June 8th, 2016
JetBlue 2023 New York (JFK) - Los Angeles (LAX) Departure: 1137 Arrival: 0154 (+1) Duration: 5:16 Aircraft: Airbus A321-231
Registration: N943JT Seat: 9D (Even More Space)
Among the US carriers, JetBlue has the most spacious economy class. This was my first time trying out the A321 Transcontinental flight. Also I wanted to see the infamous JetBlue Mint Class which is equivalent to business class. The Mint class has a combination of open and closed suites: Seats 2 and 4 are all 1-1 configured closed suites and the rest 2-2 configured open suites. Following the Mint comes Even More Space(Economy Plus where my seat was and then the "normal" economy class.)
There are 159 seats installed - 4 Mint Closed Suite, 12 Mint Open Suites, 41 Even More and 102 Standard Economy seats. As to the non-transcontinental A321 there are about 30 seats less on A32T.
The Even More Seats was no comparison to United Economy Plus, Delta's Comfort+ and AA's Main Cabin Extra. It had a enormous spacing between each row. Whopping 41 inches of pitch on exit row and 37 inches on all the rest with 18 inches of width on both of them. All seats are equipped with personal 10.1 inch monitor screen and a remote controller embedded on the armrests.
The Cabin:
This flight was an evening flight arriving past midnight at Los Angeles. When first entering the, the mood light similar to those on Virgin America, the crew members and the Mint Class will greet you. Passing along the Mint suites, comes Even More Space and standard Economy. Overall cabin appearance is quite same but there are difference compared to AA, UA and DL transcontinental flights because when you see the Marketplace, you will find JetBlue's A32Ts really interesting.
Being only serving for one year, the cabin was really new, cozy and clean. Overhead storage compartment was little small so if the flight is full, the latter passengers might check their bags in the gate.
JetBlue A32T Door 1L.
JetBlue A32T Mint Class: Open Suite.
JetBlue A32T Mint Class: Open Suite.
JetBlue A32T Even More Space Cabin appearance.
The Seats:
Installing lesser seats on JetBlue A32T, it has full featured slimline economy seats in 3-3, 6 per row configurations. The seats in Even More Space has more legroom than the standard one behind. The seats were finished with leather cushion which were generally soft and comfortable. Armrests can be raised 90 degrees except the 2 on the aisle and window side. This class is absolutely preferred by passengers who occupies a lot of legroom and to those who wants more comfort.
One thing that bothered me was the remote controller. Whenever I put my arm on my armrest, the buttons were so sensitive they kept responding while I was watching.
JetBlue A32T Even More Space seats.
JetBlue A32T Even More Space seats.
JetBlue A32T Even More Space seats.
JetBlue A32T Even More Space seats.
JetBlue A32T Even More Space seat: Armrest with remote controller permanently embedded.
JetBlue A32T Even More Space seat: Personal reading lights and air vents.
JetBlue A32T Even More Space seats.
In-flight Meals:
JetBlue has this signature Marketplace where all passengers - Business to Economy can come by and grab some beverages and snacks during flight. There is no restrictions how many snacks you can grab but for the sake of other passengers, it would be a good manner not to take whole bunch of snacks to the seat. The Marketplace is located between Mint class and Even More Space.
Few hours after take-off comes a light meal for all passengers and they are free of charge! That is one of the charms of JetBlue.
JetBlue A32T Even More Space Tray Table.
JetBlue A32T Even More Space Marketplace.
In-flight Entertainments:
JetBlue's IFE features more than 100 channels of XM Satellite Radio, Live Direct TV and many more. I was impressed by the services JetBlue provide to passengers on the transcontinental flights. Additionally, the Wi-Fi on-board which had a good speed is free of charge throughout the flight. It would have cost me about 20-30USD on other flights if I purchased them. JetBlue calls their Wi-Fi as Fly-Fi.
All the seats, from Mint to Economy has personal 110VAC power socket to charge your mobile devices.
JetBlue A32T Even More Space 10.1" screen.
JetBlue A32T Even More Space IFE.
JetBlue A32T Even More Space IFE: Live ATC!
JetBlue A32T Even More Space in-seat power socket.
JetBlue A32T Even More Space in-flight Fly-Fi (Wi-Fi).
Lavatories:
Lavatories were standard where you can find it on other narrow-body aircrafts. The water faucet is metering type where you have to push it in order to access the flow of water. Temperatures can be adjusted by rotating the head to left(warm) or right(cool).
JetBlue A32T Even More Space Lavatory.
JetBlue A32T Even More Space Lavatory.
Summary:
I find JetBlue very attractive and it is one the best transcontinental flight. Simple complementary meals and beverages are served even in the economy class. Passengers would never get bored on this A321T with Marketplace to pick up your favorite beverages and snacks along with live radio/tv shows. In my opinion, there are no other US carriers with narrow-body fleets that can compete with JetBlue.
Looking at Mint suites, JetBlue was the first domestic carrier to introduce suits on narrow-body. American deploys B77W with First class and reverse herringbone business class to LAX-DFW, LAX-MIA and MIA-JFK but by analyzing the price, JetBlue is more economical than high priced wide-body premium classes.
This flight to Los Angeles was 90% almost full and cabin crews were really busy during the flight so there was not much time for me to hear their opinions on this transcon flight. But I am sure they would love it too. I am expecting to try the Mint product in coming months to New York to try out how it feels to travel in suite on a A321.