Apple Pay is coming to JetBlue flights next week

 By 
Stan Schroeder
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

JetBlue Airways is the first airline to start offering Apple Pay payments on their flights, according to USA Today.

Passengers will be able to pay for food, drinks and other amenities with their iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus phones using Apple's payment platform. The service starts next week and will be available on select JetBlue flights.

JetBlue has also announced support for payments using Apple Watch, which are expected to go on sale in April.

To support the new service, JetBlue will be swapping its old mobile payment terminals with iPad Minis equipped with NFC-enabled cases, which will be issued to more than 3,500 crew members.

The payments will work in a similar way to other Apple Pay payments -- customers will pay holding their iPhone next to the crew member's NFC iPad Mini, while keeping a finger on the phone's fingerprint scanner. Wi-Fi will not be needed to use the service.

As for other mobile payment platforms, such as Google Wallet, JetBlue will be adding support for those "down the road," according to JetBlue vice president for inflight experience Rachel McCarthy.

Apple Pay has been making good progress since its launch in Sept. 2014, with Apple CEO Tim Cook claiming in January it makes up "more than $2 out of $3 spent on purchases using contactless payment across the three major U.S. card networks." While those numbers might not be as impressive as they sound, Apple Pay definitely seems to leading the pack when it comes to mobile payments.

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