JetBlue canceled our flight. Why do we have to pay $589 extra to take our trip?

Lisa Logan had always dreamed of visiting Paris. So when her adult son, Bennett, recommended that his parents meet him in the City of Light this Christmas, she eagerly agreed. Bennett helped his mom and dad book round-trip business-class flights on JetBlue from Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) via Boston Logan International Airport (BOS). With that part of the trip confirmed, the family happily began planning how they would celebrate a “joyeux noel” in France.

However, four months later, JetBlue jeopardized the Logans’ plans when it announced that it would no longer operate out of Charlotte after Oct. 26, 2024. That left the Logans without a leg of their bucket-list trip to Paris.

Lisa panicked when she received the news and quickly researched alternative flight plans. She and her husband could change their JetBlue ticket’s departure city to Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU), two hours from their home. From there, they could fly to Boston to connect with their international flight as planned, all on JetBlue.

Problem averted! Or so she thought.

But when Lisa called the airline to make the itinerary change, an agent gave her some bad news. JetBlue had already canceled and refunded the couple’s entire round-trip flight to Europe, so a no-fee switch was not possible.

The representative explained that the itinerary Lisa had found could be rebooked as a new reservation for $589 more than the original two tickets had cost. After a supervisor reiterated that her only option was to pay the new fare, Lisa reluctantly agreed.

The Logans’ trip was back on, yet that $589 upcharge didn’t sit right with Bennett Logan or his parents. After all, they had booked their flights well in advance to avoid holiday surges in airfares. The additional expense was only the result of JetBlue’s unexpected cancellation of all flights out of Charlotte. For that reason, the family was convinced JetBlue should cover the fare difference.

After additional JetBlue agents and supervisors rejected the Logans’ request to refund what they believed to be an unfair upcharge, Bennett decided to reach out to The Points Guy himself, Brian Kelly, to see what he thought. Not surprisingly, TPG’s founder agreed with Bennett that waiving that $589 fare increase would be the customer-friendly thing to do given the circumstances.

With his family’s opinion validated, Bennett hoped we could convince JetBlue to do the right thing. But with no regulations in place that would require JetBlue to do anything but refund the original ticket and rebook at the current fare, would this be a mission impossible?

Choosing JetBlue Mint to kick off a bucket-list adventure to France

Back in March, Bennett first proposed the idea of his mother and father meeting him in Paris this Christmas.

“I live in Italy with my girlfriend,” Bennett told me. “Every Christmas, I arrange a trip to meet over here. My mom has always wanted to travel to Paris, so we decided to plan it for this year.”

Bennett says he is a big fan of the JetBlue Mint business-class experience for transatlantic flights. With just 24 comfy minisuites in a 1-1 configuration on the Airbus A321LR from Boston to Paris, he knew it would be a great way for his parents to start their bucket-list adventure in style.

On their son’s recommendation, the Logans splurged. They spent $6,238 total on two round-trip tickets from Charlotte to Paris via Boston, including JetBlue Mint on the transatlantic leg. Lisa was thrilled when the airline sent the confirmation of their flights.

“Excite-Mint is in the air. Thanks for choosing JetBlue. Get ready to enjoy a one-of-a-kind experience!” JetBlue’s confirmation read.

Unfortunately, this couple was about to have a decidedly unenjoyable JetBlue preflight experience.

JetBlue canceled your flight and a refund is on the way

Bennett says that from March until July 2024, JetBlue sent multiple alerts to his parents about various flight changes. The family didn’t pay much attention because they were minor alterations.

But in July, JetBlue sent a more significant notification that read, in part:

“We recently announced changes to our scheduled routes, impacting your upcoming JetBlue trip. With these changes, we will discontinue service from Charlotte, with the final day of operation being October 26, 2024. We understand this news is disappointing and want to make the cancellation as smooth as possible for you.

“For flights booked directly with JetBlue, you will be issued a full refund to your original form of payment.”

Lisa did not want JetBlue to cancel her flight or to process a refund, though. She just wanted a replacement flight to get her and her husband to Boston so they could fly to Paris in those JetBlue Mint Suites for the holidays.

Will JetBlue reroute this couple to Paris without charge?

When Lisa first called JetBlue in July, she was surprised to learn that their flights had already been canceled and refunded. The agent apologized for the “inconvenience” and reiterated that the cancellation resulted from JetBlue’s cessation of operations out of Charlotte.

Frustrated by the absence of replacement flights that would connect her with that dream trip to Paris, Lisa hung up and considered rebooking with another airline. However, after just a bit of internet research, she quickly rejected that idea. As could be expected, holiday airfares had significantly increased since March.

That’s when Lisa decided to find out what the nearest local airport to her home was that JetBlue would still be operating from in December. Soon, she had her answer: Raleigh, a little over 120 miles from the Logans’ home. Even better, a nonstop flight from Raleigh to Boston was available that would allow the couple to easily connect to Paris.

Soon, Lisa was back on the phone with JetBlue with her new plan, which she assumed the airline would be able to book for her without any upcharge. Although the agent was happy to rebook the new itinerary, she informed the now-disgruntled customer that the new tickets cost $6,827. Lisa hung up and then, over the course of several days, called again and again in an attempt to find someone who would waive the fare change.

“My mom spent hours on the phone with JetBlue, and every time the answer from the agent was ‘Sorry we canceled your flight. We hope we can serve you better next time.’ When my mom suggested the Raleigh departure, an agent created a new reservation. My parents would connect to the original flight out of Boston to Paris,” said Bennett Logan.

Worn down by all the calls and not wanting her holiday trip to continue in peril, Lisa agreed to book the new tickets from Raleigh at the increased cost.

“But it just felt wrong to her — and me,” Bennett told me. “Why would JetBlue charge my parents nearly $600 for the privilege of driving to an alternative airport two hours away from their home?”

Relieved that his parents were confirmed once again in JetBlue Mint suites on the same flight as before, Bennett made a few futile calls to JetBlue to see if he could arrange for the airline to waive the change fee.

And then he contacted TPG.

Asking TPG for help navigating this JetBlue flight cancellation and rebooking

By the time Bennett and his parents reached out to TPG in August, they had contacted JetBlue numerous times.

“Every single person [at JetBlue] said we can’t escalate this any further because the airline doesn’t fly from Charlotte anymore. Even though [my parents were willing] to work with any changes from other airports within North Carolina. My mom only agreed to pay the difference because she was afraid of having no flight at all in the end. This could have ruined this once-in-a-lifetime trip to my mom’s bucket-list city, Paris.

“Now my parents have flights again, but my mom and I have continued to try to talk to anyone at JetBlue who can correct this.

“Can TPG help us?” asked Bennett.

After Bennett’s plea for help crossed my desk, he shared his paper trail from JetBlue with me. It seemed unusual that JetBlue had not attempted to reroute its international Mint customers, or indeed offer any alternative, before summarily canceling their flights.

While it is true that in this situation the Department of Transportation would only require JetBlue to inform its customers of the canceled flight and refund the ticket, it seemed to me that something had gone wrong.

Most airlines will attempt to reroute an international passenger when just a minor domestic leg of the itinerary is significantly altered or canceled. Airlines often go to great lengths to reaccommodate their displaced passengers in a situation like the one the Logans got caught up in.

So why had JetBlue canceled this couple’s $6,238 business-class tickets without any attempt to adjust their itinerary? I reached out to JetBlue in the hopes someone would have the answer.

Would JetBlue reroute these displaced passengers at no charge?

I suspected this was a case that the JetBlue executive resolution team would be interested in reviewing. It seemed to me that the problem stemmed from the initial cancellation of the Logans’ reservation. After that, all the agents and supervisors Lisa and Bennett spoke to simply gave the standard (correct) response to the request.

Unfortunately, I know as a consumer advocate who mediates thousands of travel fiascos every year, that the customer service agents consumers reach often do not have the ability to go beyond those standard responses.

But fortunately for the troubled consumers whose problems land on my desk, I can reach helpful executives who do have the ability to fix complicated problems.

Here’s a little excerpt from my message to our executive contact at JetBlue. Note: This is not a customer-facing executive, but someone I can reach out to as a consumer advocate.

“The new fare is $589 more than the flight that JetBlue canceled. Lisa is asking that JetBlue refund that $589 since the flight change was the result of JetBlue’s cancellation. This seems like a fair resolution, especially since she is still flying JetBlue and is intending to remain a loyal JetBlue customer. What do you think?”

Good news: JetBlue agrees to refund the flight cancellation surcharge

Very shortly after our executive contact reviewed the Logans’ case, we received good news.

“Hello Michelle,

“Thank you for reaching out.

“In cases like these, customers are allowed to transfer travel to a co-located airport at no additional charge. Unfortunately, Raleigh is far enough that it is not considered a co-located airport, so instead a full refund was provided.

“After reviewing this case, given the extenuating circumstances and to thank our customer for continuing to choose JetBlue, we’ve gone ahead and issued a refund to the original form of payment for the difference in airfare. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience our suspension of service in Charlotte may have caused, and we look forward to welcoming them in Raleigh.

Very best, [JetBlue spokesperson].”

Bennett and Lisa are thrilled with the help TPG provided and we’re delighted to have been able to assist. We hope the family has a wonderful trip and hope their “JetBlue Excite-Mint” has returned. Something tells me it has.

What to do if an airline cancels your flight

If you experience a similar situation with an airline, keep a few things in mind.

Call the airline immediately

As soon as you are alerted to an airline’s schedule change or, in extreme circumstances, a cancellation, contact the carrier immediately. The longer you delay, the more complicated things will become.

Sometimes airlines will automatically switch you to flights you don’t want, and if you don’t let the carrier know as soon as possible, you may be stuck with the new arrangements.

Conversely, if the airline cancels your entire itinerary, there is a limited time in which you can reverse that action. When you have an active airline reservation, always open any message from the airline and respond immediately.

Be flexible

If your goal is to retain the main portion of your reservation, you should try to be flexible. After a mass cancellation like in the Logans’ situation, look for alternative airports in a reasonable radius of your original airport, as they did. That way, you’re likelier to be able to rebook plans that suit your needs.

Do not accept unreasonable replacement itineraries

Remember, after a flight cancellation, passengers are under no obligation to accept new, system-generated replacement flights. Those automatically created substitutions can sometimes be unreasonable and even impossible to navigate with multiple airports, layovers and flight times that span several days.

Often, a human agent may not have even reviewed your newly assigned itinerary. I’ve covered some auto-assigned replacement doozies over the years.

Always keep in mind if an airline cancels your original flight, you are not required to accept any wacky replacement itineraries. For flights operating within, to or from the United States, the DOT says you’re owed a refund if that’s what you prefer. Then you can rebook your own new flight. You can also check your airline’s contract of carriage to learn your rights if the airline cancels your flight.

Make a complaint to the U.S. Department of Transportation

If you believe an airline has violated a rule or regulation established by the U.S. Department of Transportation, then you can file a complaint directly with the DOT. The airline will be required to give you a written response within 60 days of your submission and copy the DOT as well. Often a complaint to the DOT can quickly provide the nudge a carrier needs to fix the problem, if your assessment of the situation is correct.

Ask TPG for help

Of course, you have one more path to fix your travel-related problem: TPG.

If you hit an insurmountable wall with a company that you can’t tackle, send your request for help to ombudsman@thepointsguy.com. I’ll be happy to investigate your complaint and, if the facts are on your side, we can help you too.