JetBlue's Revamped Mint Service Is Basically a Self-care Session in the Sky

JetBlue's Mint service just got a makeover.

Announced on Tuesday, the airline is relaunching its premium class service with a host of new products, from trendy food options to relaxing wellness amenities fit for a self-care session at 35,000 feet.

"Our new Mint will really help people feel at home while they're flying," Elizabeth Windram, JetBlue's VP of marketing, told Travel + Leisure. "You should be able to work, sleep, relax, [or] do whatever it is that you would want to be doing on the ground — you should do that seamlessly in the air."

"It's really the idea that life doesn't stop because you're flying," she added.

Having launched in 2014, the revamped Mint service has been in the works with customer feedback and current trends in mind, Windram told T+L. And even though the timing of the launch comes as the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted air travel, she said that the new offerings — like wellness kits curated for specific flights — serve as another way to put travelers at ease, along with the airline's cleaning and safety protocol initiative.

"It's really nice to be able to offer something new [and] exciting in the travel space that people can look forward to when the time is right for them to come back to travel," she said.

On board, Mint fliers will be able to enjoy menu highlights from downtown Manhattan restaurant Charlie Bird, sleep accessories such as a blanket with a built-in foot pocket from Tuft & Needle, headphones from Master & Dynamic, and a variety of Wanderfuel wellness kits filled with flight-specific products.

"They are so thoughtfully crafted based on time of day and destination," Windram said of the Wanderfuel wellness kits. "When you think about it, you don't need the same amenities when you're flying transcontinental on a red-eye than when you're flying [during the] daytime to Aruba," she explained. "You're a completely different traveler with completely different needs, and a completely different set of things will help you thrive on that flight and when you arrive."

For example, the Renewal Kit offered on flights to Aruba comes with a travel-sized sunscreen to prepare travelers for that immediate — and welcome — step out into the sun upon arrival. Other kits are aptly named — Sleep for a red-eye flight, Flow for a midday or evening flight, and Awake for a morning flight — and all have products meant to leave passengers feeling refreshed and ready for their destination.

"We were really inspired by the idea that travel does not have to be draining," she added. "It doesn't have to mean that you arrive feeling tired, or you get a cold, or you have a backache."

Although the revamp was independent of JetBlue's initiatives brought on by COVID-19, the new Mint amenities will be sealed and offered with precautions in place, like serving a meal and dessert at the same time for less crew-to-customer contact.

"We didn't design it necessarily for COVID times, but we have made some thoughtful adjustments to make sure that we're COVID-safe in our delivery," Windram said. "Caring about comfort and the wellness benefits and space that the Mint product affords will be a perfect match to what people are looking for when they're flying now."

Mint will be completely rolled out among 90 routes over the course of six weeks.

Christine Burroni is Travel + Leisure’s digital news editor. Find her keeping up with just about everything on Twitter or see what she’s up to in NYC or on her latest trip on Instagram.