Farewell Paisly — We Barely Knew You

by joeheg

Airlines like to reinvent themselves from time to time — new uniforms, refreshed cabin interiors, updated frequent flyer programs. In 2021, JetBlue decided to try something a little different: it attempted to become not just an airline, but a full travel platform.

The company introduced a new booking site with a very non-JetBlue name: Paisly. The branding was whimsical and playful, intentionally avoiding labels like “JetBlue Travel Portal” or anything that directly described its purpose. Paisly was marketed as a tool that would use your JetBlue flight reservation to anticipate your needs for the rest of your trip. If you were flying to a certain destination, Paisly would make suggestions for hotels, rental cars, activities and more — supposedly without requiring you to search through endless listings.

From the launch press release:

“Paisly makes recommendations based on each customer’s JetBlue flight reservation and destination… there’s no need to sort through pages and pages of options.”

Source: JetBlue Press Release, March 25, 2021

The concept had ambition. It implied a level of personalization — that Paisly could understand what kind of traveler you were simply because it knew where you were going. The idea was that you wouldn’t need to browse or filter; Paisly would already know what you wanted.

Of course, that assumption only goes so far. Knowing where someone is flying doesn’t reveal very much about why they are going, or what they enjoy once they get there. A flight to Boston doesn’t automatically mean the traveler wants to tour the Freedom Trail or wander around the harbor. A flight to Cleveland doesn’t tell anyone that the traveler is on a pilgrimage to the A Christmas Story House. Paisly didn’t know whether someone preferred boutique hotels or points-earning chain stays. It couldn’t distinguish between a business trip and a family vacation. It simply knew the destination city and tried to build recommendations from that single data point.

Paisly’s life was brief — and now it’s gone

At some point, JetBlue seems to have realized that inventing a clever name wasn’t enough to drive adoption. A travel portal must be useful, consistent, and competitive in terms of price. Paisly may have had personality, but it didn’t have widespread recognition or a clear purpose.

And so, Paisly has been renamed. The site is now called: TrueBlue Travel — a straightforward label that leaves little room for confusion. You can find it here: truebluetravel.com.

JetBlue’s current messaging leans away from “AI-powered personalization” and toward practical benefits, including earning TrueBlue points for hotels and rental cars, having qualifying spend count toward Mosaic status, and — interestingly — being able to call a real person for help.

“If you need support, a helpful human is just a phone call away, day or night.”

Source: TrueBlue Travel

Four years ago, the selling point was the platform’s intelligence. Today, one of the key benefits is the comfort of speaking with a live person. It’s a subtle, yet significant shift in what travelers value — and what companies believe is worth promoting.

When Paisly launched, AI was a buzzword. Now it’s a baseline.

In 2021, “AI” in travel often meant suggesting a hotel because of the airport code associated with your flight. That felt forward-thinking at the time. In 2025, AI can do things Paisly couldn’t. It can understand your travel style, find activities based on your preferences, and plan itineraries that reflect your personal interests — not just your destination. It can remember that you prefer quirky local hotels over luxury properties or that you like walking tours instead of bar crawls.

Paisly was ahead of its time, but ironically, not advanced enough to thrive in the era it helped anticipate.

Final Thought

JetBlue didn’t just rename a website; it shifted philosophies. Paisly represented the optimistic belief that branding and novelty could get customers to change their booking habits. TrueBlue Travel reflects the more grounded reality: travelers book where they find value — in terms of price, points, and convenience — not where they find clever names.

The new portal may be less imaginative, but it is undeniably clearer. In the end, clarity won — and Paisly became a short-lived footnote in JetBlue’s ongoing experiment to become more than just an airline.

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