Jet Blue Knows How To Do Business

[Porfio_Rubirosa]

Notice how they are advertising some awesome specials on DR1. (Congrats to Rob and Dolores for landing the account.) Also notice the connecting service that they will offer to Santiago and Santo Domingo from Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Burlington.

JetBlue, THE MODEL for the future of the airline industry, is coming.

The only question is whether JetBlue will know how to deal with passengers trying to check-in 500 lbs of luggage (including a Chevrolet transmission in pieces), all rushing to board at the same time, conveniently forgeting where their seats are, and generally not sitting down for takeoff or immediately after landing. My guess is that the first few weeks will be tough on its staff- they have no idea what they're in for. (I saw USA3000 airlines sell plenty of tickets to Santo Domingo but abandon the route because they couldn't handle it operationally.)

[Samana1]

Originally Posted by Porfio_Rubirosa

Notice how they are advertising some awesome specials on DR1. (Congrats to Rob and Dolores for landing the account.) Also notice the connecting service that they will offer to Santiago and Santo Domingo from Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Burlington.

JetBlue, THE MODEL for the future of the airline industry, is coming.

The only question is whether JetBlue will know how to deal with passengers trying to check-in 500 lbs of luggage (including a Chevrolet transmission in pieces), all rushing to board at the same time, conveniently forgeting where their seats are, and generally not sitting down for takeoff or immediately after landing. My guess is that the first few weeks will be tough on its staff- they have no idea what they're in for. (I saw USA3000 airlines sell plenty of tickets to Santo Domingo but abandon the route because they couldn't handle it operationally.)

I am with you, they will get the same problems as USA3000 Airlines and JetBlue dont want damage image, CAN THEY HANDEL IT?

TOO HOT TO HANDLE!!

[Karl]

Unfortunately, if they dont change their timetable to Santo Domingo, they will not succeed there. They have 2 decent flights to Santiago that might last a little while. We all know that this is the most profitable route for AA. Im curious to see what they are going to do with their prices.

[NALs]

Read the fine print. There is well over $100 in taxes not included in the price of a one-way ticket. The only thing that would save Jet Blue in the Dominican market is getting a better time to fly into Las Americas and keep advertising for Santiago. Dominicans WILL spread the word about the ALL LEATHER SEATS and COMFORTABLE AND NICE LOOKING planes. They will even trust it more if Jet Blue makes it clear that they are A REAL AMERICAN AIRLINE. Dominicans only trust the inventors of the airplanes (ie. Americans) when it comes to flying 30,000 feet up in the air for 3 hours!!

I wonder why Jet Blue did not try to go for Puerto Plata (lots of potential there) and Punta Cana (with largest tourist industry in the Caribbean and fastest growing still, this is just a gold mine in the making!!)

[toneloc24]

Originally Posted by Nal0whs

Read the fine print. There is well over $100 in taxes not included in the price of a one-way ticket. The only thing that would save Jet Blue in the Dominican market is getting a better time to fly into Las Americas and keep advertising for Santiago. Dominicans WILL spread the word about the ALL LEATHER SEATS and COMFORTABLE AND NICE LOOKING planes. They will even trust it more if Jet Blue makes it clear that they are A REAL AMERICAN AIRLINE. Dominicans only trust the inventors of the airplanes (ie. Americans) when it comes to flying 30,000 feet up in the air for 3 hours!!

I wonder why Jet Blue did not try to go for Puerto Plata (lots of potential there) and Punta Cana (with largest tourist industry in the Caribbean and fastest growing still, this is just a gold mine in the making!!)

On AA.com, when they offer the NetSavers rates, AA never quotes the actual cost. They only advertise the cost of the flight, less taxes. For instance, when AA offers a NetSaver for JFK-SDQ at $199, they are not including the approx. $109 in taxes for the roundtrip. The actual cost is approx. $309, after taxes. I see nothing wrong with JetBlue doing the same. Travelers should come to expect it. Generally, only websites like Travelocity, Orbitz, and Expedia include taxes in their quotes.

I'm looking forward to an alternative to American and Continental, from a price and schedule perspective as well as service provided. I know that this market can be a bit different, but the service of the airline should not be compromised because of such. I just noticed a few things that I'm guessing would not be acceptable on other flights to other destinations. Maybe competition here will cause them to step their service standards up.

I agree that POP and Punta Cana are destinations for JetBlue and others to expand into. Maybe the idea is to test the performance of SDQ and STI initially, then expand from there.

Now hopefully, the price wars heat up a bit here. So far, other than during the initial announcements, and the initial start dates of service, nothing just yet. Maybe after AA's 2nd quarter results are posted and analyzed (approx. July/August), and they realize that there June numbers are down approx. 10-20% due to people flying on other carriers, we will see them lower rates to entice people to fly with them, in turn causing their competitors to match. Just an assumption.

[GlowWorm]

I have never seen taxes or services included in Travelocity prices. In fact they have a statement saying as much. I always search for best fare with no date, maybe there is another search where they show the price with taxes.

Glow

[santanatwins]

I hear that North American Airlines, who fly into Santiago and Santo domingo from NYC, are going to increase their flights from three times a week to a daily flights into Santiago and four times a week into SDQ. This is to compete with the new route Jet Blue has. I think this is good for all travelers since this will keep prices in the lower price range of $300 to $400 round trip.

I happen to work for North American Airlines but I fly Jet Blue at least 25 times a year into BUffalo since I own a house in Buffalo. It´s nice to know I can fly straight from Buffalo to Santiago if I chose to. I´m even trying to get a part time job with Jet blue so I can fly for free. I wish them luck

[NALs]

I don't think you are going to be able to fly from Bufalo direct to Santo Domingo with Jet Blue. In the fine print it says that all flights from Bufalo, Syracuse, and other places are through NYC-JFK. That probably means you take a flight from Bufalo to NYC and then from NYC down to SDQ. I could be wrong, but review the fine print in their web site to further inquire on this.

[toneloc24]

Originally Posted by GlowWorm

I have never seen taxes or services included in Travelocity prices. In fact they have a statement saying as much. I always search for best fare with no date, maybe there is another search where they show the price with taxes.

Glow

I shoulda been clearer. Taxes are not included on these sites' "sales/best fares/etc.) promotions/listings. It's when you go into the site and choose your itinerary, and you click "Select," it generally comes back with the total price.

For instance, I popped in ATL-POP as an itinerary for the evening of 7/1/04 to the evening of 7/7/04. The itinerary pops up with a price of $828. When you click "Select," the detail is broken out as such for the roundtrip:

1 adult = $708.00
Taxes and fees = $120.40
Service Fees = $5.00

Total Price = $828.40

Of course, this price is about 40% more than I normally pay, but just giving an example.

Hope this clears it up a bit.

[toneloc24]

Originally Posted by santanatwins

I hear that North American Airlines, who fly into Santiago and Santo domingo from NYC, are going to increase their flights from three times a week to a daily flights into Santiago and four times a week into SDQ. This is to compete with the new route Jet Blue has. I think this is good for all travelers since this will keep prices in the lower price range of $300 to $400 round trip.

I happen to work for North American Airlines but I fly Jet Blue at least 25 times a year into BUffalo since I own a house in Buffalo. It´s nice to know I can fly straight from Buffalo to Santiago if I chose to. I´m even trying to get a part time job with Jet blue so I can fly for free. I wish them luck

Yeah, I believe Nal0whs is correct, in that you will have to fly out of JFK.

Good luck getting a part-time job with JetBlue. My friends and I considered the same thing with Delta. I'm nowhere near rich, nor am I well-off, but the thought of work 2 jobs.....1 just for free flight benefits only....can't do it, I think. I do love traveling, though. Best of luck to you however!!!!

Not sure if this is posted somewhere else, but can you post the JFK-STI/SDQ schedule for North American?

As I stated before, competition in this market is more than welcomed by me. My JetBlue travel (JFK-STI r/t) will cost me around $430 for the schedule that I prefer. If another airline closely matches the same timeframe, and comes in around $300-350, my attention will be peaked. That little difference is the cost of a couple of nights of comfortable lodging in either Cabarete or Santiago.