One Month, One Mission, Two Jet Blue Airlines "All You Can Jet" Passes

Kelynn and Eric

We are Kelynn and Eric, two New Yorkers getting ready to set out on an adventure around the US and Caribbean thanks to Jet Blue's "All You Can Jet" airline pass. Neither of us had any plans to do any traveling any time soon, but when JetBlue announced the return of the passes for a second year in a row, the perfect opportunity to live life to the fullest and "seize the day" was born. We started this blog to document our journey and hope that current AYCJ travelers and hopefully future AYCJ travelers will find this information useful and interesting

What is the JetBlue All You Can Jet Pass? 

The JetBlue Airlines All You Can Jet (AYCJ) pass is an unlimited airline ticket that allows you to travel from September 7th thru October 6th as many times as you want, during that time frame, to any of the 60 cities JetBlue Airlines flies to. There are some rules though, like no flying twice from the same city on the same day, you must pay for your own taxes on international flights and you must book your flight at least 3 days before you intend to travel. According the JetBlue Airlines, September after Labor Day is the slowest travel period, so last year, JetBlue launched AYCJ to promote the airline and give travelers an incentive to fly JetBlue.  

Now for our individual overview of how this all started...

Eric Says:

I first met Kelynn about 4 years ago at a speed dating event that she planned and was hosting in New York City.  In between her duties as planner and host we talked and connected and have been friends ever since.  We both enjoy travel and new things so I thought about her as soon as I came across a Huffington Post article informing me about this year's AYCJ opportunity. 

How do we have a month to just fly off?

Some of you might be thinking how do they have this time, well I run my own relatively viable business consulting firm in NYC and Kelynn is a Event Planner/Freelance Artist/Writer/Editor For Hire, so we make our own schedules and can work on the go if need be. Since I missed last year's inaugural 2009 AYCJ event I wanted to make sure I acted quickly. I also thought going with someone would be twice the fun as traveling solo.  When I first read the Huffington Post article on the AYCJ event  I immediately thought of Kelynn and called to ask her what she thought. At first, she said there was no way she could fly off for an entire month, but when I mentioned how much the ticket was she stopped right in her tracks. I told her it was $499 with restricted travel on Friday and Sundays, a nuisance but not a problem for a savvy traveler.  She thought over the situation and got back to me after a few hours to say she was in!….and the game was on :-)  

Kelynn says:

When Eric first told me about the AYCJ pass all I heard were the words "travel for a month."  I thought he was nuts. Who takes off and travels for a month in this economy? I have always known Eric to be an avid traveler…a real sometimes Indiana Jones, sometimes James Bond. Only a few months after we met he wanted to go to Zanzibar, Africa. Long story short, I didn't go. I should have gone. Dammit. Well now he comes up with AYCJ 2010, but still it's a recession, right? Then Eric told me how much the tickets were and immediately the numbers rang up in my head. Even if the cheapest round trip ticket was about $150 we could get a good bang for our buck in only about 4 trips. It was beginning to make great sense. But even so, shouldn't I put that money towards something more practical, a new wireless printer, maybe hire that webmaster for the creative web site for independent artists I was building, even just save the money for a rainy day in these hard times?

The more I thought about it the quicker I decided to give up the charade. Who was I fooling? Four years ago when unexpected money literally landed in my lap, I took off across country for weeks and then off to London and some remote island in Italy for a Thelma and Louise adventure (sans ending) with my college buddy. A bit before that I marched into my boss' office and told him that if I couldn't get the time off to go on a once in a lifetime cultural exchange journey to China for three weeks I'd have to quit. What was I talking about?! This was perfect. This was natural. This was exactly me.  If he was Indiana Jones then I was that woman that Kim Cattrall played…let me just stop pretending, the game was on! 

Putting Our Money Where Our Mouths Were

We went to buy our tickets that same night on August 18th. The $699 unlimited flight option had already sold out, we didn't really care, our baby was the $499 option which was a steal, but we had to act fast or that would be gone too. We synchronized our efforts and did the deed online while staying connected via cell phone, bought the $499 passes just in the nick of time as Jet Blue shut it all down within the next two days.

Now that the tickets were purchased, my planning juices were kicking in. I have friends all across the country that I haven't seen in a while so this was perfect. I jumped on the phone with all my friends coordinating dates when they'd be available to hang out with us in their respective cities. Los Angeles, New Orleans, Orlando, North Carolina, then we decided to hit some spots in the Caribbean…so much opportunity to pack in one month. With JetBlue's "Where We Jet" feature and the iCal Calendar on my Mac I spent the next two days juggling flights and cities until each trip neatly fit one into the next like a completed jigsaw puzzle. Prior to hearing about AYCJ I had made plans to take a weekend road trip to D.C. with a few friends, so I had to plan everything around that. But by Sunday the roadmap for our journey was  final.  Eric had friends in Los Angeles and a friend of a friend in Vegas other than that his schedule was easy to fit into mine. We would be hitting 8 cities in 4 weeks…Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Jamaica, Cancun, New Orleans, Orlando, North Carolina and landing in Dominican Republic to catch a bus to an ambitious three hour jaunt and two day stay in Haiti to see first hand what progress had been made since the earth quake (this was Indiana's idea.).  So the plan was to go from Sin City to the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with unique views of the interesting cities and countries in between, a month and a mission indeed.

Go Time! Booking the Flights!

Our ideal itinerary planned, we jumped on the phone with JetBlue's customer service line (1-800-583-2583) to make sure that we had all the rules straight before booking our tickets. We didn't want any glitches. The first representative was obviously a guy who obviously "missed the meeting" on AYCJ. He told us there was a special department for  AYCJ and his was not it. He then quickly put us on hold to connect us to the right department then promptly disconnected us.  We called back immediately and got a young woman at the same customer service number. This woman totally knew her stuff on AYCJ. She answered all our initial questions and when she did not know something she put us on hold briefly so she could look it up or talk to her supervisor.  She let us know we could start making reservations immediately at midnight on Monday, August 23rd and we could book every flight we planned to take that month on the same day.  

Hopefully next year Jet Blue will weed out the bad apples on the customer service line before such a big event. If not, I hope the bad ones at least have that beer and slide down the shoot before we call in:-) 

Anyway, you wouldn't believe how easy it was to book all of these flights. A total of 15 flights took us one and a half hours to book without a hitch. Each flight was about 7 minutes worth of work. During planning, we had written down all flight information in the iCal so we simply had to find the flight number, type in our info and hit send. By 1:45AM, less than 2 hours after JetBlue opened booking to all us All You Can Jetters our entire month was booked!

Where to Stay along the Way

Hotels or accommodations can make or break a vacation or even a business trip so we wanted to make sure that the hotels we picked had all the basic requirements. We needed clean/modern surroundings, internet access and a fitness facility on site.  We decided to go with Marriott (Marriott.com) whenever we could. Eric was a Marriott travel member and had been pleased with the service in the past and could get discounts with his points program. We booked the Marriott in LA, Cancun and New Orleans. We picked Marina Del Ray because it was on the beach, the Magna in Cancun because it had the best amenities and a Marriot in New Orleans because Kelynn had stayed in the area and dug the scene. Truly any place we picked from Marriot's list of hotels would have been cool. You really can't lose with anyone you pick, and no we do not know anyone or have ever worked for Marriott, but if any Marriott corporate types are looking for further endorsements drop us an email at amonthandamission@yahoo.com and we will let you know the address to send your very generous check:-)  

Marriott Cancun Magna

Renaissance Arts Hotel (A New Orleans Marriott Hotel)

Marriott Marina del Rey

Thanks to JetBlue, we saved a bundle on the air flights, so we were willing to splurge a little on the hotels. To manage costs, we picked mostly moderately priced rooms, but decided to go a little higher end when we hit the international cities like Montego Bay and Cancun.  Our accommodations in Port Au Prince, Haiti is another story entirely given the current circumstances of the country.  We will lay our complete plans and accommodations out when we get to that part of our trip and completely iron it out, besides we want to keep you interested, lol.

The most surprisingly difficult scheduling regarding accommodations was our bookings in Vegas. Marriott was not an option for us, as they were not on the strip. In Vegas, we would want to stay on the strip where the action is, but even that did not make it easy as the hotels on the strip are all great to look at and tout themselves as either great value or great luxury.  We decided to check out the Top Ten Las Vegas Hotels  and even had fun and looked up the worst hotels list to see who and what to avoid.  Overall, we found good rooms priced from $28 a night basic to thousands a night for the top of the line penthouses.  We ultimately decided on The Mirage.  The Mirage had it all, was on the top ten lists, had a great nature theme, good restaurants, an exploding Volcano, rooms that were moderately priced and faced the strip... and did we mention an exploding "Volcano"!  

Mirage Hotel

The Mirage also had a lagoon and a topless "European style" pool area… guess which one of us wants to try that one out:-). There is a Dolphin show and dolphins you can swim with. We do not hold that against them, but we will be skipping that part. They also have a famous disco, spa and a Cirque De Soleil show all on site not to mention….an erupting Volcano!  Hope you can tell we are suckers for some erupting Volcano:-):-):-)

 

Lastly, when it came to the international cities we looked for good hotels and deals too.  We specifically picked ClubHotel Riu Ocho Rios in Jamaica because it was the newest in its area and because it was an all inclusive resort.  We don't intend to pig out (ok, maybe don't quote us just yet), but all inclusive was the way to go since we would probably be spending the majority of our stay within the resort and taking just a few jaunts here and there. 

ClubHotel Riu Ocho Rios Jamaica

Well, will let you know how our a choices of hotels pans out, but we anticipate it should be great!  Follow along with us and see if we made the right choices or let us know why we should change our reservations...and quickly:-) 

How To Pack Your Hot Sauce and Your Firearms

Kelynn says:

For the most part, our trips consist of several 2-4 day jaunts to a city and then back to New York to rest up and refuel. I was hoping this meant I could pack a few things in a carry-on and avoid the hassle of checking luggage. Great idea, right? Absolutely, until you consider the restrictions about bringing liquid filled bottles on the plane. I looked up the rules to see if I could get away with bringing travel sized toiletries of everything (lotion, hair products, perfume). Fortunately, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) says that travelers may carry  travel-size toiletries (3 ounces or less) that fit comfortably in ONE, QUART-SIZE, clear plastic, zip-top bag. They even have a name for it. The "3-1-1 Rule". Which stands for: 3 ounces, 1 quart sized container, 1 bag per person.  JetBlue also outlined their carry-on standards for passengers. Oh yes, I can do this. It looks like I am in luck.

3-1-1 Rule in Effect

The Three Ounce Rule Gone Bad

Many people ace the "3 ounce rule" going to their destination and fail miserably coming back home. Remember this when trying to bring home liquid gifts like liquor and snow globes (yes, I said snow globes. They are on the restricted list). While traveling home from Jamaica about two years ago, a friend of mine had to throw out an entire assortment of gourmet hot sauce that she purchased and put in her carry-on. All 15 bottles were over 3 ounces. All that hot sauce (and money) went straight from her carry-on right into the airport's trash…or to the staff lounge to go over someone's oxtails and gravy, not sure which. You've got to wrap this stuff in newspaper and pack it in your checked luggage. Even still, there are some restrictions in terms of how much alcohol and its alcoholic content you can check. You can visit the TSA website for more information. 

How to Pack When You're "Packing"

Now let's talk about weapons and fire arms. About a year ago I missed a flight to North Carolina because the firnd I was traveling with had a shotgun bullet in her purse...a BULLET! When the TSA guard pulled her over to search her belongings she had yet another BULLET lodged in her purse's inside pocket.  I will admit, she does have a gun permit...however it wasn't on her at the time so it did no use. She told the guard that a fellow gun-toting coworker had given her the bullets as a Christmas gift...it was July. They almost arrested her and sent her to a Mexican prison. You may think it's obvious, but no knives, long scissors, straight edged razors...bullets! If you have this kind of stuff you need to check you bag. Many of us do an excellent job of packing our suitcase and carry-ons but we forget about that purse or tote bag that we've been carrying around for years that have all kinds of weapons...I mean, junk in it. 

So...know what's in your bag (and your friend's bag) before you try to board a plane. 

Fore a complete list of prohibited carry- on items (i.e. machetes, nun-chucks, meat cleavers, etc) please visit the TSA website here. 

For some good old fashioned conventional packing tips click here.

Packing "Man Style"


Eric Says:  


When Kelynn told me we needed to travel with just one carry-on, I was a bit miffed as to why she found it such a major issue. As most men will attest, one pair of jeans, three tee-shirts, three pairs of underwear (one can be gym shorts that can double as underwear) a toothbrush and a pack of guy should suffice for a 2-4 day trip. Well, after a bit of thinking, I finally  got what she was saying and decided to add a bit to my usual spartan packing style. I added a few items along with my essentials which should fill out my bag while addressing my need to pack"Man Style". 

"All You Can Jet" Launch Party 

Let the journey begin! On September 7^th 2010, JetBlue Airlines organized one heck of a  launch party to celebrate the official start date of the second "All You Can Jet" travel season.  This day was definitely a good start to our month and a mission journey. All You Can Jet travelers were welcomed at Terminal 5 of  the  JFK Airport with banners, balloons and cheerful staff members eager to give us a great send-off.  A "Writing Canvas" was set up, we travelers could jot down our thoughts in much the  same way you'd write in a friend's high school year book.  Dunkin Donuts supplied complimentary coffee and donuts (vanilla frosting with blue stripes  to honor the colors of Jet Blue’s logo). This was a nice touch, but the line for coffee did get a bit "soup kitcheny" as we had to line up about 10 deep for the free java.  Undoubtedly, the best part was the unbelievably cool complimentary Jet Blue Jackets from American Apparel we received. American Apparel may have their issues, but you can’t knock the cool jackets. They were jogging style high neck, navy blue zip-ups with white strips around the shoulder area, just too cool for school! We were the envy of many, but we had to kind of feel bad for all the Jet Blue employees who had no clue what was going on and who milled around the event hoping to get some free stuff too.  Even our boarding crew was miffed.  A suggestion to Jet Blue…. you've got to get the whole team involved next year or at least make them more aware of what's going on. Give 'em a role to play and some free stuff, maybe even before we get our  “cooler” free stuff,  just a thought.

AYCJ Writing Canvas

JetBlue staff handing out buttons and raffle tickets

As far as we could see, the only real logistical problem the event had was with the distribution of the jackets. We had to provide proof that we were part of the AYCJ campaign in order to receive one. However, very few (if any of us) even knew that this type of specific Jet Blue ID  existed. This miscommunication  set the table for some serious negotiations between  AYCJ’ers and the staff to get that sweet jacket before we had to board our flights.  Emails, boarding passes, bar coded pre-boarding passes were displayed and scrutinized as we all lawyered up for that elusive and ambiguous thing called confirmation of our AYCJ status.  This was a real challenge,  but the JetBlue staff gets credit for giving jackets to anyone who could confirmed the had a flight they'd miss if they waited around while JetBlue figured the who thing out….good job on that front Jet Blue! 

JetBlue's staff is friendly for sure!

We all loved that morning coffee

All in all there were some very good moments at the launch party maybe even some great ones, but we had to board for our trip to Las Vegas at 10:21am missing the rest of the party. If  anyone was there till the end let us know how the rest of it went on our Facebook page.  Next Stop Vegas Baby!!!