I had a not-great experience with JetBlue last month, I'm more alert to the possibility of changing or cancelling a flight.

However, I'm completely confused by JetBlue's policies on changing/cancelling.

On JetBlue's website, it says:
(1) For Blue, Blue Extra, Blue Plus, and Mint fares:

• There is no fee to change or cancel your reservation prior to departure.
• Any difference in fare applies for flight changes.
• Same-day confirmed switches can be made for a $75 fee (no fee for Mosaic members or Blue Extra fares) without paying a fare difference.

But it also says, on the same page:
(2) If your travel was booked seven days or more prior to the scheduled departure date, you have 24 hours from the time the booking was made to cancel your reservation without being charged a cancellation fee. The entire booking must be cancelled to qualify (not applicable for JetBlue Vacations reservations).

To be clear, I copied the information in (1) and (2) above right from the JetBlue website.

But . . . if there's no fee to change or cancel your reservation prior to departure (as it says in (1)), then what is the point of (2)? I mean, if there's no fee, there's no fee.

I must be misinterpreting something.

And, btw, when I went to book my airfare yesterday--it was a Blue fare (not Basic)--JB tried to upsell me something that cost at least $40 so that I wouldn't be charged to cancel my flight. What? I thought there's no fee to change or cancel. Why would I purchase something additional if there's already no fee?

I'm sure someone here will be able to sort this out for me--and it's easier than calling JetBlue, which was my first thought.

Thanks!

 

[EACarlson]

There is no fee to change or cancel your flight, the difference is what happens to the money you paid. If the booking is more than 7 days out and you're within 24 hours of making the booking. You get the money back however you paid, primarily back to your CC. Anything outside of those and you only get a credit to use on JetBlue for whatever you paid, unless you paid the extra to make your booking refundable, which is probably what the $40 was. Although $40 is pretty cheap to make it refundable.

In short:
1) You only get a credit back to be used on JetBlue with an expiration date.
2) You get your money back.

 

[Miffy]

There is no fee to change or cancel your flight, the difference is what happens to the money you paid. If the booking is more than 7 days out and you're within 24 hours of making the booking. You get the money back however you paid, primarily back to your CC. Anything outside of those and you only get a credit to use on JetBlue for whatever you paid, unless you paid the extra to make your booking refundable, which is probably what the $40 was. Although $40 is pretty cheap to make it refundable.

In short:
1) You only get a credit back to be used on JetBlue with an expiration date.
2) You get your money back.

Thank you. That makes sense now. If only their website was that specific.

I had a flight last month that JB cancelled. They rebooked me but I turned down the new flight, and they did give me my money back. But I guess that's a different situation.

 

[EACarlson]

I had a flight last month that JB cancelled. They rebooked me but I turned down the new flight, and they did give me my money back. But I guess that's a different situation.

Yes, on a cancelled flight the airlines are required by the USDOT to refund anyone that asks to the original form of payment.

 

[sponica]

The 24 hour period is part of the cooling off rules. Airlines can either hold the fare for you for 24 hours without charging you OR you have 24 hours to cancel a flight you paid for. I think most do the latter.

 

[Jarmo]

Also worth noting with jetblue, any refund credit expires in a year (unless that has changed recently!)

 

[Miffy]

Many thanks to @EACarlson, @sponica, and @Jarmo!

I hope I don't have to cancel or change any JB reservations--they're for WDW!

 

[focusondisney]

Also worth noting with jetblue, any refund credit expires in a year (unless that has changed recently!)

Just to clarify, you just have to book the next flight within the year. The flight you use the credit for can be anytime. Unlike SW when you had to fly before the credit expired.

 

[EACarlson]

Just to clarify, you just have to book the next flight within the year. The flight you use the credit for can be anytime. Unlike SW when you had to fly before the credit expired.

But you have to book within one year of the date the original ticket was purchased. So if you booked a ticket today for March, cancelled, you would have until August to book using the credit.

 

[Miffy]

But you have to book within one year of the date the original ticket was purchased. So if you booked a ticket today for March, cancelled, you would have until August to book using the credit.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[focusondisney]

But you have to book within one year of the date the original ticket was purchased. So if you booked a ticket today for March, cancelled, you would have until August to book using the credit.

Yes, sorry, that just became effective a few months ago.

 

[gparr]

Is there a way to see when the original flight was booked?

 

[bbsearchlight]

JetBlue is the one airline I will absolutely never fly again. They have more cancellations and delays than any other airline and have been ranked worse than every other airline (except for Spirit and Frontier) in almost every survey in the last 2 years.

The experience I had with them was 2 years ago. I was flying with my mother to Florida in mid-January. We were scheduled to leave on a Sunday morning and on Friday the weather said there was a 70% chance there would be a major snowstorm on Sunday. Friday evening JetBlue cancels all their flights for Sunday and rebooks us on a flight for Tuesday evening from an airport 40 miles away. Of course, it comes Saturday night and the snowstorm moves away and the weather is perfect, every other airline is flying except for JetBlue which cancelled flight 2 days ago. We ended up having to book a last minute flight on United and paid almost triple what we should have paid. And United flew from and to the exact same 2 airports that Jetblue had cancelled us from.

 

[trishadono]

Is there a way to see when the original flight was booked?

https://travelbank.jetblue.com/tbank/user/login.html?airlineCode=279