JetBlue offers flights via eBay auction Airline is auctioning more than 300 round-trip flights and packages through Sept. 14September 8, 2008 (Computerworld)
JetBlue Airways Corp. today began
auctioning more than 300 round-trip flights and six vacation packages on
eBay,
and all of the offerings carry a starting price tag of five or ten
cents plus taxes and fees. The auction will continue through Sept. 14. The
airline's page on the online auction site lists flights from Boston,
New York, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Southern California (Long
Beach and Burbank), Salt Lake City and Northern California (San Jose
and Oakland) to more than 20 cities. JetBlue's eBay store also includes
vacation packages to Las Vegas and the Bahamas. The airline is also auctioning four "mystery" vacation packages for two people to undisclosed destinations. By
mid-morning today, the top bid for a round-trip flight for one from
Newark to Orlando had reached $128, and a round-trip flight for two
from New York's La Guardia Airport to Fort Lauderdale was $350. Both of
those auctions have six days to go. The top bid for a vacation package
to the Bahamas that includes round-trip air fare and hotel
accommodations had reached $770 this morning. The JetBlue eBay store includes three-day, five-day and seven-day auctions for weekend flights in September. "We're
putting the price of spontaneous weekend trips this fall into the hands
of our customers," said Don Uselmann, JetBlue's manager of business
development, in a statement. "This is their chance to compete to get
the best deals on flights and vacation packages to many of JetBlue's
most exciting destinations -- on their own terms." Winners of the auctioned flights will receive the same service as other travelers, JetBlue said. All flights are nonrefundable,
PayPal must be used for all payments.