MarkBearSF

I'm new to B6 - exploring options as a soon-to-be VX refugee. Really interested in Mint between JFK-SFO.

It looks like we'll be booking a flight on 5/31/17 after a cruise arriving in Red Hook, Brooklyn. We may have some time to kill at JFK. Are there any lounge options for Mint, or any other lounges in the terminal?

Our access to various lounges in the past has been via:
- AA credit card with Admirals' club membership
- Amex Platinum for Centurion, Priority Pass, and Delta
- VS lounge for fee for VX F pax

dw

Unfortunately Mint itself does not include any lounge access, but with your AMEX Plat you can access the Airspace lounge at JFK. (This is via the AMEX itself, not Priority Pass.). More info on the lounge:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/jetbl...minal-5-a.html

Personally I don't think it's great because it is rather small, and the food/beverage "credit" you get with every entrance only goes so far, and then the complimentary offerings are meager. But it is better than nothing.

At SFO with your Priority Pass, you'll be able to access the Air France lounge.

sbm12

I disagree with this. I'd just stay out in the terminal or, weather permitting, on the Roof Top rather than going into the lounge. Better experience IMO.

cmd320

It isn't a great lounge but it does have a shower and I'd go in briefly to get a drink or a snack for free.

RedwoodA320

Book a refundable MCS ticket on VX, check in, pay the fee for the VS clubhouse, and then cancel the ticket. VS has no access to VX reservations so showing them a receipt of lounge fee payment + a (cancelled) boarding pass is fine.

jay_dubya

That sounds like a lot of work. JFK terminals aren't connected post security.

MarkBearSF

Yeah - since they're not connected airside, we'll just stay in the terminal which I'm told is quite nice. (something I never hear about airport terminals at NY airports).

I'm sure that access won't be open by May, but it would be nice to see the old TWA terminal. ...but if I become a regular B6 customer, that will happen in time.

Hey, here's an idea - partner with the hotel operator for a space for a Mint/Mosaic club in the Eero Saarinen building!

bennos

Except for it being landside, this is actually a pretty good idea.

With the ex-JFK $599 fares being few and far between (basically the first or last flight of the day, on select days), the "entry level" fare is now more like $899 or $999/ow, firmly in legacy territory. (Indeed, I can usually find better fares on AA.) With that level of pricing, I expect the ground service to improve.

A "Mint only" lounge (no Mosaic, no memberships), particularly in JFK, would be a good step in that direction. It could be modeled more on the European railway lounges -- basically a comfortable, uncrowded room with light beverages and snacks. Right now, it would only need to handle ~30 people at a time (so it could be pretty small), though that could change with the planned increase in Mint destinations (assuming that service proves financially viable).

sbm12

Still much lower than what OALs charged before B6 showed up with Mint. Yes, more than the $599 cheap-o seats, but far from what would be considered "legacy pricing" 2.5 years ago.

No doubt the ground service needs to improve in a few ways, but I do not think it is quite as easy as saying it is tied to the fares that way.

bennos

It turns out to be surprisingly hard to find historic airfare data, but my recollection was that the legacy premium pricing pre-Mint was in the $2.5 - $3k/rt range (with advanced purchase).

Regardless, from the consumer side it's very easy to say that. At $600/ow I'm willing to give up parts of the "premium" experience. At $1000/ow, I'm less willing to do so, and I don't have to because that's where the legacies are pricing. (Indeed, I was recently comparing $999 Mint and $1049 AA F.) Mint inflight is great, but not greater enough at that price point to offset lack of a premium ground experience, mediocre IROPs capabilities, and all the other deficiencies that have been mentioned before.

Creating a small pre-departure space (even if only at JFK) would probably be the most visible ground service that could be most easily implemented (I realize it's not that easy), as it would affect the place where most people spend the most time outside of the plane (ie: after security, waiting for boarding).

miamiflyer8

The only lounge at JFK T5 is this one which is nothing to write home about so I'd skip the lounge and sit in the terminal which is perfectly nice with good wifi.

sbm12

There's an Aer Lingus lounge in the terminal, too, but no access for JetBlue pax.

injera

lots of great dining in T5 if the lounge isnt for you

MumbaiFlyer

I wouldn't get your hopes up. As a VX refugee myself, I find the food at JFK T5 to be abhorrent compared to T4, especially now that the Delta side has remodeled. Further, at T5 right now the cab line is farther away than the AirTrain.

And as for SFO Int'l Terminal A vs. T2, T2 is newer, smarter, and has far more dining options, especially casual.

Perhaps I'm over-rating food, but given how long one must account for getting to the airport these days (traffic if flying out of JFK, rental car distance (for me) for SFO), it's a huge priority for me personally.

Also, while I totally agree with the idea that WiFi is more important than on-demand movies, FlyFi has been saturated on my last few flights, rendering it on the utility level of GoGo.

injera

What about just going and having lunch somewhere in Brooklyn? Head up to Park Slope, have a nice meal, stroll down 5th Ave, go to Prospect Park, cab to JFK.