JetBlue opens its first airport lounge to compete in the luxury lounge boom

A new hotspot just opened in New York—and it’s in terminal 5 of John F. Kennedy International Airport. BlueHouse, a 9,000-square-foot space exclusively available to select JetBlue Airways customers, welcomed its first guests at 5 a.m. this morning as the airline’s first foray into the pitched battle for lucrative premium fliers.

Designed by Gensler, BlueHouse is a smorgasbord of New York’s iconic and eclectic design heritage. From the Art Deco elevator indicator to black-and-white deli tile on the floor and the Grand Central Terminal-inspired ceiling mural, the space screams Big Apple while staying true to JetBlue’s quirky and, well, blue heritage.

“It’s unquestionably a hip New York experience,” said Marty St. George, president of JetBlue, on a recent pre-opening tour of BlueHouse. His favorite feature is the 45 pieces of art that fill the space from artists around the city and three of the airline’s “crewmembers,” as it calls its staff, including a bespoke piece from New Yorker illustrator Matt Reuter.

JetBlue goes premium

BlueHouse is part of the larger premiumization trend sweeping air travel. Everyone from JetBlue to egalitarian stalwart Southwest Airlines and even discounter Spirit Airlines are unveiling more upscale offerings for their planes and at airports. The aim is two-fold: strengthen loyalty among top tier customers and wring more money from everyone all in the hope of improving their bottom lines.

JetBlue’s effort, dubbed “JetForward,” includes BlueHouse locations at JFK and, in 2026, Boston Logan International Airport. It’s also introducing domestic first class on its fleet of Airbus planes, a new partnership with United Airlines, and changes to its TrueBlue loyalty program aimed to make customers even more loyal to the airline.

The lounge is also an effort to counter JetBlue’s nemesis at JFK and Boston: Delta Air Lines. While St. George did not name the carrier, keeping JetBlue’s customers from leaving the fold and, maybe, wooing some widget fliers away from Delta is top of mind.

“Our number one goal was to not repeat the mistakes our competitor made with lounges,” he said. Delta is known for overcrowded lounges and, at times, long waits to access its Sky Clubs.

Access to BlueHouse is, for now, limited to only JetBlue’s most loyal frequent fliers, transatlantic Mint business class passengers, and holders of its premium credit card, which has an annual fee of $499.

Delta has also upped its lounge game with the exclusive Delta One Lounges, the first of which opened at JFK in mid-2024. It now has four locations, including in Boston, Los Angeles, and Seattle.

Inside BlueHouse

Travelers enter through a foyer that can best be described as a quintessential New York apartment lobby: a “Just Ask” desk in the place of a doorman’s desk in front of a set of mailboxes (inside are keepsakes for visitors, just ask for a key), a stairway to the second level lined with art, an elevator with a Deco indicator and a blue tunnel leading to the lounge area of the lounge.

Elsewhere across the lounge’s two floors, books curated by the Strand bookstore match JetBlue’s white-and-blue color palette line bookshelves and ledges. Bespoke wallpaper by Brooklyn’s Flavor Paper decorates the restrooms. And craft cocktails by Please Don’t Tell in the East Village are served at the bar.

To be frank, it borders on New York cliché.

“This isn’t about making fake luxury,” said Siobhan Barry, a design principal at Gensler who specializes in hospitality interiors and worked on BlueHouse. “We wanted to make it feel modern and playful, the way we all think of JetBlue, but allow there to be that irreverence.”

Look closely at the Grand Central-inspired ceiling by Artists for Humanity and it is not the constellations of the night sky that greet you but icons of New York and other JetBlue destinations. A classic New York Checker taxicab. The Hollywood sign. A coquí frog for Puerto Rico.

The team at Gensler sought to make BlueHouse something of a home—a house so to speak—amid the chaos of the airport, much like a New Yorker’s apartment is a refuge from the hubbub of the city. And it succeeds, to a degree. Downstairs is the lounge’s more active space with a game room, TVs, booths and the main bar. Upstairs is a quieter space with reading nooks, couches, and semiprivate phone booths. Grab-and-go food and drink options are available on both levels.

The diversity of zones aims to meet the varied needs of travelers today, from the business traveler who wants a drink before their red-eye to London or a family on their way to the Caribbean who want a quiet nook to spend their layover.

“This speaks to how people travel now,” said Barry. “We want our options.”