Comments on: JetSuite Launches New Private Jet Charter Operation and I Go For a Ride (Trip Report)

By: JetSuite Launches New Private Jet Charter Operation and I Go For a … Personal just to Me

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:53:13 +0000

[...] more: JetSuite Launches New Private Jet Charter Operation and I Go For a … By admin | category: private jet charter | tags: charter, feastbay-november, flight, [...]

By: JetSuite Launches New Private Jet Charter Operation and I Go For a Ride | JetSuite

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:31:33 +0000

[...] Read more [...]

By: JK

JK — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:29:47 +0000

Looks like there were more people on your jet than on your bus!

America loves it’s public transit!

(Obviously one pic isn’t a representative sample, but it was an interesting contrast, I thought.)

By: CF

CF — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:55:17 +0000

Kevin wrote:

By the way do you have any pictures of the Lav? I’m curious to see how comfy that is?

Sorry, no pics of the lav. They had a bunch of stuff stored back there since this was a launch event in Orange County. So I didn't get back there.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:11:29 +0000

Look at that thing it’s tiny!! This pricing structure might work if this aircraft was suitable for several hours of flying in one day. Unfortunately depending on winds and weather it would take 3 stops to get to the east coast and maybe even 4 on the way back. This plane is best suited for short hops to vegas, not long days of flying. For short hops why not just charter a small citation jet that accommodates more passengers, has wider seats, more leg room and is significantly less than what JetSuite is charging? Don’t let the fancy fractional concept of a “daycard” fool you…this is not a good deal.

By the way do you have any pictures of the Lav? I’m curious to see how comfy that is?

By: Stephen Dutton

Stephen Dutton — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:08:03 +0000

Bang!…back to earth with a thud, eh, Cranky, should have had a stretched Limo waiting for the return journey to round off the day (even if it maxed out the cards)
I think this is an excellent deal (If your are in the corporate, Business or Hollywood (Entourage anybody) sectors), and maybe now the AirTaxi/ Daily Air business will start to thrive,
you could fit in an extra passenger on the Lav to spread the costs and just swap around when someone needs to go..

By: Davester

Davester — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:14:58 +0000

An interesting concept, but it really seems like in a 2nd class (Euro) rail cabin. I understand the deal about saving connecting hops into smaller airports and such, but it still seems like a lot of money to pay to be flying in a shoe. I guess the biggest value is on time savings. All the more reason to go ahead and get the Gulfstream ;)

By: Sarah Cowell

Sarah Cowell — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:20:20 +0000

We charter a number of private jets and have a few mishaps on the loger flights when the jet does not have a toilet, but so many people are looking to save money these days that its not out with the kitchen sink but the toilet and now even the co-pilot!

By: tivoboy

tivoboy — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:11:22 +0000

Most micro-jet firms have already folded, both the manufacturers and operators. these new firms, are simply much more target in their markets and not SCALING up anywhere near as much as in the past. They are going to WAIT and become profitable and then grow hopefully.

Problem with most small jets is, NO TOILET! Ouch, don’t have the coffee before take-off.

By: CF

CF — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:57:32 +0000

Nicholas Barnard wrote:

So where is the trip report on the way back? Or will that be on CrankyBusser? Also I think it’s the FTC not the FCC you’re worrying about disclosing your lunch to.

Well, the bus trip report is pretty basic. I walked .3 miles to the corner of Birch and Bristol and took the OCTA 57 bus to the Newport Transit Center. I waited there for about 10 minutes before hopping on OCTA 1 which goes up PCH toward Long Beach. I got off at 1st and PCH right at the Long Beach border and hopped on the Long Beach Transit 131 bus which dropped me off right at the JetSuite office at Spring and Temple. Pretty good, all in all. Oliver wrote:

> Alex had business down in Orange County so he had to drive. Sooo… if you go somewhere on business, this jet isn’t the right mode of transportation? ;) How many jets do they have?

Well, the drive in no traffic (and there would have been no traffic) at that time is about 25 minutes, so I'd say he made the right choice! They only have a couple jets right now, but they're taking delivery of one every couple of months. I think they have 7 on order, but don't quote me on that. Trent880 wrote:

Can’t say I’ve followed the micro jet biz but I remember reading multiple companies ordering a bizillion mosquito jets to run air taxies, “shift the travel paradigm” and so on, only to go spectacularly bust. How is this one different?

Great question, and I'm not a pro on this so I don't really have the answer. This is one of those areas where there seem to be a million ideas and very few work. This one seems to make sense, but then again, I'm not the target market. Dan wrote:

Crank, You talked about “a 6 hour flight with JetSuite…” but then said that the Embraer Phenoms don’t have the range to do coast to coast. Are there different aircraft types available? If not, that was some pretty misleading advertising. Oh, and further investigation finds that the Marquis Jet card price of $132,000 is just for the Citation Ultra, which doesn’t have the range for six hours of flying either.

No, they only have the Phenom 100, so you're right, you can't do 6 hours nonstop. But you can stop for 20 minutes, refuel and be in the air again. So you could easily fly 6 hours during the day. If you're going to NYC, it would be worth it, but if you had to go to, say, somewhere in West Virginia, it might be quicker even with the stops.

Also, you really don’t fly on “Marquis Jet” you just use them as an intermediary to NetJets if you don’t want to actually own a share. (And something else that’s amusing… JetSuite’s website compares prices between Marquis Jet and NetJets, which are two totally different business models, without even mentioning as much.)

Yes, Marquis Jet only uses NetJets, but I figured it wasn't worth bringing up that level of detail in my post. It's confusing enough to me as it is.

One other thing about JetSuite’s pricing — their website comparison is all with operators whose fundamental business is the “shares” model, and I’m sure they charge WAY extra for adhoc/charter flying. A cursory examination suggests that chartering an aircraft with a similar range through normal channels would have an hourly rate of about half that of JetSuite for a “one-day, one-hour” flight. (I.e., JetSuite charges $4500 for that one hour, you can charter a flight for less than that.) It was nice of them to give you a free ride, but it’s by no means going to be a market mover/shaker. It’s my no means the best deal on the market either.

I think they realize that if you're just flying for a single hour, they aren't going to be the best option in the market. This is more for someone who needs to make a two or three stops during a single day, and that's where they can provide the best value, or so they say. I'm not really sure if this will work since this is far from my area of expertise. If anyone else has opinions about this piece of the world, then please chime in. Wonko Beeblebrox wrote:

Personally, I would not want to be on a 6 hour flight without an on-board lav…. (I didn’t see one…)

There actually is a lav. You can't see it very well on here, but behind the seats, there is a lav that is covered only by a curtain. On our flight, there was a bunch of stuff back there being stored for the launch event. By next year, they're expecting that seat to also be certified as a passenger seat. So think about it - you could pay for a private jet and end up riding on the lav. Dan wrote:

Crank, for fun comparison, what would a helicopter ride have cost?

For the flight from Long Beach to Orange County? Beats the heck out of me. I'm sure none of this is cost effective.