That's what happened to me this week. Looking forward to a a great start to my Vegas trip with a helicopter flight to EWR. Flight go cancelled. Ended up taking a car service from Brooklyn which sadly cost me more than the helicopter would have :(

I'm very sorry to see USH go. I used them 2-3 times a month from EWR, often the only passenger, a few times with one or two other passengers (which were sometimes just employees who asked to hitch a ride at the last minute). I wondered if I was just hitting the "off" hour flights or how they were able to stay in business. It was a great service while it lasted. Out of about 20 trips with them EWR-TSS or vice versa, there was only once where they delayed the flight enough (by about 90 minutes) that I decided to just take a car service instead of waiting for the helicopter. Great views of the city going EWR - TSS; better than the TSS-JFK route anyway.

This is a total bummer. I was considering doing a few flights to get them in and now that's over.

I received word via voicemail from Continental that my USH flight from TSS to EWR next week had been canceled, and to call CO... I am on a BusinessFirst fare that basically included the USH segment for the same cost as a departure from EWR - one of the reasons I bought it is honestly the helicopter segment.

I'm a little disappointed that all they've offered is a modest refund of taxes (around $30) in exchange for canceling a helicopter transfer and obliging me to book a taxi that will cost double what I am getting back in taxes. :td: All this seven days before travel... oh, they also said I could take a refund on the entire ticket if I wanted - it was a fully refundable ticket in the first place, and alternatives I have now would be more expensive than when I booked this... :rolleyes:

I understand that this was unanticipated, but I'm a little disappointed Continental can't muster a little more understanding that the way CO handles this can either make their premium passengers very pleased with them, or leave a very sour taste in their mouths.

This really is too bad. The straight shot from East 34th saved me at least an hour of my life every time versus a cab or bus through the Lincoln Tunnel, and the views alone were worth the price of the ticket. I am BUMMED.

Arggh! Where is the ability for CO to do modest damage control on this one... Whenever I call in the agents are actually still thinking the helicopters are flying (they even put the segment back INTO my itinerary after the system had kicked it out) until I explain to THEM what's happening....

Meanwhile, since it's now going to take at least an hour more for me to get to EWR, I'm trying to get onto a later flight from Newark - one which had availability in 'A' when I made my booking, but is only showing J/D/Z now. The only reason I didn't book it in the first place is that it seemed the helicopter booking would make more sense for me. When I call and ask if revenue management or anyone in that capacity would consider allocating an 'A' seat to me on the later flight I would have booked if there had never been a helicopter option in the first place, the agent spouts off about how the helicopter was always and "add-on" and is somehow auxiliary to the whole ticketing decision. When it priced into my itinerary as part of a through fare, it certainly didn't seem like an "add-on," and in fact it was a driver in which flight I eventually bought.

Obviously they're still telling me I can cancel the whole trip (as I could before they even announced they weren't operating the helicopter service any more - it was a refundable ticket all along), but in the time that's passed since I made my booking with CO - dependent in some part on the promise of a helicopter transfer - my options both on CO and elsewhere have become much more limited.

Is it unreasonable of me to expect that someone over there might open a seat in 'A' on a different flight given that (1) I couldn't have expected they'd cancel my helicopter flight when I booked, and (2) 'A' on the alternate flight was available when I made my booking and at various times in between? At the moment EF shows the flight as J5D4Z1A0

CO really needs to step up. I can see if this was an award ticket but really? Paid BusinessFirst and they're not budging? If I were running things anyone on a paid BF ticket that included a USH segment would be booked in a limo from any Manhattan location to EWR. All you're asking for is a reaccommodation to a later flight with open seats. How would that hurt CO's bottom line? This should be treated as a schedule change. The departure time from EWR no longer meets your needs. It shouldn't matter that it's not CO's schedule change. If any other codeshare partner, including ExpressJet and Colgan, were to cancel a flight they'd put you on the later flight from EWR no questions asked.

Keep calling until you get what you want. At some point they'll realize that the cost of answering your calls exceeds what they might lose in revenue by having an unsold seat on the earlier flight!

I'm glad I at least did it once while it lasted. :)

I certainly hear you and relate to that! I wish I had. :)

I was a little giddy after I booked this when I realized I had actually flown Concorde more times than I had been in a helicopter (three versus two).

At least I always know I'll have more chances in life to fly a helicopter, but not Concorde. I've still never been anywhere near Manhattan in a helicopter - I do think that would be very, very cool.

1. Making up losses on volume is a New York institution.
2. "Temporary Service Interruption" is a ground stop due to weather - I think this is a lasting temporary.

My second attempt dialing in was successful at least in getting to the later flight. The agent opened up a space in 'A' for me even though there had only been J/D/Z for sale, which I appreciated immensely. She also told me a funny story about a helicopter while we waited... :) She was definitely applying "schedule change" as the reason for the exception, as she mentioned that several times whilst talking to the computer.

Of course I still think it would be nice if someone would cover the additional expense I'll incur getting to EWR, but I know a phone reservationist is likely not equipped to deal with that. I will send a note to customer relations expressing my very mixed sentiments on how this was handled... on the one hand, having agents not even know the service had been canceled and trying to rebook it is just a bit silly, and on another not offering anything back other than the taxes for the helicopter transfer seems downright petty. Getting space on a later flight was a very welcome gesture, and I will make the point that doing so was a gesture that really cost CO very little, but made a huge difference in how I felt about the whole thing. I even told the agent she was brilliant when she managed to do that, and she seemed quite flattered (saying no has called her brilliant in a long time). :eek:
^ on the latest response, but still :confused: on why a better response to my needs couldn't have been offered earlier. :( at no helicopter, and :rolleyes: about having to pay for a taxi when only a couple days ago I was looking forward to a helicopter transfer included in my (already rather expensive) BF tickets. Is that enough emoticons for one sentence? :D

My take on the situation is if VS can offer limo service as a part of it's UpperClass product why can't CO offer something similar for displaced USH passengers holding paid BF tickets? It wouldn't even have to be door to airport service. They could arrange pickups at the heliports since that's where one needed to go in the first place. I know CO had very little, if any, warning about this but they really could do a better job handling this. Let's face it. Aside from the few "hey, a helicopter ride would be neat..." passengers (and there's nothing wrong if you're one of those) the CO customers who used the service regularly are most likely the customers CO needs to focus on keeping happy!

On the few occasions that I booked a BF flight that included a potential free ride on US Helicopter, I never availed myself of the opportunity because the USH schedules were so infrequent that I would often have a three or four hour layover between the helicopter ride and my CO flight or vice-versa.

I could not justify the convenience of an eight-minute chopper ride getting me to the airport four hours before my flight versus a 45-minute ride in a car service.

I'm not sure if this was the rule with US Helicopters or just the fact that my trips coincided with various holidays and/or weekends.

This was really aggravating. I booked a US Helicopter flight on Thursday from JRB - EWR via Continental.com for a departure leaving later that day (they hadn't bothered to remove the flights from the computer system).

I had a 45 minute connection to my EWR Continental flight (booked in first) to DFW. When I got to the heliport (luckily well in advance of my flight) they told me all flights had been canceled that day due to "heavy maintenance." I wasn't offered any assistance or advice as to how to get to Newark on time to make my flight. For anyone familiar with the area, it isn't exactly the easiest place to hail a taxi, particularly at rush hour.

Luckily, I managed to snag a cab after walking several blocks with my bags... then told the driver to step on it to Newark... I was one of the last to board, making my flight just before the doors closed.

My connection between US Helicopter and EWR would have been about 90 minutes - which although slightly long would, together with the 10 minute flight and 30 minute check-in, corresponded to my reaching the heliport around the time I might have safely (conservatively) planned to reach EWR if at a heavy travel time (check-in, security, etc.). So the travel time by car between Manhattan and EWR was being won back.

Additionally, with US Helicopter I would have arrived at a gate and walked to a lounge, and I'd much rather spend my time in a lounge where I can get some work done before flying, than standing in queue after queue at EWR. So for me the US Helicopter option had both the appeal of saving some time, and swapping time I might have spent in security or check-in for time in the lounge.

Going off-topic a little, can anyone tell me what EWR is like before a Friday 9:25 pm int'l flight (my earlier flight was 6:10 pm)? How much time do I need to allow for security, baggage check-in, etc? I'll do online check-in and of course am in BusinessFirst, but from what I've read here (and experienced years back) EWR security can at times be a complete cluster****, and BF lanes may not even be offered... This is all one reason why I hoped US Helicopter would just bypass all that and give me a fixed departure time from New York that would have positioned me in directly into a lounge ahead of my flight. I can't be the only one who is willing to elect a service like this ahead of others that don't??

HKG_Flyer, what you describe sounds like a near-nightmare for me. You've thought that you paid for a service that makes it almost impossible to miss your flight, and instead you end up in a situation where it's almost impossible to reach your flight in time. All without being warned or looked after!?