Having moved to New York for work, I am saddened by the long flight time between Vancouver and NYC. Most direct options have the traditional, sad North American “First Class” seats, which is why I was surprised and happy to learn that Jet Blue’s winter schedule included some of it’s new MINT seats. And while doesn’t necessarily stack up to top international carrier, it certainly is a good showing, especially once one considers the fairly reasonable price tag.

Booking

Flight: B6 603

Departing: New York (LGA)

Arriving: Vancouver (YVR)

Operated by: Airbus A320

Cabin: Business Class

What’s astonishing to me is that Air Canada, which also has a lie flat business class product, is 50% more than JetBlue’s pricing, and on a previous day more than twice that! Granted this is Veteran’s weekend. Goes to show the power of a loyalty program and business travel, as I would certainly not pay for Air Canada’s business class, and fly out of Newark.

Check In

That being said, if you care, JetBlue Mint has a terrible ground experience. There is a small dedicated Mint check in desk, the Mint experience ends there. Unfortunately, flying out of JFK Terminal 5 means that you get the “Rooftop Terrance”, which is just a glorified outdoor space. However, my personal belief is that a lounge experience at an Airport, if you don’t drink, is around $25-30 worth of food. That number might increase substantially if you drink.

The Cabin

I do appreciate how our flight attendants both enforced boarding groups, and were quite efficient in boarding the plane.

Another amazing thing about JetBlue is it offers free Wifi…to everyone! I did manage to sadly get some work done on the plane, so it was good for that. However, it was understandably a bit slow in watching Youtube videos for example.

The cabin was configured in a staggered 2-2 then 1-1 configuration. For those of us married to our laptops, select seats 2A / 2F or 4A / AF: those seats are “throne” seats, and comparable to Swiss Airline’s business class seats.

At the seat was a menu featuring JetBlue’s famous Small Plates style dish, as well as a cocktail menu. One small touch, and one which this forgetful person appreciates, is that the delightful flight attendants put their names on the menu!

The Mint suites were well designed, ablet basic (not in a bad way). Starting out, there was a storage bay, seat controls and a tray table.

There was also a reading light to complement the additional plane lights, with a water bottle tucked nearly behind it.

The actual seat was pretty middle of the road for Business class, and was certainly less comfortable than Air Canada’s business class. Jetblue notes that there is a “Tuft & Needle's T&N Adaptive® Foam cushions, a memory foam pillow and a customizable blanket”, but it felt nothing special (not in a bad way).

Those of us with too many electronic devices will also appreciate that JetBlue offers charging ports on both sides of the seat, along with two sets of chargers!

While I didn’t use them, I was also given a pair of headphones, though they felt on the cheaper side.

Overall, a fairly standard seat, yet one which affords a high degree of privacy. Next up is the large 17” TV, which I felt was pretty high resolution. Also, can we please appreciate how many bad puns there are, like MoMint.

For people sitting together, I feel it can get a bit awkward if you don’t know the other person, as there isn’t really a divider.

Finally, I used the recline function of the seat, and was pleased to report that it worked well.

Before takeoff, the flight attendants came by asking for drink orders, and I was promptly delivered a cocktail in a…plastic cup. Respect.

Food and Drink

Jet Blue does a choice of small plates as opposed to a full meal, which I appreciate as you get more customizability. What I didn’t appreciate was the lack of meat options, which was something everyone who knows me knows I enjoy. I started out with another cocktail, and got it delivered along with some pretzel things.

The Pretzel things were fairly bad, while the cocktail was certainly good. For my plates, I had picked the only meat option, as well as a pasta and hummus. Would have certainly preferred another meat or seafood option. Below is the eggplant dip, orecchiette and roasted chicken.

The chicken surprisingly was the highlight given how well cooked it was, while the dip was disappointing given the pita bread was overcooked and cold. Nothing to say about the Orecchiette.

You will notice that the menu is a LOT more limited than what you will see on basically all other Business class flights. This is one way, which I respect, that JetBlue likely is cutting costs. For 50-100% price less than the competition, I am okay if there are only 1-2 choice per category.

American carriers do desert well, and JetBlue was no exception. I do wish that the icecream has been softened up a bit, but once it did, I thoroughly enjoyed the desert.

Finally, as a mid flight snack, I got some delicious cashews.

The Service

Some airlines try to do the quirky type, and it falls a bit flat. JetBlue Mint, especially Matthew and Jamesia, did it wonderfully. It basically felt like two chill American friends as flight attendants. They obviously were efficient, yet took the time to chat and engage in casual banter. Furthermore, they accommodated my requests for a on-ground cocktail and more food beautifully, and even gave me chili oil because they thought I would like it. I know this style isn’t for everyone, but for me I thoroughly enjoyed it, particularly when compared to my Swiss Airlines flight.

The Point

Given I have started working, reviews now will be much shorter, and focus more on pictures. And concurrently, JetBlue Mint itself is a very easy flight to review. The bad is that a lot of the traditional experiences of a Business class flight, such as Lounge Access or lots of onboard choice, have been stripped away. The good is that the lie flat seat is still there and functional (cough American Airlines), the flight attendants are great, and the default options were certainly good. Given the pricing strength, I would certainly continued to look to JetBlue Mint as a way to fly back to Vancouver, and maybe one day to Europ!