JetBlue Question

[msr709]

I'm doing some recon on an upcoming vacation (July 2013) for a group of 10, 5 adults, 5 kids. I was on the JetBlue website and it states that if booking for 8+ you must call or fill out some form. Does it pay to book as a group? Has anyone does this? They seem to just need a deposit of $50 pp and then pay 30 days before trip, we can do that! Just wanted to see if this was worth it. We are more concerned in keeping us together than getting a great discount. Don't get me wrong, we'd love a good discount but with so many kids and most of them are toddlers (3 out of the 5) we'd like to keep together to help each other out with them since it will be the first time for all of them to be traveling by plane. We were considering Southwest because of the $ but I see the cost is competitive. We are sure we can keep the luggage to 1 pp so that is not an issue. I'm comandeering the packing and we will get it to be 1 pp. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Why don't you just call JetBlue as the web page directs and ask? No one here can tell you what a group price may be for your travel.

http://www.jetblue.com/travel/groups/

However, you're much too early to book a July 2013 trip on JetBlue (or actually any airline), so doubt if you will get any answers regarding prices for many months.

 

[snesguy]

If they are like other airlines group programs you may find that if you use the group fare you will get a discount on the fare but you won't be able to get seating assignments until you show up at the airport. Let us know what you find out about how the JetBlue program works.

 

[pigletto]

Why don't you just call JetBlue as the web page directs and ask? No one here can tell you what a group price may be for your travel.

http://www.jetblue.com/travel/groups/

However, you're much too early to book a July 2013 trip on JetBlue (or actually any airline), so doubt if you will get any answers regarding prices for many months.

Because I have seen this response from you here before, and once to me, may I ask why it bothers you that people ask questions here on a message board for transportation questions?
I myself like to get a little anecdotal evidence before I call so I don't automatically assume the answer I am given is correct. Or sometimes, you aren't ready to call yet, but wish to hear others experiences.
That's kind of what we're here for isn't it? To share our opinions and experience.
It doesn't mean one is incapable of calling directly or hasn't thought of it themselves. I dare say that half of this entire website would be useless if people didn't feel they could ask a question without calling Disney directly for example.

It just seems like a rude response to someones question and I really don't understand the reason for it.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Because I have seen this response from you here before, and once to me, may I ask why it bothers you that people ask questions here on a message board for transportation questions?
I myself like to get a little anecdotal evidence before I call so I don't automatically assume the answer I am given is correct. Or sometimes, you aren't ready to call yet, but wish to hear others experiences.
That's kind of what we're here for isn't it? To share our opinions and experience.
It doesn't mean one is incapable of calling directly or hasn't thought of it themselves. I dare say that half of this entire website would be useless if people didn't feel they could ask a question without calling Disney directly for example.

It just seems like a rude response to someones [sic] question and I really don't understand the reason for it.

Sorry, I don't understand your defensive response. How is it rude to provide accurate information and direct someone to the actual source for the answer? Anecdotal evidence has nothing to do with what you will be charged for your trip. Anecdotal information is not necessarily true. Additionally, even legacy airlines don't release fares more than a year out. JetBlue releases fares only a few months out. What someone paid for an airfare a year ago has little to do with what they might pay in July 2013.

People asking questions don't bother me. Personally, I prefer to have my questions answered with facts, rather than speculation; that is why I try to provide accurate information, not post what I think should be true or what someone else told me. If you feel differently, simply ignore my responses here. It won't bother me a bit,

 

[pigletto]

Sorry, I don't understand your defensive response. How is it rude to provide accurate information and direct someone to the actual source for the answer? Anecdotal evidence has nothing to do with what you will be charged for your trip. Anecdotal information is not necessarily true. Additionally, even legacy airlines don't release fares more than a year out. JetBlue releases fares only a few months out. What someone paid for an airfare a year ago has little to do with what they might pay in July 2013.

People asking questions don't bother me. Personally, I prefer to have my questions answered with facts, rather than speculation; that is why I try to provide accurate information, not post what I think should be true or what someone else told me. If you feel differently, simply ignore my responses here. It won't bother me a bit,

Where did the OP ask for the group price for their travel? They didn't. Just had some general questions they needed to discuss. I suppose it's your tone that comes across as belittling or snide. I'm pretty sure that people know they can call the number and most likely the OP knows it's too soon to call the number and was asking here for other peoples experiences.

If you feel differently, simply ignore my responses here. It won't bother me a bit,

Now *that* is actually advice I'll take.

 

[Missyrose]

The other thing to remember with group "deals" on airlines, the prices will usually be higher than if you bought tickets individually. Airlines price certain numbers of tickets at different price points with the largest groupings coming with the highest prices. So to buy a block of tickets, the airline will usually pull from the higher-priced grouping because there are enough tickets to put everyone in the same airfare.

 

[msr709]

To Pigletto, thank you for your response. I wasn't trying to get prices (like you pointed out) just wanted to hear what others had experienced and if it is worth it to book this way or just book individually. I, like you, feel that this is what these websites are for, to discuss our experiences with others so that we can get a general idea on how to proceed. I never expected (nor asked) anyone to offer prices and I do know that I can call, I simply wanted advice. Anyway, I really appreciated your response because you saved me the trouble to reply to that unwanted response. I've always believed if you haven't got anything nice to say don't say anything at all!

To Snesguy, I definitely will try other airlines and see how that goes and will report back with my findings.

To Missrose, thanks for the input I did not know this about groups getting the higher prices. This is why I asked, I knew I'd get some useful responses.

Thank you all for your helpful responses, and if anyone else has any experience or advice I'd love to hear them. Thanks again.

 

[goofy4tink]

Jeez Louise people. It's always just fine to ask any questions here. Yes, you will get your best 'official' advice dealing directly with the particular airline, but it's sometimes nice to hear other people's experiences.
Keep in mind that when you are reading other's experiences, there is no way to be 100% sure that you will have that same experience. You should rely only on what the official word is...and you will get that only from the airline itself.

 

[MAYNARDS99]

Ticketing on legacy carriers, such as, American, Delta, etc. is 330 days out. Booking for a flight on July 15th, 2013 would begin on August 21st, 2012.

 

[Donna M]

We just took a trip on Jet Blue with a group of 8. I tried calling and was on hold for so long I finally hung up. What I ended up doing was making one reservation for a group of 6 (one family) and then making a second reservation for the 2 of us. I got seats all together. Only glitch was that the pair of tickets costs about $20 more each.

I wouldn't go with Southwest because you can't get assigned seats, and that sounds important for you.

 

[Desnik]

Here was my experience with JetBlue and my group. It was in 2009 so my info may be outdated. I had a group of about 30 going from NY to WDW. When I called JetBlue I was told that groups do not get a special discount. What they do offer is everyone in your group gets to pay the same price granted we all leave from the same airport. JetBlue releases their flights around 6-9 months in advance. The lowest prices are released first and they only have a certain amount of seats at the low price. Once those are taken then the rates go up. For example in my situation the day the seats were released the flights were $99pp each way. They only had a handful of seats at that price. But if I booked as a group then all 30 of us were entitled to that price. I could pick all our seats ahead of time like you normally can with them. I had to pay the deposit upfront for everyone. I can't remember exactly what it was, sorry. We ended up not booking as a group because some families wanted different airports and some couldn't fly out on the same dates. About 12 of us flew out together and I have to say it made for a fun plane ride to WDW

 

[msr709]

We just took a trip on Jet Blue with a group of 8. I tried calling and was on hold for so long I finally hung up...

I know how that is, I've done the same thing with other things, I have zero patience on the phone. I'm more inclined to a different airline than SW only because of the assigned seats thing. We need all the help we can get and I don't want to inconvenience other passengers so I think if we stick together we can handle our little ones. Thanks for the reply.

 

[msr709]

Here was my experience with JetBlue and my group. It was in 2009 so my info may be outdated. I had a group of about 30 going from NY to WDW...

Thank you for your reply, I appreciate you taking the time to share your experience and its been very helpful. I'm trying to keep on top of the airlines to see if I can snag those first time prices! Thanks again for your time.

Anyone else care to share their experience in group booking (even if its not JetBlue) I would really appreciate it.

 

[Desnik]

Thank you for your reply, I appreciate you taking the time to share your experience and its been very helpful. I'm trying to keep on top of the airlines to see if I can snag those first time prices! Thanks again for your time.

Anyone else care to share their experience in group booking (even if its not JetBlue) I would really appreciate it.

You are very welcome!