dordal

I swear that page changed overnight. It now says "Purchase SMART Memberships for Others Without Initiation Fee"... don't think that was there yesterday.

Also gone: the $20K in flight credit you get when signing up for a membership.

imperialg

So first they said that all shuttles were free, then they said that all shuttles besides the international ones are free, now they're saying that all shuttles shorter than 3 hours are free. Soon, shuttles won't be free.

Actually, soon nothing will be free.

Townshend

Annual membership went up to $11.5k, initiation $3.5k

dordal

Thats a reduction on initiation right? It used to be $10K/$5K?

Sykes

Yeah. They've been at $15k total for the first year for a little while. For a while it was $4k + $9k/year, then they moved to 5k/10k, then 4k/11k, and now $3.5k + $11.5k/year. This migration suggests to me that they now employ someone who understands revenue recognition in a subscription business (and corresponding pricing strategies). I expect that it'll just go to $15k/year with no initiation at some point.

danielfly123

Hi! Joined this website because I have a few questions
I'm not a JS member yet, but I think I will become a member pretty soon.
I've been talking to a few people at JetSmarter and I've only had good experiences.
How does tokens work? And when do I get the token(s) back? Will I get the token(s) back immediately after the flight?
How does the seating work on a shuttle?
And does the physical gold card do anything? Or is it just a gimmick?
And how does the payment work?
Do I pay 15K immediately? Just like I'm purchasing something on ebay? :P
And are there ANY hidden costs when I'm only flying shuttles?
I know I can ask JS about all this, but I want to hear it from actual costumers.

Thanks

millions

LOL, gold card. The check's in the mail.

Sykes

Welcome to FlyerTalk! Shuttle tokens are used to book reservations on shuttles. Each time you book a reservation, you will use one or two. The token(s) is(are) replenished at the scheduled departure time for that shuttle, so you can usually book using that replenished token before the flight has even taken off from the runway. Short-to-medium length flights require a single token for each reservation (so with your two you can book a roundtrip in advance, but you can't use a second token to bring a second person without paying); however, the transcon flights require two tokens for every flight, so at the standard "Smart" membership tier you can only book one way at a time, and unless you are staying for a long time, your desired return flight will probably be booked by the time your tokens open up. (i.e. if I'm going to from San Francisco to New York for a week or less, I plan to travel one way on a commercial airline.) You should be able to see shuttle flights in the app without actually paying--I highly recommend looking to get a sense of availability before paying, and know that they're adding members faster than they're adding shuttles.

We are told that seats are assigned randomly, with two exceptions: 1) For member-initiated shuttles, the initiating member may select seats for all of their travelers, and 2) Sophisticated-tier members that pay $40k/year may select seats in advance. For everyone else, about 24 hours before the flight you'll get a seat map and a note indicating your seat assignment. I've been told by my account rep that they keep track of the locations you receive and try to change it up a bit, but I'm skeptical that they're doing much of that. On the Gulfstream IV, there are 6 pretty desirable seats, and 6 less desirable seats, so it's pretty luck-of-the-draw.

The physical gold card has no value that I can determine. I haven't taken mine out of the box. The $15,000 will be charged to your credit card immediately upon joining. I think most here will identify the biggest risk is that you're paying money up front to a startup that has a relatively uncertain financial model, so none of us know how long it will last, but things are generally pretty good for us as long as they're around.

I can think of 5 things that you should be aware of:

1) In New York, helicopter transfers are now $150 to/from TEB, and $250 to/from HPN. HPN (where most transcons fly) is a miserable drive from Manhattan, so you should plan to pay for the helicopter transfer fee if you're using that airport and traveling to/from Manhattan. TEB is close enough to Manhattan to Uber.

2) They are apparently, as of reports I read from yesterday, no longer catering free sandwiches and salads on trancon shuttles. There are snacks, but if you want real food you'll have to either bring your own or pay $150 for their optional gourmet meal (which is legitimately gourmet, but $150 for food on a plane seems like a bit much).

3) A number of the newer shuttle routes (mostly the London<->New York, London<->Dubai, and "Holiday" shuttles) require payment for all shuttle seats even when using tokens. They have also instituted "peak travel" surcharges of $0.30/mile for all shuttle seats on all US routes for about 10 of the busiest travel days this holiday season (including routes that would otherwise be free when using tokens). They also plan to charge new members that join after January 1st a per-flight fee for all shuttles over 3 hours. I expect that, aside from the peak travel surcharge, they won't institute any major new fees on existing routes during a membership year, but I'm expecting to see some negative changes when it comes time for me to renew.

4) Cancellation penalties are steep, and apply for shuttle seats that you're otherwise getting for free. $250 for cancellations made at least 7 days out, $500 for cancellations between 72 hours and 7 days, $1,000 for cancellations between 24 hours and 72 hours, and the greater of $1,000 or the full purchase price of a seat for cancellations inside 24 hours (which can be as much as $7,010 for NY<->London with the peak travel surcharge). They do charge them, and don't have a formal "flat tire rule" that covers you if you get stuck in traffic or something else happens that is out of your control.

5) While they've been good at mostly grandfathering the annual rate in on existing members and not making too terribly many material changes during a membership year, they did start passing through changes at renewal time when they removed the free helicopter transfer benefit. The "peak travel surcharge" is also concerning in that it started within the membership year with little notice. They also tend to frequently increase the "extra seat" charges that are applied if you want to bring a non-member companion on a shuttle. I'd only buy in if you're ok with $15,000 being your one-year price and not relying on the lower rate at renewal, because things may change by the time your renewal is up.

Overall, I plan to renew unless something significant changes because I'm pretty happy. In my head, if they last at least 3 months after I renew, I'll have gotten enough value out of it to make it worth it.

imperialg

This seems quite odd that they'd provide meals for the shorter shuttle routes like NY <-> Chicago or NY <-> Florida, but nothing for significantly longer flights. Did they communicate this? It seems that it could be a significant issue with 12 hungry people on board.

Townshend

I didn't see any communication. Also I don't believe that is true for transcons going eastward. $150 gourmet option is ONLY available for flights flying out of NYC as of right now.

I'll post my review of the meal in a week or so

Sykes

My only source is the report from someone that was on a HPN-OAK flight earlier this week. There were chips and such, but nothing substantial. Hopefully it's just a mis-catering issue, and even if it isn't, hopefully they haven't downgraded eastbound shuttles along with the "enhancement".

Boodb772

Going to try the Dubai - London Shuttle in 10 days, Will post pics if anyones interested

Cant Wait

Gabrca

Would be interested!!

Sykes

Some people that traveled on transcons ex-NYC yesterday say that there were sandwiches and salads, so it sounds like it was thankfully just a mis-catering issue.

imperialg

Unfortunately it doesn't seem like that's the case. I contacted them and they said "you would need to purchase something in order to receive a meal on any shuttle departing from HPN or TEB."