dordal

Yeah, OAK-VNY was a mechanical. And it definitely was... we sat at the airport for an hour plus while the '24 hour emergency mechanic' poked around in the engine. Finally they decided it was a six hour repair, and they were going to call it for the night. Pilots were the nicest guys in the world, and really great about keeping us informed.

Not totally complaining about all the cancellations -- just frustrating... you can't exactly make plans with people at T-5 hrs. Even T-24 is tough. So I had four sets of plans, with four sets of people, only to tell them each 'haha, just kidding!' Everybody gets it ( and I warn people when I book the flight that it may cancel ), but 0 of 4 still a pretty rough record.

Hopefully this week will have one or two good empties, and will be better on the cancellation front.

oenophilist

For the other cancellations, had you already received and signed the invoice?

dordal

No, all before the invoice.

PbodyPhoto

If it was before the invoice was signed there wasn't really a flight to be canceled.

SFO777

While technical true, the novelty of JS empty legs wears thin pretty fast after a spate of same day "cancellations". It was one of the reasons that I gave up on them. I discovered that I have far better things to do than check my app twice an hour all day long, then book a flight only to have it pulled 6 hours before departure. And even if the flight isn't canceled, unless you buy out the plane, you are sharing the plane with others, unlike the original model when I joined.

As my wife opined... "well, if we have to share the plane, then it isn't private, is it?"

Sykes

I've had two post-invoice cancellations in the last two weeks. It has been pretty frustrating.

oenophilist

I've only had one post-invoice cancellation, and JS was very very apologetic about it.

That being said, if you are on the hook for paying if you cancel post-invoice, there should be some consideration if the plane cancels post-invoice. Like a flight credit of some kind. That seems fair.

Sykes

Yeah. I've seen mentions in this thread about JS arranging alternate transportation for late cancellations, but on all of mine (two in the last two weeks, plus one about a month ago) the response was a slightly nicer version of "deal with it--we told you about this when you signed up"--not even apologetic at all.

I fully recognize what I signed up for and the value that I've gotten out of the empty legs, but it definitely furthers the narrative that they just don't care.

dordal

There isn't any more or less of a flight to be cancelled before or after the invoice. There's a common misconception on here that the invoice somehow 'confirms' the flight, and I think that may have been true long ago, but if you read the terms and conditions today, Jetsmarter can cancel any empty leg flight right up until departure:

Section 4.d. if you're interested.

The only thing confirming the invoice does is:

1. Adds you to the pax manifest with the operator.
2. Puts you on the hook for the no-show fee ($1,000 or the cost of a seat, whichever is greater).

It does not commit the operator to flying the flight, any more than they're committed before the invoice is sent.

oenophilist

While the right to cancel is there, I don't believe that this is entirely accurate.

Once they send you the invoice, they are purchasing the empty leg on your behalf from the operator. That commits the operator to fly the route. The operator normally can't simply change the routing for no reason. However, things happen, such as mechanical, that cause the plane not to fly at all.

At least that is my understanding. They are on the hook to pay the operator once the transaction takes place.

dordal

No, the operator is definitely not on the hook. And I'm not sure they should be, either... if Mr. Big in SBA cancels his trip, it doesn't really make sense to fly me down there, only to fly back empty. Given the operational cost of a private jet, just a couple of those and the overall Jetsmarter deal would end up unprofitable for the operator.

There's a lot that's messed up about JS, but I'm actually not sure this aspect of the program is 'broken'. Still, it's super frustrating to make four sets of plans, with four sets of people, only to have to cancel them all.

Townshend

Agreed, for any deal cancellations it has never been the fault of JS. The shuttles are what makes it for me, if I can catch an empty once in a while then that's icing on the cake.

njarecki

Had a super nice shuttle yesterday. Teterboro to Burlington. I requested it for hours before the flight and submitted names within three hours. They confirmed an hour later. Me and my friend had the whole plane to ourselves. It was a great ride. Would've been a $10,000 flight if we bought it

mwood20

The challenger 300 is such a sick plane.

On another note, anyone else taking the first shuttle out of boston to teterboro next wednesday, then down to DC? I'm thinking of taking a quick trip back and forth.

T-15.01

Just joined and very interested to see how the actual experience compares with the hype filled marketing. Some anxiousness given the feedback here. Already experienced a huge botch up with them charging more than the invoice stated. hopefully things improve from here.