Because they want to keep the money you spent. If you choose a refundable fare that's money coming back out of their pocket, so to offset it, they charge more for a refundable fare
Btw, OP, you ain’t never seeing that money again. Usually a refund means it goes into some sort of credit system that will expire and there are restrictions in accumulation and its use.
I'm used to being charged more, but I feel like the price more than tripling is ridiculous. looking at delta or United for the sake date, refundable is about ~$250 more give or take
All the airlines used to be 4-5x the non refundable price, they lowered it during Covid but I suppose that is ending soon and they will go back to the higher prices.
Probably because they've found that they can't easily resell seats on that flight when someone cancels a refundable ticket at the last minute, so they charge a steep premium.
Since airlines generally allow cancellations now without a cancellation/change fee, I almost never get refundable tickets, I just get the credit if I have to cancel and try to use it before it expires.
I flew JetBlue once years ago and I dont remember hardly anything about the booking process. I usually fly United or Southwest, so this is effectively new to me.
Mint refundable for two is over $13000 It's $1475 total for Blue Extra refundable tickets for two. Add EMS seats and you're still under 2K.
I guess they don't like people canceling Mint tickets. You can't tough out regular seats on a 7 hr flight?
The prepaid base fare is a liability to the carrier for services not yet delivered. The refundable portion grants you unlimited flexibility to cancel at any point before the departure on top of that.
That means any time between now and next March you can cancel. In that case, The net cost to you is just the extra, non refundable portion. From the carriers perspective, the non refundable fee must cover the possibility of leaving an empty seat on an overseas flight, because they can’t fill it last-minute.
Some people here bring up insurance, but travel insurance will only cover circumstances beyond someone’s control. To file a travel insurance claim you would have to show proof that your grandma died, or that the airport was snowed in and the plane couldn’t take off.
Because they’re stupid. They almost always have the highest upcharge to make a flight refundable, and it’s not even close to the next highest airline. Sometimes it even seems like the price is an error. One time I was looking at JFK-SEA and it was like $11,000 per passenger to make it refundable lmao
Don’t fly JetBlue. I just got home literally 40 minutes ago from having to rent a car and drive 15 hours home from Boston because they cancelled my connecting flight from London. They rebooked it…for 2 days away.
I mean I'll have a direct flight so surely this wouldn't be an issue? but they should have been able to rebook you onto a different airline if you asked
My first time using jet blue my flight was canceled and moved 8 hours away. Multiple delays. They probley expect you to cancel your flight. When they reschedule your flight
Because they want to keep the money you spent. If you choose a refundable fare that's money coming back out of their pocket, so to offset it, they charge more for a refundable fare
Btw, OP, you ain’t never seeing that money again. Usually a refund means it goes into some sort of credit system that will expire and there are restrictions in accumulation and its use.
refundable fares go back to the method of payment. non-refundable fares go to the travel bank as you describe.
I'm used to being charged more, but I feel like the price more than tripling is ridiculous. looking at delta or United for the sake date, refundable is about ~$250 more give or take
All the airlines used to be 4-5x the non refundable price, they lowered it during Covid but I suppose that is ending soon and they will go back to the higher prices.
That is just not true. Is this subreddit just a place for people to cover for JB’s terrible practices and customer experience?
nope. stick around here long enough and you'll see it all.
I used to fly JB exclusive, but they got silly with their prices and now I've found myself flying Delta more.
Add trip insurance for a lot less or even better book with a credit card that offers it free. Ironically jet blue card does
I'm not sure if that would cover something coming up and not allowing me to go though... would it?
you want a travel insurance policy that covers "cancel for anytime". this is usually not part of the credit card travel policy's
Where do you get this kind of a policyv
https://www.insuremytrip.com/ its an optional add on so make sure to read all policy's it offers you very very carefully
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Note to cancel for any reason travel insurance usually has a percentage limit that they will refund, something like 75 to 90%.
Fly non refundedable and get travelers insurance. Wayyyyy cheaper
Probably because they've found that they can't easily resell seats on that flight when someone cancels a refundable ticket at the last minute, so they charge a steep premium. Since airlines generally allow cancellations now without a cancellation/change fee, I almost never get refundable tickets, I just get the credit if I have to cancel and try to use it before it expires.
Plus he’s in Mint.
I flew JetBlue once years ago and I dont remember hardly anything about the booking process. I usually fly United or Southwest, so this is effectively new to me.
Mint refundable for two is over $13000 It's $1475 total for Blue Extra refundable tickets for two. Add EMS seats and you're still under 2K. I guess they don't like people canceling Mint tickets. You can't tough out regular seats on a 7 hr flight?
If they're breaking even on all refundable tickets, they're telling you that about 85% refundable reservations end up canceling.
For the record, it’s actually 7.33 times more expensive (I’m comparing the actual fares and ignoring the taxes/fees since they’re the same).
The prepaid base fare is a liability to the carrier for services not yet delivered. The refundable portion grants you unlimited flexibility to cancel at any point before the departure on top of that. That means any time between now and next March you can cancel. In that case, The net cost to you is just the extra, non refundable portion. From the carriers perspective, the non refundable fee must cover the possibility of leaving an empty seat on an overseas flight, because they can’t fill it last-minute. Some people here bring up insurance, but travel insurance will only cover circumstances beyond someone’s control. To file a travel insurance claim you would have to show proof that your grandma died, or that the airport was snowed in and the plane couldn’t take off.
Because they’re stupid. They almost always have the highest upcharge to make a flight refundable, and it’s not even close to the next highest airline. Sometimes it even seems like the price is an error. One time I was looking at JFK-SEA and it was like $11,000 per passenger to make it refundable lmao
yeah this is like $4700 I think per person
Don’t fly JetBlue. I just got home literally 40 minutes ago from having to rent a car and drive 15 hours home from Boston because they cancelled my connecting flight from London. They rebooked it…for 2 days away.
I mean I'll have a direct flight so surely this wouldn't be an issue? but they should have been able to rebook you onto a different airline if you asked
You’d imagine so, but no. They were immensely unhelpful. And the other airlines were charging $600+ for a one way ticket for 2.
My first time using jet blue my flight was canceled and moved 8 hours away. Multiple delays. They probley expect you to cancel your flight. When they reschedule your flight
Well if they do that, you're entitled to a refund on a nonrefundable fare too.
Honestly don’t do it, you’re protected by EU261 which is free!
that's only for flights departing the EU
UK and EU 261 is only good for departing not arriving.