JetBlue is having some fun with the introduction of service to Houston Hobby. It has priced its tickets to a barrel of oil. This from WSJ Online:
From Aug. 15 to 21, one-way tickets between New York, where JetBlue is based, and Houston will be based on the previous day’s closing price of oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange, rounded down to the nearest dollar. The promotion is called “Blue Barrel Fares,” and is valid for travel between Sept. 7 and Nov. 15.
The campaign coincides with the launch of the airline’s New York-to-Houston route — and marks a humorous reflection on both Houston’s reputation as an oil town and the high fuel prices that are the bane of air carriers world-wide.
“We really wanted to tie into Houston being the energy capital of the world and the price of oil being a thorn in everybody’s side,” said Todd Burke, JetBlue’s vice president for corporate communications. “We want everybody to smile when they think about the price of oil.”
