I guess it pays to keep an eye on JetBlue‘s website. Last Thursday, the airline sold 200 seats on its New York-to-San Francisco route at $14 a pop. Unsurprisingly, it only took a few hours. Those living on the west coast still have a shot at a sweetheart deal, though, with 1,600 seats for flights between San Francisco and Long Beach, CA still unsold at mid-day on April 2, according to an Associated Press story on MSNBC.
JetBlue used this promotion to highlight its policy on not charging for the first bag you check. Some airlines are charging $15 a bag, which makes it more expensive for your luggage to take another airline than it would for you to fly yourself on JetBlue.
Financially, JetBlue is taking it on the chin with this deal. As of the fourth quarter of 2008, it cost the airline $300 to carry a passenger 2,900 miles (the distance of a coast-to-coast jaunt).
As always, there’s a catch. The trips have to be taken by April 8, 2009.