Flight Review: JetBlue Mint New York to Aruba

One of my favorite things about JetBlue is their Mint Class. I consider Mint to be the best US first class product out there – hands down. Back in April, I flew Mint for the first time from Los Angles to New York, and I really enjoyed it!

The Mint Experience

For those unfamiliar with JetBlue’s Mint Class, the product caters to the modern traveler with unique touches: Birchbox amenity kits for the ladies (which are soon changing to Hayward and Hopper), a tapas-style menu by New York City restaurant Saxon + Parole, seats with a massage feature, take-home pastries from Mah-ze-Dahr Bakery, etc.).

Not only does Mint offer the longest fully-flat bed seating in the US domestic premium market, 4 out of the 16 seats are fully-enclosed private suites. In the Mint cabin, rows 1, 3, and 5 are set up in 2×2 configuration (great if traveling with a companion), while rows 2 and 4 are single suites.

Here’s what you can expect to experience with Mint:Booking The Flight

Luckily, I snagged 3 Mint seats quickly between JFK and AUA during a 25% off award sale back in August. Since the airline just recently started flying their A321s equipped with Mint Class seasonally with Saturday service to Aruba, I knew I had to either depart or return on a Saturday.

The base price for JetBlue Mint Class between JFK and AUA is normally in the $449-$599 range each way, but demand has been off the charts- especially during the peak, colder months, with flights pricing as high as $1,300(!!).

When I saw there were over 4 empty seats on a Saturday JFK-AUA flight on the exact date I needed for only 23,000-ish points each, I was in disbelief! Thanks to the generous points match promotion this summer, I had a healthy balance of points in my TrueBlue family pool.  I value JetBlue points at ~1.4 cents each, so with the 25% off sale, it was like getting a Mint Class seat to Aruba for under $325 a piece.

Unfortunately we couldn’t fly back in Mint since we were returning home on a week day; however, our economy award only cost us 8,400 points each (~$117), which is still a steal for AUA-JFK!

Even better is that I got 10% of my redeemed points back (9,630) just for being a JetBlue Plus Card card member! On a side note, I personally think the JetBlue Plus Card is my favorite airline credit card at the moment (more details on why this card is so awesome), especially since there have been so many lucrative promotions and sales these days.

My Mint Experience

On the day of departure, we had an interesting experience. For some reason I thought the flight was departing at 8:00 am, but it wasn’t until we were out the door (late, of course) that I realized it really departed at 7 am!

In a panic, I was convinced we were not going to make it, and I was preparing to be devastated seeing our Mint seats fly without us. It was already 5:15 am, and we lived an hour away from JFK without traffic. We drove as fast as possible and literally ran from the car to the gate (thank goodness for Mosaic status & TSA Precheck). Like magic, we made it to the gate with moments to spare!

What an incredible feeling it was to settle into the seats right before the door closed. Speaking of the seats – they are incredible. The first time I tried Mint, I was in a 2×2 row. This time, I was able to secure a suite with a closable door, which was nice since I was traveling with my lap-infant daughter.

I was surprised that a good portion of the cabin was actually empty, so we had the freedom to move around to other seats if we wanted to. Having less people up front allowed us to have more personalized service from our two dedicated flight attendants, which was nice.

Before take off, we were able to enjoy a pre-departure beverage. I went with JetBlue’s signature drink, “RefreshMintâ€, which was a limeade with a dab of honey and fresh mint. The drink can be served with or without vodka. I kept it virgin, and it was delicious and refreshing – so much that I ordered another during meal service.

Shortly after take-off, the brunch menus were distributed, along with our amenity kits. The female amenity kit was by Birchbox and contained a bunch of curated beauty products including face cream, a face mask, and mascara. The male amenity kit contained products by L’Occitane. There weren’t any amenity kits catered towards children that I was aware of (I was traveling with my 2 and a half year old son and  18-month old daughter).

JetBlue Mint offers a multi-course dining experience and the option for you to customize your meal by allowing you to choose 3 out of the 5 main course choices. I am not much of a breakfast person, but I went with the butternut squash salad, cinnamon pancakes, and the spicy Spanish chorizo. The food was good, but I wasn’t exactly over the moon about these options (I personally thought my previous Mint flight had a better menu); however, the fruit dessert was extremely fresh and I loved the unique flavor of the Blue Marble Ice-cream sorbet, spiced cider.

Since the flight time between New York and Aruba is only around 4 and a half hours, the time on board flew by. I did squeeze in a 30-minute nap, but before we knew it, we were on the ground.

Before exiting the aircraft, each of us were given a small box of pastries by Mah Ze Dahr bakery containing cookies and a blondie (which was delicious).

Bottom Line

As a hard-product, I consider Mint to the the best out there for domestic flights. All of the extras (free “FlyFiâ€, amenity kits, food that actually tastes good, etc.) make it an exciting experience. I especially love that Mint caters to leisure travelers looking for a unique and comfortable experience and not just business travelers.

As far as price, I truly believe we got lucky with our redemption, but starting at $449 for the JFK-AUA route is an amazing deal. It’s easy to see why some of us would choose to “splurge†when it’s not much of a jump between an economy ticket and a bed in the sky.

I really hope Mint continues to expand, and I would be on cloud-9 if Mint came to EWR!

Have you flown Mint before? How was your experience?