Blade...Anybody used them?
 

flyblade.com

Appears to be a helicopter / private plane broker in the NE. They also run scheduled Manhattan to JFK trips for $345. That's a bit uncompetitive for my tastes, but maybe someday if the tunnels and the Van Wyck are really clogged, I'll try it.

Yes
 

Yes I use them often. The $345 is a new promo to test out blade bounce which is the airport transfer. The true cost is $895 plus $95 per additional passenger.

$345 is uncompetitive? Where can you heli transfer for less than that??

LOL. Uncompetitive with ground transport via car service or LIRR.

In the not so olden days though, I would buy US Helicopter transfers from EWR-Manhattan and JFK-Manhattan for $75 from skyauction.com (which is probably why they went out of business in 09). IIRC, the EWR flights even earned CO miles.

ive booked a blade bounce helicopter from East 34th to EWR to get BA flight back to London. I was worried about the baggage limit but was assured that I could take 2 airline checkable bags if I booked the entire helicopter rather than a shared one which is good. as there will be 2 of us anyway. Its gonna be a great way to leave Manhattan very late and be at the airport in 6 minutes for a red eye back to London.

The one thing I detest the most about NYC is getting in and out. This is tempting although when I'd want to use it the most is with wife and two kids under (3) so that would be $895+95+95+95? (one way of course).

Blade
 

I used Blade yesterday from East Hampton to West 30th. Booked at 2am, got to the airport six hours later and hopped on to a shared flight in. Seamless, 35 minute flight. Would have been nice if they'd told us we would be taking off 10 minutes late, but otherwise smooth flying.

Was this your first time booking blade? Kudos to them for such a seamless onboarding.

First time booking. They glanced at my photo ID to make sure it matched the name I had booked in. Carryon bags tagged at this time - they have a staff of three at the East Hampton airport to make sure you're not waiting. There's a large table with 6-8 chairs, a few couches around a coffee table, and some hard backed chairs to wait. There are around five flights that take off within 30 minutes of each other but the terminal wasn't overly crowded.

The Blade Lounge was open and four of six passengers took advantage of drinks and coffee upon landing before hopping into Uber's that were waiting to take people to work. Seamless ground transfer at the heliport as well, although I arranged my own Uber.

nice, thanks for report!

$195+ seats for bounce
$500+ seats (none in LA yet?)
$695+ charters for bounce

jones beach concerts - $1K pp round trip including box seat and lounge

bounce >

I've used Blade a few times over the last two years for both flights to the Hamptons and bounce airport transfer to EWR. Most experiences have been good except for one where we had to stop at Islip to refuel because of a faulty gauge. I'd recommend and would use again.

Kicking up this thread.

Used Blade before from Manhattan to JFK but not the other way around. The odd thing is that last time it wasn't an issue to have a (checked size) bag with me in that direction, but it seems impossible from JFK to Manhattan (Tote Taxi booking is required).
any particular reason for this? My usual scheduled flight arrives 1PM and I don't feel like waiting for my luggage till the evening.

Weight limitations and also physical space available