JetBlue Mint
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Mint is a business class airline product offered by JetBlue on some flights between the West Coast and the East Coast of the contiguous United States, seasonally on some flights between the United States and Caribbean destinations, as well to Vancouver International Airport in Canada, London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Edinburgh Airport in the United Kingdom, Charles de Gaulle Airport in France, Madrid–Barajas Airport in Spain, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in the Netherlands, and Dublin Airport in Ireland. The service is operated with a fleet of Airbus A321 aircraft in a premium configuration, with lie-flat seats in business class.
JetBlue first announced its intention to introduce premium seats on some of its transcontinental flights in March 2013.[1] The company officially announced Mint on September 30, 2013, between New York and San Francisco and Los Angeles, with fares starting at US$599 each way.[2] Dave Barger, JetBlue's CEO, said that the move was necessary as its competitors were offering lie-flat seats in transcontinental markets, leaving JetBlue with an all-economy cabin.[3][4] The routes were to be operated with new Airbus A321 aircraft and feature Wi-Fi connectivity. JetBlue's daily Mint service between New York and Los Angeles were to begin by the fourth quarter of 2014, and all five daily round-trip flights between New York and San Francisco by early 2015. The first Mint flight, from New York–JFK to Los Angeles, was to begin on June 15, 2014.[3]
On March 15, 2015, JetBlue announced seasonal expansion of Mint to Caribbean routes, with service from JFK Airport to Aruba and Barbados. The service was to operate once daily per destination during the winter holiday season, and once weekly per destination for the rest of the winter season.[5] JetBlue announced expansion of its Mint service to Boston in June 2015, with year-round service from Boston to Los Angeles and San Francisco,[6] and seasonal Saturday-only service from Boston to Barbados.[7] Flights from Boston to San Francisco began on March 24, 2016,[8] and flights from Boston to Los Angeles were to begin on October 20, 2016.[9]
On April 12, 2016, JetBlue announced an expansion of its Mint service. More routes utilizing the Mint configuration were to be launched to Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, San Diego and Seattle, with service beginning during 2017 and 2018.[10] The announcement was made almost immediately after Alaska Air Group announced its intention to acquire Virgin America and merge it with Alaska Airlines. Either Alaska or Virgin operated in 4 out of 7 of JetBlue's newly announced markets.[4]
In February 2021, JetBlue announced a redesigned Mint business class.[11] The redesigned suites appear on A321 NEOs and LRs. In the first row, there is a bigger suite with space for up to two people and travelers get extra benefits. The first row is $299 more than the rest of the cabin.