The JetBlue Experience

About a week ago, during the day of Halloween, I had the opportunity to fly on JetBlue Airways for the first time. In this story, I will share my experience with you.

One thing I found I learned about JetBlue is that it is a low-cost carrier that still provides a good inflight service to its customers. Unlike some other air carriers of this type, passengers do not have to pay an extra fee for drinks and snacks. On my 2 hour flight from Orlando (MCO) to New York (JFK), the passengers had a choice of six different snacks. Another thing that I thought was interesting is that the airline does not use carts in the alley of the cabin. Those carts are heavy and in the way of the crew and of the passengers when they want to walk around the cabin. If there are no galley carts, I do you get a drink? A flight attendant goes row by row and ask the passengers which refreshment they would like. It is like in a restaurant, the flight attendant writes on a paper the drink the passenger asked and matched it to its seat number. A few minutes later, another flight attendant comes in the aisle holding a tray of the drinks the customers ordered. It is the first time I see this kind of method to distribute drinks. This process is probably faster and does not block the aisle entirely during the service, since it does not require a cart.

The flight from JFK to Boston was a short 35 minute flight and we were only offered two snacks, and a bottled water or Coca Cola. The airline calls it “JetBlue’s Express Service!”

Few minutes after takeoff from runway 31L at JFK.

A few minutes after takeoff from runway 31L at JFK.

JetBlue also offers inflight entertainment in the form of small screens behind every seat. Passengers can enjoy up to 100 channels on DirecTV and on Sirius XM Radio at no additional cost. Movies are available for $5 on the continental United States, but are free when flying outside the country. The airline also offers free internet service in the air. This feature is available on most aircraft in the fleet.

Before flight, the crew usually says to the passengers to enjoy their flight, but JetBlue does it differently, and instead says “we hope you enjoy the JetBlue Experience with us today.” I would recommend my readers to fly JetBlue Airways since I definitely appreciated the experience!

Next week, I am heading to Las Vegas for the 2015 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition. The event welcomes 1,000 exhibitors and close to 100 business aircraft on the static display.

Nicolas

A Very Short Trip To Boston

During the day of Halloween, I traveled to Boston to go see my brother, Christophe,  who studies at Boston College. I call it a very short trip since I only spent about eight hours in Massachusetts. I landed at Logan International Airport just past noon and left the same airport at 8:00pm the same day.

Many people are asking me why I did this. Well, it was only $62 roundtrip and I love traveling! I’m going to explain how it happened. On October 1, JetBlue Airways had a huge sale with fares starting as low as $31 one way from select cities for travel on October 31. To benefit from this offer, a passenger had to book his or her flight on October 1 and fly only during Halloween. This is where the idea came to my mind to go visit my brother.

My day started at 3:15am as I woke up and headed to the airport in Orlando (MCO). I was lucky that my roommate was able to drive me to the airport. JetBlue currently does not fly to Daytona, but the airline will begin a daily nonstop service to New York-JFK on January 7, 2016. My flight departed on time at 6:00am for New York Kennedy airport. One of the advantage of waking early is to be able to watch the sunrise from above.

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Sunrise seen at 7:00am at 35,000 ft over North Carolina.

After my three hour layover in New York, I took off on another plane bound for Boston. This flight was only a short 40 minute in the air. Arrived in Massachusetts, I quickly deplaned the Embraer 190 and made my way to the arrivals level to hop on a taxi. My brother and I met one of our friend at Harvard Square, where we had a quick bite in a cafe (accent) nearby. We visited her dorm for a while and then got onboard an Uber and headed  downtown of the city. We stopped at Copley Square to take some pictures.

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Myself, Berkeley, and Christophe in front of the Trinity Church.

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This Episcopal Church was built between 1872 and 1877.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The three of us then took a walk on the beautiful streets of Boston. Some of the architecture of the buildings reminded me of Montreal. I think that these two Northeastern cities of North America are very similar to each other. Around mid-afternoon, we said goodbye to our friend since she had to go. My brother and I continued to tour the city afterwards. He showed me one of the coolest stores I had never been before. When you enter, people think it is simply a convenience store, but there is more. If you approach the vending machine you will find out what is behind. It is actually a door that slides to let you enter in this shoe store. It’s pretty amazing!

Adjacent to the store we caught another Uber and headed to Brookline, MA, which is just a few miles west of Boston. There, we met with two of his other friends. We went to a Trader Joe’s close-by to buy some food for dinner. We decided to buy pasta and salad since it was rapid and easy to make for a big group. Now you have probably guessed on which mode of transportation we went back to his friend’s dorm. Yes, we got on another Uber again!

Arrived at destination, we quickly started to cook because I had to leave for the airport soon. Four other of my brother’s friend joined us. I made pasta for 10 people and my friend Mattie made a delicious lemon dressing for the salad. We all ate dinner together in the living room which was fun. I left in a Uber at around 6:15pm for Boston Logan Intl. Airport to catch an 8:00pm flight that would bring me directly to Florida this time.

I am glad I had the chance to see my brother and many of his friends. I have not seen him since he started school in August. I had a lot of fun and the many Uber rides enabled us to see various parts of the city in a short period of time. Overall, the cost of all the ground transportation in Boston was more expensive than my plane ticket itself, but it was definitely worth it!

Until next time!

Nicolas