The Strategy Blog is destined to become the Internet’s most comprehensive muse for formulating strategy. Understanding that no concept is truly unique, The Strategy Blog seeks to catalog and analyze all forms of strategy from finance and business to technology and lifestyle construction.
TheStrategyBlog is edited by Will Dearman, a finance and strategy analyst based in New York City, NY. You can get in touch with Will by emailing him directly at will [at] thestrategyblog.com. You can also learn more about his professional experience and goals on his LinkedIn page.
ok but it says on the site you can only book one flight per day. So, you have to call and book each flight every day up until Sept, hoping nothing gets sold out along the way? it would be much more convenient to book them all at once.
They only allow you to book one flight 'per city' per day. I was able to book 4 RT flights to 4 different destinations in one phone call.
@Stacy
I had no problem booking my entire itinerary in one call. The way I understand the restriction is that JetBlue does not want you to arrive and depart from the same city in the same day. So, if you arrived in New York at 10AM, you could not take the 2PM flight out to some other destination, you would have to wait until the following day.
<quote>You may only book one flight per city per day; if a violation of this policy is found, JetBlue will honor only the last booking made and cancel the customer's other bookings from that city on that day.</quote>
Minor detail….your airport code for Portland, Oregon, is incorrect…but PWM puts you on the East Coast not the West Coast.
Thanks, Jerry! That would have been a difficult connection to make. :) I have corrected it to be PDX.
Fun stuff :-). I now see why your blog is called the strategy blog. You can read about my strategy at http://cruisinaltitude.blogspot.com/2009/08/all.... Let's keep in touch, maybe our itineraries may cross.
PS: Good tips.
Your understanding is incorrect here. You cannot book more than one DEPARTING flight from a city on the same day. In your example, if you arrive into JFK at 10am, you can leave JFK at 2PM to go to another city.
However, if you fly from JFK to BOS at 10am, have lunch and return to JFK at 6pm. You cannot book another outbound flight from JFK at 9pm.
With your current itinerary you stay overnight at each hub city, you don't need to do this, you can simply connect through the hub (to save a day), however this will of course be dependent on connection times.
@eyeballer
Thanks!! That is great news. I need to go back and check my itinerary to see if I get in early enough on any of the hub cities or if they have earlier flights. A 6AM flight is totally worth it if you get to spend an extra day in your destination.
brilliant…thanks so much.
It's probably going to be difficult since most of the international destinations only have one flight a day. Just out of interest, if you have already booked this, how much did your taxes/fees come to?
@Stacy, you can do that as it would just be a connecting flight. eyeballer is correct. It is your third time in the airport that day is forbidden. Not to worry, just find a market/flight that has a redeye which departs just after midnight and you are golden :-). They have a few, but one of them goes away this month. Trying to get a PDF for September as the only one online is for August.
Just looking at the schedule so far, they have some interesting point to point cities that I think will help me achieve my goals.
The taxes and fees caught me off guard and really add up. They are as follow:
San Jose, Costa Rica $ 77.42
Cancun, Mexico $ 23.11
Bogota, Colombia $ 80.97
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic $138.80
Bermuda $ 94.45
—————
$ 409.75 per person
Hi Will,
Yup, these are primarily departure taxes, on average departure taxes to international destinations are about $35.00 and rising. If you depart the U.K. it is 40 GBP for Economy class and 80 GBP for First/Business class. You don't really realize how much it is until a promotion like this comes along and you have to itemize.
Ryanair in Europe oftentimes have 1 EUR fares and with taxes, it comes to like 25 EUR!
@eyeballer:
“However, if you fly from JFK to BOS at 10am, have lunch and return to JFK at 6pm. You cannot book another outbound flight from JFK at 9pm. You'd have to wait until the next day.”
This is sortof true, but there is a way around it. Book BOS-ZZZ with a JFK connection. It works just fine. You're allowed to connect as long as it is a valid published routing in their system. There are some that don't work, like SYR-ROC, but for “normal” routings it would be just fine.
I've got a couple interesting ones on the drawing board, including BUF-BOS-ROC-BTV-SYR in a single day, assuming I can get the timings to work. You'd have to position in BUF the night before to start off clean, but it should be possible.
Wow, what a comprehensive writeup, nice work. However, I think I'm partial to fewer destinations and actually enjoying them for longer periods of time – going to so many places might get exhausting.
O.K., I just booked my pass, you can chcek out my blog post about it at http://cruisinaltitude.blogspot.com/2009/08/all....
Kerwin.
Great stuff. Can't wait to experience the full tutorial!
You're spot-on about @jetblue 's #AYCJ targeted customer segment, consumers, not business travelers.
But the great thing is that the value created by the promotion, the mass of people pouring into JetBlue's schedule, is an asset that will stay in many people's minds for a long time; the cost of the promotion (lost revenue and marketing $$) a small price to pay for entering deeper into the consideration set for many people.
And think of it in this term: JetBlue, empowering cool people to use their promotion to do cool stuff that other people would love to do? An airline as a force of good? Brilliant. I hope Jet Blue is working out ways to highlight people using the AYCJ (all-you-can-jet) pass and how they have used it to help their lives.
It would be cool if you could have a special marker if you were a passenger flying on the AYCJ pass; a marker on a seat, a VIP badge, some kind of social object that fellow passengers could see, to create temporary rockstars on every plane with a AYCJ passenger.
Can one put a $$ value on marketing that good? I'd hazard a guess Jet Blue is surely trying to :)
Good topic. One thing that I haven't seen talked about is the effect of this campaign at scale. I agree that this is a stunt designed to get slack out of the system, targeted at consumers, over a short period of time. Since the marginal cost of selling an empty seat is near zero, the economics of this campaign can probably be made to work out – either in current or expected revenues. But my question is what is the secondary effect of this promotion should it be taken to scale? Presumably, the demand created is mainly new demand and not demand transferred from other suppliers. Since this is a limited-time promotion, demand shifts will probably be temporary and soon return to normal. But if JetBlue offered this on an ongoing basis, how do you think competitors would respond? If successful, it seems like it would effect the oligopoly that the FAA maintains on routes and gates because you would see a fundamental shift in the system. It would have to create some sort of competitive response but I don't know what that would be. It seems like there is some game theory at work here but I'm not sure what it is. The same model could probably be applied to lots of other highly perishable, highly substitutable, low marginal costs business such as hotels and cars. Thoughts?
Thanks, Boris! I hope to have everything posted by mid October. If you subscribe via email I will let you know when it all gets posted.
Thanks, Boris! I hope to have everything posted by mid October. If you subscribe via email I will let you know when it all gets posted.
Hiya Seth,
Good post. I checked with JetBlue last night and I was told that you can do SYR-ROC since there is no other way to do it but go back through JFK. ven if you passed through “too many times.” They just have to manually do it. I waited on the line while she checked.
Still bummed about the cities served by Cape Air as only JetBlue-operated flights are allowed :-(. This kills my whole MA city (Nantucket, Hyannis, etc.) run.
I look forward to seeing the content develop as well as take part in its expansion. Best of luck.
Hiya Seth,
Good post. I checked with JetBlue last night and I was told that you can do SYR-ROC since there is no other way to do it but go back through JFK. ven if you passed through “too many times.” They just have to manually do it. I waited on the line while she checked.
Still bummed about the cities served by Cape Air as only JetBlue-operated flights are allowed :-(. This kills my whole MA city (Nantucket, Hyannis, etc.) run.
Thanks, Jakub! I am really excited about the direction we are going. Please feel free to email me with any ideas or guest blog posts.
Thanks, Jakub! I am really excited about the direction we are going. Please feel free to email me with any ideas or guest blog posts.
In step 2, how are those categorizations made? Are they mental? Do I create a file for each an place each new email in it as they come in? Something else?
By the way, nice to see that you read the blog!
Hi Jason! Thanks for reading.
The idea is that you create a tag or folder for each and deal with them immediately while you are batching. So lets say I check my email in the morning and get ten email messages. 2 messages are automated banking alerts, 3 are emails from friends about the coming weekend, 1 is about a business opportunity that you want to look into, 2 are messages I sent yesterday that carbon copied myself on to follow up, and 2 are spam messages.
I would first file the two banking alerts in “Act”, the three friend emails in “Respond”, the job opportunity in “Hold”, the CC emails in “Follow Up”, and I would delete the spam messages. Upon completing that, I would immediately deal with the items in “Act” — checking balances and paying bills, which will take me less than 5 minutes. I would then close my email and go back to work. Some time later in the day, I would dedicate some time time specifically to focus on “Hold” and “Respond”.
I have deviated from this plan some in practice, but the general goal holds true: don't let the trivial email fill up your most productive hours. Save your most productive hours for the important things.
Hope this helps!
Hi Jason! Thanks for reading.
The idea is that you create a tag or folder for each and deal with them immediately while you are batching. So lets say I check my email in the morning and get ten email messages. 2 messages are automated banking alerts, 3 are emails from friends about the coming weekend, 1 is about a business opportunity that you want to look into, 2 are messages I sent yesterday that carbon copied myself on to follow up, and 2 are spam messages.
I would first file the two banking alerts in “Act”, the three friend emails in “Respond”, the job opportunity in “Hold”, the CC emails in “Follow Up”, and I would delete the spam messages. Upon completing that, I would immediately deal with the items in “Act” — checking balances and paying bills, which will take me less than 5 minutes. I would then close my email and go back to work. Some time later in the day, I would dedicate some time time specifically to focus on “Hold” and “Respond”.
I have deviated from this plan some in practice, but the general goal holds true: don't let the trivial email fill up your most productive hours. Save your most productive hours for the important things.
Hope this helps!
Hi
Keen to supply you with a review copy of Grant’s Contemporary Strategy Analysis 7th Edition which has just published. See http://www.contemporarystrategyanalysis.com
Thanks
Hi Peter!
Thanks for the opportunity. I'll send you an email to discuss.
Hi Sir,
i read you essay about jetblue Airline http://thestrategyblog.com/index.php/archives/2...
and i like you way of analyzing the information.
i am an MBA student and i have next week exam about jetblue airline case,
through my preparation and reading for the exam , i come up with one question in my mind.
What is the disadvantage of jetblue strategy ,,, it can continue in next years with the same success ?
please help me to answer this question
Thanks
Alia
Hi Sir,
i read you essay about jetblue Airline http://thestrategyblog.com/index.php/archives/2...
and i like you way of analyzing the information.
i am an MBA student and i have next week exam about jetblue airline case,
through my preparation and reading for the exam , i come up with one question in my mind.
What is the disadvantage of jetblue strategy ,,, it can continue in next years with the same success ?
please help me to answer this question
Thanks
Alia
The ethical side is interesting; I agree with Umair that ethics can be a source of corporate competitive advantage.
Is ethics all about size? Can a large financial institution “act ethically”?
Will the move to regulating credit cards level the playing field?
(I haven't paid enough attention to these issues since leaving Big Credit Card Company, interested in your thoughts)
I don't think ethics is necessarily related to size. From the business perspective, I believe businesses are being ethical if they are fulfilling their obligations to the stakeholders while abiding in the letter and spirit of regulation. For large banks this means ensuring excess returns to shareholders, being honest with customers, and fair with employees. The equation is the same for small banks, but different for credit unions. As you know for credit unions, customers are the shareholders and excess returns flow to them. From my perspective, the only reasons small banks (excluding credit unions) did not become as embroiled in toxic financial products is that they did not have the scale and financial/operational sophistication to participate. Credit unions lacked those as well, but without the excess returns mandated by shareholders they are most likely to invest in the communities they serve.
Beyond the obvious obligations to stakeholders described above, I think it is the responsibility of customers (through market effects) and citizens (through regulation) to ensure that their ethics are reflected in the banks and businesses operating. After all, all ethics is eventually subjective. So on a literal level I respectfully disagree with you and Umair; I don't think ethics are a new competitive advantage. Building a long term relationship of trust with your customers and clients has always been essential for a viable long term enterprise. A large contributor to the economic collapse of 2008 was a loss of trust; a renewed emphasis on building trusted relationship is the system trying to right itself. After all large degree of trust is required for Locke's Social Contract to function, and that is not a new idea.
Finally, I do not believe the credit card reforms will effect a large scale change in the industry. The terms along with the economic may shift some, but the incentives for the issuers have not changed. The card industry still extracts its value from getting in the way (via interchange fees) and getting and keeping people in debt. Of note, there was a great post on transactional vs. revolving credit that you might be interested in; it is sparking some ideas for me. I like to think that the eventual evolution of the system will: separate transactional credit from revolving credit and allow for near instantaneous settlement in a peer to peer manner eliminating the card interchange network (and the corresponding fees).
I've been putting some thoughts together on what the financial system might look like in the future (inspired by “Innovation and the Future Proof Bank” by @bankervision). Maybe we can collaborate on that some.
If the goal is to avoid banks that are “too big to fail,” will this strategy make small banks more attractive acquisition targets for big banks? Thereby making them even more “too big to fail?” Legislatively leveling the playing field, I think, offers more potential.
In the marketplace, ethics need not be subjective. Consider an objective measure: $$ flowing to companies, products, organizations that are ethical.
Ok, perhaps it's not a “new” competitive advantage; in fact, that's what I said: “This isn’t a new concept: in fact, it’s a return to our roots, an retreat from the aberration of the industrial revolution.”
(btw, you'll be interested in Matt's comments on that post)
I'll check out the transactional v. revolving credit article; balancing the two in a single account creates some interesting trade-offs for credit card companies, as we both know. Curious what you're cooking up, of course…
I can't help but think more simple institutions would help. Even going beyond Glass-Stegal, what about a return to banks that do deposits and loans and nothing more? I've read about private banks popping up with this simple agenda; I'm curious what effect you think this would have at scale. I know the big trend is on disintermediation, and thus growth of services at these banks, but maybe more specialty would help.
Yes, those comments are the first time I've argued against ethics. :)
Is “ethics” the new “digital”? Has the word come to be so all-encompassing that it means nothing?
I'm actually in agreement with you, Matt. In their most basic forms, banks are nothing more than custodians of value and some good could be done in the industry by reflecting upon that. Per James Gardner's “Innovation and the Future Proof Bank” I'm starting to brainstorm about my 'Futurebank' — what sort of organization I envision being successful in the industry 10+ years from now. I haven't yet fleshed out my ideas (or finished the book), but I envision an ecosystem of lean, specialized organizations interconnected through open data standards for the consumer's benefit. I'm not sure how or if we'll get there, but it is something that is on my mind.
I think the 'new' model (for lack of a better term) would scale as efficiencies could be gained through greater specialization. This hypothetically wouldn't lead to a Too Big To Fail scenario because (1) their specialization would prevent a large-scale economic collapse, and (2) the open standards would lead to more transparent and expedient resolution. As you can imagine, I'm in favor of the originally proposed non-watered-down OTC exchange for derivative contracts as an early step in this direction.
In the marketplace, ethics need not be subjective. Consider an objective measure: $$ flowing to companies, products, organizations that are ethical.
Ok, perhaps it's not a “new” competitive advantage; in fact, that's what I said: “This isn’t a new concept: in fact, it’s a return to our roots, an retreat from the aberration of the industrial revolution.”
(btw, you'll be interested in Matt's comments on that post)
I'll check out the transactional v. revolving credit article; balancing the two in a single account creates some interesting trade-offs for credit card companies, as we both know. Curious what you're cooking up, of course…
I can't help but think more simple institutions would help. Even going beyond Glass-Stegal, what about a return to banks that do deposits and loans and nothing more? I've read about private banks popping up with this simple agenda; I'm curious what effect you think this would have at scale. I know the big trend is on disintermediation, and thus growth of services at these banks, but maybe more specialty would help.
Yes, those comments are the first time I've argued against ethics. :)
Is “ethics” the new “digital”? Has the word come to be so all-encompassing that it means nothing?
I'm actually in agreement with you, Matt. In their most basic forms, banks are nothing more than custodians of value and some good could be done in the industry by reflecting upon that. Per James Gardner's “Innovation and the Future Proof Bank” I'm starting to brainstorm about my 'Futurebank' — what sort of organization I envision being successful in the industry 10+ years from now. I haven't yet fleshed out my ideas (or finished the book), but I envision an ecosystem of lean, specialized organizations interconnected through open data standards for the consumer's benefit. I'm not sure how or if we'll get there, but it is something that is on my mind.
I think the 'new' model (for lack of a better term) would scale as efficiencies could be gained through greater specialization. This hypothetically wouldn't lead to a Too Big To Fail scenario because (1) their specialization would prevent a large-scale economic collapse, and (2) the open standards would lead to more transparent and expedient resolution. As you can imagine, I'm in favor of the originally proposed non-watered-down OTC exchange for derivative contracts as an early step in this direction.
Hi,
Mid october has come and gone…. Any idea when we can expect the rest?
Thanks
Hi,
Mid october has come and gone…. Any idea when we can expect the rest?
Thanks
that was awesome!
yeah, I need to know more about his game theory. Looking forward to your next video.
Thanks.
That was awesome dude!
Yeah, I need to learn this game theory. Looking forward to you next video.
Thanks.
that was awesome!
yeah, I need to know more about his game theory. Looking forward to your next video.
Thanks.
That was awesome dude!
Yeah, I need to learn this game theory. Looking forward to you next video.
Thanks.