JetBlue planes at JFK’s Terminal 5 in Recent York.
Leslie Josephs | CNBC
JetBlue Airways will open its first airport lounges in its greater than 20 years of flying, a significant shift for the low-cost airline because it chases high-spending travelers.
The lounges will open at Recent York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport late next 12 months followed by Boston, JetBlue said Thursday.
The airline can also be planning to launch a recent “premium” bank card with its partner, Barclays, taking a page from the likes of Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and American Airlines, which have generated billions through lucrative bank card deals.
Customers who’ve the soon-to-be-announced premium bank card, those booked in JetBlue’s Mint business class for trans-Atlantic travel and high-level frequent flyer status holders will have the ability to access the lounges, the corporate said.
JetBlue said its 8,000-square-foot lounge in Terminal 5 of Recent York’s JFK Airport is slated to open late next 12 months, and an 11,000-sqare-foot space in Boston Logan International Airport’s Terminal C will open shortly after.
JetBlue has been racing to reduce costs and return to regular profitability, including by deferring dozens of recent Airbus jetliners. The airline has slashed dozens of routes this 12 months and has been on the lookout for ways to higher deploy its aircraft which might be equipped with its Mint cabin, which features lie-flat seats, higher-end dining and other perks.
Entry to the lounges is not going to include, not less than immediately, travelers on other Mint routes similar to transcontinental flights, Jayne O’Brien, JetBlue’s head of promoting and customer support, told CNBC.
She said JetBlue doesn’t wish to disappoint customers if they don’t seem to be capable of get into the lounges because they’re too crowded. “We would like to be very thoughtful about how we step into this,” she said, adding that the lounges will feature cocktail and espresso bars, “light bites,” in addition to room to work.
The best-tier of JetBlue’s loyalty program and holders of the brand new premium card will get free access to the lounge for one guest.
O’Brien declined to comment on rumors that JetBlue is planning to supply a mini Mint cabin on some aircraft, a smaller format of its popular cabin.
Other airlines have been revamping their airport lounges in hopes of reeling in additional big spenders and accommodate crowds. Delta, which scaled back access to a few of its popular airport Sky Clubs after complaints of long lines, in June unveiled its first Delta One lounge at JFK Airport, which is devoted for purchasers in its highest-level cabin and certain invite-only elite members of its SkyMiles program.
American and United even have dedicated lounges for travelers in top first- and business-class cabins.
Bank card corporations similar to American Express, Chase and Capital One have also opened airport lounges in cities across the country in an effort to attract consumers.
JetBlue will not be the one airline taking a look at expanding perks that include higher fares.
Southwest Airlines plans to supply seats with extra legroom to extend revenue, the most important change in its greater than five many years of flying. Southwest will provide more details about its strategy at an investor day next week. Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines have also launched bundles that include seats with extra space and earlier boarding.
