Previous posts: here (Part I), here (Part II),  here (Part IIb), and here (Part III)

The Day of the Double Flights

So, first things first.

One has to ask: Why, given that JetBlue saves money by having people book online and given that the All-You-Can-Jet pass essentially encourages people to make long calls into its contact center to book tons of flights all at once, would it force all of the pass’s bearers to book through the phone? I suspect that it’s precisely because it’s a hassle — quick as the service in that contact center is. By forcing people to call in and actually talk to someone, JetBlue probably shaves some lazy people off the top who buy the pass online, but can’t be arsed to push 10 digits on a phone to do so. Likewise, it probably prevents some lazy people from booking extra flights because they can’t be bothered to call to make the arrangements and then forget by the time they would have had to make them.

To top it all off, as a mere publicity stunt, by making people book online, JetBlue derives all the advantages of free promotion, and makes people comb through its website and familiarize themselves with the service, while preventing them from casually taking advantage of the pass.

Sneaky, sneaky. Or so I presume.

The drawback to this system for JetBlue is that it exposes itself to all the pitfalls of its contact center. Turns out, when I booked my flights and then called back to switch around some of the flights, things went haywire.

I realized this a day before I was to leave Rochester, New York. My Internet access on the road has been kind of spotty. I’ve been at the desperate mercy of whatever I can get, whenever I can get it. I’m ashamed to say but on this trip, I’ve stolen some internet from various people across this great nation who were too foolhardy to put a password on their network. To those people, I apologize profusely, but I’m getting away from the story at hand. My point is I haven’t been able to check my email everyday and had gone a couple days without doing so at this point in the story.

In any case, I managed to pick up some free access from a network named “Dad’s Garage” and I was casually checking my email when I saw a notification from JetBlue—they send you an email the day before you leave to remind you of where and when your flight is. The email was reminding me of my flight from Florida to Rochester that I was supposed to be on about two hours previous.

To Rochester? I was in Rochester. How the devil could I be going to Rochester?

I furiously logged on my JetBlue account, trying to figure out if my plans had somehow been screwed up. What I saw on the screen was a mess of flights from Florida to Rochester and from Rochester to Florida. I started to panic. What if I was stuck in upstate New York? My friend had to leave for a wedding the next day. Where would I stay? How would I make all my subsequent flights? I grabbed for the phone and prepared myself to do battle with the contact center.