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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:
In this post:
A ridiculously swanky-looking cabin
While people generally have a preference for wide body planes over narrow body planes, there is something I love about a gorgeous narrow body cabin, and that’s an area where JetBlue excels. Seriously, how spiffy is this cabin?! Previously I thought La Compagnie’s A321neo cabin was the coolest out there, but this one might just take the cake.
Doors at every seat
Okay, while the doors aren’t that high and don’t provide total privacy, since there’s still something nice about having doors at your seat. And since the door is across from where you sit, nobody should feel claustrophobic from this arrangement (and if you do, you can just keep your door open).
Incredible, personalized service
JetBlue has long offered exceptional service in Mint, and that concept has been elevated even further with the new London flights, which are operated by a subset of specially chosen and trained flight attendants. The service on JetBlue is truly flawless, both in terms of the friendliness of the crew, and the attention to detail and personalization.
Restaurant quality food
When most major US airlines serve a salad, it tastes like leftovers from a taco bar. When they serve lasagna, it tastes like a twice reheated frozen dinner lasagna. Yet somehow JetBlue manages to serve food that tastes restaurant quality. Novel concept in the airline industry, eh?
Dirty martinis
My go-to cocktail is a dirty martini (or more accurately, a filthy martini). It’s almost as if JetBlue read my mind, because the airline has a few signature cocktails, including dirty martinis. Yum.
Cappuccinos
JetBlue is killing it with its coffee game. The airline has cappuccinos, espressos, americanos, etc. You won’t find those on other airlines in the United States.
Iced oat cappuccinos
I’m calling this out separately because it’s something I love so much. It’s not just that the airline serves cappuccinos and espressos, but you can order iced cappuccinos, and JetBlue even has oat milk, if you’d like.
Breakfast to-go
The New York to London flight is quite short, so some people may elect to skip breakfast to get extra rest. JetBlue has an awesome to-go breakfast option, where you can get a breakfast bar, a pressed juice, and a La Colombe cold brew. I find that to be a very thoughtful selection.
Free, high-speed Wi-Fi
JetBlue is known for offering free Wi-Fi on all flights, and the transatlantic service is no exception. What a treat to get a one-click connection to a fast Wi-Fi connection for as many devices as you’d like.
Endless entertainment options
While lots of airlines have great inflight entertainment nowadays, JetBlue’s library of movies and TV shows impressed me. It was endless, and I found the system easy to use.
Bottom line
I’m thrilled to see JetBlue finally entering the transatlantic market, and am so happy I had the chance to give this a try. JetBlue is off to an amazing start, as the airline has put a lot of effort into creating an incredible product.
I look forward to sharing my full review soon. Suffice to say that there are some areas for improvement, but overall this is an incredibly good product, and should disrupt the premium transatlantic market.
What are your impressions of JetBlue’s transatlantic Mint product?
I remember when you first reported on espresso/cappuccino availability in AA Flagship First transcons back in 2014. Have they mothballed the machines?
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...
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?
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...
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.
So what? Nobody chooses an airline because of their food and coffee.
I'd be interested in how you rank Mint with La Compagnie overall!
Wow - a US based transat airline that might actually be decent!
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!
So, if a couple is flying and want to sit together in Mint ... not possible?
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
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
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.
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.
how bad of a delay would you say, generally speaking?
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!
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.
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.
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.
The US has a terrible coffee game generally, airlines esp. included
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.
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.
How much does a cup of cappuccino cost???
@ 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.
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!
Wow, it has been a LONG time since a "10 things" sneak preview blog. Miss those - keep them coming!
@ pstm91 @ Steve -- Appreciate the positive feedback. Happy you're enjoying them, so I guess I'll keep them coming!
@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.
The food and drinks look fantastic! I hope other airlines take notice... surely they can do the same.
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 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. ;)
Good point. Kudos JetBlue for thinking of everything! :)