JetBlue’s New Mint Service Is the Best Way to Fly out of Boston

JetBlue’s new Mint service. Photo by Garrett Quinn

It’s official: JetBlue’s new first class domestic service is the closest you can get in the United States to traveling like a king on a throne, except your throne is encased in a metal tube hurtling through the sky at 500 MPH instead of inside a castle surrounded by a moat.

From the moment you board to the second you deplane, the new service, called Mint, makes luxury a priority for Boston-based travelers. When passengers board, they are greeted by friendly flight attendants, a hand-signed card welcoming you aboard at your seat, and a “Refreshmint” cocktail.

After boarding, passengers will find at each of the 16 Mint seats, including the four private suites, a set of Grado Labs headphones, a duvet and pillow set for the 80-inch lie-flat bed, a Birchbox toiletry set, and a special chocolatey treat from Brooklyn’s Mah-Ze-Dahr bakery. It’s quite the welcome. The headphones can be used on your own devices or for connecting to JetBlue’s in-flight entertainment system, which offers a seemingly endless supply of DirecTV and Sirius XM channels. Mint passengers receive complimentary use of JetBlue’s free wi-fi service and have access to their own in-seat private power outlets. If watching something on the 15-inch flat screen is not your style, you can use the built-in reading lamp, which can be adjusted for the seat’s broad range of reclining capabilities.

One of the biggest headaches about flying today is storing items in close proximity to your person while maintaining your legroom in the space underneath the seat in front of you. Mint solves that problem by providing ample storage with compartments built into the seat. The main compartment for storage is large enough for a 13-inch laptop and several additional items. Worried about losing track of your cell phone? A special storage cutout near the reading lamp is sized to accommodate phones as large as the iPhone 6+.

One of the more innovative features of the new service is the “Wake Me For Service” light that prompts flight attendants to wake passengers when they begin serving food and beverages in the Mint cabin. So whether you’re the type who hates being woken for airplane food, or the type who gets angry when you miss it, JetBlue’s got you covered. And those passengers who do want to wake up for food are in for a treat. By today’s standards, JetBlue already offers great food and beverage service, but the Mint service takes airline food to a gourmet level.

Mint passengers are treated to a tapas-style meal from New York’s Saxon + Parole, which includes fresh ingredients and real silverware that you won’t even have to wrestle out of a plastic bag! Even the napkins in the Mint cabin have a high-quality feel to them. The menu also includes a vast wine selection curated by former San Francisco Chronicle wine critic Jon Bonné. All food and beverages are complimentary with the Mint fare.

Passengers traveling in one of the four private Mint suites on the trip receive all of the above mentioned amenities, plus additional privacy via a sliding door that separates them from the rest of the cabin.

Passengers booked on a Mint flight but traveling in the plane’s Core cabin (JetBlue’s term for coach seats) will still be treated to the best economy service in the United States. JetBlue is in the process of upgrading their fleet of A320 and A321 planes so passengers have a more modern experience with improved entertainment offerings and better seats. The new seats will feature headrests that conform to a person’s position, while the in-flight entertainment offerings are built on a Google Android platform, allowing passengers to pair their phones with the 10-inch touch screens for a more personalized experience. The new in-flight entertainment system will greatly expand the current TV and music offerings, including the addition of hundreds of on-demand movies.

The new Core cabins will feature a self-service galley known as the Marketplace where passengers can help themselves to a variety of free snacks and drinks.

JetBlue Mint service is now available on A321 flights from Boston to San Francisco and Barbados (currently, the only non-domestic flight Mint travels to) for $599 each way. JetBlue is expanding the service to Los Angeles-bound flights in October. Boston reviewed the new service as part of a complimentary media trip organized by JetBlue.