Summer is calling! We’re excited to launch our seasonal service as we celebrate our inaugural Seattle to Anchorage route, a complement to our existing Anchorage to Long Beach service. Alaska is hands down the best place to stay cool this summer!

Plus, it’s time to bust out your Nantucket reds! Seasonal service kicks off this week to both Nantucket (from BOS, JFK) and Martha’s Vineyard (from JFK). And that’s not all…our Boston to Bermuda route is back, too, a flight we’ve been flying seasonally since 2007.

Image courtesy of specialkrb on Flickr

Book your summer travel now!

We partnered with the Jets to fly their photogenic cheerleaders down to the equally photogenic beaches of Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands this week.

This is the fourth time we’ve flown the Jets cheerleaders down to the Caribbean for their shoot and the first to Grand Cayman.  This is also the first time our Jets aircraft has touched down in the Cayman Islands!

  
Learn more about our service from New York and Boston to Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
Learn more about our sponsorships

Today we’re hosting a book signing for two of our own JetBlue crewmembers at T5, just outside of The Paradies Shops.  E190 Pilot Brian Nastovski (“Just Breathe”) and JFK-based Inflight crewmember Heather McKeown (“Above and Beyond: Inspiring Adventures into the Blue”) will be featured. During the event, our crewmember authors will have a chance to share their work with folks traveling through our home at JFK’s Terminal 5.

Brian’s first project, released in January 2013, is entitled “Just Breathe.” “Just Breathe” chronicles Brian’s life after divorce and offers advice to help others survive. Brian introduces his ESP (Emotional, Spiritual, Physical) method to change your life after divorce.

In “Above and Beyond: Inspiring Adventures into the Blue,” Heather presents a compilation of stories that encompass the microcosm of the traveling public who have been put in her flight path. This inspiring, humorous, and empowering book is evidence of how close a flight attendant can get to someone in the space of one airplane ride.

If you are in T5 on Friday, stop by The Paradies Shops and say hello to Brian and Heather!

Welcome to Tech Thursdays, penned by Miguel, tech expert and our Airport Operations Supervisor in San Jose, California. This month’s topic touches on some worthy tools to help smooth out your summer travel experience.

Planes are full and there are plenty of kids and families traveling, which can only mean one thing: Summer traveling season is upon us! If you’re like me, you’re making sure that all your flight, hotel and theme park tickets are all ready to go. With the mass of humanity traveling to the same places as you are, it’s nice to have some edge to help ease the anxiety and headache of travel. I found several free apps for the iPhone and iPad that might help.

At the Airport

Let’s start at the airport. I’m guessing that you won’t be as familiar as a Jetblue crewmember who knows every nook and cranny of the airports we work in. Me? I can tell you which door in what gate in SJC makes what sound when opened. But I digress.

If you’re going to an unfamiliar airport, TravelNerd should be in your collection. This app shows all the airlines in a given airport and what terminal they are located. To avoid the head-scratching-tourist-look, you can also pretend to be in-the-know by consulting the TravelNerd maps of each terminal. It will show restaurants, amenities, restrooms and ground transportation but don’t be surprised if a section is empty. I don’t think TravelNerd’s database is fully updated but it does serve as a good guide. I found that TravelNerd is easy to use and navigate.

The TSA and the lines at the checkpoint are probably not in most travelers’ must-experience list but the security checkpoint process has improved immensely since it has been modified in 2001. The TSA has also created an app with an endearing name called, MyTSA. And you know what? It’s pretty useful.

Travelers can check and post security wait times at different airport terminals. It does rely on user participation so the numbers might be more accurate in bigger airports. I love the “Can I bring my…” feature because this is one of the most asked questions by customers. You can simply type in the item in question and MyTSA will give you the TSA regulation. I’d recommend using this tool prior to packing if you can. I’ve seen customers throw away expensive bottles of perfume because they were carrying too much in their carryon bag. It also has a Traveler’s Guide section that gives tips and guidance from packing to necessary travel documents to have.

Inflight

Since you’re travelling on Jetblue (big thanks!), don’t forget to use our Jetblue app. Besides giving you the ability to check-in on the go, you can check your flight status and plan on which movie, DIRECTV channel to watch or the SiriusXM channel you want to listen to. You and the kids can also create attractive postcards in the Cool Stuff section using your smartphone or tablet cameras.

At Your Destination

So, you have your rental car and a car full of wide-eyed, giddy little munchkins to visit that famous downtown attraction or new theme park. Next question: Where do you park? Don’t fret. I’ve got you covered. ParkMe is an app that shows you where to park without paying an arm and a leg. All you have to do is type in the place you want to go and voila, it shows you where to go. ParkMe is more than just a glorified sidewalk pointer though. This little gem shows drivers not only where the garage or street parking spots are, but also how much it will cost to park. Markers also indicate if the parking spot is open, semi-full or closed.

Of course, nothing beats preparation when it comes to summer travel but I hope some of my recommendations help alleviate some stress and help you enjoy your time with family and friends.

Be sure to check out more travel tips and share your own with SoFly!

Read Miguel’s previous columns, learn more about Miguel and stay tuned for the next edition of Tech Thursdays!

Thank you.

It would take us a long time if we tried to say thank you to all our customers. Let’s just say if we were accepting a Tony Award or an Oscar, we’d very quickly get ushered off the stage.

But we want to say thank you to each and every one of you because JetBlue was just awarded highest honors in airline customer satisfaction among low-cost carriers by J.D. Power & Associates 2013 North America Airline Satisfaction Study℠. And while in and of itself this is great, we’re thrilled that this is a recognition we’ve received every year from 2006 to 2013. We were also ranked highest in customer satisfaction among all U.S. major airlines in 2005, when low-cost and traditional network carriers were combined in a single category. All that to say, this year’s achievement marks our ninth consecutive J.D. Power & Associates recognition and we’re stoked.

You could say we’re on Cloud Nine.

The study is based on responses from more than 11,800 customers who flew on a major North America airline between May 2012 and April 2013. It measures overall customer satisfaction based on performance in seven measures (in order of importance): cost and fees; in-flight services; boarding/deplaning/baggage; flight crew; aircraft; check-in; and reservation.

It is our pleasure to serve you. If we’ve done our job right, we’ve done more than simply fly you from point A to point B. Hopefully we’ve enhanced your journey, maybe with a little extra legroom or the ability to pack a little more for your vacation with a free first checked bag or a complimentary snack and TV show that helped the flight go by a little faster. Or maybe it was with some extra help on the phone with a reservation or a smile from a crewmember at the airport or as you boarded your flight.

Either way, we couldn’t do it without the 15,000 JetBlue crewmembers delivering the JetBlue experience every day, so a huge shout out to them.

Thank you for trusting us and giving us the opportunity to serve you. We hope to see you again on a future flight real soon.

JetBlue received the highest numerical score among five low cost carriers in the proprietary J.D. Power & Associates 2013 North America Airline Satisfaction Study℠. Study based on responses from 11,849 passengers who flew on major North American airline between April 2012-March 2013. Proprietary study results are based on experiences and perceptions of consumers surveyed in May 2012-March 2013. Your experiences may vary. Visit jdpower.com

We’re pleased to announce today a deepening of our partnership with Emirates. We’ve applied for government approval to place our “B6″ code on flights operated by Emirates, the airline of Dubai, known as a bilateral codeshare agreement.

Under the expanded agreement, JetBlue will place our “B6” airline code on all flights currently operated by Emirates between the U.S. and Dubai International Airport, as well as between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Milan, Italy.

The agreement doesn’t change the customer experience. In fact, through the existing agreement, customers enjoy (and will continue to enjoy) the convenience of a single combined ticket for Emirates and JetBlue-operated flights, plus other benefits including one-stop check-in and baggage transfer.

Members of Skywards, the Emirates reward program, can earn miles on JetBlue-operated flights and also redeem miles for flights to any of JetBlue’s 77 destinations and counting throughout the Americas. Similarly, members of JetBlue’s TrueBlue loyalty program can earn points for Emirates-operated flights worldwide.

The agreement deepens a three-year partnership between JetBlue and Emirates. Emirates started placing its code on select JetBlue-operated flights in April 2012, expanding an interline agreement that dates back to 2010.

Learn more about our partnership history with Emirates
Full press release

We’re proud to launch today SoFly, a new interactive feature on jetblue.com where you can find unique travel advice and inspiration from customers like you, and keep the buzz going by sharing your own JetBlue experiences.

From the time that you’re thinking about a trip to your time at the airport, inflight and at your destination, you can find tips and tricks and share your own (including travel photos!) with SoFly. Check out the below screenshots to get a peak and learn more about SoFly and share your travel experiences now!

From our moms to yours, a very 

Happy Mother’s Day!

Fête des mères

Lá na Máithreacha

Feliz Día de la Madre

Liebe zum Muttertag!

Anneler Gününüz kutlu olsun!

Mæðradagur

Eed omm sa-eed

母親節快樂

Our Burbank team recently participated in their first ever Wings for Autism—an event our Boston Crewmembers have been involved with since May 2011, originally introduced by the Charles River Center and ARC.

In partnership with Pacific Child and Family Associates, an organization that supports children and adults diagnosed with autism and other disabilities, the Burbank team welcomed approximately 200 participants to Terminal A. Just like in Boston, these families practiced checking in, going through security, and boarding the aircraft.

Our General Manager in Burbank Christine reports that the event was a huge success, and struck an emotional chord with our crewmembers; everyone was so touched to see these families so grateful for the experience. We have received many letters of appreciation from participants, and photos from the day.

Participant Letter

I just wanted to express my deepest thank you to JetBlue and their staff for such an amazing time with Wings for Autism. My son, David, had a blast. He was seated in the front row of the aircraft and asked a million questions. He has had anxiety of flying and this really helped him start over coming that fear. In fact, he now sees it a fun experience after all. Peace is a priceless gift, and I think JetBlue and Wings for Autism helped my son attempt to achieve it. Thank you again.

Did you know that only one-in-five children lives within walking distance of a park or playground? Following Hurricane Sandy, that number has increased in impacted areas. In the aftermath of natural disasters, play becomes even more critical as it creates a sense of normalcy and provides an emotional outlet for children. In an effort to support children in those areas most impacted, we’ve extended our pledge to rebuild New York with a commitment to allocate support for three playground builds this year in areas impacted by Hurricane Sandy.

Our first post-Hurricane Sandy playground build will take place on May 18 at Magnolia Playground in Long Beach, NY. Two more builds will be announced later this Spring. Long Beach, located in Nassau County, Long Island, experienced significant damage to its shoreline and infrastructure. Magnolia Playground was destroyed nearly six months ago and hundreds of children living in the area have not had a suitable place to play since Hurricane Sandy.

The future site of a brand new playground in Long Beach!

While every KaBOOM! playground build is an inspiring event, the post-Hurricane Sandy playground builds will give volunteers a special chance to reflect on the storm’s impact while renewing their neighborhood. More than 200 volunteers from JetBlue, the City of Long Beach, Surf for All, organizers from KaBOOM! and residents of the local community will join forces to build a new play space at Magnolia Playground. The new playground’s design is based on drawings created by children who participated in a Design Day event in March.

Magnolia Playground is the 17^th playground build by KaBOOM! in partnership with JetBlue. We’ve worked together over the last seven years to create play spaces for children across JetBlue’s communities and help fight the deficit of play for children in undeserved neighborhoods and areas under development following natural disasters. This partnership has successfully engaged more than 3,800 volunteers to move 16 tractor trailers full of mulch, which now benefit more than 10,000 children. JetBlue is a KaBOOM! National Partner, a group of organizations providing long-term guidance and support to KaBOOM! and its mission.

Since Hurricane Sandy, JetBlue has coordinated several efforts to provide assistance to its neighbors and help rebuild communities in New York. Just last month, JetBlue made significant progress in revitalizing Highland Park in Brooklyn. Airline crewmembers and community volunteers planted more than 2,500 trees in an area identified by the New York City Parks Department as a priority location for revitalization efforts. The 100-acre park lost a significant stretch of trees due to Hurricane Sandy. Additionally, in the days following the storm, JetBlue partnered with the NYC Food Truck Association to serve more than 25,000 meals to residents throughout in impacted areas. The airline also donated $820,000 to the American Red Cross on behalf of its customers for relief efforts in the New York area.

Learn more about our partnership with KaBOOM!
Learn more about our community efforts around Hurricane Sandy