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Editorial Disclosure
JetBlue just introduced a new way to monetize leftover seats in its Mint business-class cabin.
The New York-based carrier has quietly turned on an upgrade bidding system in partnership with Plusgrade, a spokesperson confirmed to From the Tray Table.
The move is designed to fill Mint with more paying passengers, especially on flights where those seats would otherwise go out empty.
JetBlue has never offered a formal Mint buy-up program, so this is a notable shift for anyone who wants to try the airline’s fanciest seats.
How JetBlue’s Mint upgrade bidding works
Until now, if you wanted to move up to Mint, you could either pay the fare difference between your economy ticket and a Mint fare, or wait until you got to the gate and pay for a (slightly discounted) last-minute upgrade.
The new system collects bids from eligible travelers and processes upgrades about a day before departure. The highest bids get the remaining Mint seats.
The experience is powered by Plusgrade, the same technology deployed at many international airlines. It’s less common domestically, since most U.S. carriers have built in-house tools to market and price post-purchase upgrades.
My guess is that JetBlue didn’t want (or feel the need) to build something more sophisticated in-house, so it went with the off-the-shelf option.
Note that only select economy fares will be eligible for bids. Your card will only be charged if you have an accepted bid, and you’ll earn TrueBlue points and Mosaic tiles based on your original fare, not the upgrade amount.
How much does a JetBlue Mint upgrade cost?
I only have one upcoming JetBlue trip booked in economy on a Mint-equipped plane.
I never got an email soliciting bids, but I was able to log in to JetBlue’s upgrade portal and enter one manually.
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For the six-hour flight from New York to Vancouver, JetBlue’s floor is $650, and the ceiling is $1,800.
I turned to a friend flying Los Angeles to New York, who saw the meter accepting bids between $800 and $1,900.
JetBlue said in a statement that “pricing, route availability and inventory will vary,” but at these rates, I’m not a buyer.
Many travelers will find it cheaper to simply change their tickets to a Mint fare and pay the fare difference. This way, you don’t need to worry about whether your bid will be accepted, and you’ll have plenty of time to select your seat and preorder a special meal, if you’d like.
JetBlue’s new Mint upgrade page notes that some travelers will be offered instant upgrades, though I haven’t seen one yet.
Mosaic upgrades are unaffected, but employees should beware
The new system doesn’t interfere with the Mint upgrade process for Mosaic 3 and Mosaic 4 elites.
Those travelers get a set allotment of upgrade vouchers they can use to confirm a Mint seat in advance, no bidding required.
Non-revenue employees will likely be most affected by this new system. Right now, they usually clear into Mint when there are unsold seats. If JetBlue does a better job at filling the plane with travelers paying for last-minute upgrades, non-revs should expect to be sitting in economy on these routes.
Bottom line
I’m not surprised to see JetBlue formalize a way to sell Mint upgrades to travelers willing to pay for them.
The airline has been working for years to return to profitability. It revamped its EvenMore extra-legroom strategy, expanded the Preferred economy cabin on select planes, and unveiled a domestic first-class product, BlueFirst, that launches later this year.
All of these initiatives are designed to boost revenue. With the right execution, I could see the upgrade bidding system working well for JetBlue — especially if it expands to BlueFirst when that product starts flying.
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