JetBlue first introduced their Mint product in 2014, which was a big departure from their business model prior to that. Mint is JetBlue’s premium cabin, available on select A321 aircraft, which primarily operate transcon flights.
I’ve had a ton of respect for JetBlue from the day they launched, and just as they changed up the industry with their superior economy product, they’ve done the same to transcon business class. JetBlue’s Mint cabin consists of a total of 16 seats, including three rows of seats in a 2-2 configuration, and two rows of seats in 1-1 configuration.
The single seats are called “Mint Suites,” and are available on a first come first served basis. What makes them especially awesome is that they have doors. It’s crazy to think that the world’s first business class product with doors was on a US low cost carrier.
JetBlue Mint is also special because of the service. The flight attendants working Mint are consistently exceptional. Simply put, Mint is the best way to fly domestically, in my opinion.
The best part is that they’ve given the competition a run for their money not just in terms of the quality of their product, but also in terms of pricing. Even though JetBlue has the best product domestically, they’ve undercut the competition on pricing, so they’ve caused premium fares to go down in the markets they serve.
We’ve consistently seen them publish $549 one-way transcon Mint fares when booking in advance, though nowadays closer to departure it’s typically a lot more expensive than that (which makes sense, since demand has increased for JetBlue’s great product).
Anyway, if you want to try Mint on the “cheap,” at the moment JetBlue has some exceptionally low Mint fares for travel to & from Boston. I see wide-open $399 one-way Mint fares between Boston and San Francisco, all the way through October.
In March through May I also see wide-open $399 one-way Mint fares between Boston and San Diego.
Lastly, in March I see wide-open $399 one-way Mint fares between Boston and Seattle, while in subsequent months fares start at $449, which is still exceptional (usually the entry level cost for Mint is $549 one-way).
Your best bet is to use Google Flights or ITA Matrix to look up these fares.
If you do book one of these tickets and have access to US credit cards, make sure you maximize the points you earn. The Platinum Card® from American Express offers 5x points on airfare purchased directly from airlines or through Amex Travel, on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year, which is a great option if you’re booking directly with the airline. Meanwhile, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card offers triple points on airfare purchases, and also offers fantastic travel coverage in the event of irregular operations.
To crunch the numbers on these fares a bit further, let’s say you book a $399 one-way Mint fare from Boston to San Francisco and pay with The Platinum Card® from American Express. You’d earn 2,000 Membership Rewards points (which I value at $34) plus 2,140 JetBlue TrueBlue points (you earn 6x points on the base airfare if booking directly through JetBlue, and I value those points at $30). So you’re earning $64 worth of points on the $400 one-way ticket, which brings down the real cost of this to $336. That’s insanely good.
If you haven’t yet flown JetBlue Mint but could get value out of these fares, then by all means take advantage of this. Experience for yourself how good domestic flying can be when you’re taken care of by people who actually seem to enjoy their jobs.
Anyone considering taking advantage of these exceptional JetBlue Mint fares?
(Tip of the hat to CMK10)
@M Simons -- I've never found the pre-check lines at SFO Intl terminal hard to find; and have never waited more than 5 minutes to get through. And then there's even a PP lounge (Air France, I think) just after security. I don't like the terminal as much as T2, but hard for me to complain about it.
Took a SFO-FLL jet blue, nice flight, but wouldn't do it again if they keep departing from international terminal. Was no way to connect without exiting security, and lines were like visiting China. No obvious signs for Pre-check either, had to ask. And person to ask was almost hiding.
Hey Ben, just wanted to let you know that it appears on the BOS-SFO route, Delta has matched Jetblue's $399 J class one way price, and this is a route where DL operates its transcon delta One service, so this is definitely a great opportunity for Delta flyers as well as they can fly a lie flat 757 for just $399 one way. I saw many many dates where this price match is true, so...
Hey Ben, just wanted to let you know that it appears on the BOS-SFO route, Delta has matched Jetblue's $399 J class one way price, and this is a route where DL operates its transcon delta One service, so this is definitely a great opportunity for Delta flyers as well as they can fly a lie flat 757 for just $399 one way. I saw many many dates where this price match is true, so besides JetBlue Delta has also gone along for the dirt cheap premium transcontinental ride for the time being. Cheers!
What an amazing product.
Every time im in the state's prior to trump I fly mint lax to NYC.
Melbourne to canberra being a 45 minute flight we pay $800 aussie with qantas. Great value with mint.
Wish there was SFO-FLL
I managed to book SFO-JFK for $509 which I thought was pretty amazing. That was 6 months prior to the flight - seats are now more than double that. Also grabbed a suite when I booked. Am flying in May and can't wait to try this out!!
if only they priced it like this for LAX-JFK... :(
Lucky, I try to buy these Mint flights with the AMEX Business Platinum and they don't show up on the AMEX website. Just FYI, I know you mentioned the personal one so you are correct that you could do that and get your points. They seem to exclude this product, assuming on the JetBlue side.
That $399 fare has been around for a couple weeks and frankly is the best deal in the sky. Flew the “reverse red eye” from BOS-SFO last week in the row 2 Suites. 7 hours with headwinds. I’m bes mode it’s like the best MRI in the sky.
There is so much transcon competition for BOS-SFO that it’s getting ridiculous.
Thinking of booking this summer so we can have an easier time getting to OGG.
I think jetblue just had a fare from Boston to SFO (and vise versa) for about $350 one way or $700 round trip about a week ago.
How far in advance do you usually have to book for the $550 average price usually?
@ Michelle -- It really depends on the route or day of the week you're traveling. In some cases you can book a fare like that a couple of weeks out, and in other cases a couple of months out.
Not as good as $399, but they also have $449 for most of the next few months for Boston to Seattle in Mint.
Good deal on points too, was able to book one for only 28k JetBlue points.
Worth mentioning the jetblue plus card from barclaycard - that gives you 6x points on JetBlue purchases. So you get 6x points base, 3x points as a mosiac, and another 6x from the credit card. If each point is worth $.014, then that's basically 21% back on airfare.
Not out of FLL :0(
United has matched this on a bunch of routes/dates. Worse product, but in case you need the elite qualification
Why does it say 'A320' when it's only on their 'A321' aircraft?
@ Ben -- They're just using the A320 in the GDS to generically refer to A319/320/321. It has always displayed like that for JetBlue, for whatever reason. Nothing to worry about, though. :)
JetBlue and Porter are the only North American airlines worth a damn.
Also works to/from San Diego on many dates. Great fare.
@ Ben Hughes -- Good catch, thank you! Post updated to reflect that.