JetBlue Airways is rolling out a new boarding system with numbered groups and updated priority benefits.
Why airlines board planes inefficiently and how to solve it
Airlines know group boarding isn’t the fastest way to get on a plane, but the system can help sell priority boarding and other paid perks.
- JetBlue will update its boarding process on April 29 to streamline boarding your flights.
- The new process consolidates ride positions from 11 to 10 and uses numbers instead of letters.
- Customers who purchase EvenMore seats with extra legroom will receive priority boarding.
JetBlue will update its boarding process on April 29 to make boarding your flight more efficient.
The current 11 seating positions will be consolidated into 10 seats, and customers who purchase seats with extra legroom (‘EvenMore’) will have slightly higher priority.
The new groups will be identified by numbers rather than letters, which will make announcements at the boarding gate easier to hear, the airline said.
Here’s how to board a JetBlue flight when the new process goes into effect.
- Before boarding For customers with physical disabilities
- group 1: Mosaic 3 & 4 members, mint customers
- group 2: Mosaic 1 & 2 members, EvenMore customers
- group 3:JetBlue Premier Card card members, JetBlue Business Card card members, Blue Extra fares, selectable early boarding benefits (excluding Blue Basic fares)
- preferential boarding: Active duty military, passengers traveling with child seats or strollers.
- group 4: General boarding based on JetBlue Vacations customer and seat location.
- Groups 5-8: General boarding by seat position
According to the airline, unaccompanied minors will be escorted onto the plane after all other passengers have boarded.
It’s not a major overhaul for the airline, which already has a letter group on board, but it does add new boarding priorities for credit card holders and some passengers who purchase incidental fare products.
For more information on the new boarding process, please visit the JetBlue website.
This article has been updated to update the headline.
Zach Wichter is a travel reporter and writes the Cruising Altitude column for USA TODAY. He is based in New York and can be reached at zwichter@usatoday.com.
