JetBlue Mint Expands: JFK to Aruba; Barbados

JetBlue has announced that it will fly its premium Mint product from New York-JFK to Aruba (AUA) and Barbados (BGI) beginning this November. (New York Times)

I had the pleasure of flying JetBlue's Mint product from San Francisco to New York-JFK last month and reviewed the product in a previous post. Mint is a 16-seat business-class product featuring lie-flat seating and an innovative tapas menu. Four of the seats in the Mint cabin are individual "suites" with direct aisle access and a sliding door.

JetBlue Mint Cabin

Review: Park Hyatt Washington

Hotel:  Park Hyatt Washington

Room:  Georgetown Suite

Price:  $125 (+10,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points; Diamond Suite Upgrade; $18.13 taxes) per night

Category:  5

Back during law-firm recruiting season, a firm I interviewed with housed me in the Grand Hyatt Washington. I mentioned to one of the recruiters that the hotel was very convenient; he replied: "Yeah, I know it's not the Park Hyatt, but it's so close to the office."

That piqued my interest, as the Grand Hyatt seemed perfectly nice to me. A few weeks ago, I finally got the chance to satisfy my curiosity with a two-night stay at the beautiful Park Hyatt Washington.

Park Hyatt Washington

Review: Andaz Wall Street, New York

Hotel:  Andaz Wall Street

Room:  Andaz Large King (Deluxe)

Price:  $155 per night (+ $26.37 taxes)

Category:  6

After the Hyatt Herald Square didn't have my reservation, I took a cab to the Andaz Wall Street in Lower Manhattan. Despite the hotel's name and address (75 Wall Street), the entrance is on Water Street.

Park Hyatt Wall Street

King v. Burwell - Oral argument summary

The Supreme Court heard oral argument today in King v. Burwell, the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act.

I've posted previously about the case (here). Briefly, the IRS treats federal exchanges and state exchanges identically for purposes of ACA subsidies. The challengers argue that this treatment misinterprets the phrase "an Exchange established by the State" in the Affordable Care Act.  If the Court sides with the challengers, the bill's supporters believe that the consequences would be devastating.