JetBlue announced it is changing its flight credit policy—and it’s not as generous. As reported by The Daily Navigator, flight credits now need to be used up within 12 months or they disappear.
One of the few benefits of the COVID-19 pandemic is that airlines extended credit for canceled flights so that passengers could stay home and be safe, knowing they could use the credit at some undefined time in the future. Change fees were eliminated for many carriers, and this flexibility created a better environment for passengers to make decisions about how best to travel.
Now, it seems that may be coming to an end, with JetBlue introducing a 12-month period to use the credits for a canceled flight, dating to the day you purchased the ticket.
So what about credits you already hold? Any ticket you purchased prior to March 8, 2023 that was voluntarily canceled or exchanged for a lower-priced ticket will roll over into a brand-new travel credit issued by JetBlue, and the clock starts running on the 12 months from the moment you receive it. So even if your credits are quite elderly, they will get a 12-month renewal. Luckily, you don’t have to actually travel within that timeframe; you just have to book the ticket.
JetBlue also specifies that the credits can only be used for tickets, not for baggage fees or priority boarding. You can, however, buy tickets for someone else.
Carriers like Delta and Alaska are already limiting the use of credits to 12 months, says the Daily Navigator, so this may be part of a trend toward returning to the pre-pandemic rules. Things are already interesting, to say the least, with JetBlue's planned merger with Spirit Airlines, which may now be stopped by an anti-trust lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Booking a flight a year in advance may not result in the best pricing anyway—plus a lot of people may not know until the last minute where they’re going.
Read all the specifics from JetBlue here.