As an airline that has prided itself on disrupting and modernizing the airline industry in the past, I was excited to see what JetBlue’s foray into the first class game would offer.
Spoiler: They absolutely nailed it.
After a two week California vacation of mostly camping and roughing it, I thought it would be a fun idea to book a flight home in a first class cabin. Most domestic airlines have sunk a lot of money into upgrading their transcontinental routes which usually cover flights between New York City and Los Angesles or San Francisco so I was looking forward to a product that would be above the usual domestic first class standard. Airlines make their largest profit margin on these routes as their first and business class cabins are actually paid for vs. the usual cabin upgrade on any other route.
Normally, a roundtrip ticket in these cabins would cost about $3000 dollars on United, Delta, or American.
JetBlue just released their first class product which they are calling Mint. Aside from it looking great on their website, the best part is the fact that pricing is between $599 and $799 each way! That includes taxes too. Since I had some JetBlue travel bank credit saved up from a small snafu the last time I flew them, I splurged and got me and my girlfriend, Eve, booked. Here's the play by play of my experience.
Airport Arrival and Check In
As we arrived at the terminal we immediately noticed a line reserved for Mint and Mosaic passengers. We got to skip about 20 people who were already waiting in line and were called immediately to the first available agent. Nothing out of the ordinary for passengers with status on other airlines, but pretty nice nonetheless.
Checked Bags
Mint riders get two bags checked for free per person. Any additional bag is a steep $75 dollars in addition to any fees for oversized or overweight items. This is one area where JetBlue could improve in as elite status on other airlines allow up to three bags per person. Luckily though, Eve and I are efficient packers and had 4 bags total, so we were all set.
Even More Speed
Mint members get JetBlue’s Even More Speed service which allows access to an expedited security line as well as first boarding privileges. Any expedited security line is at this point still slower than the TSA PreCheck line, so we opted for the latter – but it's still a nice perk for anyone who doesn’t have PreCheck yet. Being able to board first though was pretty nice as I wanted to really get a chance to explore the Mint cabin.
Mint Seats
Ah... the moment you've all been waiting for. The Mint Seats are what the Mint experience primarily revolves around.
Mint seats take up the first five rows of the aircraft. They are are arranged in a configuration that allows for either 2 people to sit next to each other, or a 1 person "Mini-Suite" that allows for more privacy with an aisle door that can close – great for business folks and people who want to be left alone. (But no one closed these doors on our flight)
On our seats were hand signed welcome cards from our dedicated Mint cabin flight attendants and an above average sleeping kit that included an comfy pillow, blanket, eye shade, and ear plugs. We were also greeted by our dedicated cabin crew (who were exceptionally friendly I might add – something that almost seemed a bit forced) and a delicious preflight mojito.
The seats also come equipped with a control panel that enables a massage function (albeit rather mediocre) and configuration buttons that adjusted the lie-flat seat. There was a much appreciated lumbar support setting and some preset options that made the controls somewhat easier to operate - I definitely took my time understanding what the controls did to the seat as it wasn't completely straight forward (see photo).
As far as added seat amenities go, there was a full sized Dasani water bottle, USB and 110V charger outlets, dedicated overhead cabin space, and a few nooks that allowed you to store things such as your phone, purse, and amenity boxes they gave us later on in the flight.
Amenity Kit
One of my favorite touches on the whole experience was the Birchbox amenity kit. On most airlines you maybe get a nice amenity bag filled with some oral health products, lotion, and a shoehorn; JetBlue partnered with a hip amenity subscription company that offers high end products that Mint flyers would probably want to use. Trust me when I say that this is the PERFECT partnership for the demographic Mint is targeting. Take a look at the gallery to see what was including in both the male and female Birchboxes given to us.
Food
My other favorite highlight! Mint flyers get a menu with food options prepared by Saxon + Parole, a NYC eatery engineered by the AvroKO Hospitality Group - known for experiential dining experiences in NYC. It sure lived up to the hype.
The menus allows you to pick and choose your seven course meal in addition to having access to all the brand name treats JetBlue is known for. I'll leave it to the gallery below to give it justice.
Entertainment System and WiFi
Mint customers have access to a 15 inch entertainment system - which is pretty large compared to what you usually get. It's not touch screen, but that was not a big deal. With it you get access to DirectTV and JetBlue's "feature" - which falls flat when compared to the much more robust on demand systems and libraries (JetBlue only had six options). I watched some TV here and there but was more on my computer the whole time.
Speaking of my computer, the WiFi was unreal! Literally the fasted download speeds I've ever seen in the air (23Mbps down in flight!) due in part to the fact that have used internet provider Exede. They have branded it as Fly-Fi and it seemed to be free for everyone on the flight. You could pay the premium rate of $9 dollars an hour for large file transfers, something I'm sure is extremely useful for business travelers.
Deplaning and Baggage
Since Mint seats are in the front of the plane, Mint passengers exit first (which is always welcomed on a long flight – and what feels like an even longer taxi to the gate.) Once we arrived at T5, we headed to the baggage claim where our bags, tagged with green Mint stickers, were the first to come out. Once we had all our stuff packed away, we grabbed an Uber, and headed straight on home!
Overall
JetBlue Mint was by far the best first class product I’ve ever experienced and in my opinion the best domestic first class product available. Instead of partnering with chefs and winemakers that no person in their mid 20s or early 30s have ever heard of, they’ve partnered with experiential brands such as Birchbox and Saxon + Parole. I always thought it was interesting that JetBlue introduced this type of product to begin with as they used to pride themselves as not being a “classist” airline… but their implementation and choice of routes were spot on in every single way but will probably make coach flyers a little jealous.
Even as a loyalist to other airlines (due to the fact that I can redeem reward points to travel internationally – JetBlue only flies domestically and to the Caribbean), I’m open to earning JetBlue points or even paying (gasp!) for my transcontinental travel as snagging an upgrade on any other airline would be close to impossible – or not even offered at all (I’m looking at you Delta!).
Mint is currently offered on multiple daily flights between NYC and Los Angeles with service starting between NYC and San Francisco on October 26th, 2014.
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