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JetBlue Mint Class is a fully enclosed suite between New York and Los Angeles, and New York and San Francisco starting October 26, 2014. JetBlue Mint Class is the nicest Business Class experience on a transcontinental flight in the United States–by far–and it is available for $599 each way or 35,000 TrueBlue points.

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Mint seats extend to fully flat 6’8″ beds, the longest on domestic routes, and four out of the 16 Mint seats are fully enclosed suites, which are currently available for no extra charge.

Mint passengers get everything you’d expect in business class on a premium route:

  • Priority check in, security, and boarding
  • Free multi-course meal
  • Free alcohol
  • Two free checked bags

Mint passengers also receive some amenities that few or zero airlines match:

  • Free wifi
  • Free DirecTV (100 channels)
  • Amenity Kit

Mint is pricey, but far cheaper than competing business class seats at as little as $599 each way. The seats can also be booked for 35,000 TrueBlue points or 43,750 American Express Membership Rewards each way.

  • What flights have the special $599 / 35,000 point price?
  • Can you select an enclosed suite for that price?
  • How can you get TrueBlue points?
  • Is this a good deal?

Space at the Discounted Price

Mint tickets are generally $799 one way with restrictions and $999 one way if you get a refundable fare. That’s quite a lot of money for 5-6 hours of flying, but it’s also quite a bit cheaper than inferior First and Business Class products offered by legacy airlines.

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Tickets that cost $799 uniformly cost 61,100 TrueBlue points because JetBlue has a fixed-value frequent-flyer program. That’s a paltry 1.31 cents per point of value even if you valued the flight at the $799 sticker price.

On many Mint flights, JetBlue has offered a discounted fare of only $599 one way. These Mint seats cost only 35,000 TrueBlue points one way. That’s a far better 1.71 cents per point if you value the flight at $599.

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To search the cash and points price for your dates, perform a regular search.

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On the results page, you can toggle between Dollars and TrueBlue points at the top of the screen.

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Many of the discounted $599 / 35k point flights only have one available seat at that price, but some have up to four seats at that price.

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Even on the discounted flights, you have the opportunity to select the enclosed suites in rows 2 and 4 at no additional cost.

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Getting TrueBlue Points

Unfortunately TrueBlue points are tough to rack up.

  • You earn 6 points per dollar spent on airfare at jetblue.com.
  • You earn 20,000 TrueBlue points after spending $1,000 on the JetBlue card from American Express in the first three months. American Express has so many better offers that I’d skip this one.
  • Membership Rewards transfer 250 Membership Rewards to 200 TrueBlue points. There is also a $0.60 fee for every 1,000 Membership Rewards transferred. We last saw a transfer bonus of 30% in June 2012.

None of these are great ways to get points. The easiest is the Membership Rewards transfer.

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To get the 35,000 TrueBlue points needed, you need to transfer 43,750 Membership Rewards and pay $28.75 between the Airline Excise Tax Offset Fee and tax on the flight. That means you’re getting about 1.3 cents of value per Membership Reward, which is a poor redemption.

For comarison, United’s flat bed business class on the same route costs 25,000 United miles or 17,000 Lufthansa miles each way if Saver availability exists. Unfortunately Saver availability exists on the United flight far less than the $599 / 35k points flights exist in JetBlue Mint.

Is Mint a Good Deal?

There isn’t really a great way to get into Mint with TrueBlue points earned with credit cards, which means that Mint is only a good deal if you value the flight at $599 or more.

Mint is a far superior product than other airlines’ premium transcontinental products with its enclosed suites, free wifi, free DirecTV, and other amenities, but that price point is out of reach for most leisure travelers.

Check out JetBlue’s page about Mint for more details on the product.

Instead of paying cash for a Mint ticket, you can always pay with the Barclaycard Arrival PlusTM World Elite MasterCard® which comes with with 40,000 bonus miles after spending $3k in the first 90 days.

Then you can redeem Arrival miles for a statement credit to offset the price of the ticket. For 59,900 miles, you can get a $599 Mint seat, plus you’d get 5,990 Arrival miles back and earn over 3,000 TrueBlue points on the flight.

60,000 bonus points after $4,000 in purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.

Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.

With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel℠ and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!


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