JetBlue is joining the domestic first-class club. The New York-based airline has pulled the curtain back on "BlueFirst," a traditional recliner-style first-class cabin that will start flying on 8 December, first appearing on the route between Boston Logan and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood.

The seats themselves are arranged in the familiar 2-by-2 layout used across US domestic first class, but JetBlue has added some distinctive flourishes. Cushioning comes from Tuft and Needle, a mattress and bedding brand, under a "flex foam" setup, and each seat gets a cocktail tray, extra storage and an oversized tray table with a holder for your phone or tablet. The 13-inch seatback screens are the first in JetBlue's fleet with Bluetooth, so you can pair your own AirPods instead of fumbling with wired ones. There's even a "Mixologist Mode" on the entertainment system that lets you build a custom cocktail order from a base spirit and mixers.

The soft product gets attention too. With no ovens on board, hot meals are off the table — literally. Instead, BlueFirst passengers get chilled bento box-style meals, including sesame beef noodles with crispy wontons and Szechuan dip, tortellini pasta salad, and a pastrami sandwich. Wine lists have been put together by New York's Parcelle Wine, and glassware and amenity items were designed by a local artist.

Not every JetBlue plane will get the new cabin: aircraft already fitted with the airline's lie-flat Mint seats — its long-haul-style premium product launched back in 2014 — will skip BlueFirst, since Mint remains the top tier. Eventually, though, BlueFirst should appear across the rest of the fleet as retrofits roll out, with dozens of routes already slated.

The perk most loyal customers will care about: Mosaic elite members in JetBlue's TrueBlue program will be eligible for complimentary, space-available upgrades into BlueFirst, and holders of the airline's premium credit card can join the upgrade queue too. Top-tier Mosaics will also be able to burn confirmable upgrade certificates on BlueFirst — though those certificates can still go toward Mint.

There are trade-offs worth knowing. Squeezing recliners into the front rows shrinks JetBlue's famously generous economy legroom on some aircraft, there's no physical divider between the two cabins, and chilled-only dining won't match a Mint meal. Still, it lands at a moment when US flyers have more first-class options than ever, with Frontier and Allegiant both rolling out their own versions.

For travellers, this matters most if you fly JetBlue regularly within the US. Status holders get a realistic shot at a free front-row seat, while everyone else gets a genuinely upgraded domestic premium option — solid seating, decent food and wireless headphone support — on routes where Mint doesn't fly.