A US Airline Just Announced You Can Now Venmo Them for Your Flight

“The added ability to pay with Venmo for flights on JetBlue and manage travel costs during the trip through groups helps solve the pain points of shared expenses from the time of booking to returning home,” notes chief digital and technology officer Carol Clements, in the release.

While it will make booking more convenient, it’s also a smart move on the airline’s part that could make people more likely to buy flights on a whim. Not having to type in one’s credit card information eliminates a booking step, but the use of Venmo also creates space between the user and their bank account. On Venmo, avid users will likely already have cash in their Venmo account — perhaps collected from friends who Venmo’d them for outings or shared restaurant meals. That money will stay in the person’s Venmo account unless they actively transfer it to their bank account.

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If a traveler books a flight using their credit card or bank account transfer, they’ll see that cost hit their account immediately. But they may see the cash already in their Venmo account as “bonus money” — something they can spend that won’t make their bank accounts any smaller. That may make it easier to justify travel, and JetBlue will be the airline in place to take advantage of that. Recent studies have also shown that avid Venmo users tend to be higher-income individuals, which is a demographic criterion any airline would be happy to attract.

In recent years, JetBlue has encountered a few notable customer service and repetitional hits, including a lawsuit from a passenger who claims a frozen ice cream-sandwich chipped her tooth mid-flight and a designation as one of the two most delayed airlines of 2023. It also had mediocre earnings in 2024, which could worry investors. So the Venmo offering is likely motivated by more than just creating extra convenience for customers.