JetBlue and Brightline have partnered to offer customers a seamless air-and-rail booking experience for travel across Central and South Florida.
Buy Brightline Tickets Directly From JetBlue
As part of this partnership, JetBlue customers can book Brightline tickets directly on jetblue.com as part of a combined itinerary. This will provide customers with more options to travel to and from cities in Southern and Central Florida.
Dave Jehn, Vice President of Network Planning and Airline Partnerships at JetBlue, had this to say about the partnership:
“As we continue to grow in Florida and offer more flights to and from cities like Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Orlando, our partnership with Brightline helps us deliver even more value and convenience to our customers. JetBlue and Brightline share a commitment to innovation and great service, and together we’re expanding transportation options for all of our customers to get to where they want to go, whether they’re starting their journey, heading to their final destination, or adjusting plans along the way.”
Barbara Drahl, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Commercial Strategy at Brightline, added:
“We are proud to partner with JetBlue to enhance connectivity throughout Florida. This partnership enables travelers to book a single ticket for both air and rail, offering a fast, reliable, and eco-friendly rail transportation option while seamlessly connecting to JetBlue’s extensive network.”
Brightline provides service between stations in Miami, Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, and Orlando with passengers having the ability to connect onward via JetBlue flights in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Orlando.
While connectivity will happen in multiple cities, the easiest for passengers will be in Orlando where the Brightline station is directly connected to the Orlando International Airport (MCO) by an automated people mover (APM) system. Connections at other airports will be serviced via a shuttle service.
Air-and-rail tickets are already on sale and I found the pricing to be reasonable. One of the major perks of this new service, is the number of options it opens up for travelers along the Brightline corridor. With four different connecting airports, passengers have the ability to pick and choose what works best for them.
Passengers traveling in JetBlue Mint can be ticketed in Brightline’s Premium fare class while Core customers can experience Brightline’s Smart fare class.
JetBlue also notes that this agreement allows it to offer alternative itineraries that incorporate Brightline rail segments during periods of irregular Florida operations, providing more flexibility for customers and enhancing recovery options.
I Love Seeing More Air-and-Rail Partnerships
As someone who travels to Europe frequently, I love utilizing air-and-rail itineraries when possible. The first time I experienced it was with Air France’s Air-and-Rail program which had a few quirks but was a nice experience overall.
Since then I have done self connections and we’ve seen air-and-rail connections throughout Europe become more popular. This partnership between Brightline and JetBlue is the closest thing you’ll find stateside to its European and Asian counterparts.
While I don’t currently have any plans to use this service (I live in Austin and our only JetBlue flight is to Boston), I would definitely try this out if given the opportunity.
Summary
JetBlue and Brightline have partnered to offer air-and-rail itineraries for passengers traveling to and from Central and Southern Florida. Tickets are currently on sale and this should open up many options for travelers along the route.
