JetBlue Just Changed the Way It Issues Travel Credits

JetBlue is changing the way flyers use its travel credits. 

According to TPG, JetBlue is now issuing credits with only one year of usage from the date of the original booking as opposed to one year of the date of modification, which it had been doing since the onset of COVID-19.

That means that if you book a flight 12 months in advance, and then have to change or cancel the tickets with one month until travel, you’ll only have four weeks or so to use the tickets, instead of one year from when you made the cancellation or change.

JetBlue’s travel credit policy now reads: “For tickets issued or exchanged after Mar 8, 2023, that are voluntarily canceled or exchanged to a lower fare, funds are returned as a JetBlue travel credit that is valid for 12 months from the original ticketing date.”

Previously, the policy stated: “For tickets booked before Mar 8, 2023 that are voluntarily canceled or exchanged to a lower fare, funds are returned as a JetBlue travel credit that is valid for 12 months from the date the credit is issued.”

Still, even with the change, JetBlue is fairly flexible with its travel credit policy. The airline typically sends credits to your JetBlue Travel Bank, an online account that lets you access and manages travel credits that you’ve received. Those credits can be used to book a new flight for anyone you look—the name on the account doesn’t need to match the name of a traveler.

JetBlue just recently opened bookings for its flights between New York and Paris. The service, the carrier’s second nonstop transatlantic after its New York to London addition in August 2021, will officially kick off on June 29, 2023. To celebrate, JetBlue is offering limited roundtrip fares starting at $1,899 and €1,299 in Mint and $479 and €399 in core.

The launch is a big deal for JetBlue. According to the airline, France is the world’s most visited country and Paris is currently the largest European destination not served by JetBlue from its northeast hubs in Boston and New York. JetBlue said that it could boost service to the French capital even further in the future.