Flight number one on flight number 1

Thanks to the crazy 10th birthday sale that JetBlue offered yesterday I’m out flying today. I managed to schedule three segments, all three on routes that are new to me, and each for the low, low price of only $10, plus taxes. Not too bad overall.

Flight number one of my day also happens to be on JetBlue’s flight number 1, from JFK to Ft. Lauderdale. Not surprisingly, the flight is completely full. Somewhat surprisingly for me, however, the kiosks at JFK were unable to process my check-in when I got to the airport this morning. That quirk proved to be a bit of a blessing, however. No, I didn’t get to spend a few minutes in “my seat” in the food court area, but I did manage to get assigned the window seat in the reclining exit row for free. Score!

I also got to ask the agent at the counter to print my return boarding pass. He said that he couldn’t as they can only print out passes within four hours of the departure time. Needless to say that he was somewhat surprised when I suggested that I was quite close to that window. I’ve only got a 21 minute connection in Ft. Lauderdale so things are going to be quite tight, though it looks like we got off the ground pretty quickly out of JFK and will arrive early in Florida.

Boarding was only slightly chaotic, with an infant assigned to an exit row seat and a standby passenger boarded into a seat that someone else was already in. Neither proved to be a huge deal as the flight attendants took care of the issues and got everything situated quickly. And then we were off. Taxi time wasn’t particularly bad and we had a smooth climb-out from runway 4L, making a turn to the south and beginning the quick trip down to Florida, only 2:25 flight time today. Smooth air and clear skies. It is a great day to be up in the air.

I also have the pleasure of sitting next to a 31 year veteran flight attendant from TWA. We chatted a bit about the disappearing benefits as a retired employee and just how full flights are. There was also some reminiscing about the old video systems with the pull-down screens and projectors, compared to the in-seat options that LiveTV has in service today. Good stuff overall.

Finally, we had a great crew in the air today. Between the bunch of crew commuting home and the folks actually assigned to the flight everyone was having a great time. They didn’t quite understand why I’m just flying for the sake of flying today, even after I explained it, but such is life. Antonio in particular got into the spirit of the day, trading out his more traditional uniform for a 10th Birthday Celebration option:

JetBlue is also running a promotion with American Express today, giving out bonus TrueBlue points to all passengers. You get a card at the gate as you board and pull the tab to find out just how many points you earn. The range is 1,000-10,000 for everyone and there is a 5x multiplier if you happen to have a JetBlue AmEx card. The cards are being distributed in all 6 “hub” airports so I should be getting two more today, plus any I manage to pick up off seats as I leave the planes. All those bonus points are going to make this trip much closer to a mileage run than just a day of jetting about, eating as many Animal Crackers as they’ll serve me.