JetBlue Mint, JFK To Paris From $1,895 (Sept-Dec)
When JetBlue launched flights form JFK to London, they released some competitive business class fares that forced other airlines to respond. Well, they've announced flights to Paris and there are some dates with round-trip Mint (business class) fares for under $1,900.
We'll see if other airlines respond but this is a great option in its own right.
Let's get into the details!
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JetBlue Mint Studio ($299 extra one-way)
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Straight To The Points
Routes: JFK-CDG
Operating airline: JetBlue
Class of service: Mint (business class)
Dates: September - December 2023
Seats available: 4+
Aircraft: A321neo
Cabin layout: 1-1
Book with (per person, round-trip):
- JetBlue: From $1,894
- Amex Biz Platinum (after 35% rebate): From 123,145 points
- Amex Biz Gold (after 25% rebate): From 142,091 points
- Chase Sapphire Reserver: From 126,303
- Chase Sapphire Preferred: From 151,564
Don't forget to let me know if you book and how you did it!
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Flight Experience
JetBlue's new Mint product on the Airbus A321LR is arranged in a 1-1 cabin layout. That's right, it's a narrow-body aircraft. Don't let that deter you, it's still a very nice experience for a shorter transatlantic flight.
While I wish the seats weren't angled away from the windows, I found the Mint Suite to be spacious enough to sleep comfortably. Or, if you're like me and struggle to sleep on planes, at least snooze a little.
On both of my flights, I was really impressed with the food as well as the crew. They genuinely seemed to want passengers to have a great experience.
If you're on a full flight to London, I would consider sittng toward the back of the cabin if and ordering the expedited meal. Even with the crew hustling like crazy, it took them a while to get everyone served.
If you want to upgrade the experience a bit, you can pay $299 to book a Mint Studio (the first row of the cabin). These two seats have a ton of space and you'll be served first so you can get to bed or settle into a movie.
My JetBlue Mint Studio Review
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Two 90,000-point Sign-up Bonuses Ending
I don't flag too many credit card offers in my Premium newsletter, but two $900 (90,000-point) sign-up bonuses are ending in a couple of weeks. While I'm not sure what the offer will be after that, it was previously 75,000 points.
If you're under 5/24, this is a great time to apply. These are business cards, but any kind of side hustle counts. There are reports of people over 5/24 getting approved. For those over 5/24, reducing your biz card credit limits with this bank can help get you an instant approval.
If you plan to apply, I have links to cards on my site. Thanks for your support!
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Best Ways To Book
These days $1,895 for a business class ticket to Europe is quite good, especially for a non-stop booking. As such, you might prefer to simply pay cash and earn 3x to 5x transferable points on the purchase.
For those who want to use points, the Amex Business Platinum is the best option after factoring in the 35% rebate at 123,145 points. If you have the Sapphire Reserve, you'll only need slightly more points at 126,303 to book.
Even 142,091 points with the Amex Business Gold (after the25% rebate) or 151,564 points with the Sapphire Preferred are solid ways to book given that the points cover all of the taxes/fees and you'll earn redeemable miles.
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Where To Credit The Flights
I would credit these flights to Qatar Airways Privilege Club since American AAdvantage is excluded from earning points on JetBlue's transatlantic routes.
With Qatar Privilege Club, you can earn 125% of the total flight miles which means you'll earn ~9,000 Avios on the flights. Since Qatar Airways is now part of the Avios platform, you can link your Qatar and British Airways accounts if you want to move the Avios to BA.
For context, with 9,000 Avios in your BA account, you'd be 26.5% of the way to the 34,000 Avios needed for a one-way Iberia business class award on off-peak dates between Madrid and Boston, Chicago, New York, or Washington, DC.
Use GCMap to check the flight distance and calculate redeemable miles.
Please note: "Effective 15th June 2022, Privilege Club members flying on JetBlue operated flights to/from the following US states, will not be able to earn Avios: Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington."
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Final Thoughts
It's great to see a sub-$1,900 business class fare on an airline with a great inflight experience. Hopefully, we'll see other airline drop their business class fares to compete with JetBlue!
Happy booking!
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