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JetBlue is Adding an In-Flight Feature I’ve Always Wanted
JetBlue is kind of going through some things right now. After trying to acquire Spirit Airlines for some reason, they now find themselves without a deal and without a plan forward. Well, that’s not totally true as they do have at least one plan — Blueprint by JetBlue.
This week, the airline unveiled a new personalized inflight experience that will bring some interesting features to flyers. First, it sounds as though customers will log into Blueprint in order to unlock these unique capabilities.
Some things that stood out to me are that, with this system, you’ll be able to “pick up where you left off,” meaning you can start an episode or movie on one leg of your trip and Blueprint will allow you to resume it on your connecting flight. Of course, as is the trend in all things streaming, this system will also offer content recommendations based on your viewing history.
As for more practical features, passengers will now be able to view connecting flight and gate information from their seatback screen. Meanwhile, on your birthday, JetBlue’s entertainment system will not only greet you with confetti graphics but you’ll also be entitled to one complimentary drink while flying (provided that you’re 21 or older, of course).
But, to me, the best feature here is what they call Watch Party. With this option, you’ll be able to select up to five other passengers to watch a movie or show with. To do this, you’ll be able to select the seats where your friends or loved ones are sitting and invite them to watch with you. Then, when they accept, your play and pause controls will be synced.
According to JetBlue’s press release, these new personalization features have started rolling out on aircraft equipped with AVANT touchscreens powered by Thales. The upgrades are expected to be completed by next month. This means you’ll soon be able to find Blueprint on “most restyled Airbus A320s” in JetBlue’s fleet along with A321neos, A321LRs, and A220s.
As someone who’s previously taken a flight where my wife and I had to countdown to when we’d hit play on our episodes of Big Bang Theory, this Watch Party feature sounds awesome. So will I be flying JetBlue in the future to try it out? Probably not. I don’t have anything against the airline — it’s just that I’ve never really had the opportunity to fly them and don’t foresee one popping up soon. However, I do hope that this type of feature catches on with other in-flight entertainment systems going forward.
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