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Yesterday, JetBlue made three positive announcements that were welcome news to its frequent flyers and to its premium transatlantic passengers, but as has become normal with press releases nowadays, the airline didn’t bother to mention that while on the one hand it’s making a few positive moves, it’s also making some negative changes that a lot of its customers won’t like.
JetBlue removes its BLADE airport transfers benefit
The lesser of the two negative changes that JetBlue is pushing forward with is that now that it will be opening a lounge at New York JFK T5 at some point towards the end of next year, it is cutting the BLADE airport transfer benefit that it offers to its top-tier elites.
BLADE is a helicopter service that operates in North America and Europe, and in New York, it offers a shuttle service between Manhattan and JFK or Newark airports which can slash journey times to under 10 minutes (a massive blessing for any soul who has had to suffer the misery of a cab ride down the Van Wyck Expressway)
Seats on this service start at $195 one-way, but currently, any JetBlue customer who earns the airline’s top-tier elite status (Mosaic 4) is given four complimentary trips per year to be used in conjunction with a JetBlue flight.
For some frequent flyers, this has been a hugely popular benefit to be given, but it’s now set to go away from the end of this year.
Airline watchdog JonNYC highlighted this on his X/Twitter feed, and if you take a look at the TrueBlue Mosaic page, you’ll find that all mentions of the BLADE benefit come with a footnote that starts with “Ending 12/31/2024”.
Mosaic 4 members who earned/retain their status in 2024 will still receive their 4 credits for 2025 (which will have to be used by 31 December 2025*), but Mosaic 4 members who earn their status in 2025 (including those who earn in in 2025 through spending made in 2024), will not receive the BLADE benefit.
*Blade credits earned in 20204 for use in 2025 must be moved across to a BLADE account by 31 December 2024 or they will be forfeited.
Blue Basic fares get more basic for Mosaic members
The considerably more egregious devaluation that JetBlue hasn’t bothered broadcasting didn’t bother putting in the press release is one that affects Mosaic members who book the airline’s basic economy fares (Blue Basic).
Back in June, it seemed as if JetBlue had finally got the message that punishing its flyers for booking basic economy fares was a bad idea when it announced that Blue Basic fares would include a regular size carry-on from 6 September 2024.
Now, just two weeks since that positive policy change came into force, the airline has decided that it will no longer offer select frequent flyer benefits to Mosaic members who book a Blue Basic fare.
So, what has JetBlue done this time?
Well, from 1 March 2025, Mosaic members booking a Blue Basic fare will not be eligible for the following:
- Complimentary ‘Even More Space’ seats
- Complimentary Preferred seats
- Free same day flight changes
These are really backward steps that JetBlue is making, and they’re steps that make it look like it’s attempting to match the basic economy policies that Delta uses. Looking at it like that, I guess it’s no surprise that the airline isn’t going to much effort to let its customers know about these changes.
Looking at things from the outside, it’s like there are two diametrically opposite personalities running the TrueBlue program at JetBlue – a happy soul who likes to try to make things a bit better for flyers, and a life-hating misanthrope who takes great pleasure in taking things away from members as soon at their counterpart makes any positive change (perhaps the people running TrueBlue take their lead from Newton’s 3rd law of motion).
Bottom line
Yesterday, JetBlue was very keen to let everyone know that it would be opening lounges in Boston and New York (JFK), that Mosaic 4 members will get complimentary access to these lounges, that it has a premium credit card in the pipeline, and that it’s opening a path by which Mosaic members can earn an unlimited number of upgrade certificates.
What it ‘forgot’ to tell us in the press release at the same time was that it is also removing three elite benefits from members booking Blue Basic fares, and that it is ending its partnership with BLADE from the end of this year.
Apparently, what seemed like a day of good news for JetBlue Flyers turned out not be quite as good as we first thought.
Ummm… I’m not sure where you’re getting (not getting) your information, but all of this was mentioned explicitly in the email sent to Mosaic members from JetBlue yesterday. So to say that they’re hiding it is a bit disingenuous.
I’m not a mosaic member so wouldn’t have received the email and that’s why the article originally read “there have been no announcements about this to TrueBlue members (as far as we know)”, but my point was more as much about the fact that the airline was happy to push out a press release with all the positive news while failed to mention any of the bad news.
I have, however, edited the article to show that it’s the lack of full disclosure in the press release that’s disappointing (not that I expected any such disclosure as airlines never tell the whole truth in a press release).
Im a mosaic member and most certainly did not get any email yesterday so not sure what others were sent