SFO777

On of the many benefits of moving from California and San Francisco is a much lower cost of living. Ergo, more disposable income for toys... for boys and girls... and a jet card. Mrs. SFO and I are celebrating our anniversary this weekend and are off for a day and a half in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This is our first trip with JetLinx, our new Denver charter company, operating from convenient Centennial Airport (APA) in the suburbs south of Denver.

Only 15 minutes after leaving our house, we arrived at the Signature/JetLinx gate and, just like Lufthansa at FRA or MUC are cleared onto the ramp and drive right up to our plane, a stunning Hawker 800XP. Yes Virginia, upgrades also apply to flying private. For the short trip, I had booked a cheaper light jet but the JetLinx Denver staff upgraded us to a mid size jet. The old "let's upgrade him so he won't want to go back to a light jet" trick. It may just work.





As we drove up, we are met by our crew for the weekend, Capt. Micah and FO Rick, as well as flight services director Kelly.
After some pleasant chit-chat and the obligatory pics, we board our luxurious 800XP and settle in for the quick 40 minute flight to SAF.



























Mimosas compliments of the great JetLinx APA staff.





Our CL-600 ramp neighbor this morning as we get ready to taxi.

SFO777

After the pre-flight check, we head off to runway 17L.















Cleared for take-off.















Exploring the galley.

SFO777

Just like the big boys, Airshow monitors our progress and flight path.









Starting our descent...













Not exactly a major airport, but hey, we have Eagle to DFW.











Lots of nice company this morning.





And as soon as the doors opened, an Avis rep delivered our SUV planeside and we were off to explore Santa Fe.

Coming up: Charming Santa Fe

Zomba

Happy anniversary, SFO777! As always, you travel in style. The people who really benefit from the jet cards are those living in 3rd tier cities. 76 mins from to Greeley, CO GXY to LWC on a Phenom 300

I've never been to NM, so I'm looking forward to your future installments.

cyclogenesis

Interesting to see the pics out through the cockpit.. so are small jets like this not required to secure the flight deck?

Looks amazing..

JMN57

Have fun! Love Santa Fe. Mrs JMN57's roots are there and we were married in the Cathedral.

airbus320

Great TR with unique photos. ^

CzeSEN

SFO777,

First and foremost – happy anniversary! Wishing you and Mrs. many wonderful years together to come .

But... There is always a but. Remember taking Mrs. on a first proper F flight? I am almost certain this was followed by something like, "well, F is the only way to go." At least, that was my case. And I've heard the same after the first PJ flight. So, please do kiss that disposable income goodbye .

halfcape

Wow, I am really looking forward to your anniversary TR. Mr. halfcape wants to know how much the jet cost, not that we could afford it!

SFflyer123

dude, i will say it again, as I've said it before:

you live well.

Very nice report!

FlyIgglesFly

Aaaaand you realize you've just taken your spoiling of Mrs. SFO777 to a new level, right?

SFO777

Another of the great benefits of private is that plane goes when you want to go. After an amazing meal last night at Geronimo and huge breakfast at our hotel, we decided to forgo dinner and come home after a late lunch. A call to our crew and we moved up our departure to 4PM instead of the originally planned 7:30PM. We arrived at SAF at 3:25P, were wheels up at 3:45P, arrived APA at 4:30P, stopped at a packed Costco Park Meadows and still got home by 5:25P.

Thanks Zomba. Agree on who most benefits from the jet cards.
Not that you can rationalize the cost, but travel to out of the way places like Santa Fe is so easy and saves so much time.

No requirement to secure the cockpit. Also no security check, just a simple ID check is all that is required. That's why we could drive right to plane, hop on and depart.

Thanks JMN57. What a small world. Santa Fe is a charming place with some great restaurants. We enjoyed gallery hopping on Canyon Road today and will post pics over the next few days.

Thank you airbus320.

Thanks very much CzeSEN for your good wishes. Yeah, I know I'm taking a monumental risk here. And it didn't take very long for the first "This is the only way to fly" comment.

Thanks halfcape. Costs vary by company, with lights jets in the $3,000 to $4,500 AI per hour range, medium jets in the $4,000 to $6,000 AI range. NetJets tends to be at the upper end with smaller regional companies in the lower to mid range.

Thanks very much SFflyer123.

I know, I know. And her "why don't we do this every month?" has really got me worried.

FlyIgglesFly

I managed a tag along flight from DAL-TTN and back on Thanksgiving Day with the owner of the company I was working for in '06. Left at 7:30 am, return flight 12 hours later on a Learjet 45. It worked because he had family across the river in PA, my parents lived 2 miles from the airport, there was an extra seat, and I hadn't done anything to indicate I was unprofessional and therefore unsuitable to transport in such a manner.

Of course, I negated the final point when I showed up for the return with a huge duffel bag filled with two 24 bottle cases of Yuengling, a favorite of mine not available in TX at the time. But there's something to be said for being able to saunter up to a plane with no security, have the pilot help you throw 48 bottles of beer in the cargo hold, and immediately walk onto the plane and be wheels up 10 minutes later.

I was 24 and it's been a depressing downward slide ever since.

FlightNurse

Very nice, however, what happened to the caviar?

JohnDP

EDIT: deleted.