Background
Last month, I needed to fly to the Fort Lauderdale area, and I’ve flown on JetBlue before on this exact route back in 2019 and had a solid experience. Luckily for me, JetBlue had the best-priced flight and a solid time, so it was a no-brainer. JetBlue is one of the most interesting airlines to me, and I generally like flying them. They are the interesting mix of “premium carrier” along with “low-cost carrier” attributes. I was also intrigued that the new JetBlue A321neo with the Mint Suites would be operating my route. I’ve been on this aircraft type/layout once and did try the Mint Suites, so I was excited to give the Economy (Core) Class a try this time.
Flight Details
JetBlue Flight 100
Los Angeles (LAX) to Fort Lauderdale (FLL)
Seat: 24A
Cabin: Economy (Core)
Plane: Airbus A321neo (Until We Mint Again)
Status: Delayed (1 Hour and 15 Minutes Late)
At the Airport
JetBlue departs from Terminal 5 at LAX, which is a bit aged at the moment. Thankfully, I had a nice lunch at Ford’s Filling Station and enjoyed their buffalo wings, sandwiches, and fries.
While eating lunch, I noticed departure time was delayed 5 minutes from 11:45 am to 11:50 am. No biggie it seems.
Boarding started 45 minutes before our scheduled departure, and Mosaic & the Mint Business Class cabin got to board together. I got to board with the Mosaic group as I recently partook in the JetBlue Mosaic Status Match/Challenge, which I wrote about here.
The Plane: Airbus A321neo with Mint
Our Airbus A321neo with Mint aircraft was delivered in February 2024 and entered into service the next month. JetBlue has cute names for their aircraft, and this one was named Until We Mint Again. This plane featured the new Mint Business Class product with the 1-1 suite configuration.
The aircraft has a total of 160 seats, with 16 Mint Business Class Seats (2 of which are Mint Studios), 42 Even More Space Seats, and 102 standard Core Economy Seats.
As I boarded, we passed the Mint Cabin, which looked great. Back in 2022, I flew in Mint on this plane type and had a solid experience. If you’re curious about my experience on that flight, you can check out that review here.
Then, we entered the Core (Economy Cabin). The first thing I noticed was that the ceiling height was quite high, making the cabin feel more spacious, and the overhead bins were quite large.
The standard Economy seats offer more legroom than most economy products, with a seat pitch of 32 inches. I found the legroom to be quite good, though for how new the seats are, I’m not sure how they would hold up as the guy sitting in front of me warped the seat a bit as it was so thin, so it was slanted a bit for the flight.
In-Flight Entertainment & Wi-Fi
There is a 10.1” seatback touchscreen TV, and all seats have access to universal AC, USB-A, and USB-C sockets. There are 2 sets of power outlets per group of three seats.
The IFE screen has Free DirectTV, movies, TV shows, and games. I found the system to be quite easy to use and responsive, though it was a bit annoying that every time you selected a new movie, a few new repetitive ads would pop up.
Wi-Fi is complimentary and provided by ViaSat. All you have to do is watch a 15-second ad, and you’ll be connected for the full flight. It worked throughout the flight but was a bit slow at some spots.
Delay
Boarding was completed 25 minutes before our scheduled departure and the doors were closed. Due to the weather in Fort Lauderdale, ATC had postponed our takeoff time a little bit, so we waited at the gate for a while. The captain let us know that the flight time in the air would be 4 hours and 27 minutes.
We pushed back from the gate for five minutes after our scheduled departure and then waited on the runway for 20 minutes. Unfortunately, our windshield wiper wouldn’t stop working, so we had to go back to the gate to get it fixed. The windshield wiper was fixed quickly, but we had to refuel and that took a while for the fuel car to get here. The refueling was completed and we left the gate about an hour and 20 minutes past our scheduled departure. Thankfully, we took off relatively quickly, just 10 minutes after leaving the gate. On the plus side, the pilots informed us that our flight time in the air decreased to 4 hours and 15 minutes.
The Flight
After reaching cruising altitude, the flight attendants first came by with the cart with items for purchase. Items included:
- Blankets ($10)
- Earbuds ($7)
- Pillow & Snooze Kit ($7)
- Snooze Kit ($2)
Additionally, for food options, there were snack boxes ranging from $9-10, as well as heartier options like Ham & Cheese Croissant ($10), Harvest Salad ($13), Cheese & Crackers ($14), Turkey Pretzel Sandwich ($13).
Complimentary snacks included Pop Chips, plantain chips, everything bagel pretzels, and graham crackers. I may sound like a broken record, but I miss the old days when they had Terra Blue chips.
Drinks included Pepsi products, and ironically Segrams Ginger Ale (a Coke product). I’m happy they did two beverage/snack services, and the flight went by relatively quickly as I had shows, movies & Wi-Fi to keep me entertained.
We landed right before 9 pm and got to the gate less than 10 minutes later. Our arrival was about 1 hour and 15 minutes late, which in the grand scheme of things, wasn’t too bad.
The Verdict
Overall, I liked flying on the new JetBlue A321neo, and the in-flight entertainment was solid. The cabin ceilings were high and spacious, and the flight was pretty comfortable. I also like the snacks offered, and it’s definitely one of the better aircraft to fly coast to coast.
Have you flown on a new JetBlue A321neo? How was your experience? Comment below!
Cheers,
Ty
Have any questions? I’ve also started working with a travel agency, Fora Travel, and can assist in booking hotel stays or planning trips. Comment below or email me at takeofftotravel@gmail.com. You can also view all my other posts here! Thanks for stopping by!
