Note: This flight was taken in February 2022. Certain travel restrictions and service protocols described in this review may not be reflective of the current state of travel.
Introduction
I’ve shared the background of why I took this trip in an earlier post Introduction: The Three Year Chase. I do recommend reading that, to understand the context behind this trip.
After a few days in San Francisco, it was time for another eagerly anticipated flight. Not as eagerly anticipated as the ANA First class that took me to San Francisco in the first place, but something I was looking forward to nonetheless. It was time for Jetblue’s new Mint Suite. I’d flown Jetblue before, back in early 2019. I thought they were really good then. When they introduced the new Mint Suite and Mint Studio on selected A321neos, I knew I’d have to try it one day. That opportunity arose with this round-the-world trip. This had to be the way to get across the USA.
This was another stellar flight on Jetblue. The Mint Suite was a fantastic narrowbody business class, and better than many widebody products too. Mint catering has got to be one of the best business class food around too. Service was perhaps not quite as good as my previous Mint experience, but definitely still better than the average US legacy carrier. In my opinion, Jetblue is the best value-for-money way to cross the USA, and possibly trans-Atlantic too.
Booking
I booked my Mint ticket from Jetblue for USD708.60 (SGD956). Jetblue usually has some of the cheapest transcontinental business class tickets in the USA. This price was a little higher than I would have liked, but was ok for a 5h or so flight.
When I took this trip, Jetblue had 2 LAX-JFK vv flights per day operated by aircraft with the new Mint Suites. I was originally booked on B6 1524, a 2.10pm departure, getting into New York at 10.27pm that evening. This was not ideal, given I only had one night in New York planned, but I had plans for a long LAX layover. When I had planned this trip, a Portugal transit (next leg after New York) with my itinerary required a pre-departure test. Thus, I intended to get a test done at LAX. Partly for that reason, and also because the cheapest SFO-LAX flights that would allow me time to do the test were in the early morning, I ended up with about 5h between flights at LAX.
However, while I was in SF, Portugal dropped the testing requirement if vaccinated to EU standard. (A Singapore vaccination certificate was mutually recognised by EU). That left me with a long waste of time in LAX. When checking in online for my Alaska flight, I attempted a same-day change, but all the possible alternatives were full in First. I resorted to hoping I could change the Jetblue flight instead, to the earlier flight also operated with the new Mint Suite. It would come down to whether Alaska arrived on time and delivered my checked bag within their 20min guarantee…
On the Ground
I won’t review the Alaska SFO-LAX flight, since it was a really quick domestic hop. However, we did end up arriving early, and despite having to wait for a gate after landing in LAX, there was still a chance I could make the 10.34am B6 324. Normally it was the later B6 524 that got the new Mint Suite, but operational changes that 2 days had seen one of the Mint Suite equipped aircraft – N2142J – overnight in LAX and operate B6 324 that day instead.
Check-in & boarding
Alaska lived up to their 20min guarantee, so I grabbed my bag and hightailed it from T6 to T5, which Jetblue operates out of. I made it to the Mint counter around 1h before the 10.34am departure of B6 324. I asked if I could do a same-day change from B6 1524 to B6 324. The check-in agent, and a colleague who came to help, struggled with it, but eventually got it done after 10min. Still time to spare before the checked baggage deadline. Unfortunately because of how late I’d changed to this flight and checked-in, only the last row of Mint was available, so I ended up in 8A. This would turn out to be a terrible seat, which I’ll explain later on.
Funnily, they somehow got confused and thought I had TrueBlue Mosaic status (I don’t), and didn’t charge me the same-day change fee. I suspect that confusion and trying to get round it was what contributed to the amount of time it took to sort things out. I just hope the staff didn’t get in trouble for not collecting the fee!
With TSA PreCheck through Global Entry, I was able to get through security quickly and got to the gate before boarding commenced. Jetblue doesn’t operate its own or partner with third parties for lounge access, so it was straight to the gate.
Boarding commenced a couple of minutes late, but I eventually boarded around 10am, eager to experience the new Mint Suite.
Onboard
The Seat
The Jetblue Min Suite is configured in a 1-1 herringbone, with all seats having aisle access. This is unlike original Mint, which alternates between 2-2 and 1-1. Original mint uses the Thompson Vantage, which Singapore Airlines has also fitted their 737-8 MAX with. The new Mint Suite continues with Thompson Aero Seating, but utilises the VantageSolo instead. The main disadvantage of the VantageSolo, as far as I’m concerned, is the herringbone layout. With a herringbone layout, the passenger is seated an angle to the direction of travel, and facing the aisle. There’s two problems with this: firstly the window is somewhat behind the passenger, requiring some contortions to look out; secondly, there’s a constant view of any foot traffic past the seat. Jetblue has partially mitigated this second problem by installing sliding doors. Unfortunately on this flight, the doors were non-functional.
I really liked the colour tones of the cabin and the suite. Jetblue uses a lot of blue in the cabin of course, from the seats to the walls and lighting. It makes the cabin look quite cool and stylish. The grey soft materials and wood finish tabletop add a touch of elegance to the Mint Suite.
Legroom in the Mint Suite is good, although the seat did feel a bit tight. It’s probably more to do with the design, being surrounded with seat walls all round, another issue with reverse herringbone layouts. Height is a problem too. This new aircraft was fitted with Airbus Airspace XL overhead bins. Great for storing bags, but easy to bang one’s head when standing up. It doesn’t help that the Mint Suite is slightly elevated above the cabin, giving even less head clearance.
The seat goes full flat of course. The seat cushions were built with Tuft & Needle Adaptive Foam cushions, for a more comfortable sleep. I did find the seat to have more cushioning and softer than the average business class seat.
The seat controls were within easy reach from the seat. These were fairly intuitive, with presets for takeoff/landing, lounging and lie-flat. The backrest, footrest and seat position could each be manually adjusted if desired. There were buttons for the do-not-disturb and lighting as well. In addition to the main set of seat controls, there were a couple of buttons below the side console tabletop. These were convenient for adjusting the seat upwards from lie-flat, rather than having to stretch out awkwardly for the main controls.
Typical of business class seats nowadays, the seatbelt was a three-point setup. The shoulder strap was only required for takeoff and landing.
One thing the Mint Suite has is loads of storage for small items during flight. There’s a storage beneath the footwell, suitable for shoes. Above the footwell, there was a drawer which could take a laptop or tablet and other small items.
In the shell between the seat and window, there was several storage compartments. There was a netted pocket near the floor, a shelf good for a smartphone, a slot for a water bottle, and an enclosed compartment right by the window. Jetblue smartly placed the universal power outlet and USB-A port together with the smartphone shelf. Just be careful the phone doesn’t slip into the seat though.
Of course, the side console has a nice large flat surface for placing things when cruising.
There were loads of power sources to keep devices charged. Above the tabletop, there was another power outlet and USB port. If two universal power outlets and USB-A ports each weren’t enough, there was a wireless charging pad as well, by the window.
The decorative lamp in the suite was quite ingenious. There was a warmer, yellow “day” mode, and a cool blue “night mode”. There was a proper reading lamp built into the seat shell around head level as well.
As mentioned, the Mint Suite has a sliding door to close the suite, however this was not operable on the flight. All the suite doors were disabled. I was told by the crew that they’d been having loads of problems with the doors. The door release handle was located just below the decorative lamp.
The tray table was big and firm single piece. I found the release a bit finnicky though, and the release button isn’t very obvious.
The inflight entertainment monitor was 17in. It could be titled towards me, so it could be viewed directly straight on.
I mentioned earlier that being in the last row of Mint was rather unfortunate. Behind Mint is a lavatory on one side, and on the other side is the Jetblue Pantry snack bar. Convenient yes, but I was also terribly exposed to lavatory smells and lights. On a daytime flight like this one, not such a big deal perhaps. Nonetheless, I would strongly recommend to steer clear of the last row of Mint on the A321neos with the 16 Mint layout. (This isn’t a problem on the 24 Mint layout, which have economy directly behind).
Despite the drawbacks of being in the last row, in my opinion this is the best narrowbody business class seat around currently. Nothing comes close to it. It’s really comfortable, lie-flat, very private (when the suite doors are functional), has plenty of storage and power for the modern tech-savvy traveller, and it looks nice too to boot. Jetblue has clearly put a lot of thought into the design as well, such as the location of the power outlets relative to storage spaces for personal devices.
It’s only major flaw is being a herringbone configuration. On a widebody, a herringbone layout nowadays would be almost unacceptable. On a narrowbody, it’s has to be reluctantly accepted that certain compromises have to be made, resulting in this configuration. That takes nothing away from the wonderful features of the Mint Suite. It’s class-leading as far as narrowbody business class goes
Amenities
To make the flight in the Mint Suite even more comfortable, Jetblue provides a handful of amenities. There’s an amenity kit, or wellness kit as they call it, from Wanderfuel. This comes in the form of a recycled, minimum waste packaging filled with products created to keep travellers healthy and refreshed.
The pillow and blanket are from Tuft & Needle. The blanket is rather innovative, being able to convert into different forms apart from just a blanket. The bedding was nice, but I wouldn’t say it felt significantly better than that on a top airline.
Meal & Service
This is another area where Jetblue shines. They’ve partnered with New York’s Delicious Hospitality Group (DHG) who run a number of popular restaurants in the city. I’ll admit I never heard of them or any of their restaurants before the partnership with Jetblue, but then I live on the other side of the world. On this flight, the menu was created in cooperation with DHG’s Pasquale Jones.
One nice thing about Mint, the crew handwrite their names on the menu so passengers know who’s serving them.
Unfortunately, my menu was removed by the crew before I remembered to snap a photo of the inside, so I’ll have to go on memory of the food.
No pre-departure beverage was offered as far as I can remember. The crew did come round to take orders post-takeoff drinks, for which I ordered Jetblue’s signature cocktail, Mint Condition.
Lunch was served on this eastbound flight. Jetblue has rather unique menu offering. Passengers can select 3 items from a selection of 5 dishes, which usually consist of 2 cold and 3 hot dishes. There’s also a dessert, which is the same for every passenger. For my lunch, I selected a cold dish of glazed carrots with rice puffs and some dip, cacio e pepe pasta, and I believe a pork or lamb dish.
Everything tasted delicious. I remember the carrots in particular being quite refreshing yet tasty. A lovely mix of sweet, savoury, crunchy and creamy. The cacio e pepe was slightly too creamy and cheesy and not enough pepper, but still satisfying. Dessert was served after, unfortunately I have no idea what it was.
Service throughout the flight was good, though the crew were a bit less warm compared to my first experience on Mint in 2018. They didn’t really appear in the cabin much after meal service, but were quick in responding to the call button. Most importantly, they didn’t act like you had disturbed them when they responded to the call button. Drinks requests were handled pleasantly and promptly.
I requested a coffee later on during the flight, this was not too bad.
Prior to landing, the crew hand out a “parting gift”. This was a packet of organic chocolate-covered cashews from Hu.
Overall, I was pretty pleased with both the meal service. The food tasted good and the portions were a decent size. Again, another good meal that I’d be happy to have in a mid-range restaurant on the ground.
Inflight Entertainment & WiFi
One of the great things about Jetblue is the free inflight WiFi. Not just messaging, but full streaming. No data caps, for all passengers. They are still a pioneer of offering unlimited free WiFi to all passengers. On these new A321neos, the inflight WiFi is proudly provided by Viasat, so the speeds are decent.
The inflight entertainment offerings are decent. There’s DirectTV live TV, SiriusXM radio plus the usual sort of content. I mostly stuck to DirectTV, although daytime TV leaves much to be desired….
Audio is piped through a pair of Master & Dynamic headphones. These were fine, though not the best.
Conclusion
Jetblue’s Mint Suite is a class-leading narrowbody business class. The suite is great, comfortable, spacious and private (when the doors work). I’m not a fan of the herringbone layout, which is probably the only significant negative of the suite. The soft product is really good too, delicious food and good service. This is probably the best narrowbody business class experience in the world.
Other posts in this series:
- Introduction: The Three Year Chase
- Review: ANA 787-9 Business Class (SIN-NRT)
- Review: ANA 777-300ER ‘The Suite’ First Class (NRT-SFO)