764toHI

I also tried Mint for the first time 6 weeks ago on JFK-SFO. I thought the seat (I don't mind the lumbar support as I prefer a firmer mattress), privacy, food, and amenity kit were great, but I couldn't help thinking about IRROPS situations, lack of lounge access, and relatively poor JFK T5 access via public transportation - it's like a good 10 minutes from the AirTrain to the Precheck line). Flew back on UA p.s. to compare and after considering all the factors, I would say they're pretty equal.

bennos

How is Mint better/worse as a name than "Delta One" or "p.s."?

And if you can find your booking class (which B6 makes difficult) you'll see the traditional booking codes. (My last SFO-JFK run booked into "I".)

I agree the lack of VOD at this point makes the system look embarrassingly dated, and I don't find streaming an acceptable alternative.

I think all in all B6 has a slightly better in flight product and the legacies have better (in some cases significantly better) ground operations. That said, I too consider them roughly equivalent overall and tend to book first on price and schedule.

sfozrhfco

You can make the seat recline by tapping on the relax button. It will go back an inch or two with each tap and you can still keep your feet on the ground.

You can also use the relax button until the back starts to go back and then just lower the leg rest

dw

Considering how recently the A321s were delivered, I do find the looped video baffling.

That being said, for me, the free wi-fi (that often works better than paid Gogo on other airlines) more than makes up for that.

sfozrhfco

AVOD is really not that important on a 5-6 hour flight. Free, usable wifi is way more valuable and useful to the majority of flyers. Plus as Amazon is sponsoring the wifi, I am sure Amazon would prefer people to login using their Prime account to stream content.

Mint is still a major disruptive force. The value that is offered is very high-especially for the market they set out to capture. Remember that Mint was started to capture small business customers that did not have the size to get corporate discounts and leisure travelers willing to pay somewhat more for a better product. The fact that more than 2 years later, Jetblue has reached a far bigger audience is a great testament to the success of Mint.

I was previously a Jetblue customer but would book the cheapest possible flight. Occasionally I would also use Virgin for transcons when I wanted to fly in first. This year I have taken all my JetBlue transcons in Mint and achieved Mosaic in February. It is a win for me and Jetblue is getting more out of me as well. It has transformed the travel experience for many people that I know and for whom I book travel.

aCavalierInCoach

For this business traveler, being able to spread out and work (suite is great for spaciousness + wifi makes work doable on the flight), sleep (don't care about intermediate seat settings), and decent food, Mint really has the keys to what some of us are looking for. Others, I'm sure not so much.

keitherson

You paid $200 for all the good things and think that's not a bargain? Even if you take away the amenity kit and IFE completely.

$200 on DL/UA/AA won't even get you MCE/Comfort+/Econ+ on some flights.

DL2SXM

that was a buy up fare. You don't know what he/she paid for the original cost of the ticket.

For $200.00 on DL, I can buy a one way coach ticket on JFK-LAX, use a GUC/RUC and wind up in business class, better food, seat, service, lounge, private check-in at LAX, DL 1 is leagues ahead of MINT...While Jet Blue might do there best to compete with the big boys, the one thing they will never compete with is the Porche service that DL offers at LAX, JFK, ATL etc. More than once, while making a tight connection at JFK, I was greeted by DL staff who whisked me off the plane, down the stairs, into a waiting Porche and off to my next gate. Lets see Jet Blue match that. Jet Blue can keep all the penny pinching flyers they want, but when someone wants to fly a quality business class, they choose DL, AA or even UA.

Dieuwer

$599-$200 = $399

sfozrhfco

You only need a Porche because DL's Terminal set up at JFK is so much worse than jetBlue's. JetBlue is going for the O/D traffic so I could care less about riding a few feet in a Porche. I would rather get through security in 30 seconds as I did over the weekend at Terminal 5 and not wait around in a lounge for an hour. I don't need to play the upgrade lottery and I can order my vegan meal in advance and have a good meal meal on the plane for a reasonable fare.

The vast majority of people do not have GUC/RUCs and would not want to fly on DL that much to get them. Mint is accessible to far more people and without the presence of Mint in the market the J fares on other carriers would be much higher.

Great that DL works for you but I would never pay the premium they often ask for given that we are a small business with no access to corporate discounts. I would take Mint any day over DL.

DrewBr

Well said.

ETA; I added emojis within "sfozhfco" post. My bad. Will work on multi quoting.

keitherson

Are you kidding me?

First of all, GUC/RUCs aren't free. And Porsche transfers are hit and miss. I've been Diamond for 3 years and I've never received a single Porsche transfer.

And I do believe JetBlue service can match DL Diamond. I've had FAs personally greet me and check up on me for being Mosaic. I've had gate agents call my name out personally at the boarding area to tell me to board, because I was the only Mosaic on the aircraft.

That's something Delta can't match, whether they have Porsche transfers for the 360s or not.

MSYtoJFKagain

I had this happen while boarding flight recently, the plane was nearly empty but I really enjoyed the solo treatment.

Brighton Line

I'm not Mosaic but my last flight seated in 11A Exit was called by name on board by the FA and was offered to move to 10A exit saying I would have the entire row to myself instead of full one in 11.
Of course this was the FA making sure there was at least one person sitting in in each exit row willing and able to assist.
The FA had some type of tablet with the seating chart and names of pax on it so I assume this can be done for any passenger Mosaic or not.

bennos

1. As you know, PMs (75k miles) get max 4 upgrade certs, DMs (125k miles) get max 10, and of course there's no guarantee that you can use them
2. DL food IMO is not better, and up until recently hadn't even changed in like 5 years
3. Whether the seat is better depends on the seat and the plane (IMO: Mint suite > DL A330 > DL 767 > Mint pairs = DL 757)
4. Private check-in is nice, but not a decision maker for me
5. Very few people get the Porsche transfer, and as you know its purpose is "surprise and delight" -- not something that can be relied upon

And if you look at the actual pricing available, the "penny pinchers" are on AA and UA, which IME regularly beats Mint on pricing.