Jet Blue Tickets and Alliances

By Mac Jones
Jet Blue is a low cost airline based in the US. what sets them apart from the competition such a Southwest Airlines is their treatment towards their customers. With personal TV’s, better seat pitches and even directors of the company giving away free Jet Blue tickets on random flights, they have soon earned a reputation as a great airline to fly with. Despite  this success, the company has ambitions to expand their ticket sales beyond the domestic American market and as a result has formed a number of key alliances with other airlines across the globe. We take a look at their current relationships.

image: forbes.com

Jet Blue currently has two alliances in place with other airlines. In 2008 JetBlue started an alliance deal with Aer Lingus. It is not a full alliance such as Oneworld, Star Alliance or Skyteam, as although it allows customers to transfer between both airlines, either airline is not permitted to sell seats on behalf of the other airline. This means that passengers wishing to undertake a journey on both airlines would need to book separate Aer Lingus and JetBlue tickets, potentially allowing them free to book tickets with rival operators if fares were cheaper. JetBlue’s other alliance is with German airline Lufthansa (who own a 19% stake in the airline). This agreement is more like a regular codeshare agreement, where both airlines can sell tickets for each other, allowing free and seamless transfers between route operated  by each company.  February 2007 saw the operator  enter into a codeshare agreement with Cape Air, an airline based at Barnstable Municipal Airport in Massachusetts. Cape Air mainly sell tickets to destinations in the North-eastern US, Florida, the Carribean, the Midwest, the Mid Atlantic States and Micronesia. The agreement allows for Cape Air to carry JetBlue passengers from Logan Airport, Boston onto Cape Air  routes throughout Cape Cod and surrounding islands. The agreement will allow customers on both  airlines to purchase seats on both airlines under one reservation. JetBlue also has an agreement with South African Airways that became effective in May 2010. This agreement , like the Lufthansa deal, allows passengers to travel on single ticket between both carriers.

In July 2010 the airline began a limited  route sharing agreement with American Airlines. The deal includes eighteen JetBlue destinations not served by American and twelve of American’s international destinations from JFK. In addition to ticket sharing on the above routes, there has been some trading of free takeoff  slots with American giving JetBlue sixteen slots  at Ronald Reagen Washington  national Airport along with two at Westchester County Airport in New York state. In return American gets twelve 12 from JFK.

All of these alliances make sound business sense for JetBlue. As a North American operator, agreements with major European and South  African carriers  allows the hub at New York’s JFK to act as a link between all three continents thus presenting passengers with  thorugh-ticketing options to a wide  variety of US and European cities. Advantage  can also be taken of Lufthansa’s far eastern destinations whilst the deals with Domestic based carriers allow JetBlue access to destinations they do not currently serve, thus avoiding the expense of procuring additional aircraft and staff.

Although JetBlue Airways is not currently a member of major  alliance program, Star Alliance would be the most likely for the air line considering its close ties with Lufthansa own a 19% stake in JetBlue, seems to be the most likely choice.

Make sure to claim your free JetBlue tickets just by clicking the link.If Jet Blue don’t fly to your cities, then please visit newfregifts.com for free airline tickets from around the world from great companies such as Southwest Airlines and Delta. Thanks for reading and happy flying!
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