Review - JetBlue Mint Business Class A321 Ft. Lauderdale to Phoenix

B62857 FLL-PHX

March, 2026

Check-in:

I recently traveled to Scottsdale and flew with JetBlue in its fabulous Mint business class. While this product has been around for many years, it was my first time flying it. I absolutely adored the experience, well, other than having to go to FLL from Miami Beach at 5PM… American Airlines is easy to hate, whereas JetBlue is easy to love. It truly is a shame that JetBlue can’t seem to succeed.

I paid 46,000 TrueBlue points for this flight, which I’ve had forever but never had a chance to use. TrueBlue is a revenue-based program, so there’s virtually no arbitrage to get outsized value, as the points needed are tied to the cash price. For context, the cash fare for this business class ticket was $685. By comparison, AA was charging $385 for coach out of MIA, and a little over $1k for a seat upfront. AA flies a mix of B737s and A321s on this route, so there were no lie-flat alternatives. As you can see, JetBlue provides a superior product while asking for less, which partly explains its negative margins…

Lounge:

Historically, JetBlue has never offered lounge access to any passengers. However, that’s slowly changing, as the carrier pivots to a new strategy. JetBlue actually just opened its first ever lounge at JFK in the past month. There’s no plan for a JetBlue lounge at Fort Lauderdale, though.

Boarding:

Our plane came in from LAX late by 35 minutes. The boarding area was naturally a mess, but par for the course in South Florida. Upon boarding, I was immediately impressed by the sleek Mint cabin.

The Mint seats are the same ones you’d find on Air Serbia, Aer Lingus and Swiss. For international business class, these seats are rather embarrassing in this day and age. But we’re talking about a four-hour domestic flight here. I was traveling by myself, so I chose 2F. When you hear people talk about the “throne” seats, this is what they mean. This is undoubtedly the most private seat in the cabin, as it gets boxed in by consoles on both sides.

What an utter treat to have a lie-flat bed when not flying to/from LA/NY/SF. I’m even willing to overlook the absolutely filthy state that the seat was in.

Awaiting at each seat were a small menu with beverage list and a bedding kit.

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JetBlue Mint Business Class Bedding FLL-PHX

It wasn’t long until one of the FAs Bonnie walked by to introduce herself. She asked if I’d flown Mint before and gave me a quick spiel on the seat and the service flow. What impressed me the most was that she asked me if I’d like a cold beverage before takeoff. That’s a risky question - what if I said something that’s not water or orange juice..? Am I? On Qatar Airways? Did Bonnie just offer me a pre-departure drink of choice?

For research purpose, of course, I asked if I could have a tequila soda.

JetBlue Mint Business Class Pre-departure Drink FLL-PHX

And there you have it. A non-water, non-oj welcome drink, on an airline in America.

Shortly after, Bonnie reemerged with some headphones, which were of decent quality.

JetBlue Mint Business Class Headphones FLL-PHX

Boarding an A321 took much longer, and we ended up pushing back 50 minutes behind schedule. Three seats remained empty in Mint. I want to note a couple small things. The console on my right was like really warm the entire time. Does anyone know what’s under there? Also, most JetBlue planes are outfitted with personal TVs, so how come they still haven’t made a safety video?

Inflight:

Once flight attendants were released from their seats, the other FA Kyle passed through the aisle asking if anyone needed to grab anything from the overhead bins. I thought that was quite nice, as Mint passengers aren’t allowed to leave anything out for takeoff and landing. It was at this point that an announcement was made to inform passengers to use the lavatories in their respective cabins. I’m not sure how much this was enforced, but I appreciated the thought.

Dinner service ensued with a round of apéritif. The Mint Condition cocktail, made with ginger, lime, cucumber, mint, piqued my interest. I had the vodka version. Unfortunately, it was on the sweeter side, but the ginger helped balance it a little bit. This was served with some tasty savoury crackers.

JetBlue Mint Business Class Apéritif FLL-PHX

JetBlue has a tapas-style dining concept, through which you choose three out of the four options available. For today’s flight, I went for the mushroom lasagna, roast chicken with leeks and croutons, and sausage and lentil soup.

JetBlue Mint Business Class Dinner FLL-PHX

I can’t even begin to tell you how exponentially better JetBlue’s catering was compared to those of the other US airlines. Presentation aside, the quality was actually worth the calories. I love leeks, so the chicken dish was my favorite. The whole thing was just relatively healthy and nutritious. The lentil soup was light and flavorful, and the lasagna was not drenched in heavy cream like it otherwise would have been on 99% of the other airlines.

There was only one option for dessert, namely the gelato with passionfruit and coconut crumble. This was phenomenal - the coconut compôte was perfectly tart and cut into the richness of the gelato. You know, you really can’t compare a NYC-based airline to an airline based in… Fort. Worth…

JetBlue Mint Business Class Dessert FLL-PHX

After dinner, I checked out the self-service bar located between Mint and economy. I had no idea the drinks were chilled in here, so I took a couple water bottles back to my seat. The water on offer in Mint was Saratoga, but it wasn’t chilled. Bonnie saw me with the water and came over to ask me if I wanted more of the Saratoga water instead. It’s like she knew Nestlé Pure Life would not agree with my precious body🤪.

Our flight time was quite short, but I still took advantage of the lie-flat bed. JetBlue is the first airline in the world to introduce doors in business class more than a decade ago, which is pretty wild to think about.

The legroom of the throne seats is notoriously restrictive.

I spent the next couple of hours relaxing in my private, fully enclosed suite and watching RHOBH on live TV. And for that reason alone, I hereby declare JetBlue the best airline in the United States of America.

On Arrival:

Even with our delayed departure, we still touched down at Sky Harbour on schedule. Honestly, I was a little bummed that our flight weren’t just a little longer. It was such a comfortable way to fly. Is JetBlue Mint the best domestic business class in the world? No. But in the U.S., JetBlue has friendly service, the best catering in this country and the most competitive domestic product. I genuinely hope it turns around with its JetForward initiatives, because we desperately need this fresh breeze of “at least we try” in our jaded aviation landscape.

Review - JetBlue Mint Business Class A321 Ft. Lauderdale to Phoenix

B62857 FLL-PHX

March, 2026

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