Most of you guys know how I feel about commercial air travel these days. Nearly every airline has adopted the cattle car business model by jamming more seats on a plane and making sure every flight is overbooked. That's fine; it's just good business. But it makes for utterly miserable travel conditions. Add to that an army of TSA losers and the fact that you have to show up to the airport hours ahead of time just to wait in line and get felt up by a rent-a-cop and you can see why air travel is now something I avoid.
More and more the only viable alternative is private planes. With private air travel you pull right up to the waiting plane. There are no security checks, the plane is spacious, and it leaves when you're ready to leave. The only drawback to private air travel is the expense. Until now.
If you have a little flexibility in your travel schedule, you can now afford a private jet thanks to JetSuite and their new SuteDeals service. You see, private jets often have to be ferried from one airport to another without paying passengers. JetSuite figured out that you can sell these last-minute ferry flights for the cost of fuel and break even on them.
So what are we talking about? How about a private jet for 4 from L.A. to Las Vegas for $500? No, not $500 each - $500 for the whole plane. Yup. Looking at today's SuiteDeals, you can get a flight from San Jose to Carlsbad for $536. That same flight on Southwest (Greyhound of the skies) will set you back $235 per ticket.
The flights aren't just on the West Coast, either. SuiteDeals routinely posts flights in and out of the NYC area and all up and down the East Coast.
So what's the catch? It's a one-way flight. Sure, you could roll the dice that the plane is going to be needed in the opposite direction around the time you want to book it, but that's probably unlikely. So you're stuck buying a return ticket on another airline or procuring some other means of transportation home. But for the money, even one leg of a journey that avoids the airline experience is worth it.
Be careful, you'll travel one time by private aircraft and the rest of your life you'll be absolutely miserable even flying in business class.
Sounds like http://www.flyvictor.com/ Its an exchange that lets you buy or sell extra seats on private flights.
Nefarious traveling Pro Tip: Purchase TSA approved 3oz bottles (pack of four with resealable plastic bag from wallgreens is $4.00) and fill them with vodka.
Or just buy vodka/whiskey shooters and throw as many as you can fit into a zip-lock bag...that works as well
I don't know what your bar looks like, but I don't keep mini bottles in my home. It is easier to just keep these washable plastic containers and fill it up with what you have.
I have flown Spirit airlines before, and am taller than a Pygmy, so I have suffered greatly. I really, really need to check this out.
My one Spirit airline experience...flying from Boston down to AC for my bachelor party. Show up to the gate...
"Oh, hmmm, Mr. Curtis, looks like we dont have a seat for you..."
Me: "oh, i have my ticket and seat # right here"
Steward: "oh, you've been reassigned - but if Mr. Lee doesn't show up, you should have a seat..."
Me: "are you serious?"
Them: "yeah, but dont worry, I dont think he's showing up"...
...10 minutes later, 10 minutes before scheduled take off time they release "his" seat to me, I step onto the plane and immediately realize it's 95 degrees with no AC working and the average age is ~78 with a few drunk 20 year olds thrown in for some extra fun.
I sit next to 2 nice old ladies, both masterfully playing 2 games of solitaire on some weird gaming device I have never seen...
As I sit down, I notice my knees are jammed up into the seat in front of me.
I resign myself to my situation and give thanks, knowing it's only an hour flight....
I don't think it can get much worse than this airline...but I haven't flown Ryan Air.
Jesus, can the bar get any lower for air travel?
anything like this in Europe?
Not that I've found. Over here we have RyanAir, which is pretty close...
first Ryanair experience coming up in 2 weeks.... will let you know how it goes :)
Like it. Although CorpFinanceGuy has a point above .. once you go private, you never go back.
This has been around for ages, just not in a platform that is easy to use.
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