Nicky: Let's just keep this our secret.
Don't tell anybody else.
If you ever come to Terminal 5 at JFK ... Hello.
We are back and we are on the roof at the TWA Hotel at JFK, right opposite Terminal
5.
And that can only mean one thing, Stella, who are we flying with?
Stella: We're flying JetBlue.
Nicky: Not only are we flying JetBlue, we're flying
on their brand new A321 aircraft.
I'm going to be flying in their new Mint Studio, Stella?
Stella: I'll be in Core.
Nicky: We're going to test out this new plane.
See what these two classes are like, from JFK all the way to Los Angeles.
The flight is at 7:00 AM tomorrow, so we're up early.
We should go get some rest.
Stella: Yeah.
We should go, or go into the pool first.
Nicky: The pool.
Then I'll see you in the morning.
Stella: All right.
Nicky: Good morning from the absolutely iconic TWA
Hotel and this very famous corridor.
It's early in the morning, but it doesn't matter, because that's the hotel right there,
and right here is the entrance to Terminal 5.
And so, my walk from the lift to the terminal, it's short.
I'm literally talking a matter of steps from my bedroom to the lift, which very helpfully
says JetBlue Airways.
Let's head in.
Stella: Travel is most certainly back.
So, thankfully I don't have to check any bags today, so I can just walk through to the TSA
pre-check line and skip this.
But if you do want to check a bag, it's really easy.
JetBlue makes it super simple with the kiosk, you tag your own bag and then you just drop
it off and they make sure that it's under 50 pounds.
So, excited to get started with this day.
Nicky: It looks like a very busy morning in Terminal
5 today.
I've just spotted right behind me, the couple of desks that say JetBlue Mint, and that's
what I'm flying.
Only looks to be a couple of people there.
So, I'm going to head over there and check in.
Hi, how are you?
Nicky: Okay.
Just checked in at the JetBlue Mint little check-in area.
Was it quick?
Yes.
Was it friendly?
Not really.
From leaving my hotel bedroom to being checked in for my flight, took all of about four minutes.
So, incredibly impressive in that respect.
Security's incredibly busy and they do have an expedited line for JetBlue Mint.
However, they also have a pre-check line, which I've just seen is basically empty.
It's here.
There's no one there.
Whilst I do have the benefit of going through the Mint line, I'm going to do pre-check.
Nicky: I'm in the terminal now.
It's very spacious and nice in here.
No lounge though.
And we're sure there's no lounge, but there are quite a few options for places to eat
and drink.
So, I think it's going to be a coffee, a little sit down and then time to board the flight.
Now I'm marching through the airport to find myself a coffee.
I've just bumped into a special friend, it's Stella.
Now, Stella has some insider info because she's a JetBlue regular, and is taking me
to somewhere quite cool.
Nicky: Oh my God.
So, in the middle of this crazy hustle bustle terminal, is this absolutely gorgeous roof
terrace.
There is not one person here.
It's empty.
This is for us.
Look at it.
This definitely makes up for there being no lounge.
This is the dream.
Stella: So, Nicky and I are here.
We have a few hours to kill before our flight and it's just a gorgeous morning.
You can watch the sunrise.
You can get some food, take it out here, watch some planes over there.
Just come to the rooftop and it's completely free.
It's right next to Gate 26, so it's on the international departure side, but yeah, there's
lots of spaces to relax.
Definitely a secret spot, a hidden gem at JetBlue's T5.
Nicky: Here she is, the A321neo.
Ready to board and I'm very excited.
Thank you.
So, with my Mint ticket, I was able to board when boarding opened.
I arrived at the gate just now and walked straight on, no queue, no nothing.
In, lovely.
Stella: Thank you.
Here we go.
Speaker 3: Hi, welcome.
Stella: Hi.
Hey, Nicky.
Have fun.
Nicky: Here we are.
Welcome to the brand new and exciting JetBlue Mint Studio.
There's a lot to take in.
A lot of exciting stuff to look at.
And we're going to start right now.
So, first of all, I'm in the seat, which I've slightly reclined now.
It does go all the way back into a bed.
Feels so comfortable.
It's squishy in just the right way.
Headrest, footrest, all separately adjustable using this panel right here.
And you can go fully lie flat and there's options all the way in between.
This is not the only seat available, there's also a buddy seat.
So, if you want to have somebody come and sit with you, they can come here.
They have their own seatbelt as well, and they can be comfortable and dine with you.
Nicky: And dining brings me onto the next thing,
tables.
Now, one table here.
This is for me.
Large, nice big enough for a laptop, you could work easily off this.
It's not the only one, there's a second table right here.
So, if you're dining with a buddy, they can have their table too, right next to them.
If you had a laptop and food, you could do both at the same time.
And there's also way more surface space on here in the side of the seat.
You're not going to lack on horizontal space in this seat.
Nicky: You're also not going to lack in storage in
this seat because there are little nooks and crannies everywhere to keep your stuff.
And it's something that I'm really passionate about.
There are three unique little spaces here to keep your stuff in.
First of all, you have a little closet area.
It's almost full height.
It has a hook to keep a coat on.
It has a mirror, just in case you want to stay beautiful.
And a little [inaudible 00:07:31] area that lets you keep some stuff in.
Right over here is a second storage area and in this there's a bottle of water and a section
for your headphones.
We're going to check those out soon.
And finally, right underneath the TV is this cool little tray where you can keep even more
of your bits and pieces.
Nicky: Now, of course they call this suite a suite
because it has a door with a latch.
It closes.
Now, what's super impressive about the JetBlue Mint suite is the overall space.
I can barely even touch the sides here.
My legs can't reach the end.
I can barely even reach the foot rest.
I'm not that tall, but I think even if you were tall, you'd be incredibly comfortable
in this seat.
There's no way you'd struggle for space.
So, this is the studio but in the seats behind me, for the next seven rows, there is a suite
and actually the suite also looks relatively spacious, but you don't have the buddy seat
like here.
There's only two of these.
And these are really the seats to snag.
They're an extra $199 on this route, and in my experience of this so far, $199 is worth
it.
The overall finish of the cabin is petty beautiful.
Muted tones, blues and grays, and there's also soft lighting to keep it all looking
swish.
Nicky: Your electronics.
This is great.
There's an international socket right here.
There's another one over here.
Both of these two have USB charges, but this one has a normal USB.
And the one on the other side has a USBC, so you can do fast, high power charging.
Something that's really cool, they even have a wireless charging platform here that you
can put your phone on.
So, how cool is this?
There is a giant TV screen.
It swivels out in front of you, and you can control it from your mobile phone.
This is the control panel.
And just by clicking this, I can control the screen.
I can sit back, relax, and not have to touch the screen at all.
Nicky: I'm also told that this is loaded with over
100 films, all sorts of TV shows.
There are various different bits of amenities that I've been given in the Mint Studio.
First of all, I have this wanderful, not wonderful, amenity kit, which we're going to check out
in a second.
A Tuft and Needle sleep kit, which we're going to crack open and have a look at, and some
headphones.
So, let's open this amenity kit first.
So, inside, we have a pair of socks, soft, cozy.
Vital Proteins collagen creamer, this is a dietary supplement.
Ultra repair cream, let's give this a go.
Ooh, smells nice.
Breath spray, clean mint, tasty.
A coconut melt wipe, ooh, coconutty.
Oh, that's really nice.
It's a pretty good kit that.
Nicky: Then we have this sleep kit.
Eye mask, earplugs, and toothbrush and toothpaste.
And then, we've got the headphones.
Ooh, these are cool.
I like these.
It sounds like they have some kind of noise canceling.
They look awesome.
I'm going to have to watch a film with these, I think.
Overall, this is a brilliant selection for a domestic flight in the US.
Just so much nice stuff.
So, JetBlue also provide a big blanket.
And so, what better time than to make this bed flat and try it out.
There's a pillow and a blanket.
It's a good size.
I find it really annoying when airline blankets are small, but this is the right thickness
and feels very soft and comfortable.
Let's extend this bed into a bed.
This seat into a bad.
Let's extend this seat into a bed.
Honestly, this is so spacious.
There's so much room to move your legs around.
Incredibly comfortable.
It's nine in the morning, it's time for a nap.
Stella: The JetBlue A321neo is arguably the most comfortable
way to fly economy within the United States.
That's because there's a whopping 32 inches of leg room, the most legroom you'll find
on any Economy seat domestically.
After you walk past the mid seats, you'll find 144 economy seats.
The seats are set up in a three-three configuration, which isn't really ideal if you get stuck
in the middle seat.
However, I booked a Blue fare and not the Blue Basic fare, which lets me pick my seat
in advance, and I always go for the window.
Stella: If you're a lot taller than I am, you can
even pay for the even more space seats at the front of economy class, which gets you
38 inches of leg room.
Even if I wasn't in a lie flat seat, I got in a decent amount of shuteye.
My seat was really comfortable and there's an adjustable headrest for extra support and
a couple of inches of recline.
We're about 45 minutes into the flight.
I just got a coffee after eating the snack box and I'm also doing work on the tray table.
So, since there's free wifi, it's pretty good.
The tray table is big enough to fit my 13 inch MacBook Pro and my coffee, so I'm pretty
happy with that.
Hopefully we'll get some more snacks because that's the best part about flying JetBlue.
Nicky: Service has begun.
The seatbelt sign isn't even off and delivered to me is what looks like a gorgeous cappuccino,
probably one of the best cappuccinos I've had on an airplane actually.
No messing around, we are straight in with a delicious pastry.
It's warm.
That is delicious.
So, breakfast has arrived.
After flying on some other American carriers in the past few days, I'm surprised at how
comprehensive this is.
It's a full meal on proper cookery, no snack boxes here.
So, let's take a look.
So, let's try all these different bits.
First up has got to be the pancake, maybe with a bit of this bacon.
That's really good.
I'm really impressed by this.
Stella: Okay.
In this snack box I have Air Cheese, it's puffed cheese cheese bites, some M&Ms, some
Matzo Bites, but I think they're cinnamon sugar, so it should be yummy.
Swedish Fish, which I'm not really a fan of.
Turkey jerky.
So, just some fun, easy to eat snacks.
These ones are interesting.
They're like protein packed, so they're kind of dense.
I don't know if I like these.
I don't think I do.
Now this is really good.
Huge fan of this one.
Cinnamon sugar Matzo Bites, I don't think I've ever had matzo in the first place.
These are really good.
They'd be really good on ice cream.
I got the SavorUp box, olives, a cacao cookie, hummus, corn crackers, and artichokes.
Nicky: So, it looks like the great food collection
has also got signature cocktails, the Mint Condition and Black Maple Old Fashioned, which
they shake in the galley.
And then, a selection of wines, which all look pretty good.
There's a pinot blanc noir, a Syrah, I can't even pronounce these.
Stella: Now it is time for the call bell challenge,
to see how long it takes the JetBlue flight attendants to take care of my request.
So, here we go.
Hi.
Speaker 4: Hi, what can I do for you?
Stella: Could I do the PartyUp box?
Speaker 4: PartyUp?
Stella: That was fast.
Nicky: It's time for the call bell challenge.
Let's do it.
Speaker 5: [inaudible 00:15:48].
Nicky: That was crackered.
That was a time test.
You took about two seconds.
That was probably the quickest ever, ever, ever, of any airline.
You didn't have far to go through.
Speaker 5: What can I get you?
Nicky: Please could I get two Mint Conditions?
I'll do it with vodka.
Wow, that was quick.
That was quick.
So, I've actually ordered Mint Condition, which is the signature drink.
Nothing like some vodka at 10:30 in the morning.
Speaker 5: Of course.
Nicky: Thanks so much.
So, here it is, the Mint Condition.
A famous signature drink of JetBlue.
Hand shaken in the galley in front of me.
That is delicious.
I don't just have one of these, I have two of these.
One of them is in a plastic cup, which means I can pop down the back and take this to Stella.
Here she is.
Here is her cocktail to keep her going.
Stella: What is it?
Nicky: I've actually forgotten what it's called,
but it is delicious.
Has got vodka in it, so be careful if you're drinking the entire thing.
Stella: It's quite strong.
Nicky: Is it?
How happy are you on a scale of one to 10?
Stella: I'm a solid eight.
Nicky: An eight.
Stella looks comfy.
She looks comfier now she's got the vodka brought to her.
I'm going to leave her to her seat now and head back to my studio.
See you.
Stella: That wraps it up for my JetBlue flight from
JFK to LAX.
I had a great time sitting in coach, thanks to the in-flight wifi, all of the snacks,
very comfortable new seats on the A321neo.
So, definitely recommend, even if you can't afford Mint, to check out coach.
Nicky: We've safely arrived at a very busy LAX.
That flight was fantastic.
The new suite, the product is amazing.
The beds and seat is comfortable.
The food is exceptional.
And in general, for a domestic, transcontinental service, I think JetBlue is unbeatable.
So, that is the JetBlue Mint Studio from New York to Los Angeles done.