Flight Review: JetBlue Mint from New York (JFK) to St. Lucia (UVF)

It’s no secret that I really love flying JetBlue Mint class, and I’m thrilled that the airline is continuously expanding the product onto more of its routes. I consider Mint to be the best US first class product out there, and there are times where it can be super affordable either using cash or TrueBlue points.

This past weekend, I flew on my third Mint flight between New York and St. Lucia for less than 17,000 points per ticket- which is truly an unexpected steal, considering that most Mint seats to the Caribbean start at $599 one way (and often exceeding over $1000 each way).

My first experience with Mint was between New York and Los Angeles last year, and I always seek opportunities to fly in Mint Class as much as I can. JetBlue’s A321 featuring Mint class only operates seasonally to St. Lucia from JFK once a week (on Saturdays), so keep that in mind if you have a trip in the works.

The Mint Experience

For those unfamiliar with JetBlue’s Mint Class, the product caters to the modern traveler with unique touches: new Hayward and Hopper amenity kits (formally Birchbox), a tapas-style menu by New York City restaurant Saxon + Parole, fully-flat bed 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.

My Mint Experience

Since I was traveling with my spouse, we selected seats 1A & 1C. Our flight attendants, Valerie and Jennifer were super friendly and attentive.

Before take off, we were offered a pre-departure beverage. I went with the signature drink- “RefreshMintâ€- which is a limeade with a dab of honey and fresh mint. The drink can be served with or without vodka. I kept it virgin, and still managed to conk out right at take off.

Brunch menus and amenity kits were soon distributed during my nap. I was a little bummed to find out the brunch offering were exactly the same as my Mint flight to Aruba back in October because I always look forward to trying something new, but the food was decent.In November, JetBlue announced a new amenity kit partnership with Hopper & Hayward. Men are given a Hopper amenity kit and women are given a Hayward amenity kit. Both bags are very high-quality, but I must say that I enjoyed the contents a bit more when it was Birchbox (I’m a huge fan of monthly subscription boxes)… though the lip balm in both of the new amenity kits is definitely one to write home about.

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.

Since I napped for a good chunk of the flight, I got a late start on my meal, and even skipped the granola appetizers.

The food was good, but not my favorite Mint selections. My fruit dessert was also a bit frozen this time, but I really enjoyed the Strawberry Blue Marble sorbet. The cappuccino was on point.
Since the flying time between New York and St. Lucia is only around 4 and a half hours, the time on board flew by. Before we knew it, we were on the ground – but no one left empty handed. Each passenger in Mint was given departure gift box of pastries by Mah Ze Dahr bakery containing butter cookies and a brownie, which was nice to eat during our 1-hour shuttle ride to the resort!

Bottom Line

As a hard-product, I still consider Mint to the the best out there for domestic flights. All of the fun 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 on-board experience and not just business travelers.

As far as price, I truly believe we got lucky with our redemption – at only 16,700 TrueBlue points per ticket. Even better is knowing that I’ll get 10% of my redeemed points back (3,340) just for being a JetBlue Plus Card holder!

Mint class is definitely my favorite way to use my TrueBlue points.

Have you flown Mint before? How was your experience?