Over the past couple of months, BLADE has made helicopter rides between Manhattan and the three NYC-area airports more affordable than ever before. BLADE is offering continuous helicopter rides to New York LaGuardia, New York JFK, and Newark Airport, from 7AM until 7PM on weekdays, and 3PM to 7PM on Sundays.
The cost is $195 one-way. While there are obviously cheaper ways to get between Manhattan and airports, this isn’t half bad if you’re located near one of the heliports, given that the helicopter ride takes just five minutes.
BLADE charges a consistent $195 one-way for these rides, and they’ve said that in the future they hope to make it even cheaper.
Well, at the moment BLADE has a promotion code where you can save $75 on your first flight with them. Just use promotion code AIRSOCIAL at the time you book.
To take advantage of this just download the BLADE app, and make sure you set up an account (this won’t work without an account, since they want to make sure you’re a first time user).
BLADE’s app isn’t especially good, in my opinion, and to see these continuous flights you have to scroll down on the main page to the section that has “Continuous Flights Between NYC And Area Airports” listed. If you just search via the main calendar these won’t show up.
Then select your preferred airport.
Then select the exact flight you want.
Then on the next page you’ll see the total of $195. At the bottom you’ll see the “Enter Code” field, which is where you can enter AIRSOCIAL and knock the price down to $120 one-way.
I’m not sure how long this promotion code will be valid — BLADE is publicly sharing it on Twitter, though they aren’t sharing any specific terms regarding it. For now it seems to work on all airport journeys, though that may not always be the case.
A couple of important things to note regarding BLADE:
- BLADE limits you to a 25 pound carry-on, so this is only useful if traveling light
- Helicopters are more impacted by weather than cars, so if you don’t think the weather will be great, this could be risky
- Personally helicopters scare me (I recognize it’s a mostly irrational fear — I also have a fear of chairlifts, spiders, social interactions, and The Family Chantel on 90 Day Fiance), and recently a helicopter often contracted by BLADE had an “emergency landing” (that’s what BLADE wants to call it), which doesn’t make me feel any better
Anyone plan to take advantage of this promo to give BLADE a try?
(Tip of the hat to God Save The Points)
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/05/travel/uber-helicopter-nyc-jfk.html
Seems we know why that $195 price came about
I'd personally rather fly 1) something with two wings and 2) with companies that know how to land them.
Thanks Ben. Just booked one on Jun/2nd for $120:)
“90 day fiancé” is highly underrated- Colt and Larissa are my favorite couple!
New season starting next month!!
@ V -- Can't wait!!!!
Endre - Perhaps they're less materialistic than you? I could easily (and comfortably) travel for a week or so with a 25lb bag. In fact, I wouldn't even consider taking more than that if I was going somewhere for a weekend etc.
These BLADE Promo's are all wet....
How can someone travel with 20 lb maximum luggage? My suitcase is 35 lb +/- 3 lb every week. Plus carry on with computer, and personal travel items. I was flying with this setup without any problems week after week for about a year when Us Helicopter connected me to my Delta flight.
Be aware. Due to “bad” weather helicopter doesn't fly. Many times i had to scramble to get a car because last...
How can someone travel with 20 lb maximum luggage? My suitcase is 35 lb +/- 3 lb every week. Plus carry on with computer, and personal travel items. I was flying with this setup without any problems week after week for about a year when Us Helicopter connected me to my Delta flight.
Be aware. Due to “bad” weather helicopter doesn't fly. Many times i had to scramble to get a car because last second they cancelled flight due to weather. When it flew, it was a joy to be at airport in 5-10 minutes and no TSA, just walk right into a concourse from tarmac.
The weight limit for NYC airports is 25 pounds - not the usual 20 pounds
WARNING!!!!!!!!
THIS CAN BE A QUICK CASH GRAB SCHEME.
They just lost one in Hudson. And I don't believe they are just a tech company and have no stake. They could pass on the money to the operator right away, or they are a shadow entity. Nothing points to Blade being independent from the operators.
I SMELL BIG BIG CASH PROBLEM.
READERS BEWARE!!!!
P.S. Not trying to discredit Blade. But this should be addressed to stop consumer concern.
When you land in a river, that is not an "emergency landing" - that is always a crash, notwithstanding the adage that "any landing you walk away from is a good landing."
Haven't we seen this movie play out 4 times in the last decade with other helicopter operators who tried? Launch single route between Manhattan and JFK, find that crews are underutilized / lower revenue than expected, so expand routes with lower frequency to other airports (LGA, EWR), then cut prices to attract demand, then fold because costs out of control. Rinse, repeat.
So, you’re paying a sizable premium for the convenience and speed of a helicopter ride, but they have a 39 minute window in which you may arrive? That doesn’t really impress.
I remember a similar deal from US Helicopter back in 2007 - where the price wasn't much more than a black car ride to EWR
Of course I see this right after I book...
Lucky do you have a link to where Blade called it an emergency landing? I find that hilarious and want to share it with others.
@ Brendan -- A BLADE spokesperson reached out to me and had quite a few corrections to my story, including this:
"Yesterday, a helicopter made a safe emergency landing on floats in the Hudson River near the heliport. There were no passengers on board. The pilot was not injured and immediately exited the aircraft."
@Lucky Totally off topic, but since you are a fan of new airlines, check out FlyBosnia which has just announced scheduled service from Sarajevo. They've chose Kuwait as their first destination. Because , why not?!