After a long day in Miami, we boarded JetBlue’s A321 for the 5 hour journey to Los Angeles in Mint (Business Class). As always, JetBlue delivered a great product with comfortable seats and great service, food and bedding. There were no surprises on this flight.
JetBlue A321 Mint Review [FLL-LAX]
When I tried to figure out how to get home, I found no affordable points options and the premium cabin fares were ridiculously expensive… with one exception: If I waited until late at night and flew out of Fort Lauderdale instead of Miami, tickets were $859.10 each on Mint.
It was still pricey, but this was a special trip, so I thought it was okay to splurge a little more than usual. All the mint suites were full, even though I booked weeks in advance, but that was fine, because I’d be sitting right next to my son, Augustin.
When we arrived at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, we were already checked in and didn’t have any checked luggage, so we walked past the check-in counters and to our gate.
JetBlue does not have lounges, nor do they have Priority Pass lounges.
So we waited at the gate and were informed that the inbound flight had been delayed and would be taking off 30 minutes late.
In the end, boarding began at 9:51pm, 11 minutes after the scheduled departure time.
JetBlue 2501
Fort Lauderdale (FLL) – Los Angeles (LAX)
February 2024
Departure: 9:40pm
Arrival: 12:45am+1
Duration: 6 hours 5 minutes
Distance: 2,343 miles
Aircraft: Airbus A321
Seat: 3D (“Mint” Business Class)
Our aircraft, “Seize The Mo Mint” (registration number N990JL), was delivered in November 2017.
seat
The “Classic” Mint product, found on most JetBlue A321 aircraft, features 16 Thompson Aero Vantage seats arranged in a 2-2, 1-1 pattern (three rows of 2-2, two rows of 1-1). The second and fourth row “Suite” seats have closing doors, three power outlets, and offer a sense of space and privacy. The beds fold fully flat to 80 inches.
The “regular” seats in rows 1, 3, and 5 were also 22 inches wide and could be converted into 80-inch flat beds, but there were only small dividers between them and no doors.
JetBlue Mint seat control
Not only was the plane packed, but there were personal air vents above each seat.
Augustine was very impressed.
A menu and wine list, an amenity kit, headphones, and a bedding set with pillows and duvets were provided at the seat. The Tuft & Needle bedding included soft pillows and duvets, and Augustine immediately unpacked them and got cozy.
I slept soundly during the flight.
Food + Drink
Augustin and I enjoyed mint condition cocktails before takeoff (his was non-alcoholic…).
Before takeoff, dinner orders were taken. Food is always a pleasure on JetBlue, and I looked over the dinner options, which included five options, all of which looked delicious.
I ordered the lamb shoulder, cacio e pepe and a wedge salad.
Augustine ordered just the Chicken Milanese and a salad.
Augustine fell asleep shortly after takeoff…Meal service was delayed about 45 minutes due to turbulence.
The meal started with a bowl of crackers (unfortunately, it seemed the crackers were substituted for the much tastier Marcona almonds drizzled in olive oil) and for drinks we switched to club soda.
I woke Augustine up, but he sat up for a moment and then went back to bed.
Then came the meal.
As always it’s delicious…
I woke Augustin up again to feed him, at which point he was completely asleep, and after sitting up and staring at the food for a while he fell asleep again… and I put him back to sleep.
I could have eaten his chicken…
Both meals were accompanied by vanilla gelato (topped with lemon marmarata and black pepper shortbread) – such a tasty treat that we didn’t mind it being so late and it was all served on one tray.
Before landing, we were served chocolate-covered almonds, which has been a standard pre-arrival service at Minto for many years.
There were bottles of water on each seat.
In-room safe + Wi-Fi
JetBlue offers free high-speed Wi-Fi, and it worked fine when I used it (at the beginning and end of the flight).
Each seat has a screen with live TV and limited movies on demand. I started to watch Oppenheimer but didn’t get very far because I quickly fell asleep.
Didn’t work…
The map was completely wrong. I wish I could have slept 11 hours on the boat…
toilet
Mint passengers have access to a private bathroom at the front of the aircraft, which was clean but offered no additional amenities.
Amenity kit
JetBlue is providing Mint passengers with a Tuft & Needle-branded amenity kit in a recycled paper envelope, which includes:
Socks, earplugs, eye mask, facial wipes, Scentuals Peppermint Lip Gloss, Elemental Labs Electrolyte Drink Mix (powder)
Conclusion
I think the contradiction on this flight was that Augustine fell asleep so quickly and was so tired he couldn’t even eat his meal – that’s the benefit of flying in business class, but I doubt he would have been able to sleep in economy class either.
Augustine was asleep even with the seat upright…back at LAX.
But it was a fitting end to a wonderful trip we had together, and I hope to repeat it many times in the future to new and exciting destinations.
As always, JetBlue is solid: the IFE system is dated, but the in-flight service and food are excellent as always, and the Mint seats are very comfortable.
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