JetBlue is keeping the TSA security fee you pay on award tickets. They don’t refund it to your bank. They give you a credit.
Bad news?
The credit expires. If it expires, the money doesn’t go to the government. It goes into JetBlue’s pocket. TSA hates that. They have sued Southwest, Frontier, and Spirit for similar tricks. But for years, passengers have been stuck. Not anymore.
The Fine Print
Let’s break down what you actually owe when you fly. Some taxes are mandatory. The government takes them regardless of whether you show up. That means the 7.5% domestic excise tax. The $5.20 segment tax. The hefty international arrival and departure fee of $22.90. Maybe a bit for airport facility charges, too.
These stay collected. No questions asked.
But there is one exception. The law is clear here. 49 C.F.R. § 810.9 demands that airlines refund TSA security fees if the ticket is cancelled and you didn’t fly. It doesn’t matter if the ticket itself is “non-refundable.” That rule applies to the security surcharge specifically.
Most carriers respect this. You cancel an American Airlines award ticket? Get your cash back. Alaska Airlines? Same story. JetBlue? They give you the $5.60. But it’s trapped. You can’t buy a coffee with it. You can only use it toward another ticket. And even then, the math rarely works. If your old ticket gave you a $5.60 one-way credit, you can’t use it toward the $11.20 tax on a round-trip. Or international flights where airport fees mix into the bill. The credit is practically useless.
“Taxes and fees will not be refunded except when required by law.”
That’s right from their Contract of Carriage. Bold text, almost. It promises compliance with federal rules. Federal rules say the security fee must come back in cash when cancelled. JetBlue broke its own promise. Then it sued us to keep the money anyway. Well. The passengers sued them back.
The Legal Maneuver
JetBlue didn’t want to talk about the money. They wanted the case gone.
Their argument? The Airline Deregulation Act. A heavy-hitter in aviation law. It prevents states from regulating airline “prices, routes, or schedules.” JetBlue claimed this $5.60 refund request was just another price dispute. If state law gets involved, it messes with federal uniformity. Therefore, throw the case out.
It sounded sophisticated. It wasn’t.
A federal judge disagreed on Monday. Here’s why: enforcing a contract is not regulation.
When JetBlue writes into their contract that they will refund fees if the law requires it, that is a self-imposed obligation. It’s their promise. Suing to enforce that promise doesn’t set the price of a ticket. It just holds the airline to the word they put in black and white. The judge saw through the smoke. The $5.60 is a uniform federal charge, not a JetBlue invention. Keeping it illegally isn’t “pricing.” It’s breach of contract.
The motion to dismiss failed. The lawsuit stays alive.
The Class Action Trap
There’s a catch, obviously. It has to do with money. And the lack thereof for individual flyers.
The current case isn’t a class action. Not yet. JetBlue’s fine print forbids them. You “agree” to waive your right to sue in a group when you click “accept” during booking. This means only individuals can sue for their individual $5.60.
Why would anyone do that?
Filing fees alone eat the refund. You need a lawyer. A decent one costs more than $5.60 per hour, let alone for the whole case. Most won’t touch this on contingency. It makes no financial sense. So JetBlue relies on the fact that nobody can afford to sue. They call this impunity. I call it bullying.
Legal scholars debate whether cost barriers automatically violate consumer rights. In American Express v. Italian Colors, the Supreme Court said litigation costs alone don’t void a contract, even if the lawsuit is “irrational” to pursue. Theory remains. You could sue. You just won’t.
Why pay $200 in fees to win $5 back?
You wouldn’t. But multiply that irrationality by millions of passengers, and suddenly it’s not irrational. It’s theft at scale. Small harms add up to massive gains for the carrier.
JetBlue wins because we’re poor compared to them. Individually, we are powerless. Collectively, we are inconvenient.
So the fight continues. Passengers keep losing dollars in silence. The class action ban keeps the court dockets clean for JetBlue. Meanwhile, the TSA is the only one with enough power and interest to fine these airlines for keeping federal fees. We have to hope they stay awake at their desks.
