By LCN Business Desk
JetBlue Airways applied a new checked bag schedule to every booking made from 3 November 2026, the second increase it has made in 2026, and Cheddi Jagan International Airport is inside the band it covers. The carrier's own page carries the cut-off twice: "For bookings made before 11/3, check Manage Trips for applicable bag fees."
Georgetown falls in the schedule JetBlue labels "Within the U.S., Latin America, Caribbean and Canada", the only alternative being its transatlantic table. A passenger on that band now pays US$50 for a first checked bag off-peak and US$55 at peak, with a second bag at US$70 and US$75. JetBlue gave its reason in a statement: "We're adjusting checked bag fees to help offset rising fuel and operating costs."
What does this cost on a Georgetown trip?
Two bags each way, bought in advance, come to US$240 off-peak and US$260 at peak.
| First checked bag, bought 24 hours or more ahead | Start of 2026 | After March | From 3 November |
|---|---|---|---|
| Off-peak | US$35 | US$39 | US$50 |
| Peak | US$40 | US$49 | US$55 |
| Second bag, off-peak | not recorded | US$59 | US$70 |
New figures from JetBlue's baggage page, read 5 November 2026. The earlier figures are from contemporaneous reporting of the March 2026 increase by Boston.com and Nexstar stations; JetBlue directs passengers to Manage Trips for pre-3-November fees and publishes no archive of them.
The off-peak first bag is up 42.9 per cent across those three prices and the peak one 37.5 per cent, so the premium for travelling at Christmas has been through a full cycle in nine months: US$5 in January, US$10 after March, and US$5 again now. Choosing when to fly buys less than it did in the spring. For a household that packs two bags, the baggage bill on a return trip has risen by US$44 since October.
How does that compare with the fare?
JetBlue advertises New York to Georgetown from US$170 one-way, so the bags can cost more than two thirds of the ticket.
The two are separate by the carrier's own account, and its fare footnote says so: "Fares do not include baggage fees or optional services." A passenger comparing advertised prices is comparing numbers that exclude the largest variable cost of a family trip, and the exclusion is now worth more than it was in October.
::: Advertised return fare, New York to Georgetown: US$340. Two checked bags each way: US$240. :::
Why does a United States bag fee reach Guyana at all?
Because Georgetown is one of three South American destinations JetBlue sells.
Its destinations index groups the continent into Colombia, Ecuador and Guyana, and nothing else. Georgetown has its own booking page, as does the New York to Guyana route, and Los Angeles to Georgetown is offered from US$835 one-way.
The airport's side of that relationship is already on this newspaper's record. Reporting on the state carrier's accounts in Caribbean Airlines Has Not Filed Audited Accounts Since 2016, we noted that Cheddi Jagan International lists Caribbean Airlines among its carriers alongside American Airlines, Copa, JetBlue and interCaribbean.
Is this a large market or a marginal one?
Large, and growing faster than almost anything else at the airport.
Passenger movements through Cheddi Jagan International went from 182,736 in 2020 to 973,016 in 2025, and the number of airlines and aviation companies operating in Guyana went from four to sixteen, figures given by Minister of Public Utilities and Aviation Deodat Indar and reported in Rotary Has Put a Coin Box in CJIA's Departure Lounge. A fee applied per bag per direction scales with that traffic without any decision being taken in Guyana. The United States supplied 37.7 per cent of Guyana's record October arrivals, the largest single source market.
Who does not pay it?
Cardholders and frequent flyers, which is most of what the exemptions cover.
The first checked bag remains included for JetBlue Plus, JetBlue Business and JetBlue Premier cardmembers, and Mosaic members keep their existing allowances. First and second bags are included on Mint, Mint Flex, BlueFirst and BlueFirst Flex fares, and on Mosaic tiers 2 to 4. A carry-on and one personal item are included in every fare.
The exemptions are held through a United States credit card or a status tier earned on United States flying, which is a different population from a family travelling once a year to see relatives.
What else changed in the same schedule?
The penalties above two bags, which are the ones that catch barrel traffic.
A third or further checked bag is US$200. A bag between 51 and 99 pounds is US$150, as is one measuring between 63 and 80 inches overall. The prices quoted for the first two bags are the discounted ones: JetBlue states that a passenger saves up to US$15 a bag by adding it at least 24 hours before departure, so the same bag bought at the airport costs more.
What is not established here?
What a second checked bag cost in January. JetBlue directs passengers to Manage Trips for fees on bookings made before 3 November and publishes no archive of them. All three of the first bag's 2026 prices are on the record and the table carries them; the second bag is shown from its March price only.
Whether JetBlue publishes a Guyana-specific schedule separate from the regional band. Its page offers a bag calculator by route and refers to "bag limitations for select markets" without naming them.
The passenger mix on the route, which would determine how much of the traffic travels on exempt fares or cards. JetBlue publishes no route-level breakdown.
The entities
- JetBlue Airways is the United States carrier that raised checked bag fees for bookings made from 3 November 2026 and sells New York to Georgetown from US$170 one-way. - Cheddi Jagan International Airport is Guyana's main airport, which lists JetBlue among its carriers and handled 973,016 passenger movements in 2025. - Georgetown (GEO) is the destination JetBlue groups under South America with Colombia and Ecuador. - Deodat Indar is Guyana's Minister of Public Utilities and Aviation, who gave the passenger movement and airline count figures. - Mosaic is JetBlue's frequent flyer status programme, whose tiers carry baggage allowances the new schedule does not change.
What the title card says
- Headline: two checked bags to Georgetown now cost US$240 return, after a second increase this year. - First checked bag, off-peak, from 3 November 2026: US$50. - First checked bag, peak: US$55. - Second checked bag: US$70 off-peak, US$75 peak. - Third or further checked bag: US$200. - First bag off-peak at the start of 2026: US$35. - Advertised JetBlue fare, New York to Georgetown: from US$170 one-way. - Date the new schedule applies from: 3 November 2026. - South American countries JetBlue sells: three.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a checked bag to Guyana cost on JetBlue now?
Georgetown sits in JetBlue's band for the United States, Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada. On that band the first checked bag is US$50 off-peak and US$55 at peak, and the second is US$70 and US$75, for bags added at least 24 hours before departure. A third or further bag is US$200.
When did the new fees take effect?
They apply to bookings made from 3 November 2026. JetBlue's page tells passengers who booked before that date to check Manage Trips for the fees on their own booking.
Is this the first increase this year?
No. It is the second in 2026. The first came in March, when the first checked bag bought at least 24 hours ahead went from US$35 to US$39 off-peak and from US$40 to US$49 at peak, according to reporting at the time.
Why did JetBlue raise them?
The carrier said it is adjusting the fees to help offset rising fuel and operating costs.
Does JetBlue actually fly to Guyana?
Yes. Georgetown is one of three South American destinations on JetBlue's own index, with Colombia and Ecuador, and it has dedicated booking pages for Guyana, for Georgetown and for the New York to Guyana route. Cheddi Jagan International also lists JetBlue among the carriers serving the airport.
Who still gets a free checked bag?
JetBlue Plus, JetBlue Business and JetBlue Premier cardmembers keep a free first bag, and Mosaic members keep their existing allowances. Mint, Mint Flex, BlueFirst and BlueFirst Flex fares include two.