JetBlue Travel Credits are Anti-Consumer: Difference between revisions

Line 1:

~~{{Ph-I~~-~~Int}}~~

JetBlue's travel credits are anti-consumer due to their restrictive and devaluing nature compared to a cash refund. These limitations lock customers into future business with the airline, effectively removing their purchasing power while allowing JetBlue to hold onto cash for services it did not provide.

==Background==

{{Ph-I-~~B}}~~

When refunding a ticket, JetBlue does not refund with the same currency that was used to purchase the ticket<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-08-31 |title=Refunds {{!}} JetBlue |url=https://www.jetblue.com/help/refunds#get-a-refund |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250901021805/https://www.jetblue.com/help/refunds |archive-date=2025-08-31 |access-date=2025-08-31 |website=JetBlue}}</ref>. Instead, JetBlue issues a travel credit which limits what a person can spend their refunded money on keeping it within the JetBlue ecosystem<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-08-31 |title=Travel Bank Credits {{!}} JetBlue |url=https://www.jetblue.com/help/travel-bank-credits#what-can-travel-credits-be-used-for |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250901022114/https://www.jetblue.com/help/travel-bank-credits |archive-date=2025-08-31 |access-date=2025-08-31 |website=JetBlue}}</ref>. By issuing travel credits instead of cash refunds, JetBlue coerces future business from customers who may have preferred to take their money to a different airline or travel another way.

~~==[Incident]=~~=

===~~[Company]'s response~~===

==~~Lawsuit~~==

~~{{Ph~~-I-~~L}}~~

~~==Consumer response=~~=

~~{{Ph~~-I-~~ConR~~}}

Rather than being a true refund, the credit functions as an interest-free loan from the customer to JetBlue or a "donation" with strings attached. This is particularly nefarious as JetBlue's travel credits expire if not spent in a set time period. The gift-card nature of the credit incentivizes an awkward balancing act: either spend more than the credit's value to make up the difference with cash, or risk "breakage" - the industry term for when a customer fails to use the entire value before its expiration date<ref>{{Cite web |last=Toni |first=Perkins-Southam |date=2024-12-19 |title=What Is Breakage And Why Does It Matter? |url=https://www.forbes.com/advisor/credit-cards/what-is-breakage-and-why-does-it-matter/ |url-status=live |access-date=2025-08-31 |website=Forbes}}</ref>. This encourages overspending to avoid wasting a small balance or, conversely, leaves customers with a nearly-spent balance that is too small to book a new flight and ultimately expires. This dynamic turns the unused portion of a customer's payment into pure, unearned revenue for JetBlue, a practice that shifts all the risk onto the consumer while the airline holds onto cash for services it never rendered.

==References==

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{IncidentCargo}}
+{{IncidentCargo|Company=JetBlue}}
-{{Ph-I-Int}}
+JetBlue's travel credits are anti-consumer due to their restrictive and devaluing nature compared to a cash refund. These limitations lock customers into future business with the airline, effectively removing their purchasing power while allowing JetBlue to hold onto cash for services it did not provide.
 ==Background==
-{{Ph-I-B}}
+When refunding a ticket, JetBlue does not refund with the same currency that was used to purchase the ticket<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-08-31 |title=Refunds {{!}} JetBlue |url=https://www.jetblue.com/help/refunds#get-a-refund |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250901021805/https://www.jetblue.com/help/refunds |archive-date=2025-08-31 |access-date=2025-08-31 |website=JetBlue}}</ref>. Instead, JetBlue issues a travel credit which limits what a person can spend their refunded money on keeping it within the JetBlue ecosystem<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-08-31 |title=Travel Bank Credits {{!}} JetBlue |url=https://www.jetblue.com/help/travel-bank-credits#what-can-travel-credits-be-used-for |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250901022114/https://www.jetblue.com/help/travel-bank-credits |archive-date=2025-08-31 |access-date=2025-08-31 |website=JetBlue}}</ref>. By issuing travel credits instead of cash refunds, JetBlue coerces future business from customers who may have preferred to take their money to a different airline or travel another way.
-==[Incident]==
-{{Ph-I-I}}
-===[Company]'s response===
-{{Ph-I-ComR}}
-==Lawsuit==
-{{Ph-I-L}}
-==Consumer response==
-{{Ph-I-ConR}}
+Rather than being a true refund, the credit functions as an interest-free loan from the customer to JetBlue or a "donation" with strings attached. This is particularly nefarious as JetBlue's travel credits expire if not spent in a set time period. The gift-card nature of the credit incentivizes an awkward balancing act: either spend more than the credit's value to make up the difference with cash, or risk "breakage" - the industry term for when a customer fails to use the entire value before its expiration date<ref>{{Cite web |last=Toni |first=Perkins-Southam |date=2024-12-19 |title=What Is Breakage And Why Does It Matter? |url=https://www.forbes.com/advisor/credit-cards/what-is-breakage-and-why-does-it-matter/ |url-status=live |access-date=2025-08-31 |website=Forbes}}</ref>. This encourages overspending to avoid wasting a small balance or, conversely, leaves customers with a nearly-spent balance that is too small to book a new flight and ultimately expires. This dynamic turns the unused portion of a customer's payment into pure, unearned revenue for JetBlue, a practice that shifts all the risk onto the consumer while the airline holds onto cash for services it never rendered.
 ==References==
 {{reflist}}
 {{Ph-I-C}}