Jetblue Airways 288 LAX-BOS
Welcome to my first flight report for 2019. Today I flew JetBlue Airways 288 from LAX to Boston in 11A, economy class. The flight departed LAX Terminal 5, gate 54A. The flight departed one hour and 40 minutes late out of LAX and arrived in Boston almost an hour late. The reason is one I had with JetBlue on a different flight. The registered plane is N935JB. Here is the story. To watch the review, see the link at the end.
JetBlue along with airlines like Spirit, Hawaiian Airlines, Frontier, some American Airlines and Sun Country depart from 5. I haven't flown out of this terminal but it looks pretty decent.
Boarding begins approximately 45 minutes before departure. 30 minutes later, the doors close and we push back 15 minutes later. Here on the board, the flight is on time, for now.
Some of our bags, like mine were gate checked to Boston.
My view from 11A. It's still dark out and I can see a Spirit plane which would head to Oakland.
I wish this was my seat. I hope to fly Mint one day.
The economy seat was not bad. It was thin, but my back was not in pain after the flight. It looks way nicer than their A320s like those that fly out of Long Beach. However, due to the configuration of the seats and windows, the window is not really easy to get to as it is right next to the seat in 10A. It's tough if you want to take pictures of the wings or scenery below.
Here are photos of the 10.1 inch screen, yes in economy. The legroom is good as usual. There was no one seated in the middle so it added seat width. It's still 18 inches, much better than say, United. There is a nice little pocket to put the bottle of water in. Also note the two boxes by your feet may restrict your foot space, and how much space there is for a carry on.
The Delay
The captain explains what is happening. It sounds like a normal flight except for one small problem. It seems they are having a problem with the fuel transfer and are worried if they put enough fuel in the plane. Not a big deal he says. So we sit and wait. And then he announces later that it might be a while due to procedure. I actually had a similar issue with JetBlue in October on a flight from Long Beach to Salt Lake City. The solution? Hold short of the runway, have the engine running full to burn fuel while the brakes are on. The plane was loud and shook for 20 minutes.
I turn off airplane mode and start getting texts from JetBlue. The delay looks like it's adding up.
However, thanks to the Captain keeping us informed, we remained calm. There was only one passenger worried about a connection to Rochester, NY. But even she wasn't freaking out. The crew started distributing water.
The sun comes up. It's light out. And we're still at the gate, now approaching two hours. We eventually pushback around 7:40 am, about 1 hour 40 minutes late and we are on the runway and taking off closer to 8am.
All that and it becomes uneventful.
It had rained the day before so it was sunny and clear. It's not often you can see the mountains. There was even snow still on them.
The Snacks
You could pay an arm and a leg for a snackbox or sandwich. I recommend bringing your own food on board. I hope US LCC's like JetBlue would introduce a pre-buy meal option like Air Asia. This would be nice especially on long haul flights like this. Though I don't know if the cost would be significantly cheaper than buying on board like now. Perhaps the bean counters have calculated those things.
In between Mint and economy, there is a small galley containing complimentary snacks and beverages. These are the exact same beverages and snacks you get when the crew comes down the aisle. I ended up at various points getting a ginger ale and other snacks.
The cabin was kept dark most of the flight. The lighting is similar to the Boeing Sky Interior. It was a shade of blue for the most part. Most people had their shades down.
About 55 minutes left, a final round of beverages are offered. I had a coffee. I definitely needed it after an already long day.
We also received hot towels. Nice touch.
Welcome to Boston
The flight was uneventful. It also seemed to go really fast. I guess all those TransPacs I did the last few years got me used to long flights. It helped having good wifi and live television. It turned out to be such a beautiful and sunny day in Boston too. Certainly it was much colder than L.A. But I was happy to have made it to Boston.
We landed uneventfully and got to the gate. We ended up being about 45 minutes late. Since I had to gate check my bag. I had to wait at baggage claim for my bag. It felt surprisingly long to wait. Maybe it was 20 minutes before bags got to the carousel.
Click below to watch my report. Thank you!
Thanks for this FR.
Shame about the delay but you were told all you needed to know by the crew.
The multiple service by the crew+the self service bar makes the f&b better than on legacies.
Agreed. The captain communicated well with us. The crew remained friendly and professional throughout. I also enjoyed the self serve area was towards the front of the economy cabin where I was. I don't know if it was at the rear too. It seemed like people from the back had to come up front, which no one seemed to mind.