JetBlue Mint Studio business class review – A321LR from New York to London
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This is our review of JetBlue’s Mint Studio on its Airbus A321LR fleet.
Like many airlines, JetBlue has embraced a ‘business plus’ model for its front-row customers. The lack of a passenger in front of you means that you benefit from more personal space and (often) privacy, something that is being embraced by more and more airlines.
JetBlue has branded its two front row business class seats (1A and 1F) as ‘Mint Studio’, which is available on all of its transatlantic flights including Heathrow, Dublin, Edinburgh and Gatwick to New York and Boston.
Mint Studios can’t be selected during booking but are offered as an upgrade to customers, with pricing from £250/$299 one-way.
In this review, I want to look at the Mint Studio experience and specifically what you get versus a standard Mint Suite business class seat, which I’ve reviewed here. If JetBlue is a new airline to you then I recommend you read my introduction to JetBlue and how it’s disrupting transatlantic flying.
What’s the difference between JetBlue’s Mint Suites and Mint Studio?
I’ve outlined the upgrades in terms of personal space that Mint Studio offers over the standard Mint Suites, but what else is different?
As you’ll see below, most of the service you receive in Mint Studio is the same as any other business class customer: you get the same menu and drinks options and the same amenities such as slippers, blanket and amenity kit.
Beyond the additional space and privacy you get, it’s actually very similar to Mint Suite.
In fact, the best way to think of Mint Studio is not as a separate class of service (it’s not like first class) but simply as an improved front-row seating option.
Exploring the Mint Studio seat
Let’s start with what is different – the seat itself. The extra space is noticeable as soon as you board. Here is 1A, one of two Mint Studio seats on the plane:
And here is a standard Mint Suite:
The big difference is the addition of a padded bench to the right of the seat, which can act as a buddy dining seat (with its own tray table) as well as an extended bed area.
In fact, the seat is very big in bed mode, with plenty of room for your knees if you’re a side-sleeper like I am:
The Studio door and walls are the same height as other suites, but it is still very private. You are only really overlooked if someone walks past or stands up in their seat behind you. Definitely no awkward eye contact with the person across the aisle:
Crew are very proactive in closing the suite door. As I mentioned in my Mint review, I find doors less necessary in an inward facing herringbone configuration where your head and shoulders are in the window and your feet are in the aisle, as you are better protected from the comings and goings of the aisle anyway.
Other features of the seat include an additional tall storage cupboard with mirror:
There’s also a flip-up storage compartment along the window, which features a bottle of water and a tall thin storage unit.
Another benefit of Mint Studio is the larger, 22″ in-flight entertainment screen. This is 5″ larger than a standard Mint Suite. Content is the same, which means a good selection of older films but fewer new releases than you might expect. The Master & Dynamic headphones were once again excellent.
On the other hand JetBlue’s excellent free-for-all Fly-Fi more than makes up for it. After watching a 15-second ad I was connected on all my devices with speeds fast enough to browse and share images and photos to social media. I’m not quite sure how JetBlue can offer wifi to all customers and yet still maintain good speeds, but it does.
As with other suites, you get a very handy little laptop drawer underneath the screen, which in my opinion is one of the most useful storage compartments to have.
And instead of one ambient light you get two!
Charging options are the same and comprise two universal sockets, a USB-A and a USB-C port as well as a wireless charging pad. As with my outbound flight, I couldn’t get the wireless charging pad to work despite using one all the time at home.
Apart from an additional printed cushion, the amenities are the same, with a pillow and blanket provided by Tuft & Needle. The amenity kit is the same Caraa sports mesh pouch that can be converted into a drawstring bag. It contains a sleep mask and ear plugs from Tuft & Needle, dental kit (bamboo tooth brush, tooth paste and mouthwash) from Plus Ultra, lip balm, peel wipes and ‘moisture cushion’ cream and hand cream from Dr Dennis Gross as well as a pair of socks and a deodorant wipe.
And that’s the seat. More space, more storage, a bigger bed, bigger screen and buddy dining. Everything is just that little more comfortable and spacious.
JetBlue Mint Studio service and food
As I said above, beyond the seat itself the service in Mint Studio is identical to what any other customer in Mint receives. This is not a problem, given that JetBlue’s crew are fantastic.
On boarding, the crew asked if they could take my coat and offered me a choice of pre-departure drinks: orange juice, mimosa or (Italian) sparkling wine. This is served in a plastic cup due to storage and weight constraints, which doesn’t make a good first impression. Fortunately everything is served in real glassware after takeoff.
On my day flight return from New York to London Heathrow, the first meal was a breakfast service, followed up by a smaller meal before landing.
JetBlue features an innovative small plates dining concept which lets you choose three of five possible plates for your first meal and two of three for your second. These are ordered via the in-flight entertainment screen.
First up, however, is a small pastry served with a drink of your choice:
For breakfast, the choices included:
- Pineapple with toasted coconut
- Salted yoghurt with raspberry jam and oated crumble
- Avocado toast with roasted tomatoes, basil, parmigiano, crostini
- Brioche French toast with roasted strawberries, whipped mascarpone
- Frittata with leek, ricotta, herb and parmigiano salad
Sides of maple bacon and Calabrian chilli oil were also available. I went for the yoghurt, avocado toast and frittata. It is all served on one tray:
As with my outbound flight, I was pleasantly surprised. Airplane breakfasts are rarely inspiring – nobody daydreams about frittatas – and yet I found it all delicious and different to the usual ‘scrambled eggs, sausage and potato’ that you so often get on flights. The frittata and bacon were fantastic, to the point that I think I audibly ‘mmmm’ed on my first bite!
Crew were very attentive throughout the flight and regularly asked if I wanted a top up or another drink. About midway through our 6:30 journey, they came round offering some snacks including crisps and nuts. I asked if they had any chocolate and they managed to find some cocoa covered cashews.
The second meal service was, in my opinion, less inspiring and probably my least favourite meal on all my JetBlue flights. The options were:
- Tuscan kale salad with parmigiano, caeser vinaigrette and lemon
- Carrot soup with puffed wild rice and cilantro (coriander)
- Panini with mortadella, fontina, roasted red peppers and basil
I opted for the latter two. The carrot soup was nice but the panini felt a bit basic and less sophisticated than I would want for something in business class.
Conclusion
Hopefully this gives you a taste for what you can expect in Mint Studio vs Mint Suite. Anyone looking for a bit more personal space is likely to be pleased.
As I noted above, it’s better to think of it as a preferred seating option than a separate cabin of service. I do think airlines generally could differentiate these business-plus seating options more, perhaps with improved bedding (a mattress topper would be excellent) or amenity kits.
As with standard Mint Suite, however, I think JetBlue perfectly balances excellent service with refreshing ideas and a more personable, less formal manner. Not everything is a winner (the plastic cup for pre-departure drinks being one of them) but JetBlue offers an exceptionally competitive product. In many cases, it’s better.
Head for Points made a financial contribution to the Woodland Trust as part of this trip. The Woodland Trust creates and manages forests in the UK in accordance with the Woodland Carbon Code.
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