JetBlue Airways announced today that they will now be accepting PayPal payments for passengers who wish to make ticket purchases off of their website, JetBlue.com. Todays partnership between JetBlue and PayPal makes for the fifth major airline to begin accepting PayPal as a website payment option for ticket transactions.

Previously, we have reported on other airlines that now accept PayPal including AirTran Airways, US Airways, Southwest Airlines and Northwest Airlines. The addition of JetBlue makes me think that my prediction of multiple payment methods for airlines becoming a trend, back when we reported on Northwest Airlines, was spot on. It’s a common practice nowadays to see many websites accepting a variety of payment methods no matter what is being sold or checked out. It certainly wouldn’t surprise me to see Google Checkout make a similar move in the near future.

Here’s what Don Uselmann, Manager of Business Development for JetBlue Airways had to say…

By adding PayPal to our website for safer and easier payment, we are offering more options and even greater flexibility to customers purchasing travel on JetBlue. PayPal provides just the kind of security and convenience that meets our travelers’ expectations.

Here’s what Tyler Hoffman, senior director of merchant services at PayPal had to say…

Millions of consumers around the world prefer to pay with PayPal because of its safety and simplicity. We are thrilled that, as one of the nation’s most popular airlines, JetBlue is now offering its customers the ability to pay for flights via PayPal.

An extra added benefit to airlines accepting PayPal is that the purchaser doesn’t have to share financial information with the airlines each time they buy a ticket online. Now, with PayPal, JetBlue customers can pay online through debit cards, bank accounts, stored balance, or credit cards without sharing any financial data.

Don’t look for this trend to end anytime soon. There’s still plenty of airlines that do not accept PayPal, and other alternative payment methods. I expect a few others to jump on board, given they probably should have done this a long time ago at the beginning, or peak, of the online travel spike. Imagine how many ticket purchasers went somewhere else or didn’t buy directly off of an airlines site because a travel comparison site offers a variety of payment methods and the airlines themselves do not? I expect it was a lot and now the airlines are scrambling to attract more buyers direct through their own sites. Not to say that they will end partnerships with price comparison travel sites, just that they spent a lot on their own sites and don’t spend near as much advertising them as sites like Travelocity, Priceline and Orbitz.