Erik S.
Yelp
JetBlue: up near the top of my list of domestic airlines, with so many of those domestic airlines being just plain awful.
Particularly good about JetBlue and its SAN operation:
- The "regular" economy seats have about 3-4 inches more room than United et al (who has a definite Economy-Minus product to complement their Economy Plus).
- For about $50-$70 more on cross-country flights, get another 4 inches of legroom, electrical outlets under the seat, and a spot in the shorter first-class TSA line. These seats are near the front and by the wing exits, meaning that you quite possibly could be the first out of the plane when it hits the ocean, etc.
- Airbus jets in general and JetBlue's in particular have seats about 1 - 1.5 inches wider than other airlines' planes. This is important, as it reduces but does not eliminate armrest-battles.
- DirectTV operating for most of the flight is great for catching up on news & games.
- WiFi that's not only free, but usable! I was getting 5-10mbs download speeds, equivalent to low-end offerings from your local cable company. Plus, through a deal with Amazon, streaming Prime video is allotted more bandwidth. Yes, on my last flight, I really did watch Airplane on an Airplane. I'm not kidding. And don't call me Shirley.
- There are only a handful of flights out of SAN, which is good because if you check in 45-60 minutes before your flight, there is no line. (Don't push your lateness luck, and don't call me for a ride home if you completely miss your flight).
- They use the gates in the new part of SAN Terminal 2. That's the part with the Stone Brewery, Phil's BBQ, and the doggie fire hydrants in the bathrooms, which apparently it's not cute for you to use.
- Flight attendants regularly work the aisles, handing out free snacks, sodas, and water, and free wine if you're nice. They also regularly patrol for garbage. They don't simply hide out in the back like some other large US carriers, nor act like you really inconvenienced them and their game of Candy Crush when you had to go back there to get a water.
JetBlue's meh stuff:
- Plane interiors could be cleaner. I've seen multiple soiled tray-tables (even on the same flight), kids' stickers on the windows, and rough-looking seats. However, I haven't seen any obvious bodily discharges, like on American, nor gang etchings, like on Southwest.
- Their schedules tend to get behind later in the day.
When having to get around our country, unless I have some sort of guaranteed upgrade on one of the other airlines, Virgin America is my favorite (slightly less seat-room, but exceptional service), followed by JetBlue.
And for you TLDR people, this infographic sums up much of what I've written: http://money.cnn.com/infographic/luxury/how-do-airlines-legroom-compare/