JetBlue is offering $99 seats on flights from South Florida and other parts of the country that are likely to see Irma’s fury. The nonstop flights are going fast, however, as many people are hurrying to escape the Category 5 hurricane.
Fares are for one-way nonstop for remaining flights in select markets, including Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Bahamas, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Caicos and Haiti. Connecting flights from Florida were capped at $159.
“Due to high interest in this offer, seats are predominantly sold out,” JetBlue said in an update on its website.
But a search from Fort Lauderdale to Washington Thursday morning generated one option to leave Friday night for $99. More $99 options are available to New York and even a $51 fare to Chicago. Some nonstop fares are also still available.
Delta said Thursday that is capped one-way fares at $399 to and from southern Florida. The airline said it has expanded its weather waiver to include airports in Georgia and South Carolina.
JetBlue is also waiving fees for changes in reservations to travelers who must cancel or adjust their flights as a result of the storm. The airline had added flights out of select cities where they have aircraft available, a company spokesman said.
Other airlines have been criticized for hiking one-way fares for flights out of areas in the path of the storm. The airlines have denied accusations of price-gouging.
Fares will go up as flights sell out and it’s not unusual to see higher prices for the last few seats on a flight that is in high demand.
— americanair (@AmericanAir) September 6, 2017
In some cases, seats are selling for over $1,000 for fares that typically go for as little as $99. Some consumers took to Twitter Wednesday to complain about the exorbitantly high fares all across Florida.
Shame on you @delta. Jacking from $547 to over $3200 for people trying to evacute responsibly? #IrmaHurricane pic.twitter.com/O2nfPHQUAh
— Leigh (@LeighDow) September 5, 2017