Trip Review: JetBlue flight as an American Airlines status member
There was a lot of skepticism when American Airlines and JetBlue announced their Northeast Alliance partnership in 2020. Some questioned how such a partnership would be implemented for existing JetBlue and American fliers, others raised the issue of reduced competition in the region. There has been so much controversy on the competitiveness side of things that there is an ongoing lawsuit from the US Department of Justice to block this alliance from operating. On the other hand, as a current American Airlines AAdvantage Platinum member (for context, this would be the middle-of-the-pack elite tier comparable to United Airline’s MileagePlus Gold or Delta’s SkyMiles Gold Medallion), I was excited about this partnership but also filled with questions on how this would work.
What is the Northeast Alliance between American Airlines and JetBlue?
Per American Airlines and JetBlue, The Northeast Alliance was conceived to better serve customers by combining the route networks of both airlines in the Northeast region. This consisted of pooling together flights in and out of the New York City and Boston area, where JetBlue and American Airline tickets can be sold together on both websites and allow fliers from both airlines to seamlessly connect between the two airlines. To put it simply, it’s to combine JetBlue’s stronghold in Boston and New York (which American Airlines is not too dominant in) and allow fliers the ability to access American’s vast route network to the rest of the country, and vice versa. The idea of it seemed pretty great for existing fliers of both airlines, and this added convenience of such an alliance would also help lure in flyers from other US airlines.
Throughout 2021 and 2022, the two airlines further announced reciprocal Elite status benefits, where AAdvantage elite members can receive JetBlue Mosaic status benefits on JetBlue-operated flights, and vice versa for JetBlue Mosaic members on American-operated flights. This was huge welcoming news to me, and was a big value-add of the Northeast Alliance. I had been reluctant to fly JetBlue prior to this announcement, as I preferred flying with American with the ease of enjoying the benefits that came with my frequent-flyer status. Primarily, the ability to choose Main Cabin Extra (extra legroom economy seats) at the time of fare purchase, the expedited security lanes, and boarding groups. As a flyer based out of Boston, JetBlue is the largest airline here by market share and now that I am able to enjoy similar benefits when flying JetBlue, it was definitely time to give them a try.
JetBlue provides an excellent overall product for American Airlines status members
I recently took a round-trip flight with JetBlue from Boston to Jacksonville, trip details are below:
Boston, MA to Jacksonville, FL, via a connection at New York LaGuardia
Jacksonville, FL to Boston, MA, direct flight
The trip started off very smoothly, as I was able to take the priority security lane (JetBlue’s Even More Speed benefit). There weren’t many people in line for security to begin with, but it was a nice benefit to have in case things get busy. Security was a breeze and I was through in less than a few minutes. Boarding was also very smooth with priority boarding as I was able to board with other JetBlue elites (Mosaic status). The flight overall was excellent, JetBlue already had very generous legroom in Economy, and I was able to select an Even More Space seat at check-in, which provided, even more space at probably 34–36 inches of pitch, versus the normal 32 inches of pitch in JetBlue Economy and 30 inches pitch at the three legacy US airlines.
The flight attendants were friendly, and the service was normal with no complaints. JetBlue offers free seat-back entertainment with Live TV at every seat, which is very nice to have. Even though the system is clearly outdated and the resolution was poor, I was still very content to have the option of enjoying some live TV. I took advantage of this on the return flight back to watch my Toronto Raptors lose to the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Playoff play-ins live by blowing a big lead… The resolution was probably 360p at best, but it was still a nice feature that the other legacy US carriers do not offer.
The layover at LaGuardia was smooth, and the new Terminal B is beautiful and spacious. It was a huge step up from the old and dingy Terminal A that JetBlue previously used for Boston-LaGuardia flights. Overall, I was very happy with my flight experience on these three JetBlue flights. I may even prefer them over American Airlines, although the option to have all my AA flights on the AA app and being able to choose Main Cabin Extra seats at the time of booking versus check-in is still superior. My options for flying out of Boston to the rest of the US have drastically increased as a result of this Northeast Alliance and it is definitely a win for consumers based out of this region. I really hope this alliance is here to stay for the long term so that Northeast flyers can continue to enjoy this great product and convenience.
