JetBlue adds Edinburgh-Boston (bookable on Avios), drops Gatwick-New York

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• FCP says:

  11 Dec11 December 06:13

  With Heathrow and Gatwick serving Boston and all the competition, it would maybe be better to move a flight to say Manchester which is fairly underserved on direct US routes for its size / passenger catchment numbers.

  • david says:

    11 Dec11 December 06:26

    The demand must make it viable but never understood why LGW and LHR.

    • chris w says:

      11 Dec11 December 09:33

      @david – plenty of loyalty, wealthy Americans living in the US northeast that want to travel to London but don’t care which airport.

      They couldn’t get more LHR slots.

    • CamFlyer says:

      11 Dec11 December 10:40

      It would bebgreat to see nonstop service to the US from STN again!

  • Andrew J says:

    11 Dec11 December 06:56

    Birmingham would be a good option for them to explore – serving the Midlands and easily reachable from the north of London counties where it’s easier than getting to LHR.

  • NicktheGreek says:

    11 Dec11 December 07:18

    It’s as much about where Americans want to go, rather than serving the British population. And realistically which Americans have Manchester as their first stopping off point on a European vacation… Edinburgh and London make sense in that regard.

    • The Savage Squirrel says:

      11 Dec11 December 13:50

      Rename Birmingham Airport: “Shakespeare International Airport, Stratford Upon Avon” and watch ’em pile in!

  • Mikeact says:

    11 Dec11 December 11:22

    But apparently, as has been stated on here many times before ,the MAN folk are not prepared to pay.

    • Nick says:

      11 Dec11 December 13:24

      Correct, demand may be there but yield is not, and like it or not, that’s what’s important here. The comment about ‘where Americans want to go’ is also accurate, and Edinburgh as a capital city wins over Manchester.

      • Dan says:

        12 Dec12 December 10:00

        But… the beatles

• James C says:

  11 Dec11 December 06:19

  £2.2k in J as an introductory offer. No lounge access or J cabin on connecting US domestic itineraries. Can’t see why they’re struggling…

  • david says:

    11 Dec11 December 06:28

    Why cant they fork out even a Priority Pass entry for J. Its not the price its just the principle of no lounge on a 2.2k ticket. Absurd.

    • Neil says:

      11 Dec11 December 06:33

      I flew with them a few months ago and found the lack of lounge more of an issue than I expected. Worst thing is the JFK terminal they fly from simply doesn’t have a lounge, so even if you have Priority Pass it’s of no use (unless you go to a different terminal).

    • Rob says:

      11 Dec11 December 07:18

      Yes, strange how all these ‘cost saving’ measures lead to the airline losing money. It’s almost as if customers were deciding to fly with others because of it.

      • Neil says:

        11 Dec11 December 09:05

        I think JetBlue are on to something, in terms of service and staff they are great. All things being equal I would probably choose them over united or BA.
        It’s just they’re not quite there yet. I
        Imagine it’s incredibly hard to compete with legacy carriers who have all the slots and infrastructure in place, even if they are inferior I think in most cases people choose convenience.

        • Rob says:

          11 Dec11 December 09:30

          They are flying A321s which are incredibly cheap to operate and as an operation overall they don’t have a lot of the legacy costs, like a massive pension to fund, which BA has. The downside – on the routes they fly – is frequency, which is what the business traveller on a £10k fully flexible ticket wants, and indeed is paying for. Without this you’re only selling to the premium leisure market but you need name recognition for that – and the premium leisure market expects to have a lounge for their £2,199.

        • John says:

          11 Dec11 December 19:48

          Crew costs have massively increased for U.S. airlines. JetBlue have cited recent pilot wage agreements as the primary reason the routes are financially challenged. 2 pilots getting 40% increases has an outweighed impact when operating an A321 compared to a 777 for example.

    • chris w says:

      11 Dec11 December 09:35

      @david – exactly. A PP lounge entry would cost them, what 25 quid per passenger?? There are surely some passengers who wouldn’t book with them purely because of the lack of lounge

      • Danny says:

        11 Dec11 December 11:08

        Less than £25. Perhaps £15-£20?

      • Gerry says:

        11 Dec11 December 14:44

        They may be changing the tack on this soon – there are some reports a lounge may be coming to JFK T5.

        But yes, at the moment, the lack of lounge, low frequencies and horrible handling of irrops means B6 is not much of an option for business travelers. Not to mention the h exciting, pure-revenue-based FF program. I will finally be trying the A321 Mint product this month (booked through QR) when going on vacation, but all my business-related TATL flying is firmly BA/AA.

• Willmo says:

  11 Dec11 December 06:30

  Any word on which terminal JetBlue will fly out of Madrid?
  Can’t find anything online.
  Hope it’s T4.

  • yonasl says:

    11 Dec11 December 22:23

    Will most certainly be T1 otherwise. T2/3 are Schengen.

• David says:

  11 Dec11 December 06:44

  Are they likely to drop LGW-BOS too? Seems odd to keep that if it’s their only LGW flight and it hasn’t even started yet.

• Dave says:

  11 Dec11 December 07:19

  Is Boston really that popular?

  • david says:

    11 Dec11 December 07:34

    The numbers crunchers seem to think so and according to my friend GOOGL “highest personal income per capita in US”.

  • ChrisBCN says:

    11 Dec11 December 08:21

    You need to consider those flying FROM Boston too

  • chris1922 says:

    11 Dec11 December 08:47

    Boston is fab, my first redemption and was in F, loved it that much that I went back again, and again in F via redemption.
    But you’re asking the wrong question. As others have said; is Edinburgh (and wider Scotland) that popular ? and the answer is yes. Americans love it, and for many Edinburgh is close to St Andrews for golf and also the University.

  • Cicero says:

    11 Dec11 December 09:06

    Some rather important universities nearby!

    • CamFlyer says:

      11 Dec11 December 10:47

      It’s also a major tech and biotechnology center, and the closest major international airport for all of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont Rhode Island and much of Connecticut. It’s a large, populous and relatively wealthy catchment area.

• LittleNick says:

  11 Dec11 December 07:29

  Yh no lounge for £2.2k isn’t great. Shame they couldn’t be a bit more ambitious on pricing given no lounge and to undercut the legacy carriers. However great deal on avios if you can get it

  • AJA says:

    11 Dec11 December 08:36

    Is that a great Avios price? You can pay 100k Avios +£875 in cash to fly on BA or AA from T5 to JFK. The headline fare they offer is 160k Avios +£375. That means for an extra £47 or even £147 if you take the headline fare you get a better flight time plus lounge access both ends and arguably a better seat if not better food. Plus if your flight is disrupted you’re more likely to have a lot more options on rerouting.

    • LittleNick says:

      11 Dec11 December 09:39

      It is one way from the US as actual tax is low and zero surcharge, a business class flight for 78k avios + $11. Food better on BA, you’re joking right, JetBlue admittedly not flown them but have consistently better reviews and is rated well for product and service.
      And good luck getting an avios flight on AA transatlantic, they’re rarer than a unicorn

      • AJA says:

        11 Dec11 December 11:08

        You misunderstood me on the food I meant you get a better seat but the trade off is not getting a better meal.

        As for reward seats on AA the price quote I gave above was for AA operated BA marketed flight departing on 16 Jan returning 22 Jan 2025. Bookable along with 7 other direct flight options and several more indirect. Searched as a result of you saying the fare on JetBlue was good

        • LittleNick says:

          11 Dec11 December 16:11

          Apologies, thanks for clarifying. Thanks re the AA award flights, nice to see they are bookable, hint check with QR/AY if the surcharges are lower, suspect they might be

• Jimbo says:

  11 Dec11 December 08:55

  Just tried EDI to BOS in June but system wants to send me via Doha!!

  • Rob says:

    11 Dec11 December 09:05

    Yes, wasn’t loaded yesterday hence the Heathrow example. Hoped it would appear overnight.

  • JS says:

    11 Dec11 December 09:36

    You need to select “Flights with other partners”

  • Jonathan says:

    11 Dec11 December 10:54

    The joys of having to use other airline’s flight search systems when you know you won’t be using their own aircraft !

• RussellH says:

  11 Dec11 December 10:13

  ED_ to BOS would have been brilliant for me 50 years ago 🙂
  but irrelevant now.
  Joking apart, BOS is within easy reach of plenty of wealthy Americans, many of whom want to go to Scotland, while New England is a great destination for travel from the UK, and these days EDI is easy to get to from most of the north of England as well as from Scotland, even if the airport tram is a rip-off.

  • Peggerz says:

    11 Dec11 December 10:47

    @RussellH I agree, though if you believe the tram is ‘the’ rip-off, wait until you get inside the terminal…..
    If you have time and a roll-along get off the tram at Ingliston P+Ride and walk to the airport. Enjoy the views of the open fields, for the New Town (West) is coming to change that soon….

  • Paul C says:

    11 Dec11 December 11:21

    Thought I’d check what you consider to be a rip off.. £9.50 return?

    The (First group) Bristol Flyer bus connecting the city centre to the airport is sub 30 mins and £15 return

    • RussellH says:

      11 Dec11 December 12:04

      I was comparing the fare from city centre to Ingliston P+R to that to the airport. The last few hundred yards IS a rip-off.

      I cannot remember when I was last at EDI, but I agree with Peggerz about the prices inside too. It cannot be that many years ago, though, since the trousers I am wearing as I write were bought in a sale on Princes Street following our return from CPH.

    • CJD says:

      11 Dec11 December 14:55

      I last used the trams in summer, so I’ll caveat this by saying fares may have gone up since, but it’s £1.80 to go from Ingliston to Newhaven, at opposite ends of the line and about a 45 mins journey, or £7.50 to ride 1 stop to go the 2 mins from Ingliston to the Airport.

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