I'm writing to you from my apartment in Chicago. I had been planning for months to be in Los Angeles today, relishing the company of two dear friends whom I haven't seen for 5 years. We decided to all get together in Los Angeles this weekend, and celebrate with expensive tickets to the LA Operas production of The Rise And Fall Of Mahagonny. We know each other from Drama School, so the idea of Audra McDonald and Patti Lupone in an Opera by Weill and Brecht, Directed by John Doyle, conducted by James Conlon at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion for The LA Opera was the ultimate theatrical event of the winter for us.
I purchased my $190.00 ticket to the LA Opera online. I purchased my JetBlue airline ticket online. My job makes it impossible to travel except for one quick weekend at a time. I was looking forward to flying with JetBlue, for the first time, this weekend. There are many weekend journeys that I could take over the next few months and JetBlue's prices from Chicago to NY and LA make those journey's seem possible.
However, I'm sad to report that I can not, in good faith, book with JetBlue and expect to fit my tight schedule on to JetBlues flights.
My ticket on your cancelled flight to Long Beach, CA was not honored by any other Airline Company yesterday. I was not credited the money I spent on the ticket for the cancelled flight yesterday. I was given no alternative plan to get me to California yesterday by anyone who worked for your Airline or any other Airline. Nobody warned me not to check my bag because the flight was already cancelled. JetBlue accepted my bag and pointed me to the ridiculously long security line. I arrived at the gate to find another hundred people who had obviously been there for days. There were no monitors listing JetBlue Flights anywhere. The sign over the podium, where the JetBlue Representative stood, listed a New York flight as "Delayed". The Jet Blue Rep. told us over the loudspeaker that our flight was cancelled, due to no available Pilot. He told us there was one other JetBlue flight scheduled at 5PM, however it was oversold and unlikely to have an available Pilot either. Our best bet was to get to Midway Airport and try and purchase a full priced ticket on another Airline.
My $190 Opera ticket was nonrefundable. The Opera (that just got a lovely rave on Valentines day) will close before my schedule allows me to get back to LA. Most of all, I continue to miss my friends and we all missed a glorious weekend together.
I think about going to NYC for the weekend to see more marvelous theatrical adventures, but unfortunately, JetBlue has left me too disappointed to trust that JetBlue could get me there.
*Edited to add NYT Article on your mortification
5 comments:
I am outraged and appalled that JETBLUE would treat its customers so disrespectfully. I imagine that flight was probably at a ridiculously early hour -- like 6 am or so, I bet -- and that the website confirmed that the flight was "good to go" before all the passengers began their early morning trek to the airport. That is no way to run a business. I certainly hope they compensate you accordingly and I would certainly be wary of travelling on JetBlue in the future.
Oh my god. That makes me want to scream!!!! How horrible! How absolutely horrible.
Knowing how excited you were by the opportunity to see Patti LuPone, this is really awful. The worst part is that you were among passengers of over a quarter of their flights who experienced disappointment when the airline abruptly cancelled flights to realign their system after the previous weekend's failures.
I'm mystified by the process (or lack thereof) in getting customers like you accommodated on other flights.
As for the LA Opera, I would send them a copy of your letter. While tickets may read "non-refundable," I've found that extenuating circumstances like the one you've outlined have had an impact on getting those non-refundable tickets refunded. It's worth a shot!
I'm crying for you.
A bit of good news! Rumor is that Mahagonny was recorded this past week for PBS broadcast! So, we shall hope and see....
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