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Gotham Air: Manhattan to JFK in 6 minutes for $99

gothamair.com

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Re: Gotham Air: Manhattan to JFK in 6 minutes for $99

#81

Post by mason55 »

ghaff wrote: post #69
dogma1138 wrote: post #62

For 99$ this is something that doesn't even require you to be some hedge fund brat to use. Not sure what the current cab prices are these days, but i remember paying about i think 80$ for a cab from JFK to central Manhattan. You can get it a bit cheaper if you book a car service instead of grabbing a cab from the airport but it's still not sums that would break anyone's pocket. A taxi from central London to Heathrow…

OT but I've never really understood the Heathrow Express economics--and I've asked Londoners and they've never been able to give a good explanation either. I take the Piccadilly line in and I've never understood the justification for taking the Express. Maybe if I were staying right around Paddington but not if I'm going to have to take the tube or a taxi anyway.

I only go to London on business travel so price isn't as big of a deal but I take the Heathrow Express for time purposes. In morning traffic after the red eye from NYC it's much faster than either a cab or the tube.

Re: Gotham Air: Manhattan to JFK in 6 minutes for $99

#82

Post by bertil »

larrys wrote: post #67
adevine wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're not the carrier. From the bottom of the page: Gotham Air is not a direct air carrier but rather provides technology and information services enabling consumers to obtain aircraft charter and shared aircraft charter services from FAA certified and DOT registered air carriers who exercise operational control over all flights .

Exactly I've seen a few services like this advertised exactly the same way (WSJ ads some run by former industry execs). Interesting thought that the picture of the heli contradicts that (says "Gotham Air" on the side). That's no small point actually. Gives someone who doesn't read the fine print the idea that they do operate the aircraft. I understand why they do that but it is a bit deceptive.

Uber also suggests driver feature their logo on the windshield of one of their category. Can’t remember which.

Re: Gotham Air: Manhattan to JFK in 6 minutes for $99

#83

Post by crazygringo »

> from Manhattan to JFK and Newark Liberty Airports cut the travel time from 2-hours to 6 minutes for about the same price as many black cars

A helicopter flight is cool, sure...

...but "2 hours" is complete nonsense. Even if traffic is terrible, you can always take LIRR+AirTrain from Penn Station to JFK for less than $15, and it's basically guaranteed to take 35 min or less, straight to your desired terminal. Heck, I took it this morning, and there was a new train every 10 min.

And most people are going to find it quicker to get to Penn St than to get to the heliport in the first place, so it doesn't even have an advantage there...

Re: Gotham Air: Manhattan to JFK in 6 minutes for $99

#84

Post by dogma1138 »

ghaff wrote: post #69
dogma1138 wrote: post #62

For 99$ this is something that doesn't even require you to be some hedge fund brat to use. Not sure what the current cab prices are these days, but i remember paying about i think 80$ for a cab from JFK to central Manhattan. You can get it a bit cheaper if you book a car service instead of grabbing a cab from the airport but it's still not sums that would break anyone's pocket. A taxi from central London to Heathrow…

OT but I've never really understood the Heathrow Express economics--and I've asked Londoners and they've never been able to give a good explanation either. I take the Piccadilly line in and I've never understood the justification for taking the Express. Maybe if I were staying right around Paddington but not if I'm going to have to take the tube or a taxi anyway.

I live these days 15 min of lazy walk from Paddington and i prefer the express over a car due to the fact that it's much quicker.

There is the connect which is about 60-70% of the rate of the Express but it tends not to run late at night, and every time there are any works done on the line it takes a back seat to the express.

The problem with the Piccadilly line is that it takes ages, it doesn't run late (service stops around 11pm and doesn't renew till about 5.30ish iirc) and it's the most delayed line of the tube system, especially the parts towards Heathrow. So many people don't take it, most people that do are young people that take it during the middle of the day since it's also when most of the low cost airliners operate.

I think that most people in London at this point are just used to paying the premium of living in London even tho at this point i don't really see a point for that. The salaries are double at least than pretty much anywhere else in the UK, but the cost of living is also at least as high.

Re: Gotham Air: Manhattan to JFK in 6 minutes for $99

#85

Post by soneil »

lmm wrote: post #59
dragonwriter wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Seems like blatant false advertising to have "$99" in big text and nothing but an asterisk to indicate that this is a rate you're allowed to have exactly once ever. All kinds of services advertise one-time introductory rates that way.

Not where I live they don't. Is this a US thing?

I'm in Europe, and every single ISP in my area advertises like this. Every single price on their website is the new-customer 3-month promo rate.

Re: Gotham Air: Manhattan to JFK in 6 minutes for $99

#86

Post by joshvm »

dogma1138 wrote: post #62

For 99$ this is something that doesn't even require you to be some hedge fund brat to use. Not sure what the current cab prices are these days, but i remember paying about i think 80$ for a cab from JFK to central Manhattan. You can get it a bit cheaper if you book a car service instead of grabbing a cab from the airport but it's still not sums that would break anyone's pocket. A taxi from central London to Heathrow…

Tube costs under a fiver (~hour). National express costs around a tenner (~half hour). If you take a non-booked taxi from an airport and it's not an emergency then you're a fool or rich, frankly.

$500+ a week (double that for the return) is a phenomenal amount of money to spend on commuting. If you value your time at $50 an hour and someone else is paying, then sure it may be worth it, but this won't scale simply because its impractically expensive for most people.

But I agree, $99 for a helicopter ride over New York is probably a lot cheaper than the experience companies.

Re: Gotham Air: Manhattan to JFK in 6 minutes for $99

#87

Post by dogma1138 »

mason55 wrote: post #81
ghaff wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OT but I've never really understood the Heathrow Express economics--and I've asked Londoners and they've never been able to give a good explanation either. I take the Piccadilly line in and I've never understood the justification for taking the Express. Maybe if I were staying right around Paddington but not if I'm going to have to take the tube or a taxi anyway.

I only go to London on business travel so price isn't as big of a deal but I take the Heathrow Express for time purposes. In morning traffic after the red eye from NYC it's much faster than either a cab or the tube.

OT but check the flights from NYC to City Airport they are much better than anything you can get from/to Heathrow unless you are flying with mile high club ;)

Re: Gotham Air: Manhattan to JFK in 6 minutes for $99

#88

Post by fnordfnordfnord »

larrys wrote: post #73
Animats wrote: post #7

Footnote on ad: "Promotion rate flights are for first time flyers only and limted to a single use. Other terms and conditions may apply." HeliNY, for which they are a reseller, charges $925 for that trip as a charter. Aircraft capacity is 5 (maybe 6). So the regular price, assuming they make you wait for a full helicopter, is probably about $200.

"Aircraft capacity is 5 (maybe 6)." Another issue is if they are flying to JFK the idea is you are taking a flight obviously out of JFK. So given that helis are small and weight sensitive I wonder if the app collects that info and/or what the baggage restrictions are.

The pictured helicopter looks like a 407, useful load ~2200 lbs. http://bellhelicopter.com/en_US/Commercial/Bell407GX/1296721...

Re: Gotham Air: Manhattan to JFK in 6 minutes for $99

#89

Post by chc »

mikeash wrote: post #65
dragonwriter wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Seems like blatant false advertising to have "$99" in big text and nothing but an asterisk to indicate that this is a rate you're allowed to have exactly once ever. All kinds of services advertise one-time introductory rates that way.

Got an example? I've seen plenty where the introductory rate is bigger, but the fact that it's an introductory rate is still made adequately clear, as is the true price. I could be misremembering or oblivious, though. I'd happily call others blatant false advertising as well if so.

It's really hard to find the non-introductory rate for a cable company in the US (any I've seen, at least).

Re: Gotham Air: Manhattan to JFK in 6 minutes for $99

#90

Post by dogma1138 »

joshvm wrote: post #86
dogma1138 wrote: post #62

For 99$ this is something that doesn't even require you to be some hedge fund brat to use. Not sure what the current cab prices are these days, but i remember paying about i think 80$ for a cab from JFK to central Manhattan. You can get it a bit cheaper if you book a car service instead of grabbing a cab from the airport but it's still not sums that would break anyone's pocket. A taxi from central London to Heathrow…

Tube costs under a fiver (~hour). National express costs around a tenner (~half hour). If you take a non-booked taxi from an airport and it's not an emergency then you're a fool or rich, frankly. $500+ a week (double that for the return) is a phenomenal amount of money to spend on commuting. If you value your time at $50 an hour and someone else is paying, then sure it may be worth it, but this won't scale simply bec…

Well i look at it from a point of view that people who'll use this service will either be people who can expense it as a business expense (some one else pays) or people who cam to NY as tourist which means they've already dumped couple of 1000's of dollars at least on their experience.

If i would go to NY for fun i would consider this as part of the tour, if i go there on business as i usually do it would be quite hard for me to expense it not because of the price but because i would have to put a helicopter ride on the expense report which might raise more than a few eyebrows at work...

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