Review of JetBlue Airways flight New York → Nashville in Economy

I've flown 879 segments on commercial flights but none of them on a US domestic flight although I've been to the US about eight times.

I was flying from New York JFK where I arrived the evening before from Iceland.

This route usually has 7 flights a day with American, Delta and JetBlue. I chose JetBlue as the time of departure suited me the best.

My day didn't start well. I spent the night at the Hilton JFK. Hilton used to be synonymous with luxury; this hotel is not better than hundreds of no-name motels all over the suburbs in the USA. I booked an Uber to go from the hotel to the airport; the car arrived, drove close to the hotel without stopping; it left; I received a message through the app that the driver cancelled because I refused to wear a mask (not true) and I had to pay a cancellation fee of $5 (refunded later). Fortunately the shuttle bus of the hotel left a few minutes later. It dropped me off in the
middle of the traffic jam at Terminal 5. The drop-off area at JFK T5 is not very well designed.

JetBlue's check-in area is nice (I didn't take photos as there were too  many people) and - as I had already checked in online - the helpful
staff directed me to the security control. TSA lived up to its  reputation of being unfriendly but I was through in about ten minutes.

I was starving for some breakfast and coffee. Starbucks had a long line  but there was a restaurant that offered breakfast and coffee. I ordered  "Eggs Norwegian". It was both expensive and not good. Poor Norwegians who see this…

Things started to get better when I sat down near the gate and I had this view.

I booked an extra legroom seat for a small fee which included priority boarding. I was the first to board.

I like this cabin! It looks nice, fresh and comfortable. Load was only about 20%.

JetBlue has 130 A320-200 aircrafts. The plane on today's flight was N821JB, built in 2012. Configuration is 3+3 single-class economy.

Legroom was excellent.

Each seat has a built-in screen which "knows" the first name of the passenger on the seat.

I like that the screen is personalised.

We had a few minutes before departure so I checked the IFE offer.

I believe headphones can be purchased although they were not actively offered by the cabin crew.

An expected flight time of 1 hour and 55 minutes was announced for a scheduled block time of 2 hours and 26 minutes.

Push-back was on time at 08.26.

Views during taxi:

Take-off was at 08.32 for from runway 31L.

Views after take-off:

JetBlue is not a typical low-cost airline. It offers some drinks and snacks free of charge while some items are for sale.

I was hungry after my unlucky breakfast. I ordered the "Pickmeup" cheese box for 9$. It was good, so I ordered one more.

This soft drink was offered free of charge.

The cabin crew did their job but they didn't seem to be extremely motivated.

I spent most of the remaining time listening to music on my phone.

We had some nice views as we approached Nashville.

We landed at 09.26 and were at the gate at 09.45 for a scheduled arrival time of 09.43.

Nashville is a quickly developing city. The airport is being expanded.

Bonus

I came to visit Nashville and Memphis (I drove between the two). Both cities are interesting although very different.

I first went to the very interesting Lane Motor Museum in Nashville.

I had lunch at a very local restaurant in Nashville.

I had a coffee at a nice Somali coffee shop. Nashville has a population of about 5,000 Somali people.

I visited the Johnny Cash Museum. He's one of my favourite musicians.

Downtown Nashville has an interesting mix of old and new. It's a lively area that has many restaurants with live music serving the tourism industry.

A very American truck in downtown Nashville.

I drove 200 miles to Memphis. Although parts of its downtown are nice Memphis is one of the poorest cities in the US. The immediate area
around downtown is especially rundown.

I first went to the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968.

Memphis' most popular attraction is Graceland, the former house of Elvis Presley. This was his living room.

You can visit his car collection. This was one of his many Cadillacs.

You can also see his two private jets. The Lockhead JetStar is the smaller one.

The Conavair 880 is much larger and is very impressive.