or, the Excellent Embraer Excursion...
Back in September I heard about a newish company based on the West Coast called JetSuite.
In plain English, that basically means it's a top-notch jet charter firm that has a growing fleet of brand new luxuriously appointed 4-passenger jets.
The ARGUS Platinum rating is awarded to aircraft operators that demonstrate the highest level of aviation industry best practices throughout all levels of the organization, and JetSuite earned it very quickly. Looking at the folks in charge, though, it's easy to see why.
JetSuite's pedigree is very impressive - Alex Wilcox, JetSuite's CEO, brings decades of experience gained at Southwest, Virgin Atlantic and JetBlue to a perhaps not-so-predictable destination: the private charter world. Mr. Wilcox is in good company, too - Tony Hsieh of Zappos.com and Gary Waldman of SideStep.com (now Kayak.com) are just two of JetSuite's talented executives.
Right about now you may be wondering what happened to the normal Traumatic License content, but don't worry - it'll all make sense in a second.
I love to fly. I love everything about flying. Whether I'm in a huge commercial jetliner, a small private plane, a helicopter or even a blimp, I'm happiest when I'm off the ground. So when I read an article about JetSuite around Labor Day, my interest was piqued.
While at first glance JetSuite might seem to be like every other charter operator out there, there's one distinct difference: affordability. JetSuite offers an on-demand charter product that, while still expensive by coach class commercial airline standards, is similar to what you might expect to pay for first class seating. They've upped the ante considerably, though, with their SuiteShares, SuiteSavers and SuiteDeals. A one way SuiteSaver flight on a 4 seat private jet can be had for $999 - $250 a person - and the SuiteDeals allow you to steal a flight for just $499. The SuiteDeals are posted between 4pm and 6pm Pacific Time through their Facebook and Twitter pages, and that $125 per seat price point is impossible to beat.
Now, the SuiteDeals are only available the day before the flight, and the route is non-negotiable. The $499 covers all 4 seats, your luggage, your snacks and beverages - everything. With the 7.5% federal excise tax, you're looking at $536.43 out the door for 4 adults. You can even bring a child on your lap or your pet in the cabin, and the luggage compartment easily accommodates skis or golf bags. If a given flight works for you, it's the best possible way to fly. While Fairview isn't typically served by JetSuite, I've kept an eye out for the last few months hoping a SuiteDeal would come up for me.
And wouldn't you know it? One finally did.
I was visiting my dad in Pleasantville a couple weeks before Thanksgiving. As an AWESOME recognition of our veterans' service and sacrifice to the country, JetSuite offered FREE flights to veterans. My dad retired from the Air Force, so the potential for a free ride was definitely there.
I not-so-patiently waited for the Veteran's Day SuiteDeals to be posted, and when one looked like it would work out with my schedule, I started to get excited. I talked to my dad to see if he was up for a crazy adventure the next day, and he said he was intrigued. I withheld details, but since he didn't have any plans for the day I got to work.
I checked out Google and looked at cab fares from the airport to the Amtrak station, and went to Amtrak to figure out their schedule and fares for a ride home. The Amtrak fare turned out to be about $80 and the cab was gonna be $50ish. So this excursion could be had for the low, low price of $130, plus food for the day. I figured around $200 would get us decent food and a great story to tell, and I got in touch with the JetSuite folks to try to make something work.
I followed the SuiteDeal request process, and when I called in to talk to them about it everything went very smoothly. I had a great conversation with Lauren, one of JetSuite's amazing Client Services professionals, and we worked out the details of the flight. She emailed me a quote, I emailed her a picture of my dad's military ID, and I was suddenly one of the 1% (aviation industry analysts report that less than 1% of Americans have traveled by private jet, and it's JetSuite's aim to triple or quadruple that)
I then got an email with an FAQ that explained everything in detail. It was quickly followed up with an email from Robert, who gave me the particulars for the two FBOs we'd be using at the origin and destination airports. FBOs are the fixed base operators - they're often the place you'd go for a flight lesson or hangar rental, but in this case they were both very upscale private jet terminals. Robert also checked on my need for ground transportation, but since I figured I'd be hailing a cab I told him I was squared away.
With the flight booked and the address of the FBO in hand, I called my dad to set up a time to meet up for breakfast. I filled him in on what exactly my plans for us the following day were, and I went to bed feeling not-unlike a kid on Christmas Eve.
The alarm found me reasonably well rested 7 hours later, and I went through my morning routine. I figured comfort and respectability were going to be important, so I opted for khakis and a polo shirt. I picked my dad up and saw that he had the same idea - business casual was the theme of the day. I asked him where he wanted to eat and he threw a curveball my way. He really just wanted wanted fast food and coffee, so we ate a quick breakfast and headed to the airport.
Since we didn't have a normal sit down meal, we arrived at the airport about an hour prior to our scheduled departure time. I assumed we'd read magazines or something in the FBO's lounge since we were early, but all thoughts of reading disappeared when we passed the commercial terminal and approached the FBO.
I saw a number of aircraft on the ramp, ranging from little Cessnas and Mooneys to a helicopter, a Lear or two, and even a Gulfstream V.
But there amid the group was a sleek and beautiful Phenom. The red stripe was unmistakable, and my anticipation swelled. I pointed it out to my dad and told him that it was our plane - at least for the morning.
I parked about 50 feet from the FBO's front door and we walked in. It was pretty amazing. My previous FBO experience was all either greasy hangars that smell like AvGas or small operations where we'd wait for a medevac plane to come in... in other words, much more utilitarian than this. My dad went to grab a glass of water while I walked to the reception area and told the pleasant woman behind the desk that we were there for the JetSuite flight.
She asked us to wait a moment while she invited the flight crew to meet us. The pilots walked out of the pilot's lounge within seconds and introduced themselves to me. They were both very friendly and professional, and by all appearances were the most competent pilots on the planet. They wore black slacks and black polos, which was a nice touch - all the other pilots milling around looked like your typical commercial pilots. Commercial pilots look respectable in their white shirts with the gold epaulets and all, but the JetSuite look was sharp AND stood out from the rest.
Martin spent a few minutes getting to know us while Carey prepped the aircraft. We were an hour early, so I'm sure if we had showed up 15 minutes prior to departure it would have all been done by the time we got there. I think it worked out better this way, though, as Martin is a very friendly guy and we had a great conversation. He's a Royal Air Force veteran himself, so he and my dad traded stories and had a fine time.
After a few minutes of talking, Martin asked if we wanted to leave a little early. With no set plans, my dad and I were happy either way - after a quick discussion, we decided to leave early. Martin asked about ground transportation, and I told him we were good to go.
We headed
Martin asked us if we wanted a picture together before we got on the plane. We grabbed the quick picture, which looked something like this:
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| Cockpit picture courtesy of Embraer. All rights reserved. |
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| Cabin picture courtesy of JetSuite. All rights reserved. |
Pretty nice, huh?
Carey sat in the cockpit and started the pre-flight checklist while Martin gave us the typical pre-flight safety briefing. Seatbelts, exits, floatation devices, liquor cabinet.
Wait, what? Liquor cabinet?
Since it was early in morning - and I didn't really feel right eating and drinking a bunch on a free flight - I opted for water and my dad had a Diet Coke. Martin told us to feel free to help ourselves to any of the beer, wine, booze, soft drinks, water, or snacks we'd like. He told us about the XM satellite radio and the Bose noise cancelling headphones. He asked about ground transportation at our destination again, and I missed the hint and said we were all set up.
He joined Carey on the flight deck and my dad and I settled into our cushy leather seats, grabbed our beverages and prepared for takeoff. Which, in this case did not involve shutting off cell phones, wishing for that crying baby to settle down or trying not breathe in other passengers various body odors. We quickly taxied to the runway and were on our way. One of the 9,426,874 benefits of flying charter from a smaller airport, I learned, is that you don't have to wait long - or sometimes even at all - for the tower to grant you takeoff clearance.
As we accelerated down the runway, I'm sure I was grinning like a complete fool, but we rotated smoothly and climbed out quickly. During the 6 or 7 minutes it took us to get to our cruising altitude, we played with the Bose headsets and listened to the Police sing about stalking somebody. We didn't take this trip to listen to the radio, though, so we put headphones away and stretched out. I'm over 6' tall but I had plenty of leg room and headroom. The overall cabin height is a hair under 5', but once you get seated there's plenty of room.
The ride was amazingly smooth. We spent a couple minutes looking out the windows and enjoying the flight. Conversation was surprisingly easy, and while the engines were loud enough to notice we were able to talk without any difficulty at all. Martin looked back to check on us a couple times, and we were able to talk to him easily, too.
For a small aircraft, I was amazed at how well insulated and quiet it was. One of the inherent issues with the very light jets is engine noise - with the jet engines and cabin being so close together, there is bound to be some engine noise, but the Phenom kept it to a minimum.
At our fastest we got up to around 375 mph (325 knots), so we made it to our destination pretty quickly. We started our descent much sooner than I would've liked, and caught one brief and surprisingly gentle bit of turbulence on the way down. We fell into the traffic pattern and lined up for our final approach a couple minutes out. Martin and Carey brought her down so gently we couldn't even tell when our flight officially ended.
After a quick roll down the active runway, we made our way via a couple taxiways to our final destination. Martin and Carey brought the plane to a stop and we gathered our things. We stepped off the plane and back into the real world. A short 50 foot walk later and we were at the door to the FBO.
We walked through the door and were immediately greeted by the aroma of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and still-popping popcorn. As we grabbed a cookie, Martin thanked us for choosing JetSuite, and we thanked both him and Carey for safe a safe, comfortable and pleasant flight. When he found out that my grand plan for ground transportation was to hail a taxi, he excused himself to speak to the FBO's concierge. He returned moments later to let us know that our car would be there in fifteen minutes. He told me to let him know my ground transportation plans and needs next time and they'd have the car waiting for us on the tarmac. Talk about door to door service.
My dad grabbed an iced tea while I took a seat on a couch in front of a huge and yet somehow still tasteful big screen TV to catch up on the news of the day. We were there for less than ten minutes when we were told that our car was there. We stepped outside but found no cab. Confused, I turned back toward the FBO. That's when I saw the Lincoln Towncar with the driver holding the door open. We jumped in the car and the driver slid behind the wheel. He already knew our destination - the concierge must've told him - and he guided the car smoothly into traffic and headed for the train station.
I'm not gonna lie - this car was just a little bit nicer than the beat-up-Crown-Vic-retired-police-car-hunk-of-junk cab I was expecting. You know, like the Packers are just a little bit better than your average team of winless high school freshmen. Luxurious leather seats, no meter ticking annoyingly away, and no unidentifiable stains on the seats or floor.
I knew of JetSuite's partnership with Dav El for ground transportation, but I knew nothing about the price. I was fine with spending $50 on a cab, but I was a little hesitant about spending a ton of money on executive ground transportation. Less than ten minutes later we pulled up to the Amtrak station. The driver got out and opened the door for us, and informed me that the ride was $30.
Thirty American dollars?!? That was significantly less expensive than a cab would have been for a much nicer ride. Even with the tip I came out ahead on that deal. We walked into the train station, picked up our tickets and found a bite to eat while we waited for the train.
The train showed up and we boarded. No TSA screening, but it wasn't quite the same as walking up the airstairs on to the jet. It was a slow day for Amtrak and we essentially had the entire train car to ourselves. That was nice, but it's definitely not the same as having your own private jet. Sigh. The train ride was relatively uneventful... until we rode back past the airport.
That's when we saw that beautiful Phenom sparkling brilliantly in the early afternoon sun. I gazed longingly at the Embraer as the train rounded a bend. I'd have to be big boy. I had to maintain my dignity. There's no use crying over spilled milk, there's no crying in baseball, and there's certainly no crying in train cars - no matter how great the plane you're looking at is.
I had plenty of time to think over the day while we were on the train. We spent about 45 minutes in the plane, and the better (worse?) part of 7 hours in the train.
In the end, I figure it broke down like this:
Anticipated cost
SuiteDeal: $536.43 ($499 + 7.5% excise tax)
Breakfast: ~$25
Lunch: ~$30
Dinner: ~$50
Cab ride: ~$50
Train tickets: ~$80
TOTAL: $771.43
Actual cost:
SuiteDeal: FREE
Breakfast: $9.40
Lunch: $15.09
Dinner: $13.66
Ground transport: $40
Train tickets: $72 (Senior discount for my dad made it 10% cheaper for his ticket)
TOTAL: $150.15
In the interest of presenting a valid review of my experience, and in the sake of full disclosure, I figured I should share the negative parts of the experience, too. I thought long and hard, and have been able to come up with exactly three things that weren't amazing about the experience. In no particular order, here they are:
1) I had to bend over to board the aircraft (but too be fair that's a stretch - all very light jets have short overall cabin heights, and the Phenom's height was very respectable)
2) The engines were noisier than I would have liked (again, an issue with all very light jets, and a very small issue)
3) The XM radio is controlled from the cockpit, so the flight crew has to change the channels for you
Again, these are all such trivial issues that I really had to get nitpicky and think long and hard to find ANY negatives. I think issues 1 & 2 are easily offset by the lavatory that's standard on the Phenom 100 - many VLJ's aren't equipped with any restroom facilities. And number 3 is laughably insignificant.
The only legitimate downside to the whole experience is that I am absolutely, completely and undeniably ruined for commercial aviation. The JetSuite experience was far beyond my expectations, and I cannot say enough good things about the company, the staff, the aircraft and the entire experience.
If you ever have the opportunity to fly with JetSuite, I'd jump on it. You can learn more about the SuiteShares, SuiteSavers, and SuiteDeals on their website and Facebook pages and their marketing department is always coming up with new ways to get you into one of their aircraft. Their Black Friday promotion was simple: $1 - yes, one dollar! - for all their SuiteDeals for the entire last week of November, and they recently flew some lucky folks from Teterboro, NJ all the way to Los Angeles for $800. You'd be hard pressed to find a single one way coach ticket from NY to LA for the next day for that price, let alone 4 first class seats.
I'd also like to acknowledge the great service from the fine folks at Signature Flight Support and Atlantic Aviation, the two FBOs that served us on our trip.
I think the whole experience can be summed up best with three words:
JetSuite: It's JustSuperb
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