first impressions of jet blue's new jfk terminal 5

JetBlue's new terminal at JFK (the remodeled old TWA terminal 5) opened yesterday, so our flight from San Jose was among the first to land here. It's probably not fair to pass judgment on it given that they've only been open a day, but here are my first impressions...

Food court traffic flow is a TOTAL NIGHTMARE. Chaotic, intimidating, disorganized. Worse than a college cafeteria. Big thumbs down.

Rather than brave the food court, I searched up and down the corridors for somewhere to buy a diet coke. The newsstand had them (overpriced, at $2.49 a bottle), but I had to stand in a ridiculously long and slow line as the cashiers tried to learn on the job.

The coolest thing I've found is that many of the gates (at least half, I think) have a series of counters with stools for seating. At each seat is a set of power outlets and a touch screen. The touch screen allows you to order food, which you pay for by swiping a credit card. The food is then delivered to your seat in a to-go bag. I ordered a bacon egg and cheese panini for $7 (+tax and tip), and it arrived ten minutes later. The food was good, and the process was quick and convenient.

The gate I'm sitting at now (19) actually has a full bar right in the gate area, that seems to be serving mostly coffee at the moment. I love the integrating of the food and drink areas into the gate areas...it almost makes up for the monstrosity of a food court.

If I wasn't so tired from my sleepless redeye flight, I'd take some photos. Maybe next time.