Travel & Leisure just rated them as the #1 domestic air carrier, and that’s the biggest no-brainer. If they serve the routes you want to fly, there’s no question they offer a better experience than competitors.

• Fly out of private terminals, so you can show up 20 minutes before your flight. There’s no big terminal to schlepp through and no lines to speak of.

  

• All first class, with 30 seats in a jet designed for 50. Checked bags, drinks and snacks are free and so is Starlink wifi (they were the launch carrier for Starlink and it’s the best internet inflight).

  

• Friendly people who seem to like doing their job.

  

They’re so good that competitors tried to get the government to put them out of business. But they seem to have survived that onslaught, and are looking to grow – having just placed an aircraft order that will allow them to serve more small airports.

Two years ago they suggested there wasn’t urgency in creating a loyalty program, but that they’d have one eventually that would “not necessarily [be a] traditional program.”

Now they’ve launched one: Club JSX.

• 5% rebate towards future travel on base fare, seat fees, and pet fees. Rewards expire the last day of the 12th month following accrual (eek).

• Family Pooling with up to 5 people, so you can book for others and accrue for yourself.

• Bonus earn in your birthday month. I’ve asked for details on elevated earn rates. Update: I’m told “We’ll be testing different ways to offer this benefit but will start with an additional 5% accrual.”

• Targeted offers “based on…individual travel habits.”

• Referral bonus give $100 in flight credit to a first-time JSX passenger, earn a $100 voucher when they take their first JSX flight.

Chase United co-brand cards now come with JSX statement credits (United owns a stake in JSX, as does JetBlue). You can earn miles with these partners as well but the earn rate will be better in JSX’s own program. 5% rebates are fairly standard at the base level – remember, at 5 points per dollar, that’s effectively a 5% rebate. Airlines generally book 1 cent per point in liability for future travel for miles earned from flying (though often only 1/8th of a cent for miles earned by credit card, even though the miles are the same, accounting rules allow more games when selling miles to third parties).

What seems missing here is an elite program. There are no upgrades possible, and most things are free, but they could still waive premium seat fees for frequent customers and even organize free parking at their FBOs, as well as increased earn.

I’m not joining the program today. I don’t have any JSX flights booked – they no longer serve Austin-Bergstrom airport. There’s no joining bonus, so I might as well wait until I can get immediate value, in case there’s a joining offer (and can take advantage of being someone’s referral).