Nice Touch from Jet Blue

God knows, Jet Blue has gotten some pretty bad publicity in the last year - mainly stemming from their mega-delays last February, delays that required a major mea culpa on their part.

So I thought I’d give them a small kudos  - a kudo? a kudeen? a kudette? - for their recent follow-up to me and my sister.

Kath and I did a long February weekend in Florida, and flew Jet Blue. It was my first time on JB, although I think Kath has flown them before. The flight down couldn’t have been better, and the flight back to Boston wasn’t bad, either. Sure, there was a weather delay on the return, but we’d seen those storm clouds rolling in while we drove from Sarasota to Tampa-St. Pete. Black. Dense. Ominous. We were delighted that the delay was only 45 minutes or so.

We were settling into the flight when they announced that the in-flight entertainment system wasn’t working.

Now, I might have felt different if I’d been traveling with kids. Or was the type of traveler who came unprepared to entertain himself. (Me, I never step toe on a plane unless I have at least one big meaty book, with a backup just in case there’s a real flight delay. I am also blessed with the wonderful talent of being able to into a pleasant, dozy sleep the second I buckle the airplane seat belt.)

But my response was, ‘who cares?’ I wasn’t planning on watching it, anyway. I had my book, and was looking forward to a little reading and a little snoozing. Not to mention splitting a sandwich and fruit salad with Kath, augmented by a tidbit from the Jet Blue snack tray.

A few days after the flight, I received an e-mail informing me that Kath and I were receiving $15 travel vouchers to make up for the fact that we hadn’t had any in-flight entertainment. (We had, in fact, had a bit of in-flight entertainment. The woman in the seat in front of me was traveling with a yipping little dog in a carry-on bag. The pup must have been on doggy downers for the flight, but they seemed to wear off as we neared Boston. The bark was pretty peculiar. At first we thought it was someone with a terrible laugh or the hiccups. But it was, indeed, an itty-bitty-precious-snookums pooch named Charley, which we found out when his “mommy” unzipped the carry-on, pulled Charley’s head-ie out, and said, “Now my sweetheart can breathe.” [Note: there were mesh screens in the carry-on bag, but it still must have been a little stuffy in there.)

A $15 voucher may not mean all that much but, hey, fifteen bucks is fifteen bucks.

This was a smart gesture on Jet Blue’s part:

• They’ve apologized for the inconvenience of no TV on board
• They’ve offered a reward commensurate with the inconvenience - more than commensurate, in my case
• They’ve re-inforced in my mind that I’m a Jet Blue customer

Would I fly them again?

Absolutely.

No, it’s not because of the $15 voucher, which I’m likely to forget about. Or which is likely to expire before I use it. (I think I’ve got a year on it.) But with this small gesture - which will probably end up costing them nothing - they’ve help build their brand in my mind.

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