acarney

Booking a flight for my friend from JFK to LAX in late October. Flying a red eye in Mint on a Sunday night (10:35 pm JFK departure, 1:45 AM arrival). SeatGuru suggests that the Mint suite in row 4 is the "better" seat compared to row 2, anyone know why on that? Is there any difference between row 2 and row 4?

Also, she'll be heading right from work to the airport, do the redeye flights from JFK to LAX serve a meal in Mint? Is it decent enough sized to tell her not to bother getting something at JFK right before she gets on the flight?

Finally, is there any expedited security at JFK for her if she does NOT have TSA PreCheck but does book JetBlue Mint?

sbm12

Westbound flights timed like this are generally not considered a redeye in the true sense as passengers would typically go to a bed in LA upon arrival and sleep a normal night before working the following day.

That said, I do not believe there is an appreciable difference between rows 2 and 4. And there is a priority security queue in JFK, though I have no idea if it'll be open that late. From a dining perspective, I think the full meal service is still offered on that late departure, but I'd probably skip it. Assume it'll be 11:30-midnight by the time food is served. I get hungry several hours earlier than that and would eat a full meal either in town before heading to the airport or in the terminal prior to boarding. If I got hungry during the flight there are plenty of options to snack on. But if the passenger really is going straight to work at 2a from the airport I'd be focused on sleeping during the flight, not eating or drinking.

acarney

Thanks for the comments! I'll be picking her up at LAX and then heading over to the Disneyland Hotel, hopefully to get enough sleep that Monday at Disney won't be toooo rough, lol I'm also hoping there is no traffic that late at night... but I never trust LA to be traffic free at ANY time, I've never been to LAX that late on a Sunday night/Monday morning, but I know LAX always can be hit and miss with traffic too...

I'll probably suggest she try to grab something once she gets to T5 since she'll be heading right from work to JFK but also mention she probably will have an option for something onboard too if she wants to sample it or isn't sleeping. How's service on flights running that time of night? If she does want to stay up for awhile and get service, are FA's pretty responsive to drink requests and stuff like that this late? Also, how are the drinks in Mint?

I don't think she's ever even flown in F let alone something like Mint or other "flagship" transcon F service so I want to push her to totally make use of the food and drinks and snacks if she wants, does Mint order from the screen for things like snacks/drinks, or FA call button?

sbm12

I read it as from the flight to work, not from work to the flight; my bad.

Drink service should be responsive; if the crew sees that she's up and active then they usually will match that. Ordering is from a menu and "tapas style" where pax get to choose 3 of 5 options for their meal. Plus an ice cream dessert. I think the wines are a highlight of Mint versus the booze but that's up to personal preference in many ways.

acarney

Awesome. Hopefully it'll be a great flight and will help make it not near as stressful jumping right into a vacation. Work schedules on both ends means we didn't have too much wiggle room on either ends of the trip. I'll be flying down from SEA to LAX just on good old Delta domestic F so I'll be eager to hear what she thinks, lol

TastyPlaneEats

bkojote

Seats 2 and 4 are generally the same for me, with a slight preference for 2F (no galley light) and 4A (no bathroom light) but you really can't go wrong with any seat in these rows.

acarney

Good to hear! I put her in 2F

So past the Mint meal, if she wants snacks or anything is it the same selection of free snacks that everyone on the flight gets (and does she go back to the little Jet Blue bar to get them) or is there like a snack basket or anything for Mint? (I know other carriers love their little snack baskets for the premium cabins...)

telloh

In my experience, snack basket is offered after the meal.

bkojote

They'll bring them to you (the basket usually has fresh fruit in addition to the core snacks) or you can visit the mid-cabin snack bar + fridge. Food shouldn't be a problem on any Mint flight!

Also not sure if it was answered earlier but flying out of JFK there's a dedicated check-in area for Mint it's a small alcove right by the doors) and she'll be able to use the "Even More Speed" priority security line. Expect security to take about 20 minutes.

acarney

Thanks! I was reading that Mint had a dedicated check in but that it was very hard to find or tucked away... is there one main way into T5? If so, can I give her tips on "as soon as you start to see JetBlue counters look to your (right or left) for the sign that says 'mint / mosaic' ")

TastyPlaneEats

sbm12

The distinguishing factor IMO is that it is on the curb side of the building, not the terminal side. It is in the circle on the map below. The priority access to TSA is the number 1 and the PreCheck is number 2. At that late hour no guarantee those are open.

caliform

I think it's nearly impossible to miss, it's got big green signage. You'll be ok

bkojote