millions

LOLOLOLOL. "We can't sell the seats at $2k, what should we do? Raise it to $6k."

In reality, this might not be too bad because at that price, you're likely to have the plane to yourself or with just a couple of other passengers. But who would take the chance?

Truth is, I think this is just a way for them to try to save money and face. They can say they have a shuttle, but will cancel whenever there are no passengers.

SFO777

Absolutely they will implement that, most likely soon than later. Suspect that they are burning thru cash like crazy and the only way to stay afloat for a while longer is new members funding losses and extra fees.

Sykes

Charging $6k for he first seat on NY<->London shuttles was a bug. There is an update available in the App Store that fixes it.

Also, the 7.5% excise tax is no longer added on to the advertised price for extra seats, but they didn't change the advertised price, so extra seats and on-demand shuttles are now 7.5% cheaper (although that only partially offsets the dramatic price increase for extra seats on the short-haul west coast shuttles).

millions

Didn't change the advertised price when? I'm pretty sure all the shuttle prices went up, not just the west coast flights, and I don't think any of those raises were less than 7.5%. Maybe they built in the tax at the same as the price increases.

Sykes

Didn't raise the prices today when they adjusted the taxing. obviously they raised several of them a week ago, although the non-west coast shuttle seats were already so absurdly expensive that I didn't bother checking.

larchens

u think they will charge for london-dubai ?

lescruffy

Good morning all. I have greatly enjoyed the last 39 pages of this thread, and am very grateful to all who have shared their experiences.

On the strength of the information available to me, I signed up for JS Smart membership in July. I am a European member, based in London but with regular travel between London, Geneva and Nice. The JetShuttle premise is perfect for me - it is more expensive than easyJet, and the cancellation penalties are quite onerous, but the principle worked well for me.

It was 3-4 weeks before I could take my first JetShuttle (because of my own commitments), and I was a little anxious about the transport from central London to Luton (I live within 200m of the Gatwick Express at Victoria, so it seemed counterintuitive), but I gave it a go. The Gatwick Express hasn't run efficiently for almost 6 months now - it's a joke.

Tube to Kings Cross, train to Luton and a taxi to the Signature FBO at Luton took an hour and a quarter. I have since found out that Signature will collect you FoC from the station if you call in advance. Total cost was a tube fare plus £15.50 on the train. My last trip to Gatwick (on the 'Gatwick Express') took 2.5 hours and cost £18. So far, so good.

When I got to Signature, they let me through without a hassle and I was introduced to David, pilot on my Citation CJ2. There was a short delay due to ATC, but we were airborne within 15 minutes of our scheduled departure.

I should probably mention now that there were no other passengers on board; I had the whole plane and two pilots to myself. The co-pilot came back and served me a g&t, club sandwich, tray of savoury nibbles and a tray of desserts. I'm still smiling two weeks later.

When it came to the return, I had a Phenom 100, also with no other passengers (this time a 4-seater, and no club sandwiches or food to be seen).

I have never been on a private jet before, despite doing 50-60 internal EU flights a year, and am so, so pleased that I signed up.

I know that I won't get my own planes every time (possibly never again), but I'll be sure to post back after my next JetShuttle flight in 2 weeks back from Nice (there are already other passengers on that one).

I paid $9,990 plus a $3k initiation. Because I was busy for a month immediately after I joined (and had already booked a month of commercial flights), I was able to negotiate a 13-month membership (I didn't use the first one at all, as explained). I was also able to negotiate a free companion on a single leg JetShutte within Europe if I signed up on the same day (I agree with other posters about the slightly distasteful sales tactics).

I understand that JS are still trying to find an operator for heli-transfers from Battersea to Luton. If these are £150 each, I'm genuinely not sure it'll be worth it, but it will be interesting to see.

Boodb772

i think it will be the same fee as NY-LON shuttle

oenophilist

Welcome to Flyertalk!

Gabrca

Inside source says NYC-LON inaugural flights had 5 passengers and 6 passengers respectively, using a Global Express Aircraft.

Apparently they will use a floating rotation of 4 different jets.

Think I may use some of my credit to give it a go! $1.9k for a half empty global express is a great deal

Sykes

I knew they ran a Global Express on the LON->NYC segment ... didn't know they used it on the NYC->LON too. A Global Express with only 5-6 seats full does dramatically change the value compared to the advertised G IV with 10 people.

NYC<->LON is now only a single token plus cash so you can book round-trip up front. (I don't think the app shows any tokens at all, but it deducts them.)

Gabrca

Don't actually know if they used the global express both ways to be fair!

Zetta Jet was the operator I do believe

millions

Yes, and I'm sure they'll give you your $1.99k back if you end up on a full GIV!

OptionsCLE

Can anyone post some recent experiences with signing up and what (if any) guarantees were offered? I've been trying to get them to give me some sort of written confirmation that the shuttles and empty legs will remain complimentary for the term of my one year membership, but they won't do it. I'd feel uncomfortably exposed signing up to their contract terms - $15,000 worth of membership benefits which are essentially provided only at their option. All they'll say (verbally) is that removing benefits would be bad business because their members wouldn't renew, but look at what happened with the heli-transfers this year.

As others have mentioned, I'm getting the standard language about the membership being "incredibly undervalued" and "rates are increasing soon" etc.

gold23

If another party is unwilling to put a promise down in writing, assume that perk will go away during the life of the contract. That way, you make your decision based on the value of the service without those perks.

This is one of my core issues with this company. I keep trying to love the service, but I can't determine if they are incompetent business people, crooks, shady operators, or all of the above.