[BlueFirst Kosher Meal Revealed] JetBlue BlueFirst™ Domestic First Class Launches This Year, With EvenLess® Space In The Back

Update, 11/10: As we noted below a couple of months ago, JetBlue’s BlueFirst class will have cold meals, as there are no ovens on those planes. 

Chesky Goldstein shares this sample BlueFirst meal from the Borenstein commissary at JFK. It looks pretty good for a cold meal, though the problem with the cold portion of kosher meals is that they are often served frozen. A HotLogic can take care of that.

Do you think this will be competitive enough with other airlines offering a hot meal in first class?

Update, 10/15: JetBlue is now selling BlueFirst with intro sale fares good for booking through 10/16 for travel on select dates through 2/10.

For example:

• Boston to/from Fort Lauderdale starting 12/8: Intro fares from $298.40 or 22K points in BlueFirst Base, $343.40 or 24.5K points in BlueFirst.
• LaGuardia to/from Fort Lauderdale starting 12/12: Intro fares from $248.40 or 18.1K points in BlueFirst Base, or $293.40 or 20.7K points in BlueFirst.
• JFK to/from Liberia, Costa Rica starting 1/5: Intro fares from $298.11 or 20.5K points in BlueFirst Base, or $333.11 or 22.5K points in BlueFirst.

BlueFirst will include Group 1 boarding, dedicated overhead bin space, priority check-in, and access to expedited security lines.

BlueFirst and BlueFirst Flex fares have no change or cancel fees, two free checked bags, and priority baggage.

BlueFirst Base fares won’t have free changes, will get just 1 checked bag, and won’t allow for seat assignments until 24 hours before departure.

Mosaic members will be eligible for confirmed upgrades using a variable amount of Move to Mint certificates, which will be rebranded as Premium Upgrade Certificates.

Mosaic members will also be eligible for free space available upgrades. Those details will be announced in the coming weeks. Customers booked on base fares aren’t eligible for upgrades.

Here is a list of routes now on sale:

Will you book BlueFirst?

You can transfer points from Citi or Chase instantly at a 1:1 ratio:

If you, a member in your household, or an authorized user has one of the following Chase cards, you can transfer points into miles:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has a 75K signup bonus for spending $5K in 3 months, earns 2 points per dollar on travel, 3 points per dollar on dining, gas, EV charging, vacation rentals, streaming, and online groceries, 5 points per dollar on Chase Travel℠ and Lyft, has a $100 hotel credit, can transfer all Chase points into miles, and points are worth at least 1 cents each for paid travel ($95 annual fee).
• Chase Sapphire Reserve® has a 100,000 bonus points after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. ($795 annual fee) Read more here.
• Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business℠ has a 200,000 bonus points signup bonus after you spend $30,000 on purchases in the first 6 months from account opening ($795 annual fee). Read more here.
• Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card has a 100,000 signup bonus for spending $8K in 3 months, and earns 3 points per dollar on up to $150K of annual spending on shipping; social media and search engine advertising; travel; internet, cable, and phone services, can transfer all Chase points into miles, and points are worth at least 1 cents each for paid travel ($95 annual fee). Read more here.

Chase no-annual fee cards that are fantastic for earning points, but require one of the cards above for points transfers include:

• Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card has a $750 signup bonus in the form of 75K points for spending $6K in 3 months, and earns 1.5 points per dollar on business purchases ($0 annual fee). Read more here.
• Ink Business Cash® Credit Card has a $750 signup bonus in the form of 75K points for spending $6K in 3 months. This card earns 5 points per dollar on the first $25,000 in combined purchases on cable, TV, telecom, cellular, and office supply stores, plus 2 points per dollar on dining and gas on up to $25,000 in purchases ($0 annual fee). Read more here.
• Chase Freedom Flex® has a $200 signup bonus in the form of 20K points for spending $500 in 3 months, plus 5 points on rotating categories, 5 points per dollar on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, and 3 points per dollar on dining and drugstores ($0 annual fee). Read more here.
• Chase Freedom Unlimited® has a $200 signup bonus in the form of 20K points for spending $500 in 3 months, 1.5 points per dollar everywhere, 5 points per dollar (marketed as 5% cash back) on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, and 3 points per dollar on dining and drugstores ($0 annual fee). Read more here.

If you have the following Citi cards, you can transfer points into miles at the best transfer ratio:

• Citi Strata Premier® Card is offering a 60,000 point bonus for spending $4K in 3 months, 3 points per dollar on airfare, hotels, supermarkets, gas, EV charging, and dining. 10 points per dollar on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked on CitiTravel.com. $95 annual fee. View Rates & Fees here. Citi is a DansDeals partner. Read more about this offer here. 
• Citi Strata Elite® Card is offering a 75,000 point bonus for spending $6K in 3 months, 6 points per dollar on restaurants (including gift cards) on Friday and Saturday evenings, and 3 points at other times, and 1.5 points per dollar everywhere. Earn 12 points per dollar on hotels, car rentals, and attractions and 6 points per dollar on airfare booked on CitiTravel.com. Earn a $200 annual splurge bonus ($400 in first cardmember year) at the stores of your choice, $300 annual credit ($600 in first cardmember year) on 2+ night hotel stays, $200 annual ($300 in first cardmember year) Blacklane credit, Global Entry/PreCheck, Priority Pass Lounge membership, and 4 annual (8 in first cardmember year) Admirals Club passes. $595 annual fee. View Rates & Fees here. Citi is a DansDeals partner. Read more about this offer here.

Citi no-annual fee cards that are fantastic for earning points, but require a Citi Strata Premier or Elite Card for points transfers at the best ratio:

• The Citi Double Cash® Card is offering a rare 20K bonus for spending $1,500 in 6 months, and offers 2% cash back or 2 ThankYou points per dollar spent everywhere. If you also have a Citi Strata Premier or Elite Card you can transfer points into miles. No annual fee. View Rates & Fees here. Citi is a DansDeals partner. Read more about this offer here.
• The Citi Strata® Card is offering a 20K bonus for spending $1,000 in 3 months, and offers 3 points per dollar on the category of your choice as well as supermarkets, select transit, and gas and EV charging, plus 2 points per dollar on restaurants. If you also have a Citi Strata Premier or Elite Card you can transfer points into miles. No annual fee. View Rates & Fees here. Citi is a DansDeals partner. Read more about this offer here.

Update, 9/4: JetBlue confirms with DansDeals that special meals, including kosher meals, will be available to order in BlueFirst class on all flights with meal service, which are all flights that are at least 899+ miles in distance. Special meals must be ordered at least 24 hours in advance of the flight.

That puts JetBlue’s domestic first class kosher meal policy roughly on par with American and Delta, and much better than United, which requires flights to be at least 2,000 miles in distance in order to order special meals.

Note that there are no ovens on BlueFirst planes, so food will not be warmed up. You may want to travel with a HotLogic…

BlueFirst goes on sale later this year. Will you be trying it out?

Originally posted on 9/1:

JetBlue finally unveiled its long-awaited BlueFirst domestic first class product today. It will launch later this year and roll out fleetwide by 2028.

A220s and A320s will get 12 BlueFirst seats and A321s will get 16 BlueFirst seats with a 36-37″ seat pitch in a 2-2 configuration.

The seat will have built-in Tuft & Needle’s T&N Flex foam, though I’m dubious about how that will hold up in the long-term. On overnight flights, a blanket and snooze kit will be offered.

You’ll be able to order snacks, drinks, or even create your own cocktail from the 13.3″ in-flight entertainment system, which will feature built-in Bluetooth.

JetBlue will not be adding ovens, so it will offer uncompetitive cold meals, putting it at a pretty big disadvantage compared to American, Delta, and United.

Bento boxes will be offered on flights that are 899 miles or longer. For example, JFK to Orlando clocks in at 944 miles, so it would qualify, while JFK to Chicago clocks in at 740 miles and would not qualify.

We asked about kosher meal availability in BlueFirst, but JetBlue has not yet responded. This post will be updated if the airline responds to our inquiry.

BlueFirst will include Group 1 boarding, dedicated overhead bin space, priority check-in, and access to expedited security lines.

BlueFirst and BlueFirst Flex fares have no change or cancel fees, two free checked bags, and priority baggage, while BlueFirst Base fares will not have those inclusions.

JetBlue has yet to announce how BlueFirst upgrades will work for Mosaic members.

BlueFirst does not include BlueHouse lounge access. You can read about lounge access rules and cost here.

JetBlue won’t be reducing the plane’s capacity to make room for the first class seats. Instead,  EvenMore space seats will be removed on some planes, and economy seating will drop from about an industry-leading 32″-34″ pitch to a 30″ pitch.

AA, Delta, and United typically have a 30-31″ pitch in the back of the plane, so JetBlue won’t be much worse off than them, but it will feel much more crowded than it does today.

Allegiant and Frontier have a typically punishing 28″ pitch, so JetBlue will still be more comfortable than those airlines.

Sadly, JetBlue won’t be joining North American carriers like Air Canada, Alaska, American, Frontier, Hawaiian, JSX, Southwest, United, and WestJet in adding high-bandwidth Starlink internet to their fleet. Instead, they will join Delta in rolling the dice on Amazon Leo, which has yet to launch.

There’s nothing revolutionary about this first class cabin, but it’s definitely the right financial move for JetBlue, as more and more passengers are paying for first-class seats. At the same time, it’s sad news for JetBlue fans who currently enjoy the extra legroom in the back of the plane and for the loss of some rows of EvenMore seats on some planes. Then again, JetBlue isn’t commanding a price premium for offering that extra legroom in the back, so it’s not a big surprise to see it discontinued in favor of first class seating.

What do you think of the addition of a first class cabin on all JetBlue planes?