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JetBlue’s London flights to New York are bookable – from £956 return in Business

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JetBlue has been promising flights between London, New York and Boston this Summer for some time now, but it is only today that the flights are finally bookable.

Now that it is selling tickets we know the confirmed schedules it will operate. It appears that JetBlue will operate flights to New York from both Heathrow AND Gatwick, with Stansted, which had been a contender, falling by the wayside. Boston will only be served from Heathrow.

JetBlue tailfin

The Heathrow flights from Terminal 2 will launch first, operating daily from 12th August. The flights are initially as follows:

  • B620 (London – New York) departs Heathrow at 6:10pm
  • B67 (New York – London) departs New York at 10:05pm

Gatwick flights will commence from 29th September from the North Terminal, also daily:

  • B644 (London Gatwick– New York) departs Gatwick at 12pm midday
  • B643 (New York – London Gatwick) departs New York at 7:48pm

Earlier rumours suggested that these will be joined by a Boston route from the 12th September, although in its press release JetBlue says Boston won’t be on the cards until 2022.

All flights are now bookable on the JetBlue website here.

Heathrow or Gatwick?

It sounds like Gatwick may become JetBlue’s permanent home, with the JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes saying:

“Our initial [Heathrow] schedule is made possible due to temporary slot availability from the past year. We continue to work with the slot coordinators and the U.S. and U.K. governments to identify long-term pathways to continue serving Heathrow, as we believe the public benefit from true competition into this market will be extremely meaningful.”

“We have an incredible opportunity to secure long term slots in London’s second-largest airport, and we look forward to building our presence there over the long-term. Gatwick will perfectly complete our London service, giving customers options as they plan their travel. Gatwick is an attractive choice with its low costs, speed and convenience to Central London.”

JetBlue A321LR Mint Studio

What is JetBlue’s onboard experience like?

JetBlue is often called a low cost carrier. In truth, it operates more of a hybrid model, with a ‘proper’ business class cabin up front on many of its US transcontinental flights and soon-to-launch transatlantic flights.

JetBlue will be one of the first airlines to use the single-aisle A321LR aircraft for transatlantic flying, although Aer Lingus has used used this aircraft on select routes since 2019.

Despite being a ‘low cost’ airline in its domestic US market and charging for ancillaries, JetBlue will offer a lot of ‘included in your ticket’ benefits on flights to London. This includes free, unlimited Wi-Fi for all as well as a new approach to economy food that will let you mix and match items:

JetBlue transatlantic Core economy dining

“Customers will have the option to choose one of three main selections including a protein or vegetable that comes with a base, and two out of three hot and chilled side options.”

In February, it unveiled its new business class ‘Mint’ seat that would operate the London flights. This looks like an impressive product given the restrictions of a single aisle aircraft. It features improved bulkhead seats with even more personal space and the option for buddy dining, which it is calling ‘Mint Studio’:

JetBlue A321LR Mint Studio seat 2

How cheap are JetBlue’s transatlantic flights?

Is JetBlue still able to honour its promise of cheap fares given that it will match (and even exceed) the amenities offered by other major airlines on transatlantic flights?

It appears it can. JetBlue has announced that prices for its Mint business class will start from £999 (round trip) whilst return economy flights are priced from £329. We found flights slightly cheaper – from £990 in Mint from Heathrow, for example.

If you are willing to head to Gatwick, you can pay as little as £956 return. The flight time outbound is substantially better too, giving you an extra six hours in New York on the first day.

It goes without saying that these are excellent fares, and fairly widely available. Business class fares typically bottom out at £1,300 in British Airways sales, so JetBlue is undercutting these by a considerable margin.

In economy (which it calls ‘Core’) fares pretty much match some of Norwegian’s lowest fares except that, unlike on Norwegian, you’ll get free Wi-Fi, food and in-flight entertainment.

Conclusion

Flights for JetBlue’s transatlantic services now bookable. By the time flights launch in August it is expected that a USA-UK travel corridor will open, allowing leisure travel between the two countries.

We have yet to see whether JetBlue can live up to expectations and help pressure legacy carriers into improving their customer experience and pricing. All the signs so far point to an airline that is intent on providing a quality experience at a competitive price.

JetBlue is not part of any airline alliance, unfortunately, so you can’t earn or redeem miles with either British Airways or Virgin Atlantic. It is a partner with Emirates but redemptions are only allowed for economy seats.

You can book on the JetBlue website here.

Comments (53)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Sam G says:

    Even cheaper in Mint if you add a connection (e.g. Orlando) but note these short hops are on all-economy config aircraft

    Connecting to say LAX on Mint doesn’t look competitive, didn’t check lots of dates though

    • Mikee says:

      I looked at LHR-JFK-MIA-JFK-MIA for Oct and came in at £282 in Y. Can’t see any way of mixing classes on the website…would be interesting to see the price with Mint on the JFK-LHR leg.

      • Sam G says:

        You can’t mix basic + mint but you can mix standard eco out + mint back

  • tony says:

    Just a crying shame that most of us are unable to book these as we still have no visibility on when the US will open up. This discounted fare is currently only on sale until May 21st. Seats beyond March 31st haven’t been loaded yet.

  • Mikee says:

    LHR-JFK outbound in Economy and back in Mint for £657 is a great option, bearing in mind the value of having a flat-bed for the overnight return leg.

    • marcw says:

      YES! This is an interesting option now (much better than Premium Economy in both ways, which could be a similar price).

    • Andrew says:

      That also caught my eye.

      Just priced up JetBlue – out August 12th, back August 20th. £430 return with hold luggage on a better seat with more leg room in economy than BA/VS.

      BA and VS are both £730 for economy flights with hold luggage on the same day (BA179/BA172) & (VS9/VS46).

      Not exactly a difficult decision to make.

      I don’t know when the world will reopen, but I’ve had both vaccinations, got my vaccine passport, and plenty of cash in my holiday fund. Probably just need a new ESTA.

      • Lord Doncaster says:

        Still got some money leftover from your splurges at Harrods, Andrew? 😂

        • Andrew says:

          Different Andrew. This Andrew doesn’t fly economy, but as you say, does splurge at Harrods.

  • Prins Polo says:

    Great product and great fares, but I suspect this is more akin to BA’s GBP 777 fare to Seoul a couple of years ago and won’t be around for long. JetBlue charges significantly higher prices in Mint between NY and the West Coast, so I’m not expecting this pricing to continue on TATL beyond an initial promo.

  • Tom says:

    Are one-way fares available and competitive? They are for domestic JetBlue flights.

  • ChrisC says:

    Price and Mint look good. LGW definitly preferable for me to get to / from Brighton than LHR. Lunchtime departure is preferable than the 6PM LHR one but horses for courses.

    Lack of lounge not a deal breaker.

    Need to investigate things like baggage allowance and their policies re a voluntary cancellation

  • The cyclist says:

    Great that your keeping on top Chris

  • David Cohen says:

    The very major omission from the Mint fares is that there is no lounge access available, at either end.
    Especially on the East-bound overnight sectors, it’s a significant downside not being able to eat on the ground in the lounge to maximise sleep on board.
    Given all the trouble that they’ve gone to here, I really don’t understand why they’ve left this out.
    I would have booked one of these fares, but instead will be waiting for the competition to match and book with one of the other 3 North Atlantic JVs instead.

    • ChrisC says:

      Use some of the savings to eat at a restaurant or bar in the terminal?

      BA currently asking for £2689 for similarly timed flights in Club.

      B6 is less than a grand.

      No lounge is worth that fare difference.

      And yes BA.may respond soonish with offers to close that gap but then again they may not

      Not having lounges is obviously something they have decided not to provide even on their premium domestic routes

      • David Cohen says:

        It’s not just about the lounges. Pre-flight dining and arrivals lounges mean more sleep on a short overnight hop. It means no 90 minute faffing for dinner and an hour for breakfast, turning a 5h 30m flight into less than three hours of sleep.
        All three JVs have worked that out, which is why they’ve invested in facilities at both ends.
        They could have done a deal with Plaza Premium who do have both a departure and arrivals lounge at T2. The JFK end is harder, but I’m sure they could have figured something out.
        The fares have just launched today, so I’m sure in time, all competitors will match some of the pricing.
        But its a curious omission from what IMHO is such a critical part of the transatlantic business class product, whether it’s from AA/BA, VS/DL, or UA.

        • ChrisC says:

          As I said you can dine in the terminal. Probbaly better than most lounges anyway.

          No one forces you to eat on board.

          You could always book and pay for departure and arrivals lounges at LHR if you want.

          And B6 aren’t a legacy carrier. They have developed their products for the US domestic markets where free lounges really aren’t generally a thing even if flying in business or first.

          • David Cohen says:

            I think you’re missing the point. Transatlantic business class is about the ability to sleep on board.
            Yes, I can pay to eat in the terminal and have breakfast on the ground. But if everyone else on board isn’t, the clanging and clanking from the service (even with noise cancelling headphones and an eyeshade) mean I’m not going to get any/much sleep myself.
            I commuted on the CWLCY service for a while and no-one ate on board. It was six hours of proper rest. The normal BA sleeper service flights are like this too. People know that they eat beforehand, and have breakfast on the ground.
            It’s a fundamental part of of the value prop.

          • ChrisC says:

            Is it about sleep? I don’t think so.

            It may be for you but lots of people can’t sleep on planes but still want the business class space and service.

            Even on BAs ‘sleeper’ services they still served food and drink to those that wanted them.

            I did CWLCY twice from JFK to LCY and I certainly ate on board and so did other people too.

            If you don’t want to fly B6 then don’t but there will be lots of happy people willing to give them a try and they won’t care a jot that there is no lounge at either end and will eat dinner elsewhere in the terminal or have had it in town before going to the airport.

          • Trevor says:

            Love reading comments from PRs.

        • DT says:

          Nobody is stopping you from continuing to pay £2700 for a BA flight so you can continue to get lounge access. If that’s what’s most important to you, then JetBlue isn’t targeting you as a customer.

    • Ian says:

      You’d really pay hundreds of pounds more to be able to go into a lounge?

      • TGLoyalty says:

        Pay for a decent meal or pay the walk up fee for a lounge or heaven forbid just pre book for a discount.

        Included lounge isn’t the be all and end all when the difference is £100’s

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