JetBlue A321-neo Regional Business Class LAX-JFK
During the pandemic international travel didn’t appeal to me because of the risks for quarantine, as well as other potential drawbacks to enjoyment such as extended mask wearing and diluted onboard services. Reward Flying is supposed to be fun, not a chore. However domestic travel was something I made numerous reservations for, then canceled, during this time. Jetblue, American, United and Delta transcons were all attempted during Covid. This one ended up being a go, transcon on B6 from LAX-NYC flying their new A321-neo with Mint Studio seating. It was a great way to get back in the reward flying air.
It’s a failry popular opinion for those that frequently fly transcon that JetBlue has the better offering. Once you get on the jetbridge that may be the case. However beforehand, unless you have an American Airlines lounge pass you get to hang out at the gate. Which I did. Terminal 5 in LAX was bustling with travelers like myself who were itching to get back in the air and go somewhere.
B6 A3210neo A Mint Summer’s Night Dream
As you can see it was a bueautiful day in late May to fly. Today’s A321-neo was an 11 month old aircraft named “A Mint Summer’s Night Dream”.
Courtesy of AMEX $200 airline credit I bought the Studio seat in Row 1 for this trip at a cost of $199. It’s ok that AMEX paid for it, me not so much on a 5 hour flight. Novelty…
Interior blue mood lighting doesn’t do wonders for avgeek photos.
Maybe not so much a novelty those Studio seats, here is a plain Mint seat.
Mint Studio. Definitely have more room, but it is useable?
From 1A to your left is a fairly long bench that can be used by a friend where they could even dine with you.
Straight ahead is a storage cabinet as well as an ottoman for the main seat.
Then the TV is folded against the wall of the entry to the pod and angles out for viewing. These were not high definition monitors, in fact I was suprised given how many airlines have moved to HD monitors and how new this aircraft was having the old stuff.
Off to the right was a storage table. A little awkward as it’s in front of you when sitting in the seat.
A wireless charging port is next to the seat as well as a small storage compartment that held a bottle of water.
There were two other charging ports with 110V and USB, one pretty much not accessible under the TV and one on the wall above the right side table which was convenient. Headphone also attached here.
And finally a reading light and seat controls located on the wall to the side of the seat.
Amenity kit was a paper bag of typical amenity stuff, all recyclable, note this is a domestic flight so better than most. And a pair of special Mint headphones.
A big bag of sleep stuff was provided but not used on this short evening flight. Nice touch however. It’s things like this that make many say JetBlue transcon is the best way to go.
Jetblue has a unique menu. Pick 3 small plates, just like at the racetrack, except it’s food not winners.
My Pick 3. I also selected the Cabernet, but it wasn’t my jam.
The star was of course dessert. A yummy gelato and Americano coffee. All in all a very nice meal.
This was an excellent flight, the crew was attentive, not over the top, but for what you can sometimes get flying over the USA, pretty darn good. In fact this was my top rated domestic flight, not that I have flown too many of them. Recommend.
To get to LAX I flew from Chicago on a United 787-10. While the airshow had us going to Lagos, we landed in LAX. It was also a nice flight. I do like the Polaris seat and…gasp… the breakfast was pretty good too (looks don’t count)!
Some pics from LA departure over Long Beach as well as next day in NYC. Dreaming of this one coming up in October.
