Did JetBlue Compensate Me For A Broken IFE?

JetBlue

There are a bunch of reasons why we like flying with JetBlue.

The airline offers a good amount of legroom, free snacks, free Wifi (with their FlyFi service) and entertainment options like DirecTV and movies.

While I rarely watch movies anymore, I do like to pass the time during a flight watching (a movie) unless I’m busy tending to one of the kids. (Lucas is good on his own during flights unless he needs to take a trip to the restroom.)

What happens if you go to watch TV or a movie and your IFE is acting up? Will JetBlue make good on this problem?

During a recent flight I was looking forward to watching a movie. As the film was getting ready to start I plugged in my headphones but couldn’t really hear a thing. I raised the volume and I could hear some sound coming out but it was pretty much impossible to understand.

The sound was filled with static, feedback and other irritating noise. There was no way I was going to bother watching like this. (I tried spinning my headphone plug in the jack to see if that helped with no luck. I also tested Kim’s headphones to make sure that the issue wasn’t due to a faulty pair of headphones.) It also turned out that Kim’s IFE had the same issue as mine.

I then debated what to do. I could say something to a flight attendant (surprisingly, they weren’t the friendliest) or contact JetBlue through Twitter.

I decided to send a DM (direct message) to JetBlue, mentioning the problem.

Within no time I had a response. The JetBlue Twitter team asked for my confirmation code which I then responded with.

Moments later I had this response, “It’s never fun when the TV isn’t working as expected. Especially when you’re traveling with children. We’ve gone ahead and issued each of you a $15 credit for the inconvenience. We hope you’re able to enjoy the rest of your flight.”

JetBlue went ahead and sent Kim, Lucas and I, each a $15 credit to the Travel Bank. I’m not sure what would be considered fair compensation but while it was nice to get some sort of credit, it does expire in one year. Also, is 4-5 hours of entertainment during a flight valued at $15? That’s definitely hard to say.

What do you think- did JetBlue offer a fair amount of credit for the lack of a properly working IFE? I’m curious to hear your thoughts.

6 thoughts on “Did JetBlue Compensate Me For A Broken IFE?

  1. Joe C- JetBlue is pretty friendly!

    Cipta- I think it was definitely impressive how fast JetBlue responded.

    UnitedEF- If the flight was domestic, I would’ve tried to do so on my phone. (The iPad is my sons!) On international flights, FlyFi doesn’t seem to work for very long. Good idea though!

  2. Whip out the iPad connect to flyfi. They should enable movie streaming as a backup. You probably could watch it for free on one of the streaming pirated movie sites.

  3. Jetblue is very smart indeed. While $15 compensation seemed to be meaningless compared to be being bored for the whole flight, you are running out of options. Should you dispute the amount or badmouthing the airlines, they already sent a sorry and a goodwill ASAP with no question/reconfirmation needed from the FA. Very tactical step from Jetblue customer service response team.

  4. Sounds like a good gesture from JetBlue. I flew JetBlue for the first time recently, and enjoyed it very much. I used to be loyal to United and Delta, but now I’m branching out and becoming more of a free agent. I think JetBlue really seeks to be customer-friendly. I doubt you would have gotten that monetary-like compensation from United or Delta. Maybe they would have given a few miles for it, but even that might take some work and complaining to get. United is getting rid of their IFE screens, like American, so that’s not even an option with them. I think JetBlue did a fair compensation in your situation.

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