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JetBlue will start charging bag fees in 2015. Will customers stay loyal?

JetBlue passengers soon can expect thinner seats and checked bag fees on the cheapest flights. The new fees will take effect in mid-2015, and the reduction in legroom on JetBlue flights will start in early 2016. 

By Mark Jackson , Brad's Deals

JetBlue announced today some changes to their operations, that may sway your loyalty with the much-beloved brand moving forward into 2015.

In their announcement, JetBlue touts the cabins in their new Airbus A321s as a huge聽success. 聽They'll be "refreshing" their cabins on their older A320s with these new thinner seats, which will allow them to add more seats to existing aircraft. 聽As we spoke about in聽our post on airline legroom, JetBlue is #1 in coach in terms of legroom currently, at 34'' of seat pitch. 聽With the changes, this will go down to 33'' of room, which is still higher than most other airlines but not a positive change for customers. 聽These changes will happen in 2016.

Additionally,聽JetBlue聽will start charging in mid-2015 for a checked bag. 聽This is a part of their new "tiered" fare structure, which will have 3 levels of pricing. 聽The lowest pricing will not have a free checked bag, the more expensive options will have free bags and more flexibility. 聽It's not all bad: 聽the company will continue to offer free wifi, which most planes will have by the end of 2015.

So, this leaves Southwest as the only airline to offer all their passengers free checked bags (and two per customer, better than JetBlue's current one), and the ability to change your flight day-of for no charge (you just pay the difference in fares). 聽You can even cancel for a free refund the day of the flight. 聽If I were a frequent domestic traveler, I would begin shifting my travel to Southwest. 聽They offer free streaming content on my own device (though no free wifi- currently charging $8 for a full day of use, even if you change flights).

"JetBlue to begin charging bag fees in 2015" 聽first appeared at Brad's Deals.