It’s been several years since I’ve ridden with JetBlue, long enough that I’ve never reviewed JetBlue. Mostly because they have really poor service in the Carolinas where I live. They don’t service the Greenville airport at all. But this trip I’m flying between Providence and Orlando so JetBlue is a good choice.
JetBlue operates mostly A321 aircraft, but they have several different configurations. For today’s flight, this JetBlue A321 is an all economy aircraft, no First Class or Mint on this plane. JetBlue brands their economy seating as “Core” and makes up the majority of this plane.
Bottom Line: I liked my JetBlue flight to Orlando. It was nothing special, but it was a perfectly pleasant experience. JetBlue has in seat entertainment, wifi, free drinks, and snacks. Space in the seat is a little lacking, but adequate for the relatively short flight.
JetBlue PVD Boarding
I arrived at PVD about an hour before my Jetblue flight. The PVD airport is small and easy to navigate. I dropped my rental car, walked to the terminal, and was through security in less than 10 minutes. I attempted to visit the Escape Lounge here at PVD, but there was a line down the hall so I decided to get a beer at a bar instead.
JetBlue uses boarding groups starting at A and working their way up. Boarding started right on time. I’m in boarding group B so naturally I boarded when group D was called because I was busy enjoying my drink.
JetBlue A321 Cabin
The JetBlue A321 has 200 economy seats arranged in a 3-3 configuration. The first 5 rows and exit rows are “even more space” seating. They have 3-4″ more leg room than the rest of the economy seats branded “Core”.
The regular economy seats are pretty slim, there’s not too much padding here. This is a dense configuration of seating designed for tourist destinations(like Florida).
I found my seat on the right hand side of the plane. I’m pretty far back in the JetBlue A321, I chose this seat because at the time there was no one in the middle seat, unfortunately it was later filled.
JetBlue A321 Core Economy Seats
Onboard the JetBlue A321 there was lots of overhead space. I stuffed my backpack overhead and a smaller tote along with my jacket under the seat in front of me. Legroom here is pretty standard, nothing remarkable but not as tight as other low cost carriers.
Under each seat there is power provided, both 110V and USB-A are available to charge devices.
Overhead is the standard Airbus panel. I like these more than the modern Boeing ones, they’re both super boring but at least the Airbus one has air vents that work.
Out of my window it’s a beautiful afternoon and should be a nice flight down to Orlando tonight.
Boarding continued and to my surprise was very orderly, I’ve flown to Florida hundreds of times, the planes are usually a bit of a shit show, not this flight.
JetBlue A321 Economy In Seat Entertainment
JetBlue offers In-seat entertainment on all of their flights, it’s been a selling point of theirs for years. The selection offered is decent and there is live TV too. The problem is the interface is terrible. This isn’t a touch screen…
To use the entertainment, there’s a remote built into the armrest. This seems fine until you(or your neighbor) accidentally presses a button with your elbow and it changes the channel or cranks the volume all the way up.
Unfortunately I’m trying out a new set of headphones. I don’t have a way to listen to the entertainment system as these headphones are Bluetooth only and I wasn’t able to get a Bluetooth adapter locally. JetBlue offers Free Wifi onboard so that worked just fine for me.
JetBlue A321 Economy Departure and Takeoff
Boarding was completed early and we pushed back a few minutes later after the safety briefing was done.
As we taxied to the runway the pilot made his welcome announcement and ask the flight attendants to be seated. Sun had just settled and looks like a nice clear sky for our trip.
We took off towards the south just as the sun slipped behind the horizon. The total flight time from Providence to Orlando is about 3 hours.
I was treated to some lovely views of the coast line, we mostly stayed just off the coast as we passed down the eastern sea board.
You really cannot ask for better window watching. Just a beautiful end to my work week here in New England.
JetBlue Economy Drinks and Snacks
About 30 minutes after takeoff, the flight attendants began their drinks and snack service. There’s soft drinks included and booze is available for purchase. I’m boring, and thirsty, so went with water.
They also had a choice of snacks, I went with the graham crackers.
Because this is an evening flight, I brought a sandwich from a deli.
JetBlue A321 Economy In Flight
In flight, our trip was very uneventful. The mood lights were on inside the cabin, the flight attendants came through periodically to collect trash and such.
Outside, we’d been chasing the sun as we traveled south east. Still perfect views and weather the whole trip.
Because I didn’t have a transmitter(or headphones that us a 3.5mm jack), I mostly watched the moving map during this flight.
JetBlue A321 Landing MCO
With about 30 minutes left in the flight, the pilot made his announcement to prepare the cabin for landing.
Fully dark outside now, oddly it becomes very difficult to take photos outside due to the in cabin blue lights, too much glare.
Without much drama, we landed in MCO right on time.
JetBlue A321 Core Economy Final Thoughts
JetBlue is an interesting airline to me. They mostly focus on the east coast and flying people out of the New England and New York area. Providence to Orlando is firmly that market. This plane doesn’t have domestic first class, it’s a relatively dense all economy aircraft. But it’s not uncomfortable or spartan. JetBlue includes free drinks, snacks, wifi, and in seat entertainment.
This flight from Providence to Orlando was very pleasant. The flight was on time, the plane was comfortable enough, and it fit my schedule perfectly. If JetBlue had more service, I’d fly with them more.