Review: JetBlue Mint A321 New York To Los Angeles

Yeah! I've been lucky to have flown mint three times now, and each has been excellent. If JetBlue upgrades their IFE, it will be nearly perfect. (The screens in Mint seem great, but the source video is crappy, and isn't on-demand.)

I wish JetBlue had bought Virgin. Sigh.

Aren't Grado SR60e's open-ear headphones? That seems like a very odd decision for an airplane, both from a noise-abatement perspective and from a neighbors-can-hear-what-you're-listening-to perspective.

Looks like a great product all around. I'm so tempted to fly this sometime as I see a couple dates for sub $600 from SFO to JFK. Ahh!

Wait, when did Ford join you on this trip??

Given the general standard of US airlines, this can't have been hard to pull off. Clearly the other airlines just can't be bothered.

@Djibouti
Yes, I believe those Grados are open-ear. But damn, Grados??!??! Wow!

Perhaps Lucky should read up on the Grado line since he considers them "decent" compared to his over-marketed Bose cans.

You clearly missed your toyboy dearly as you opted not to be seated next to the self-proclaimed Luxury Travel Guru.

@Sal

Read just the previous installment and you will know 😉

What did you think of the seat firmness adjustment? Apparently the seat has some sort of air cushion that can be inflated as much as you prefer?

your toyboy

I don't think you can classify Ford as a toy boy as I think he and Lucky are almost the same age.

Glad you got the Mar Ze Dahr treat -- last time I flew red eye on Mint, I woke up prior to landing and found my neighbor liked them so much he ate mine as well as his!

Lucky asks:
If this flight is representative of what the Mint experience is usually like, ......

Yes it is -- based on my two flights in Mint last fall.

PS Greg, the attendant on my first flight, cheerfully gave me when we landed an extra Mar ze Dahr treat to take to my hubby

@VX_Flier
Looks like someone at JetBlue knows a bit about audio. Still, open ear is a strange choice for an airplane.

That's why Delta does not allow them to come to MSP.

Great write-up, Ben! Got to try out the suite seat and standard seat last year at JetBlue's Mint launch event in San Francisco—as you noted, the suite seat's foot cubby is small and slightly cramped; Conversely, the standard seat's foot cubby is more spacious and comfortable. Obviously, the standard seat gives you less privacy, but for people who (a) are traveling with another person and/or (b) prioritize sleep on their Mint flight, the standard seat would be a better selection. Hope that helps!

Deviled Eggs on a plane? Those are going to be some smelly farts.

You were traveling with Ford but still opted for suites rather than side by side seats?

A question about the suites; obviously there's a whole lot more storage space and a door, but is the actual seat any different? It doesn't really look like it. I get the feeling that when you and other bloggers say that you can get suites for the same price people are picturing something like getting a Singapore Airlines Suite for the price of a Business Class seat when in reality it looks like the real estate for the seat is the exact same.

Mr. Schlappig,

Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for the great review!
It was an absolute pleasure to have you on our flight. I do hope I'll have the honor to serve you again.

Cheers 🙂

Agda.

I have to give JetBlue major props for choosing Grado headphones. They are a family owned small business that designs and produces all their products in Brooklyn, NY (although some of the subassemblies, such has the plastic housings on the SR60 are manufactured elsewhere). I think it's brilliant that JetBlue, a NY based company, is promoting local businesses and made in USA products. Good on them!

I hope this strategy doesn't backfire on them. While the headphones themselves are absolutely fantastic (and MASSIVELY better than Ben's beloved "Blows") they are completely the wrong choice for airline use, for the reasons many have already stated. I tried my Grados on an airplane once and failed. Not only do they emit as much sound out the back as out the front, but they let in just as much noise. Which means you have to turn up the volume. Which means you're providing even more involuntary entertainment for those around you. After apologizing profusely to those around me I meekly put them away. Next flight I was rocking a pair of Etymotic in ear monitors...basically ear plugs that happen to play music. Much, MUCH better!

I have a feeling Ben's less than enthusiastic assessment of the Grados was heavily influenced by their complete lack of any ambient noise attenuation. Had he heard them in a quiet environment his opinion would likely have been much higher. However that's all academic as the Grados, and other makes of similar open-backed design, are completely useless for Ben.

Thanks to everyone who educated those of us (me) not in the know about Grado headphones. I've been a Bose groupie since 2003, but would happily try out a better product. To be honest, I don't think I'd ever even *heard* of Grado untll until this post and comments.

Ben -

And now you know why I've ditched AA for JetBlue -- the company actually gives a #$@t about its customers. And isn't it nice to have FA's that seem to like their jobs.
Simply put - the airline is brilliantly managed and shows what a U.S. carrier can do when you recognize that the customer is ALL that matters.

And yes - the company tries to support local businesses a la Grado 🙂

On a somewhat tangential note, I just received my 13th "your flight has changed" email from AA -- a noon flight departure switched to 5:15AM and a 3.5 hour layover instead of an hour. So I am 13 for 13 in changes to AA tickets I booked over the past 5 months. Every single flight I booked was changed -- and AA expects me, a lowly EP customer, to remain loyal?? Adios Dougie -- am done.

Doesn't Mint have a Ch9 feature too? Was it enabled?

@ Agda -- OMG, just when I thought JetBlue couldn't get any better! Hope to fly with you again as well -- thanks for the great service!

I have tried Mint I think 2 years (if not 3 years) ago when they launched and the experience really was excellent - the crew were really personable and it was so different. Did you get the passenger feedback email later? I thought some of the questions they asked were very interesting

The food looks pretty disgusting. I'll take the meals on AA (including the ice cream sundae) any day over chicken thighs. Gross.

@Brian - I've flown this three times now, and the food was GREAT each time. (And more than I could finish, too.) You get to choose from five dishes, too.

Funny my first thought was also "open-ear headphones on an airplane??" That's absolutely idiotic. I made this mistake 20 years ago with my old Sennheiser 600's. Totally useless, and never did it again. Did no one at Jet Blue EVER test these? They won't work on a plane!

Anyway, it seems like if you're going to screw something up, they made a good choice. Everyone has their own headphones, and they nailed everything else. Good compromise.

@Agda & @ Lucky: Okay!!! I'm sold on Jet Blue and will look forward to my first trip with this carrier in the hopeful near future.! Not only was I swayed by the review, but that the flight attendant left such a wonderful and gracious comment here. Kudos on Jet Blue and Agda for knowing and understanding what creates loyalty to a brand, and for Agda having the courtesy and outstanding professionalism to treat a passenger as a welcomed guest. With what I suspect was genuine warmth and a smile, Agda just massively shaded the national competitors with their put upon cattle car indifference. It's about time a transportation service provider gets it, and more so, exceeds reasonable expectation!

Thanks Ben for another in-depth review. Have just had to choose between Mint and AA Business transcon, and have opted for this - being able to snag a suite in both directions. Excited to try it out.

As someone in the industry I can easily say the reason jet blue is so fantastic is that they pay so well. The legacy carriers pay their people what they can get away. Not so with blue.

A bit late to the party, but I just flew Mint for the first time JFK to SFO, and I can confirm everything you said above. This level of service seems to be their standard, I don't even remember when I last had such fantastic FAs on a domestic flight. They were genuinely kind, enthusiastic, concerned about our well being and always going the extra mile. I was so surprised that they also consistently addressed me by name, without having a cheat sheet (as far as I could tell).

It's just the little things sometimes, but as you noted they came around the cabin right after take off to ask if we needed anything from the overhead bins. I wasn't expecting that at all! I thought the hand signed note is also a lovely attention.

Food was wonderful (completely different menu) and both cappuccinos I had were excellent :).

Since the time you wrote this review, the amenity kit changed and is no longer Birchbox, it is now catered by Hopper and comes in a nice thick fabric pouch. It doesn't have nearly as many items as the one you had, though.
Anyway, goodbye AA :)!

Thank you for this thorough review. I'm a bit of a nervous flyer and am traveling from Boston to LA to see my son and his family in March. Your review helped me with my seat choice (2A both ways) and actually, I hope I have the same flight attendants as that personal touch is calming. I'll touch base after the flight!

I was on flew Mint on the second day of operation. I was so giddy to have the suite and after a long vacation, was looking forward to closing the door of my suite and going to sleep. However, behind me was an older Russian couple whose son paid for a last minute upgrade for them but he didn't upgrade himself. He then spent the first 3 hours of the flight hovering over my suite talking to them in Russian with a booming voice. I gave up on sleeping and went over to the flight attendant and asked them to have the man return to his seat as he was keeping me awake. I asked for them to wait 5 minutes after I sat back down to tell him. They did and he did. After that 2 other passengers stopped by and thanked me for complaining. They too wanted to sleep on this flight and found the constant talking and the man standing in the aisle bothersome. Following the flight I received a customer survey and related my experience in the comment section. Two days later JetBlue issued me a $250.00 flight voucher for service failure. Since then I have flown Mint 3 more times and the service has been impeccable. My next mission, for all airlines is to have them teach their flight attendants not to stomp up and down the aisle on overnight flights.