|
THE ALVIATOR'S VERDICT
I could tell that this airline product would be fabulous on a good day, though I got unlucky with multiple elements of the onboard product, given our last-minute equipment swap to a non-LR A321neo. Still, a charming business class product offered by this very New York airline |
4.0
|
In July 2024 I flew JetBlue’s Mint Suite from New York to London. This was part of a wider trip where I visited quite a few areas in the U.S.. While I was going to write about this after wrapping up my trip report of my intra-Europe extravaganza, I decided I’d just write reviews of the longhaul flights for now, given that I’ve got some more exciting travel coming up in the near future. (I flew to New York on a Norse 787 in their Premium class, which I’ll review in the coming days.)
My JetBlue Mint Suite flight was not as good as it could’ve been. The title is not a typo – my flight was swapped from an A321LR to an A321neo last minute, meaning that the suite doors were “locked” in the open position throughout my flight. Catering was also impacted, as the last minute swap meant only one full meal was catered onboard this flight. So while I still enjoyed the experience, I don’t think I got as much out of it as I could’ve if I’d flown on another day. I guess I just got unlucky.
Still, I was excited to have a flatbed flight on “the” quintessential transatlantic flight in the biggest transatlantic market out there. Here’s my review of the flight.
Booking JetBlue’s A321neo Mint Suite
I booked my flight on JetBlue using Qatar Airways Avios, as Qatar Airways is a JetBlue partner. I booked fairly last minute, and managed to find award space fairly easily for 78,000 Avios one-way between New York and London, plus US$10.10 (£7.48/HK$78) in taxes. I had a sufficient Avios balance in my British Airways account, so created a Qatar Airways account and simply linked my accounts before booking the flight.
The simple one-way itinerary I booked was as follows:
24/07/24 JetBlue Flight B61107 New York JFK – London Heathrow dep. 08:31 arr. 20:45
JetBlue’s fares don’t run particularly cheaper than the competition, despite the lack of lounge access, so I thought I had snagged a decent deal. This is probably one of the most cost-effective ways to book a transatlantic flight using miles, especially if you’re transferring from a transferrable points currency – despite the fact that a one-way fare in Virgin Atlantic’s Upper Class can sometimes run as low as 29,000 miles, there’s also a significant carrier imposed surcharge on those flights (up to US$1,000), whereas I barely had to pay anything in the way of fuel surcharges.
JetBlue Mint Ground Experience
JetBlue operates out of Terminal 5 at JFK, so I took the AirTrain there from Jamaica Station at around 6:30 AM in the morning. JetBlue has heavily invested in Terminal 5, and some of the elements have a very young New York feel, which is a little jarring with the old-style terminal look that JFK otherwise has.
JFK Terminal 5 Entrance
I thought I was cutting it close, since I know that without TSA Pre-Check departure security can take quite a while at JFK. I thought wrong – there were people showing up for flights that were leaving at 6:50 AM, 20 minutes after I started queueing up for my flight. There’s a premium security line that Mint passengers can use, and while it was shorter, it moved more slowly, and still ended up taking around 25 minutes to clear.
JFK Terminal 5 departure situation
Although I was able to check in successfully for my flight, I had to check in a bag. Mint passengers can bring up to two checked bags with a weight limit of 70 pounds (31.7 kg) each, so I had no issues sending my bag off at one of the Mint-exclusive bag drop counters.
JetBlue Mint Check-In and Bag Drop at JFK T5
While JetBlue gives priority security and priority boarding, there isn’t a lounge at JFK, or at any of the airline’s other transatlantic outstations for that matter. This is the biggest differentiator between JetBlue Mint and a proper business class product in my opinion, as lounges are quite competitive between the other major players. This didn’t bother me that much, though is something to take note of, especially if you’re choosing between JetBlue and a comparably priced business class product on another airline.
JFK’s T5 is currently undergoing a redesign, though at the time I visited it still featured elements such as a Deep Blue sushi restaurant, as well as a circular billboard.
JFK Terminal 5
There’s even a rooftop at JFK’s T5, though it was mostly deserted on this muggy day, with no tarmac views whatsoever as it faced the interior of the terminal building.
JFK Terminal 5 Rooftop
It was also fun seeing the (mostly domestic) flights that were departing at this hour – the morning rush sure is intense at JFK’s Terminal 5!
JFK T5 Departures at 7:20 AM
Instead, I decided to hang round the A321neo that would be taking me to London. While JetBlue typically operates an A321LR to London Heathrow, in today’s case we were flying an A321neo, due to a last-minute equipment swap. These A321neos have a lower range, though can still make the journey over to London (though there are a few passenger experience differences, which I’ll detail later on in this review).
JetBlue A321neo at JFK T5
The gate area continued to fill up, and while there weren’t nearly as many people as you’d expect on one of the 777s jetting between New York and London, the gate areas at T5 are much smaller, so it still felt like there were a good number of people flying.
JetBlue gate area at JFK T5
Boarding was scheduled to begin at 7:46 AM before our 8:31 AM flight, and surely, boarding began at just around then, starting with Mint passengers. After my boarding pass was scanned, the gate agent said “enjoy the Mint experience”.
Boarding the JetBlue A321neo
JetBlue Flight B61107
Wednesday, July 24, 2024
Origin: New York (JFK) T: 5 Gate: 23 Dep: 08:31 (08:20)
Destination: London Heathrow (LHR) T: 2 Gate: A17 Arr: 20:45 (20:15)
Duration: 7 hr 14 min (6 hr 55 min)
Aircraft: Airbus A321neo Reg: N2157J
Seat: 8F (Mint Suite)
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Cabin and Seat
Wow! This was my first time being on a narrowbody aircraft with a 1-1 configuration, so I was impressed. JetBlue’s A321neos feature 16 seats across eight rows in a 1-1 configuration (their A321LRs feature 24 seats across twelve rows, though are otherwise very similar in design).
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Cabin
I’d selected seat 8F, in the last row of the cabin. I generally like the last row as I can observe the service flow, and also as nobody is behind me – in this case I also had some extra surface space to the side of my seat.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Seat 8F
I’ve been in a herringbone seat before, though this felt a lot more spacious, with a very clear effort to maximise storage and surface space. This is miles ahead of e.g. what Virgin Atlantic’s 787s would offer in Upper Class.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Seat
Directly to my left were some intuitive seat controls, and there were some separate seat controls further down to help put my seat back upright if I was sleeping. You’ll also find a contactless NFC pad, in case you want to purchase anything during the flight.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Seat
To my right was a storage unit, as well as a wireless charging pad. It’s worth noting that the wireless charging pad didn’t work all that well, and I’d stick to conventional charging cables if I had any at hand (though still more intuitive than in Cathay Pacific’s Aria Suite).
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Charging Pad and Storage
Then to my left was a 110V power port and a USB-A charging port, a water bottle holder, and some surface space.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Power Port and Side Table
Then in front of the seat was a footwell, as well as a storage drawer. The storage drawer was perfect for a laptop or some glasses during takeoff and landing – you gotta love the thoughtfulness of the design at this seat.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Storage Drawer and Footwell
Above this, there was was a large and high-definition TV screen that swiveled towards you, and you didn’t have to stow it away during takeoff and landing.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite TV Screen
Then there was a reading light to my left.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Reading Light
The tray table swung out from the side console, and was large and sturdy, though not bi-fold, and it wasn’t super easy to get out of the seat during meals.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Tray Table
Additionally, there was a single air nozzle for me above my seat.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Air Nozzle
There’s also a door…in theory. JetBlue had announced in 2024 that due to crew staffing limitations, they disabled all doors on their shorthaul A321neos. Since our flight was last-minute swapped from an A321LR to an A321neo, it was operated by one of these aircraft, which meant that the doors were locked in the “open” position throughout our 7h flight. This wasn’t a big deal, though it was disappointing, since the door is a hugely marketed aspect of the JetBlue Mint Suite experience. I’ll detail this a little bit more later on in the post.
Otherwise, I was impressed by the amount of storage space at this seat, and felt like the overall design was really thoughtful. I’d call this one of the better business class seats out there.
JetBlue A321neo Economy Class
Behind the business class cabin were 144 economy class seats laid out in a 3-3-3 configuration. The first seven rows are “Even More Space” seats with 35″ pitch, whereas the rest of the economy seats have an industry-standard 32″ of pitch. Since I boarded first, I had the opportunity to peek at the economy class cabin before anyone else arrived.
JetBlue A321neo Economy Class
This is a properly laid out economy class cabin with personal TVs at every seat, and every passenger also gets free WiFi (I’ll talk more about this later). Prices can run as low as £150 one-way on this route, so I can see flying in economy being an absolute bargain. Many seats were free on this flight, and there were even entire rows without anyone in it.
JetBlue A321neo Economy Class
This can be an awesome economical way to fly transatlantic if you’re looking to visit the U.S., so I’d love to try JetBlue’s economy class out someday.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Amenities
Waiting at my seat was some bedding from Tuft & Needle, including a pillow and blanket, though JetBlue doesn’t offer mattress pads for Mint passengers.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Bedding
There was also an amenity kit waiting at the seat. This was presented in a mint-green Caraa bag, and featured good-quality socks, eyeshades, earplugs, lip balm, hand cream, mouth wash, and facial peel. The skincare products were provided by Dr Dennis Gross.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Amenity Kit
There were also some good-quality headphones from Master & Dynamic.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Headphones
While not industry-leading, I’d say this is a solid set of amenities, and I was very pleased to have these on my 7h flight to London (I wouldn’t have needed pajamas or anything, though perhaps a pair of slippers wouldn’t hurt).
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Pre-Departure Service
In this product, as you’d expect from a business class cabin on a narrowbody aircraft, everyone boards past you. The load factor in economy was quite light, so this wasn’t a big issue on this flight.
In terms of food and beverages offered pre-departure, waiting at my seat was a bottle of water from Saratog.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Water
A crewmember came by to introduce themselves, and asked whether I would like a pre-departure beverage. I chose sparkling wine, which was served in a plastic cup. This was Scarpetta Riolla Gialla Brut sparkling wine from Italy, which was alright.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Sparkling Wine
I was also asked whether I had flown Mint before, and upon saying no, I was given a tour of the seat, which I appreciated.
I’ll speak more about the crew in a bit, though despite the equipment swap and catering limitations, there was clearly a lot of enthusiasm for the product. All three crewmembers serving the Mint Suite were so friendly and eager to please.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Bathroom
JetBlue’s A321neo Mint Suite cabin features two bathrooms. One of the bathrooms is featured at the front of the cabin, and the other was featured right behind me on the left, so that’s one bathroom for every eight passengers. Well, kind of – economy passengers generally didn’t use the forward lavatory, though weren’t stopped from using the rear lavatory.
The bathrooms were bog-standard A321neo lavatories, and didn’t feature any special amenities.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Lavatory
Taking off from New York JFK Airport
The captain came onto the PA to give an announcement at around 8:15 AM, after boarding was complete. He mentioned our flying time of 5h 52m, which was made shorter due to a tailwind. However, since Heathrow was heavily slot controlled during our arrival time, we’d be waiting on the tarmac for a bit for a 9 AM departure time.
A safety video was played during this time, and afterwards we pushed back and waited on the tarmac for a bit.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Cabin while waiting for take-off
We did end up properly beginning our taxi at 8:55 AM, and headed towards runway 4L, passing some interesting traffic on the way.
Taxiing at New York JFK Airport
We took off at 9:05 AM, and it was time to say bye to gloomy New York!
Taking off from New York JFK
Once we reached cruising altitude, the crew put on some nice mood lighting throughout the cabin.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Cabin after takeoff
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite WiFi (or Fly-Fi)
One of the cool things about flying JetBlue is that WiFi is free for all passengers – not just those in the Mint Suite. JetBlue offers industry-leading fast WiFi gate to gate, and all you have to do is watch a 30-second video ad, before you’re connected for the rest of the flight.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite WiFi
This works most of the time. However, FlyFi won’t work if you have an ad blocker on. So make sure that you turn your ad blocker off – Safari on iPhones has a built-in ad blocker, so you’ll need to open an Incognito page or turn off content blockers in order to get FlyFi to work.
Once I managed to get this WiFi to work on both my laptop and my phone, WiFi measured a very impressive 50.76 Mbps down, though only 0.50 Mbps up for whatever reason (though I found it to be generally usable across the board).
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Bed and Door (or Lack Thereof)
JetBlue’s A321neo Mint Suite seats convert into a bed. The seat cushions themselves are designed by Tuft & Needle’s Adaptive Foam technology, and the bed felt comfortable – I didn’t feel the need for a mattress pad. The bedding provided was also very good, including a memory foam pillow and a quilted blanket also from Tuft & Needle. You can even “customise” the blanket by fastening it around the seat, though I prefer to make a mini-burrito with my blanket generally, so left it unfastened.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Bed
At this point I asked the crew when the doors would be unlocked. After checking with a supervisor, the crew confirmed that this was one of JetBlue’s new aircraft that had doors newly locked in the “open” position. This was fairly disappointing, as planes with locked doors aren’t meant to be operating transatlantic flights – it was merely a result of our last-minute equipment swap. For that reason, I found this seat to have a bit less privacy than most conventional business class seats, since you can very easily see all foot traffic in the aisle.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Door (or lack thereof)
This isn’t the norm for Mint on these flights, so generally I’d still rate this product to be above average. I’ve only flown British Airways’ Club Suite as far as competitors go, and reckon those reverse herringbone seats are still more spacious.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Meal Service
The meal service commenced around 15-20 minutes after takeoff, with meal orders taken around then. The menu was provided at the seat as we boarded, and was printed nicely, with the crew’s names handwritten on each of the menus.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Menu
The menu was very classily designed, and read as follows:
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Menu
Meanwhile there was a separate drinks and wines list, which read as follows:
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Drinks and Wine List
There’s a solid list of food and drinks here. While the beer and wine list is not the most varied on its own, I was particularly impressed by the non-alcoholic options available, including espresso-based beverages from Brooklyn Roasting Company (including iced coffee!) and mocktails. I appreciated the mix of American and European wines, as well as the cocktails on offer.
The meal service commenced with a drinks order, which was given 30 minutes after takeoff. I had an iced cappuccino, which was served with a warm rosemary honey biscuit. It’s super cool that JetBlue does iced espresso-based beverages onboard their flights, as these can’t be very easily found in business class. While I had a regular iced cappuccino, you can even have it with oat milk upon request.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Iced Cappuccino
The warm honey rosemary biscuit was delicious as well, though I wondered whether the honey could’ve been a bit more classily presented.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Warm Honey Rosemary Biscuit
Afterwards breakfast was served, around 50 minutes after takeoff. In JetBlue Mint, you choose up to three out of five small plates to be served on a single tray, which is such a cute concept. I had the smoked salmon bagel, the waffle with blackberry preserve, and the asparagus and herb frittata. Each of the items was tasty on its own, though I suppose the bagel felt more like a crisp than a fresh toasted bagel.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Breakfast Meal
After breakfast I was asked again if I wanted another drink, and I had a “Mint (Under One) Condition”, which was one of the mocktails on offer. It was refreshing and light.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Drink
This probably isn’t the fanciest or most elaborate meal service out there, but there’s something nice about the level of choice and flexibility there is to meals. I found the actual food quality itself to be above average as well.
As a Londoner from Hong Kong I also can’t quite articulate this, though there’s something very New York about the experience as well, from the menu designs to the emphasis on cocktails and coffee-based beverages. I love it when airlines have a sense of place, and think that JetBlue certainly delivers on this front.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Service
While I don’t typically name flight attendants in my reviews, David, Marsha and Bryan clearly took pride in the Mint experience, and were eager to please. The JetBlue Mint experience is well thought-out from a service point of view, with flight attendants offering seat tours, consistently coming round to take drink offers, etc.. However, obviously there’s an execution element to this training, and I felt like the team onboard this flight did a great job, and kept passing through the cabin between meal services to see if anyone needed anything.
I know that the last-minute swap from an A321LR to an A321neo caused a few catering snafus as well as a generally difficult and unexpected layout, and I thought that they adapted well to this as well.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Service Between Meals
After the first meal service, some dark blue mood lighting was turned on, to allow passengers within the Mint Suite cabin to rest.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Cabin Mood Lighting
There’s not much in the way of service between meals on this 6h flight, though as aforementioned, the crew continued coming round to see if anyone wanted drink orders. There is a “Pantry” galley bar between the Mint and economy cabins, which features snacks and drinks in a fridge.
JetBlue A321neo Pantry
While the cabin crew passed through the cabin, I decided to have an Al Pastor Margarita, which was so delicious.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Al Pastor Margarita
At some point I also asked whether there were any spare watermelon small plates from the first meal service. While this isn’t a standard on-demand offering between meal services, the crew enthusiastically obliged, and handed me a dish of their watermelon with espelette.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Watermelon with Espelette
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Entertainment Selection
JetBlue’s entertainment system is customised and has good UI, and on top of a selection of movies and TV shows, features live TV. The welcome interface also has a helpful progress bar of how far through the flight we were – “WAI” is the first word in my middle name, though that’s what ended up showing up on the screen.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Entertainment Screen
In terms of features, there’s a “watch party” feature for you to watch a movie with your seatmates. If you sign in to your TrueBlue account, you can also save your favourites, or pick up where you left off.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Features
You can theoretically use your phone as an inflight touchscreen remote, though I couldn’t get this to work properly.
Regardless, there was a good selection of movies and TV shows. I’m openly not the best at judging an entertainment selection, so will just say that I enjoyed watching Crazy Rich Asians for the first time on this flight.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Entertainment Selection
There’s also a series of live TV shows that you can watch for free.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Live TV
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Pre-Landing Meal Service
After watching a movie I napped for a bit, and woke up for the second meal service, along with some sunset mood lighting throughout the cabin.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Cabin during Second Meal Service
This was the second big hit of our equipment swap – only one meal was catered for Mint passengers! The crew had to improvise in order to create a pre-landing meal service of sorts. Now, I don’t need two meal services on a 6h flight, though it is a little disappointing for a last-minute operational equipment swap to have such a big impact on the passenger experience. Instead of a pre-landing “light bites” meal service where we could choose between an arugula salad, pea soup, and a panini, we were simply left with a stale pain au chocolat, as well as some cheese and walnuts with barm brack.
At least I was able to have another al pastor margarita to wash this all down.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Meal Service
After the meal service, we were handed a refreshment towel.
JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite Refreshment Towel
Landing into Heathrow Airport
Soon enough the captain gave a “20 minutes until landing” announcement, and it was time to land into Heathrow Airport. Our approach onto runway 27R gave us beautiful views over cloudy London.
Landing into Heathrow Airport
We landed at Heathrow Airport at around 8:05 PM, 40 minutes before our scheduled arrival time. It was then around a 10-minute taxi to Terminal 2, where we parked with some other narrowbody aircraft at gate A17, next to a Lufthansa A320neo.
Traffic at Heathrow Airport
I knew that immigration would be a mess at this time of evening, especially since we had just arrived off the back of some Air India and Shenzhen Airlines widebody aircraft. In this case, I was correct. Immigration took around two hours to clear, though this was back in 2024 – though such long wait times are unlikely to happen anymore, given that the introduction of eTAs has sped the border control process up significantly (also, I think that JetBlue Mint passengers have access to Fast Track immigration now, though I’m not sure).
Conclusion: JetBlue A321neo Mint Suite
I don’t fly transatlantic that often, so there’s not much I can compare the JetBlue experience to. However, I enjoyed my flight in JetBlue’s Mint Suite. While the cabin itself was fine and I didn’t have a preference for a narrowbody cabin, there are so many cute elements of the Mint experience, including the small plates-style meal service, free and fast WiFi, a strong and very New-York style drinks selection, and some of the small touches to the service elements.
There are some elements that differentiate JetBlue Mint from a “proper” business class product, such as the lack of lounge access, and the single aisle. However, the bit that hindered our experience the most was the last-minute swap from an A321LR to an A321neo, which meant that not only did doors remain locked “open”, but the meal service was also impacted. This doesn’t seem to happen very often based on FlightRadar24 history of this flight (this morning flight from JFK to Heathrow has only operated with a non-LR A321neo twice in the past 90 days), so that’s good, at least.
Have you flown JetBlue’s Mint Suite on a transatlantic flight before? How was your experience?