JetBlue Is Switching to Pepsi, Making It One of the Few Airlines Not to Serve Coke
JetBlue is breaking the traditional mold for airlines once again. This time, it's not an affordable top-flight premium product that is setting the carrier apart, but rather its new inflight beverage provider: Pepsi.
On Friday, the New York-based airline said it would be switching its inflight beverages from the industry-standard Coca-Cola products to Pepsi offerings. While this might seem like a subtle change, it puts JetBlue among only a handful of top airlines that don't exclusively stock Coca-Cola soft drinks in their beverage carts worldwide.
A TPG investigation in January found that among more than 50 of the world's biggest airlines, there are only a small number that serve primarily Pepsi products: Ryanair, Emirates, Pakistan International Airlines, and Wizz Air. Add to the list JetBlue, the sixth-largest US airline by passengers carried.
JetBlue says the switch to Pepsi is to bring "Customers exciting new product options they've asked for, while also fitting more offerings on to our carts, bringing sustainable benefits and controlling growing costs," according to an email to inflight crew cited by Wandering Aramean. Starting June 3, JetBlue will begin serving Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Sierra Mist, Sierra Mist Zero Sugar, Bubbly Lime Sparkling Water, Canada Dry Seltzer, Canada Dry Tonic and Canada Dry Ginger Ale.
This is only the latest shift in the soda wars of the skies. As we reported in our January story, in the 1990s and early 2000s there was much more soft-drink competition among airlines. "In 1993, TWA announced it would switch from Coke to Pepsi, and two years later Air France did likewise, even wrapping one of its Concordes in Pepsi branding. In 2002, United joined Northwest Airlines and America West in serving the soft drink that called itself the choice of a new generation."
In the past, flyers have not been pleased when airlines have made the switch from Coke to Pepsi. When United made the temporary change in 2002, "people were really upset," Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA and an active United flight attendant, said.
JetBlue claims its customers have been requesting Pepsi on board, so is this the beginning of a shift in the brand battle of Coke vs. Pepsi? Time (and frequent flyers) will decide.
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The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)Pros
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- In addition, the card comes with many premium travel perks such as an annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel.
- Business owners are also able to add employee cards for free.
Cons
- The card requires significant spending to earn the welcome offer.
- Another drawback is that the annual travel credit can only be used on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month