First Look at JetBlue’s First Airport Lounge, BlueHouse, at JFK

Terminal 5 at JFK’s feeling a little blue. JetBlue, that is, as the New York City-based airline unveils its first-ever airport lounge BlueHouse, ushering in a new era for a company known for focusing on its in-air experience rather than land-based frills.

“This lounge is fundamentally New York and fundamentally JetBlue,” the airline’s president, Marty St. George, said at a press preview of the lounge at John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) on Wednesday. Upgraded Points was present for a media preview; here’s what it’s like inside BlueHouse.

Location of BlueHouse at JFK Terminal 5

The JetBlue lounge is in Terminal 5 of JFK, JetBlue’s home terminal, across from gate 526. It will be open daily from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern time. The lounge will open for business on Thursday, December 18, at 5 a.m.

Passengers will be allowed to enter the lounge as early as 3 hours before departure, depending on capacity. The lounge has a maximum seating allowance of 140 people. JetBlue officials said the airline is exploring the possibility of expanding the lounge into a nearby space, but for now the priority is to prevent the overcrowding that has plagued other airport lounges, according to Ed Pouthier, JetBlue’s vice president of loyalty and personalization.

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Entrance sign.

Lounge

The 2-story, 9,000-square-foot space — smaller than comparable lounges from legacy carriers — was themed after what many consider the golden age of New York’s architectural style, with a main ceiling inspired by the Grand Central Terminal’s epic barrel-vault ceiling by French belle époque painter Paul César Helleu, and art deco flourishes meant to evoke the apartment of a (presumably wealthy) Manhattanite. The lounge was designed by San Francisco architectural megafirm Gensler.

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Details of the ceiling.

The main bar, downstairs, sat under a tiled, curved overhang meant to bring visual focus to the space and make sure it didn’t get lost under the high ceiling, Gensler associate architect Hyatt Totorella said.

The first floor included a main dining room with fabric-upholstered booths and cafe seating under the grand ceiling. Off of this shot a hallway with smaller seating bays that ultimately led to the unisex bathrooms.

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Akshually...

Just inside the main entrance was a concierge desk with an old-fashioned wall of mailboxes as if taken straight from the lobby of a prewar, Upper East Side apartment building.

The second floor, accessible by elevator or staircase, had a smaller bar by the staircase, several seating areas separated by low walls, and a quiet booth.

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Upper main room.

Almost the entirety of both floors was naturally lit with white, wall-to-wall windows, with the first-floor windows being opaque.

Scattered throughout the lounge were nods to both New York City and JetBlue history and influence, such as the ceiling constellations including references to JetBlue destination cities, a MetroCard-themed collage, and photographs of Brooklyn pedestrians in one of the quiet spaces. The bookshelves were lined with books curated by the Strand, New York’s preeminent used bookstore. The books were chosen primarily for their covers’ shades of blue, Pouthier confessed.

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Strand bookshelf.

JetBlue has contracted with Swissport to operate the lounge.

Complimentary Food and Drinks

JetBlue’s local partners in the lounge include the East Village speakeasy bar Please Don’t Tell, catering goliath Union Square Events (part of restaurateur Danny Meyer’s culinary empire), Joe Coffee, and the Greats of Craft.

Dishes on display during the tour included a nicely tart matcha-chia pudding, fruit kebabs, and crudités in hummus. There were stations with an array of takeaway croissant sandwiches, bagels with cream cheese, Caesar salads, bags of chips, pastries, and snacks on the first floor. The airline hopes to expand the second floor in order add a kitchen and offer hot foods there at some point.

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Crudites.

There were coffee and water stations throughout.

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Beverages.

Showcased cocktails, meanwhile, included spirits, wines, and beers, like Brooklyn Gin gin, Empire Estate brut rosé, and a Finback Brewery IPA. Please Don’t Tell owner Jeff Bell said he included cocktails like the Vesper martini, made with Brooklyn Gin, to walk the line between classic cocktails that would appeal to the wide range of passengers flowing through the lounge while also satisfying those looking for local edge.

The BlueHouse Special, the lounge’s signature cocktail, is pear, yuzu, and lime with vodka, gin, or rum.

Amenities

Perhaps taking page from the Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club at LaGuardia Airport (LGA) across town, the lounge also featured a photo booth in the back hallway on the first floor.

Off the main room was a small game room with backgammon and chess sets.

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Chess.

On the second floor, a quiet booth sat under an old-fashioned “On Air” sign that lit up when the booth was in use, a nod toward New York City’s status as the capital of radio broadcasting in the early 20th century.

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Not currently engaged.

What Do These Lounges Mean for JetBlue?

By opening its first airport lounge, with more to follow in Boston (BOS) — and tentatively Fort Lauderdale (FLL) — JetBlue seems to be acknowledging that the industry and what appeals to flyers have changed, according to Alan Bender, professor emeritus at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. The airline, which once prioritized passenger comfort in the air with pioneering perquisites like free Wi-Fi and live television, has had to adjust to an era of flying that’s seen the “loungeification” of airports, he said. 

“It’s become an almost indispensable part of the long-haul flying experience to have a place to go where you’re not with the masses and the carnival atmosphere of airports these days,” he said. “It’s hard to believe you’d have to sit in the food court with a piece of pizza for a couple hours with a $5,000 ticket to Europe.”

In other words, lounges from airlines such as JetBlue and Southwest, which is planning a lounge in Honolulu (HNL), have been long overdue.

“They’ve conceded that, though they offer a great experience in the air and were at the forefront of technology and service and had whole elevated vibe over airlines like United or American, the vibe isn’t enough in the era of everyone trying ot one-up each other with lounges,” Bender said. “The bottom line is that JetBlue if different, but to be economically successful, they can’t be that different.”

Indeed, St. George said that though the airline had been thinking about opening lounges for 10 to 12 years, it wasn’t until the airline introduced its JetBlue Premier World Elite Mastercard^® that JetBlue could finally “make the the math work.” He said that whether the JetBlue lounge network grows depends on the success of the new credit card.

“The more cards we get, the more Mosaic 4s we get, the more lounges we get,” St. George said.

How To Access BlueHouse, the JetBlue JFK Lounge

JetBlue’s new premium credit card, the JetBlue Premier card, includes access to all JetBlue lounges. TrueBlue Mosaic 4 members will also be able to use the lounges, as will flyers in Mint cabins headed for Europe.

According to JetBlue officials at the event, starting in February 2026, the airline will start looking at rolling out day passes, annual passes, and opening up BlueHouse access to other Mosaic tiers, Pouthier said.

Final Thoughts

You can think of it as JetBlue finally growing up and joining the big boys’ club or a onetime rebel putting away its leather jacket for a country-club blazer. Either way, the opening of the airline’s very first lounge is a significant step in the company’s history and says a lot about how much the culture of flying has changed since 1998. But whether this ends up being a lifelong path or merely a passing experiment depends on how well the airline’s new co-branded card does.