JetBlue Mint Review Airbus A321 (LAX-JFK)
Jetblue’s Mint is their version of business class. In fact, JetBlue is the only airline that offers lie-flat on every single business class itinerary. The caveat here is that thier premium cabin route offerings are much more limited than other airlines.
Mint features lie-flat seating, premium food and beverage options, JetBlue’s awesome entertainment line up and includes expedited check-in and security. Check out the Mint site for more details.
Pricing
JetBlue, like most airlines has variable ticket pricing based on a number of factors. Tickets on Mint seem to have a more set pricing pattern (at least at the low end.) Though, I’ve seen Mint tickets for the same route vary up to $2,000. Award ticket prices are directly correlated with the cash price of a ticket. My flight was $759 cash or 57,500 + $5.60. I have the JetBlue plus card so I get a 10% rebate on the points I used. You can find booking details and an example of TrueBlue point’s valuations in this post comparing First Class trans-con flight options.
Check-In
Mint fares include expedited security and check-in. One amazing perk of flying Mint is that there’s a booth in the JFK terminal only for Mint customers to check baggage and take care of any other pre-security tasks. Both of these things save a ton of time and work really well. I’ve never seen a line at the booth, which makes sense since the Mint routes are fairly limited.
Boarding
My flight was scheduled to begin boarding at 1:10 pm, I showed up at 1:13 and they had already called my group so i went straight to the front and was sitting in my seat by 1:15. Mint customers are called first along with Mosaic members (after the usual group of people who need extra time boarding.)
The Cabin and Seats
I’ve always found the Mint Cabin to be very visually appealing, probably because blue and grey is my favorite color combination and it has a very clean layout. I generally book my tickets well in advance but this time I waited till the last minute and had to choose a row with two seats as opposed to the single “suites”. If you look at the layout below, you’ll notice that rows 2 and 4 only have one seat on each side of the aisle. This is definitely my favorite option since you don’t have to worry about anyone having to get up for bathroom breaks or annoying chatty neighbors.
The seat is relatively comfortable and has several different reclining options. One thing I really appreciate about the Mint seats is the ability to raise your foot rest to maximum height regardless of how the back is situated. I like to sit straight up with my legs out and these are the perfect seats for that position.
The seats also have a massage function with various settings but it’s definitely lackluster and not great quality. If massage worked better, that would be an amazing attribute.
As you can see from the pictures, there is more than enough space for anyone to lie completely flat. I do wish there were more of a pillow built in to the headrest as the pillows they give you are not that great at propping you up but I’m going to file this under champagne problems so it’s a non-issue.
One detail that Jetblue definitely overlooked is the ability to angle the tv downwards while you’re in a fully flat position. It’s very difficult to see the screen while lying down and that sort of hampered my experience a bit since I wasn’t able to fall asleep.
Service, Food and Extras
My food was actually great this time. Much better than the food served on my last Mint Flight from JFK to LAS. As you can see from the menu, the drink list is nothing special but that’s typically the case with domestic flights.
Unfortunately, the service on this flight was not very good. I had to ask for everything multiple times which drives me crazy, especially when I end up having to go to them to get a bottle of water that I asked for 3 times. Also, the Mint attendant offered me a refill on my cocktail only once.
The amenity bags are adorable and a definite plus to flying with Mint. Most domestic flights do not offer any type of kit at all.
Conclusion
Mint is overall an excellent domestic first option and offers some of the best seats. The value is there if you’re able to book at the lower end of the range. I do think they could work a bit harder to make sure the service is more consistent.
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 Offering Fully Flat Seats at an affordable price, Mint is one of the better options for domestic First.){kind=link}
Hey Bethany, great review! Sorry to hear about your bad service experience…that definitely seems out of the norm for Mint 🙁
Come on, JetBlue, offer a 2018 Mosaic challenge. Last year it was offered around July 15th.
+1 Please please please haha it’s the reason I’ve been mint for the past few years and keep booking all my domestic flights on jetBlue