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jetBlue vs. Delta One Transcon

jetBlue vs. Delta One Transcon

I'm off today for a company function in Montréal.  And without Mrs. SFO777 this time, I'm not constrained by having to fly nonstop... especially at inflated rip-off prices on a crap plane and crap airline, aka Air Canada.   jetBlue recently started LAX-BOS Mint service and current fares are much more attractive than LAX-JFK.  Add in a cheap BOS-YUL connecting flight and it was a very economical and much more comfortable way to get to Montréal.  

Los Angeles LAX to Boston BOS
jetBlue 488
A321-200
11:40a-8:03p
January 26, 2017
Mint Closed Door Suite 4A

 

jetBlue Mint is one of my favorite transcon premium products.   My biggest complaint is the lack of a lounge of any kind, although it was a non-issue today as I got to the gate about 10 minutes before boarding.   

jetBlue Mint is jetBlue's attractive modern premium cabin.  Five rows with 16 total seats are staggered with rows 1, 3 and 5 having 2-2 seating.  Rows 2 and 4 are the primo rows with single throne like seats and a closed door.

My seat today is 4A, a single seat closed door suite.

Welcome note from our Mint FAs today, Chase and Alberto, who provided outstanding service. 

jetBlue's signature RefreshMint drink, with vodka. 

Today's menu.

Today's eclectic jetBlue amenity kit.

Lots of meh.  

The gloves were fun at least for a photo op.  LOL.

We puahed on time and we're off.

Love the taro chips and green aoili instead of everyone's else's mixed nuts.

Showtime, jetBlue style.

jetBlue offers you a choice of 3 of 5 different dishes.   

Grilled rib-eye with horseradish mash potaties, broccolini, carrots, shallots and bordelaise sauce.

Pan-Fried Halibut with fingerling gratin, white aspargus and red pepper sauce.

Yuzu Caesar salad with baby gem, haricots verts, parmesan and sourdough breadcrumbs.

For dessert, ice cream from Coolhaus in LA.

And more dessert.  LOL.

Raiding the snack basket.

And more.  A departing gift.

Yet another great jetBlue flight, with wonderful service from Chase and Alberto. 

The good news is that Logan Airport has an in-airport hotel, The Hilton.  The bad news is that it is a mile plus walk from most of the terminals.   

Finally. 

And my room for the night.

Eight hours later, back to the terminals.

And the long, trek.

I'm headed to Terminal B.  But the only way to walk there without going outside, is thru Terminal A.  

Fortunately, Air Canada operates from the first gates in the B terminal.  Oddly, the gates are not connected to the rest of the terminal and has dedicated security for its 2 gates. 

Boston BOS to Montréal YUL
Air Canada 8455
CR7
6:30pm-7:53am
January 26, 2018
Seat 12A

At only $52, this flight was a no brainer and made the entire LAX-BOS-YUL routing atttractive.  AC was selling seats for only $52 as they battle Westjet which just started service between YUL and BOS.   For another $20, I upgraded to Preferred Seating and single seat bulkhead seat 12A.  

The Business Class cabin.

A very light load this morning with only 24 or so passengers.   Only 1 pax in Business and only one other pax in the Preferred seats. 

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Tons of legroom in 12A.

Pretty cool that there is even IFE on this plane.

About 35 minutes after take-off, we begin our descent to Montréal.  Oh yeah, that still looks cold.

As much as I hate Air Canada, this short flight was excellent.  Then again, it wasn't mainline AC.  It helped that there were very few other passengers on the plane and none around me.   

The long hike to Customs and Immigration.

Not much action this morning.   With NEXUS, after the system verified my identity, I was able to walk thru the terminal and enter Canada without speaking to a customs agent. 

After exiting customs, I head back upstairs to the US depatures wing and the Marriott, one of the most convenient in-terminal hotels in North America.

The elevator lobby on the 6th floor.

With great tarmac views.

My comfy room for the day and night.

And great views east toward the city.

My Gold elite status gets me Executive Lounge access and a quick breakfast before heading downtown.

 

I checked out at around 5:30am and headed downstairs to security and US Pre Clearance.

19 minutes later, I'm thru security, US CBP and the duty free shop.

Montréal YUL to New York JFK
Delta 
CR9
7:15a-8:20a
January 27, 2018
Seat 3A

 

OMG, 0 Fahrenheit and no jetbridge.  Yikes.

Yeah, he looks cold.

Fifty minutes later and 30 degree warmer, I fly past JFK before vectoring for our approach.

We arrived at Gate 47 so it was only a 5 minute walk to B32 and the Sky Club.

After a few minutes at check-in where a friendly dragon moved me to an earlier flight, I headed in for this very nice club.

At T-45, I headed out for the short walk to Gate B39.

New York JFK to Los Angeles LAX
Delta 428
Ancient 767-400
9:45a-1:15p
January 27, 2018
Delta One Business Class
Seat 1D

I got stuck in 1D on this plane due to a DL schedule schedule change and DL's dishonest schedule padding designed to inflate their on-time performance numbers.   I was only able to change back to the flight when I arrived 60 minutes ahead of schedule from YUL.  Unfortunaely, by that time, better single seats were gone.  Then there is the annoying DL practice of pre-boarding "people that need a little extra time to board" and "families with children".   And then Business Class.

Good leg room.

But partially in the galley.  Not good on a flight like today when the crew doesn't give a whit about customers and yaps away most of the flight.

God forbid we spend money of real headphones.  Let's take free crap ones in exchange for promoting their product.

Yuck.

Nice Tumi amenity container.

Meh.

Yeah, this relic has seen better days.

Nice job of cleaning controls.  LOL.

Todays's menu.

Looks impressive.  

Very nice Westin Heavenly Bed duvet and pillow.

Showtime, Delta One style.

The Marinated Chicken with hazelnut, raisin, saffron and green apple was OK, although it didn't seem marinated not did I see any green apple.  More like a chicken salad underneath the chicken.

The Celery Root and Pasnip Soup was tasty although a little heavy.

The salad was quite good, although more than two leaves would have been nice.  Perhaps the plan was to have more leaves as there was way too much dressing for a nothing salad.  Race to the bottom comes to mind.

For my main, I had the Ricotta and Winter Truffle Cannelloni, with mushroom ragout and parmesan brodo.  It was not my first choice they'd run out of the salmon as I was the last to be asked for my choice as FA followed FEBO and went down the AB aisle from front to back, but then figured it was easier to just go back to front on the CD side.  It was actually pretty tasty.

For dessert, I opted for the Vanilla Fudge Swirl Ice Cream, with blood orange and cardamon caramel sauce, and ginger bread crumble.

It was delicious.

About 90 minutes, luke warm chocolate chip cookie... after sitting on the galley counter for 15 minutes.

Although we landed 30 minutes early, it took 30 minutes to get to our gate, after waiting to be towed the last bit.

A good crew can make or break a flight.  My experience has been that Delta is the most likely of the majors to have good crews.  Not today.  This crew was going thru the motions, alternating between lazy and loud as the yapped away in the galley, oblivious to the rest of the world.

jetBlue Mint vs. Delta One: The Verdict

jetBlue by a mile.   Delta wins on lounges... since jetBlue doesn't have any.   But after that, jetBlue wins every category, from new and clean planes, to cabin layout, seats, seat comfort, space, IFE, food, drink and above all service.  Certainly the Delta experience will vary based on the type of plane.  The 763/763s are pure garbage while the A330 would be better as would the 757 if you are travelling with a companion.  But I pick jetBlue over Delta in a heartbeat.