New kid on the block

This would have been the third year that JetBlue would have offered the All You Can Jet (AYCJ) pass. Sadly, it was modified into what could be a much better deal, called the BluePass, making for a whole new ball game. Between the steep price increase, the logistics of leaving from Boston (or the metal shack next to an airstrip, Long Beach), and the three-month length of the pass, just to mention a few, the pass isn’t worth the cost and benefits this time around.

Although JetBlue has added a number of new destinations within the last year, even a one-month pass similar to last year’s would have been less desirable.  Not that I wouldn’t have returned to some of the destinations I visited last year.  But it would have felt a little repetitious.

This year, the cost of the least restrictive pass, the Boston All, was offered for $1999.  For three months, that would have averaged out to about $667 per month.  Not too much out of the range of $499 and $699 last year, and $599 the previous year for a month of unlimited travel.  But taking advantage of that much travelling would have been more of a challenge.

One of the things that I found inconvenient last year was the lack of destinations in the central part of the country.  Salt Lake City, Denver, and Chicago are the only places JetBlue flies to that are anywhere close to the middle and north.  And driving from those locations would have taken away from the time one could be flying.

The three-month pass would have definitely allowed a slower pace.  Spending days or a week at one spot would have been more enjoyable, not worrying so much about wasting an opportunity to take full advantage of the pass.  The homesickness and exhaustion would have be hard to handle staying on the road for such a lengthy period.

My thoughts about the terms, from the few I read before I made my decision?  Taxes.  You can fly all you want, but each flight will cost at least $10 (a search for BOS-SFO resulted in taxes of $10.70 and $21.40) of taxes.  Traveling outside the continental U.S.?  Even more taxes and surcharges (no change from last year).  I like how you can change or cancel up to 90 minutes before the flight.  For the fun of it, I would have tried walking into the airport, choosing a destination, booking the flight online, and hopping on the plane.  A little adventurous. And what’s with no multi-city stops.  I love Boston and JFK, but the plane isn’t a boomerang!  That was fun but boring connecting at JFK, walking from one side to the other.

Honestly, if there had been an option to leave from my hometown and it wasn’t pennies from two grand (ouch!), I would have gone for it.  Two or three round trips a month (weekend getaways!) would have been fun, and would have made a fun reunion with fellow alumni of the AYCJ promotion.

Maybe next year.