I need to fly more from Baltimore, NYC, San Francisco - those 3 cities primarily
I also want an airline where I can call an 800 number and actually get an American Enlish speaker on the phone.
I will pay more for an airline that has those cool personal screens even in economy.
Which airline should I go all in on for building up loyalty points?
I have flown between NYC and San Francisco more than 50 times, and I my favorite airline by far is Jetblue. My reasons are:
Best customer service experience in the terminal and online/on phone. One of the best flight crews also.
Best/easiest to use internet portal for flight management, booking, upgrades, and other features. It’s basically the only airline website I can use without descending into uncontrollable violent rage.
Most convenient flights and frequent flights from JFK.
Decent TV options, and free (slow ish) internet on flights. You can pay for fast internet. I don’t know if they still offer the free service now though.
The best first class of all. The 2x1x2 format also means that it is the most private configuration for flying alone. Look at the seat below for, instance. You are in your own full row cubicle with a door you can close and not see anyone else. The flight crew memorizes your name and you get a little greeting card. The food is also very good and designed by some celebrity chef. You get a nice 15" or so screen to watch TV and high end headphones. I saw Interstellar like 4 times on this. Those seats also lay completely flat on the floor, so it is the closest seat that I have been in to a real bed.
Compare this to what is standard in other domestic airlines as shown below. The seats are comfortable, but the level of privacy you experience is completely different, and the screen is still of the relatively small armrest folding variety.
Young-ish millennial type passengers, who prefer this over United, Delta, or other legacy carriers. This actually matters more than one might think. I have never sat next to an obese person in JetBlue. They are fast in boarding the plane and not fumbling with luggage. The chance of getting a hot chick next to you is also comparatively high.
Open beverage and snack bar. Every new Jetblue plane has a fridge in the front where you can help yourself to refreshments.
They claim to have the most legroom in economy class. I don’t know if this is true in real life experience, but they are definitely more spacious than most other airlines, based on my experience.
The reward points are worth 5-10% in future Jetblue services, if you have the Jetblue credit card and fly a lot. This is probably the same as some other airlines.
I don’t know how their service is to DC, but as far as SF/NY are concerned, I try to fly this airline whenever possible. Both the economy and first class options are great.
Agree with ohai on Jetblue being most seamless. However among the major carriers I prefer Delta because the aircraft that serves my most frequent routes are newest and have best seats. I have platinum on both Delta and AA, and I’d choose Delta over AA just about anytime possible. I view United similar to AA but have no status there since I don’t fly it often.
Hmm, have never flown Jetblue. My only “knowledge” of them is when they imprison a group of passengers on the runway for 5 hours every couple of years. Based on ohai’s post (and 2nd by Numi), I’ll have to give them a thought next time I fly. I used to be married to the AAdvantage program because AA was the only option for going to S. America for a longtime. I got really frustrated with trying to actually use my miles earlier this year though and have loosened my ties with AA considerably by closing my AA-linked credit card in favor of a CapitalOne Venture card. I do miss the priority boarding status I used to have with AA though. I’m not BSD enough to fly business class, but Group 5 just doesn’t work for me.
Isn’t it easier to get a travel card that earns miles and fly any airline that’s convenient at the moment? Why get attached to a single airline? That sounds like a huge commitment…
My now closed Citi AAdvantage card did have the additional benefits of Group 1 boarding and free checked bag for me and 3 other people in my party. As most of my flying is from Philly to either FL or S. America, AA is generally going to have the most flights, so it makes sense for me to be tied to them. If I hadn’t become so frustrated trying to actually use my miles earlier this year, I’d still stay connected to AA. I’ll see how the Venture card works out.
Yes, I generally don’t like to be to a specific airline. However, in this special case, I would have chosen the same airline anyway. So, it would make more sense to capitalize on the higher rewards in return for customer loyalty.
The other question is why there are so many credit cards with travel rewards, and not just straight up cash or something…
you guys dont fly private? netjets ftw
What do you mean? There are tons of cash back cards. I use Citi Double cash card. It gives you 2% back on everything, uncapped. It’s an ugly card, but I can live with that
Oh yeah, if you travel with the family and check in many bags, that’s a good perk to have. I usually travel with one carry on, so I am more into finding cheapest flights 
Let me clarify. I mean - why are travel credit cards so common in the first place? I doubt that travel is the main spending category of most consumers. So, whatever is the market share of travel credit cards - 20%, 30%? Why is it so much?
I travel a lot and I’ll second Ohai’s comments about JetBlue, they are the best in my experience. When JB doesn’t offer a direct flight, i’ll usually take Delta as a follow up.
Ftr - this opinion comes from a non first class flyer
Maybe because those cards are more heavily advertised, and people fail to do the research on the cc cards optimal for their own spending habits?
My guess is that people are overly sensitive to airline prices because they are not a usual expense for them and come at a time when they are already spending a lot of money on one-time purchases.
Travel cards generally have better redemption perks than cash cards (e.g. Chase Sapphire Reserve). A 2% all-purpose cash card might sound better for an average household than a travel card that gives 3% on travel and 1% on everything else, BUT every point earned on the travel card can be redeemed for 1.5 times the value when used for booking travel. Travel cards also have other perks such as travel insurance, travel credit (directly credited from monthly statements), access to VIP lounges that have free wifi/snacks/shower facilities, etc. Most travel internationally at least once every one or two years, so it makes it worthwhile.
Was glad to pay a couple extra bucks to fly jet blue when I went to Costa Rica. They will be my first choice any time going forward was a really pleasant experience and even in economy you have more legroom than the others (which is important for all of us >6’0" bronze greek gods) plus the lines were much shorter than the Uniter/Delta mess from JFK.
I was so excited when that card came out and I got it.
For your average, normal person, cash back cards are probably the best solution. For people who travel frequently or are willing to put a bit of effort into maximizing benefits, you’ve got to get into the upper end of cards.
I would guess because consumers think they’re getting a good deal holding them for the perks and will hold onto them even though there is typically an annual fee. Also people like the idea of collecting miles and then many of them will inevitably blow them on some cheap domestic trip. For every few of those people, there’s probably 1 that legitimately saves more money than the annual fee in free checked bags and the other benefits.
So, it seems like airlines must be subsidizing credit card companies who issue travel cards, since the rewards from encouraging consumers to travel outweighs the cost of the subsidy. Not only do the points tie consumers to some airlines, but consumers will say “I have travel points, so I should travel”. Since travel is generally a discretionary expense, it is worth the company’s effort to influence the consumer’s choice. Furthermore, consumers might outweigh the benefits of travel rewards, like check baggage fees “worth $25”, but actually worth less, since consumers might not choose those options every time they travel. Consumers give up the freedom of cash rewards for higher % rewards in travel points, and possibly due to some other psychological effects.
From how I understand it, banks like Citi and Chase pay a relatively small amount per point to the airlines since they likely buy hundreds of millions/billions at a time and many of those points will never wind up being redeemed. Also many of the perks of the cards don’t cost the airlines much if anything. Earlier boarding doesn’t cost them anything. A free checked bag might cost them lost revenue but it’s not money out the door.
^although be sure that any cost to the airline of these perks is easily passed onto customers through higher fares.