As air-rail combined itineraries become more and more common, especially in Europe, South Florida’s privately-owned rail system Brightline is getting on board with JetBlue to offer intermodal connections to the airline’s passengers throughout its network.
While it’s not as robust as many European air-rail integrations — for instance, Germany’s Deutsche Bahn is a Star Alliance intermodal partner, and Eurostar is a member of SkyTeam — Brightline’s partnership with JetBlue represents a logical move given their route overlap in the Sunshine State.
The new partnership allows JetBlue passengers to book connecting itineraries on Brightline’s rail line, offering connectivity to its Miami, Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, and Orlando stations.
While JetBlue serves all four commercial airports along Brightline’s routes, the partnership will allow passengers to avoid short-hop connecting flights and complete their local journey by rail, boosting sustainability in the process.
Brightline’s Orlando station is conveniently located at the airport (MCO), adjacent to Terminal C. Elsewhere, passengers can connect to the relevant airport using Brightline-branded shuttles or by their own means.
For instance, the Fort Lauderdale Brightline station is located just five miles from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (FLL), and the connector shuttle is included in the cost of the ticket.
At its introduction, the partnership will not come with any TrueBlue Mosaic loyalty recognition or the ability to earn miles when traveling on Brightline.
Passengers traveling in JetBlue’s Mint class will be booked into Brightline’s Premium class, with Core economy class passengers booked into Smart class. Bookings are made on JetBlue.com, and the integration is already up and running.
JetBlue does not provide bag transfers to Brightline. Image: JetBlue
JetBlue also notes that beyond the ability for passengers to proactively book a segment including rail travel, the partnership will give the airline flexibility to reroute its passengers throughout South Florida in the event of irregular operations. For example, if a flight out of Miami cancels, the airline can offer a flight out of West Palm Beach with transportation between the two airports via Brightline.
The last US carrier to provide an air-rail option was United, which offered a full codeshare agreement with Amtrak to multiple destinations throughout the Northeast. United even had a ticket office in New York Penn Station for a few years before COVID, while United Club members could access Club Acela. The arrangement ended in the midst of the pandemic.
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Featured image credited to Brightline
