I just had the chance to fly JetBlue’s new Mint Suite between New York and London. A full review of the flight will be published in a couple of days, but in the meantime I wanted to provide a quick teaser of the things that I liked most about this experience. In no particular order:
Continue reading: JetBlue Mint To London: 10 Things I Loved
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
The breakfast to go is probably not worth the hassle of having to declare foodstuffs to customs and go through the red channel.
@ Sean M. -- Or it makes a great snack while you're waiting in a two hour immigration line. 😉
Best way to redeem points is via something like Chase Sapphire Reserve travel portal, right? Otherwise paying cash via Amex Platinum, Chase Portal, Citi Prestige (5x)
The food and drinks look fantastic! I hope other airlines take notice... surely they can do the same.
Wow, it has been a LONG time since a "10 things" sneak preview blog. Miss those - keep them coming!
This is what the every day blog readers want. A trip preview, and a 10 things preview then an actual trip report. Amazing stuff, more of this and less clickbait duct-tape stories! Cant wait for the full report!
Again, how everyone does not see this as light years above what any US based airline is offering is beyond me. They must be smoking crack. This should be the standard, not the exception.
@ Kenneth -- All food & drinks are free in Mint business class. Cappuccinos aren't available for purchase in economy, but rather they have drip coffee there.
@ pstm91 @ Steve -- Appreciate the positive feedback. Happy you're enjoying them, so I guess I'll keep them coming!
Very nice run-down of what you liked on B6. What did you think of the hard product? Was the seat itself comfortable? It looks a little narrow, but that's the trend in business these days.
Is coffee really that rare in the US? Even when I take shorthaul business class, they usually have espresso. I would be very surprised not to have it in longhaul business class.
@Ben reminds us of the good ol' days! Also helps I'm hoping to fly this in October. Looking forward to the Dorado review as well.
Must be a Prelude to FA chatter in the galley . No one is sleeping proper in row 1 on an a321 red eye unless you’re taking sedatives. The noise radiates through the narrow fuselage.
I enjoyed my experience on this product. If JetBlue can match status from competitors and pricing is favorable this product will quickly gain an passengers.
Did you experience any light / noise issues being in row 1, given the lack of curtains? How about disturbances and / or foot traffic from the economy cabin, again with the lack of curtains and a "refreshment center" between the cabins? Finally, what are your thoughts on the lack of a mattress pad as part of the bedding set? Seems like a glaring omission especially given how unsanitary sleeping directly on the seat surface is!
Since they started Mint, I have flown with them consistently. Service/comfort wise I have never been disappointed and the value has always been better than the big 3. The 2 consistent let downs though are no lounges and jetblue always seem to have a flight delay issue. Lately however, the value doesn't seem to be there as I find their prices consistently higher than the other 3. Looking forward (hopefully not much longer) to fly them overseas.
they will be taking shares (NYC to/ from LHr) from big guns for awhile. I predict like their transcon, JetBlue prices will start to creep up till they actually become the most expensive tickets around. Then the boom will be over. I shall enjoy flying them across Atlantic Ocean while the good prices last.
Will UA Polaris compete with Mint if UA Polaris as it was known pre-COVID returns?
Not if they can't be bothered to open the lounges anytime soon and up the F&B quality
Looks great. I'm a Brit living on the East Cost US and thinking of going back for a week very soon. Looking at B6 as an option.
How was LHR immigration line? One of the things that's putting me off!
JetBlue is consistently near the bottom of US airlines in on-time performance. They either will have to isolate their international flights to keep them on-time or you run a very high risk of misconnecting if you are flying a domestic flight to a B6 gateway to connect to an international flight.
First and foremost, airline passengers want to get to their destination on schedule. Based on years of history, other airlines can get you where you purchased tickets better than JetBlue.
You can eat together if you sit on the first row (the Mint Studios) but that's about the only time you can be together
It doesn't seem to be the time for American to offer the sloppiest service I have ever seen in their business Class on the same route (reverse, actually), but this is exactly what they did yesterday:
Driest lump of corned beef hardly reheated (with pretty but ice cold veggies), inedible starter I still do not figure what it pretended to be, the cheapest Champagne available, it reminded me of Western Airlines when it was served from a pressure tank through a pistol.
MAYBE the ice cream small pot halfway through the flight (a first on AA for me) is an "extra attention" caused by Mint's arrival. It might have been perceived as such if it hadn't been served at room temperature, dripping, and obviously out of the ice box for an hour or so.
The goodies in the galley were... chips. Nothing else
By the way, the flight had about 20 pax in Business, 3 in PE and maybe 20 in Y, this when AA flights between JFK and LHR are down to two a day
Don't read me wrong, empty planes have their charm, but not for the airline. Ben, was your Jetblue flight fuller than mine last night?
I remember when you first reported on espresso/cappuccino availability in AA Flagship First transcons back in 2014. Have they mothballed the machines?