To kick off our journey to Kyoto, we first flew from Miami to Los Angeles in JetBlue’s Airbus A321 Mint enterprise class. Not too long ago a lot of the main focus at JetBlue has been on the service’s A321LR Mint enterprise class, which is an all-new product. I used to be excited to as soon as once more try JetBlue’s “traditional” enterprise class product, since that is the extra widespread product anyway.
I’m completely happy to report that JetBlue’s Mint enterprise class expertise continues to be glorious, and the airline nonetheless has an edge. What an absolute deal with the JetBlue Mint expertise is on a home flight, as there’s no higher method to fly coast-to-coast.
How I booked our JetBlue Mint tickets
Ford and I each had JetBlue credit that have been expiring quickly (from earlier tickets we needed to cancel), so we booked customary income tickets. Particularly, we may e-book the next in enterprise class for $619 per particular person:
9/26 B62986 Miami to Los Angeles departing 6:25AM arriving 9:17AM
That’s actually nice pricing for a flat mattress product on a transcontinental flight. Not solely was JetBlue charging lower than American, however all of American’s flights that day have been operated by plane with out flat beds.
JetBlue A321 Mint boarding
We had checked in on-line the night time earlier than our flight, and as normal, made it to Miami Airport very quickly, given the shortage of site visitors early within the morning. Our flight was scheduled to board at 5:40AM, 45 minutes earlier than our 6:25AM departure (that looks like a extremely lengthy boarding time for a slim physique jet, however…).
We arrived about an hour earlier than departure, and went via the safety checkpoint in Concourse E. Our flight can be departing from gate E22, which required taking the prepare. As a lot as I don’t love Concourse D in Miami, the opposite elements of the airport are even worse.
One weak level of the JetBlue expertise is that the airline doesn’t have lounges anyplace. Nevertheless, since we have been originating in Miami and will time our airport arrival appropriately, that wasn’t a difficulty, as we arrived on the gate simply minutes earlier than boarding began.
Positive sufficient, boarding began precisely at 5:40AM, with these needing further time being invited to board first, adopted by Mint passengers and Mosaic members. I admire JetBlue’s easy boarding move, in comparison with United, the place it looks like a dozen teams are known as forward of top notch.
JetBlue A321 Mint cabin & seats
On the ahead door we have been greeted by one of many pleasant Mint flight attendants, and pointed towards our seats. JetBlue’s “traditional” Airbus A321 Mint cabin consists of 16 seats, unfold throughout 5 rows.
JetBlue selected a model of the Thompson Aero Vantage seat for its unique Mint cabins, so seats are in a staggered configuration.
Within the first, third, and fifth row, seats are in a 2-2 structure. These are completely good seats, with a purposeful design. They even have fairly a little bit of privateness between the window and aisle seats, which is sweet in the event you’re touring alone, however maybe much less good in the event you’re touring with somebody.
Ford ended up sitting in seat 5A, the window seat on the left within the final row. Earlier than anybody thinks I deserted him there, the cabin solely had 10 of 16 seats occupied, and he had the complete fifth row to himself. That meant we may transfer between seats, and sit subsequent to at least one one other once we wished to.
The star of the present on this configuration, although, are the 4 “throne” seats. These are situated in rows two and 4 (I used to be seated in 4A), and are in a 1-1 structure. These staggered configurations are so environment friendly as a result of the footwell for one seat is to the facet of the seats in entrance. So because the rows round these throne seats have a pair of seats on both sides, you find yourself getting fairly a bit of additional area.
Every seat has a private tv, and in Mint the screens are 15″.
The throne seats have an enormous counter on both sides of the seat, the place you possibly can simply place issues through the flight.
The suitable facet of the seat had two units of shops, every of which had an AC energy outlet plus a USB-A outlet.
To the suitable facet of the seat was a storage compartment that might be closed, a studying gentle, and a water bottle holder.
There was additionally yet one more outlet, with each AC and USB-A charging. Discuss a charging overkill!
The tray desk prolonged out from the facet of the storage compartment, and it was a single floor. This was at the very least simpler to make use of than among the different tray tables you’ll discover in these Vantage seats, which require a level to function.
The armrest contained each the seat controls, in addition to the leisure controller (which I discovered pointless, because the leisure was additionally touchscreen).
Additionally, I can’t neglect absolutely the coolest function of those throne seats, which is that they’ve privateness doorways. Simply push the little button to the facet of the seat, and the door will slide out. It’s fairly outstanding how JetBlue was the primary airline on the earth to introduce doorways on enterprise class seats.
The overhead console had each a studying gentle and particular person air nozzle.
JetBlue’s traditional Mint product is holding up very properly. The cabin was fairly nicely maintained, and I additionally seen how the seats had been reupholstered in comparison with a few years in the past, and I discovered the padding to be a lot better.
If I had one criticism of the traditional Mint cabin, it’s that I discover the plastic dividers at every row to be sort of cheap-looking. I imply, I suppose they’re supposed so as to add further privateness to seats, or one thing, however they’re simply sort of scratched up, and don’t really feel very premium.
JetBlue’s Mint product is such an incredible expertise, particularly in comparison with what you’ll discover on most airways on home flights. It’s wild how for the previous decade, JetBlue has charged the identical for the usual Mint seats as for the “throne” seats, as they’ve simply been out there on a primary come, first served foundation. That’s anticipated to vary quickly, and I’m curious to see what pricing is like.
JetBlue Mint facilities
There was no scarcity of facilities on this flight in JetBlue Mint. For one, there was Tuft & Needle bedding ready at my seat, which was glorious. This included a luxurious pillow, plus a comfy however not overly heat blanket. When mixed with the higher padding on the JetBlue Mint seat (in comparison with years in the past), it’s very straightforward to get comfy.
There was additionally an amenity package (or maybe extra precisely, a cardboard pouch) for every Mint passenger. This included a dental package, eyeshades, earplugs, socks, a face wipe, an electrolyte drink combine, and lip balm. Whereas the package itself isn’t nice, the contents are strong, particularly for a daytime home flight.
There have been additionally a pair of Grasp & Dynamic noise canceling headphones for every passenger, that are among the many higher headphones you’ll discover on any airline.
Then there was a bottle of water for every enterprise class passenger.
Final however not least, there was the menu and drink listing.
Throughout boarding, the pleasant New York-based Mint flight attendants, Kieran and Sara, launched themselves to every passenger, and requested if we had any questions in regards to the seat. I don’t keep in mind the final time I’ve obtained that sort of an introduction and rundown on some other US airline. JetBlue actually is a step above. Pre-departure drinks of selection have been additionally provided.
I requested for a cup of espresso. JetBlue serves Dunkin’ espresso, which I have to say I choose to the drip espresso served on different US airways. I additionally like how the cup is served with a lid, which makes it straightforward to carry onto the drink throughout takeoff, if you would like.
JetBlue Mint leisure & Wi-Fi
JetBlue’s plane are identified for having a formidable collection of leisure. In Mint, every passenger has a 15″ private touchscreen. Let’s begin with the unhealthy information — the display is moderately low decision, and at this level undoubtedly doesn’t really feel innovative.
Luckily the choice is in any other case fairly good, with every part from DIRECTV, to SiriusXM, to a library of films and TV reveals.
My favourite function, in fact, is the power to watch the progress of the flight, even when JetBlue’s map function is a bit outdated.
Extra thrilling than the seat again leisure (at the very least to me) is that JetBlue gives free Viasat Wi-Fi. You’ll be able to log-in with only one click on, and also you don’t even need to be a member of the loyalty program to make use of this.
Whereas Viasat Wi-Fi is the perfect main supplier of inflight Wi-Fi, it’s not stunning that speeds are considerably slower than on airways that cost for Wi-Fi, given the elevated use of the system. It’s good to have free Wi-Fi for simply casually texting and searching the online, however for these seeking to get work executed, the Wi-Fi speeds aren’t wonderful.
JetBlue A321 departure from Miami
Boarding was actually environment friendly, because the flight was solely about half full. By 6:05AM (20 minutes forward of departure) it was introduced that boarding was full, and the door was closed. At that time the captain made his welcome aboard announcement, informing us of our flight time of 5hr16min.
The crew then started their guide security demonstration. I’ve all the time discovered it unusual how JetBlue does guide security demonstrations, despite the fact that the airline has seat again televisions on all of its plane. Is that this a cash saving factor (when it comes to the manufacturing price of the video), or…?
By 6:10AM we started our pushback, and at 6:15AM we started our taxi. We had only a quick 10 minute taxi to our departure runway, the place we have been cleared for takeoff at 6:25AM. That was our preliminary scheduled departure time, so it’s superior while you takeoff on the time you have been supposed to depart the gate.
We had a clean climb out, however regardless of that, the seatbelt signal stayed on for round half-hour (as appears to be customary on US airways).
JetBlue Mint breakfast service
Breakfast was served on this transcon flight. Although breakfast is ordinarily the least thrilling meal of the day (particularly on an airplane), JetBlue nonetheless manages to make it good. You could find the JetBlue Mint breakfast menu beneath.
You could find the JetBlue Mint drink listing beneath.
Simply 10 minutes after takeoff, the crew got here via the cabin to take meal orders. I like how JetBlue has espresso primarily based drinks (together with cappuccinos) in Mint, although sadly on this flight, the milk frother was damaged, so I needed to change my espresso choice up a bit.
About 35 minutes after takeoff I used to be introduced my after takeoff drink, which was an iced espresso, and that was served with a butter croissant (which was actually good — at the very least the couple of bites that I had, as a result of it was large).
JetBlue has a really constant and untraditional eating idea. The menu usually has 5 completely different dishes to select from, and you’ll choose three of them. They’re then all served on a single tray (for lunch and dinner flights there are additionally desserts, served individually).
I chosen the next three choices:
- Greek yogurt with strawberries and walnuts
- Avocado toast with goat cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, and crostini
- Frittata with roasted potatoes, pink peppers, herb and parmigiano salad
All three dishes have been glorious, and I notably favored the frittata. The avocado toast wasn’t precisely what I used to be anticipating (it was extra like crostinis with guacamole), however I nonetheless loved it. This was leaps and bounds higher than something I’ve been served for breakfast on some other US airline.
After breakfast, I made a decision to have a cup of drip espresso. I liked the cup it was served in, plus the little container with the milk.
I loved the dawn view as we made progress towards Los Angeles, and apparently we stayed fully over land with our routing.
JetBlue A321 Mint toilet
On the entrance of the Airbus A321’s cabin was the Mint toilet. It’s maybe the factor that JetBlue places the least thought into in the case of the Mint expertise, as there have been no particular facilities, or something. At the very least it had considerably much less site visitors than the opposite bathrooms, and due to this fact was presumably cleaner.
JetBlue A321 Mint enterprise class mattress
Earlier than I even discuss mattress consolation, I simply need to briefly touch upon one thing. I’m a morning particular person, so I received a full night time of sleep previous to my flight, and received up at my normal time. Heck, we didn’t even set an alarm. So personally on a daytime flight like this, I need to be awake the complete time, benefit from the views, and many others.
I appear to be within the minority, although, as a result of the cabin was pitch black for the complete flight. I in fact don’t need to be the one jerk who retains his window open when all the opposite home windows are closed, however I’m not an enormous fan of how crews usually attempt to encourage everybody to shut their home windows on a daytime flight. Sorry y’all ain’t morning folks, however… 😉
Anyway, on to the mattress consolation. I discovered the mattress to be very comfy, particularly due to the bedding and seat padding.
With these staggered configurations, every seat has a footwell you have to place your ft into when reclined, and the footwell within the throne seats is a bit tighter than within the different seats. So it undoubtedly does really feel comfortable within the absolutely reclined place, nevertheless it’s additionally vital to recollect it is a slim physique jet…
JetBlue Mint enterprise class snacks
Whereas the crew regularly checked to see if passengers wished anything to drink, a snack basket wasn’t ever handed round. Nevertheless, instantly behind the Mint enterprise class cabin was the snack bar, which has all types of packaged snacks that passengers might help themselves to. It’s simply one other approach that the JetBlue expertise in financial system is much more nice than on different airways.
Along with that, shortly earlier than touchdown, the crew handed out chocolate coated cashews to Mint passengers. I keep in mind again within the day, JetBlue would move out Milk Bar treats previous to touchdown, however I suppose that has been minimize.
JetBlue Mint service
The service in JetBlue Mint was nice, as all the time. The crews in Mint actually appear to be they get pleasure from their jobs, they usually really present attentive and constant service. I don’t know why different US airways can’t provide the identical elevated service stage in premium cabins that JetBlue gives.
JetBlue A321 arrival in Los Angeles
At round 8AM Los Angeles time, the captain introduced that we might quickly begin our descent, and can be touchdown in round 40 minutes. Positive sufficient, we began our descent round 10 minutes later. The views approaching LAX are constantly mesmerizing…
The seatbelt signal was turned on round 8:25AM. From there we simply had an extra quarter-hour of flying, and touched down at LAX on runway 25L at 8:40AM.
From there we had a moderately prolonged taxi to our arrival gate at Terminal 5, the place we arrived at 8:55AM, over 20 minutes forward of schedule.
Backside line
JetBlue Mint continues to be a tremendous method to journey throughout the nation. JetBlue’s enterprise class product gives comfy seats (particularly in the event you can snag a throne seat), in depth leisure, free Wi-Fi, legitimately tasty meals and drinks, and pleasant service. Actually, what extra may you ask for on a home flight? It simply amazes me how no different US airline can provide this stage of service constantly.
What’s your tackle the JetBlue Mint expertise?