Jetblue Mint Review JFK-SAN
This will be the first trip report posted on this blog!
Flight: Jetblue 89
Date: November 25th 2023
Seat: 4A
Flight Time: 6 hours 8 minutes
Price Paid: 822$
After returning to New York for Thanksgiving to see family I had to find my way back to California on either the Saturday or Sunday after Thanksgiving. Fares were sitting around 500-800 for economy from New York to LA but I managed to snatch up a mint fare to San Diego for 822$. A little higher than I'm used to paying for Mint but for Thanksgiving time, not too bad at all.
I arrived at the airport after a 2-hour drive from the Hamptons 2 hours before departure. Even at 7:30 pm on a Friday night, the airport was packed.
Something to note is I never travel with bags, never ever unless I absolutely have to, even then I might contemplate shipping them😅 . It is the biggest waste of time. Already having my boarding pass I headed through security which reminded me of the San Diego Zoo... even with "extra speed".
Jetblue doesn't offer a lounge which can be a potential downside if you are looking to book Mint. I had a Starbucks tea and sat around the gate for about an hour until boarding.
8:55 was when boarding was supposed to commence. After a delay, boarding started at 9:10 when the gate agents decided to try the automatic gates. In Asia and Europe, this is never an issue but it seemed like no one knew you had to wait until it wasn't red to scan your boarding pass. Sometimes I question people's level of intelligence. Anyways moving onwards. After getting on the plane I saw my seat of 4A for this transcon hop.
Placed on my seat was the comfortable Jetblue Mint bedding. Something to note was no amenity kit or other amenities were offered.
Departure
We pushed back from the gate 4 minutes ahead of schedule. No pre-departure beverages were offered, even on domestic AA hops the week before they were offered, come on Jetblue.
We had a short taxi from terminal 5 to 31L taxing past some beautiful aircraft I wish I was on...
Klm has pre-departure beverages!
The beautiful 777 skyteam livery
After a short takeoff roll, we had a steep 70-degree left turn probably due to approach patterns at LGA.
Views out of 4A
The Seat
If you are able to snag one the throne seat might be the best way to cross the US. However, in a 16-seat cabin, there are only 4 of these seats in rows 2 & 4. The throne seats have the utmost privacy with a closing door. While not like Emirates first class it does give some good privacy while sleeping.
The seat controls are functional but dated. It might take a couple of pushes to get the seat into lie-flat mode but keep in mind these seats are around 9 years old.
The downside to the throne seat is that the footwell is quite small compared to many other business-class seats in the sky. It was comfortable enough that I was able to get 3 and a half hours of rest but I think the fact I was sick coupled with a late departure time played a role. If you would like a big footwell I recommend 1A/1F.
In Lie Flat mode the bed is quite comfortable, decent around the shoulders and I was able to sleep comfortably on my side (I'm a side sleeper).
Lastly, there is a table to the side of the throne seats which is one of the biggest perks of this row. It is great for storage such as a laptop or chargers (apart from takeoff) as well as moving your tray onto if you need to use the restroom during the flight.
Headphones were also offered before departure. Brand new and of good quality (they recently updated headphones for mint)
The Food
While we will touch on service later (it was not great if you haven't gathered) the flight attendants did come around to take dinner orders after takeoff. "Due to a catering issue, you may only choose 1 cold item and 2 hot items from the menu". For those that have never traveled Jetblue, you get to choose 3 items on the menu out of 2 cold options and 3 hot options.
This is what the menu looked like on the flight for today.
I opted to go with the Lasagna and chicken. Meals weren't served until 1 hour and 25 minutes after takeoff, a record for the longest time on a Transcon flight I think.
The chicken was tasty but quite fatty while the Kale Lasagna was very very good. Props where it's due to Jetblue for the great food!
All food is served on one tray including the dessert which meant dessert was eaten at the same time as the main since the ice cream was already melting! The last time I took this flight it was served separately which showed inconsistency.
One of my favorite parts of flying Jetblue is how mint the condition is (get it?). Anyway with my horrible banter out of the way, I had a mint condition with my meal with Tito's, as always delectable. One of my favorite airplane cocktails for sure.
IFE+WIFI
Jetblue offers free fast wifi for everybody which is easy to access. This was very useful as I had to do a little bit of work while on board.
The IFE is very dated and unresponsive when using the touchscreen but having the remote meant it was possible to use. The selection of movies wasn't great but there were still enough options to keep people entertained.
Service
Before someone goes off saying I have a vendetta against Jetblue, I don't. I have had some amazing flights with them where they prepare espresso martinis and I talk with the FA's for hours about life. For some reason, this flight was not the same. Here a couple of notes I had written down.
When I boarded I said "good evening" to the FA working Mint. She looked at me but didn't respond.
No pre-departure beverage service.
When I ordered my meal I asked for a glass of sparkling wine and a mint condition, no sparkling wine ever came.
There was no personal interaction at all.
Maybe I just got an unlucky crew but this is a review and have to keep it honest in that the service wasn't great.
Arrival
After some good food, some good sleep, and a peaceful flight the captain came on at 12:15 am local time to say we would be landing in about 30 minutes. Sure enough 28 minutes later we touched down at San Diego airport. You have to love this approach every time you take it!
We motored off the runway to the gate I believe maxing out the 35knt ground speed maximum getting to our gate only 4 minutes later at 12:47 am.
Conclusion
Jetblue is probably the best way to get from New York to San Diego, offering lie-flat seats and great food. It is a shame that the service wasn't great on this flight but I still have hope when I fly Mint next due to previous experiences and this being an anomaly. If you are able to come across the sub 700$ fares, especially in a throne seat I would highly recommend Jetblue Mint to anyone!
Score
Ground Service/Lounge: 4/10
Seat: 7.5/10
Food: 7/10
Service: 4.5/10
IFE: 5.5/10
Total Score: 28.5/50
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