Jet Blue, you win :(

I give up!!!! Argh, you simply cannot win with the airlines these days. In no other industry that I've experienced, do prices fluctuate as wildly as they do in the airline industry. This leaves me feeling so frustrated because I try to plan ahead and time things well, but the inevitably the prices go down in my mush after I've bought a ticket! And if I wait too long to buy a ticket I'm eyeing, the price goes UP in my mush! I really just can't win.

Last month I posted about a ticket I bought to go to a wedding in San Francisco this fall using my Jet Blue "True Blue" award. It was extremely difficult to use this award, as a limited number of award seats are available on each flight, so I got a ticket for the only flight to any of the airports in the SF area for which I could use my award, even though it ended up being an inconvenient arrival time at an incovenient airport for my friend who will be picking me up. There were no award flights available leaving any SF area airports that Sunday, so I had to buy one on Virgin America, which promptly went on sale for $70 lower a couple weeks later. SO frustrating, since I had watched that ticket price go up, Up, UP! And now there are all kinds of award seats available for Jet Blue flights leaving the SF area that weekend. GRR!

So I lost, and then lost again. If only I had waited, I could have used reward travel both ways, and gotten decent departure/arrival times. I called Jet Blue and it will cost me $100 to change my award ticket, and VA charges $75, so I will leave my reservations as-is and just try to standby onto an earlier JBlu flight going out there, and stick with VA on the way home.

I love finding flight bargains, and I feel CRUSHED when I don't get a good deal.

:(

Well, on a positive note, I doubt that I will find a better deal than the $59 flight I got for my friend's wedding to Richmond. But flights to Richmond only fluctuate by $40-$60, compared to the $100's extra I paid to SF.



Update: I have submitted a letter via Jet Blue's online comment submission form asking them if they would kindly waive a change fee, since the flight I want to take was simply not available when I booked the award ticket. I am hoping that they will help me out, since I've been a dedicated True Blue member for years and have spent a lot of money to accrue points. However, airlines are so tight for cash right now that they probably feel no obligation to do this for me, whatsoever. Oh well, can't hurt to try. Am anxiously waiting for a reply.