New York: Fly on US Helicopter for cheap this fall

by Grant Martin on

If you’ve been itching to get onto one of those nifty US Helicopter shuttles between Manhattan and the airport, you’re in luck: fall fares are on sale and they’re putting prices dangerously close to affordable.

From the usual $120-150 range that the tickets normally reside in, US Helicopter is running a special where you can get a one way ticket between Newark or JFK into Manhattan for only $100. Sure the taxi from JFK is only $40 and the PATH NJ Transit train from Jersey is much less, but those connections can take take over an hour and hey, if you’re late for a meeting you have to get into the city.

I am nearly tempted to jump on a US Helicopter flight this afternoon from Newark into the city — but for now am holding onto my pocketbook. Maybe once I land in Jersey and get my drinking pants on I’ll change my mind.

Hermès Heir Gets Crotchety on Flight

by Mike Barish on

According to the NY Times, an heir to the Hermès fashion fortune got a little too touchy feely on a recent Air France Flight. It’s an odd episode that involves drinking, crotch grabbing and excessive restraints.

Mathias Guerrand-Hermès sidled up to a young mademoiselle in first class. She was a bit put off by this and woke her husband, who was – not so shockingly – similarly unamused by Mr. Guerrand-Hermès’ advances.

Guerrand-Hermès refused to listen to a flight attendant’s request to return to his seat so she summoned the captain. And here’s where things go from uncomfortable to erotic. When approached by the captain, Guerrand-Hermès decided his best mode of defense was the ol’ crotch grab. Thankfully, the captain was able to withstand this awkward maneuver and Guerrand-Hermès was eventually subdued in his seat. By three (male) flight attendants. And handcuffs. And shackles. And by being tied down.

Guerrand-Hermès claims that he mixed Propofan (a prescription drug similar to aspirin) with “quite a bit of alcohol.” I’m no doctor, but that sounds like a bad idea. But since the label didn’t say, “Side effects include lewd advances on married women and homoerotic attack strikes,” can you really blame him for the mix-up?

One can only hope that this bad publicity doesn’t hurt his career as a socialite and polo player.

Other Travel Troublemakers

How does your presidential candidate get around?

by Grant Martin on

With all of the cavorting around the country on the campaign trail, John McCain and Barack Obama need some pretty quick, reliable transportation — after all, you can’t get from Nevada to Ohio to Florida in two days on the bus version of the Straight Talk Express.

To that end, each candidate has chosen and retrofitted an aircraft of their own for campaign purposes, Obama with a larger, 757-28A and McCain with a smaller (though still large) 737-4B7. I suppose it would be unamerican to fly in an Airbus, wouldn’t it.

So how is riding around in one of these birds? Have they been retrofitted with hot tubs, massaging chairs and laser beams? Gadling went through and took a look at the aircraft to see just what it’s like in and around the Obama and McCain aircraft and compiled the gallery below.

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You can see that both aircraft are outfitted with standard coach seats in the back for the flock of media that follow the candidates around the globe. Both have 3 x 3 leather seats, although McCain’s seats all have TVs in the seatbacks. I wonder what they play?

Another neat thing is that Obama’s overhead bins and interior are plastered with photos — presumably from the campaign trail. It’s an interesting way to remember the voters that Obama met along the way.

Take a look at the rest of the photos and tell us what you think.

OpenSkies launches NYC – Amsterdam route today — extends fare sale

by Grant Martin on

Today is the first day that OpenSkies‘ new route between JFK and Amsterdam. As of 4PM this afternoon, the inaugural flight from Amsterdam should have landed, and the return flight departs in just a few hours.

In light of their new route (and perhaps a little bit because of the economy), the airline has also announced that they’re extending their fare sale for Prem + seats to an additional 1,000 customers.

It’s probably a smart move on their part. With the economy in the toilet I have very little doubt that demand for premium air service across the pond has gone south as well. By extending their fare sale, they now can get a little more face time on their product and cajole a few wafflers to purchase a ticket.

Anyway, if you’re still curious about the product that OpenSkies has tailored, you can check out Gadling’s review of the airline here, and even enter to win a few premium tickets on the airline. We’re drawing a winner this friday (two days away) Good luck!

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Cut Fuel Surcharges

by Josh Lew on

With prices at the pump down so much over the past few weeks, people are starting to wonder why the savings have not been passed on to airline passengers. Well, British Airways finally responded to the halving of crude prices by dropping their fuel surcharge £10 to £68 on domestic flights and £109 to £96 on overseas routes. Virgin Atlantic will also institute similar price cuts. The cuts come on the heels of a price fixing controversy involving BA and VA execs. The two airlines were fined over £120 million after admitting to fixing prices on fuel surcharges.

Gadling’s favorite airline CEO (because he’s always saying something outrageous), Michael O’Leary, tried to irk BA last week by criticizing them for not dropping their fuel surcharge after they dropped a similar charge for freight. “BA is using these high and unjustified fuel surcharges as a scam to rip off its passengers.” Surely, O’Leary’s comments didn’t cause BA to drop the surcharges, but with the price fixing scandal still in the rear-view mirror, England’s big two had to do something to get back on the good side of their customers.

[Via Sky News]