Does anyone here use JetSmarter? | FerrariChat

Does anyone here use JetSmarter?

Discussion in 'Aviation Chat' started by ItalianOne, Oct 4, 2016.

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  1. ItalianOne

    ItalianOne Formula Junior
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    May 21, 2008
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    Mich
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    Kevin R
    Does anyone use Jetsmarter here for open leg jet flights? what's your experience and what did you pay for your membership? They did offer me a buy one membership get one free last week. Its looks like most of their flights are NY, Florida and Chicago. I would consider them if they did have more Detroit flight in and out to NY.. Thoughts?
     
  2. lear60man

    lear60man Formula 3

    May 29, 2004
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    Los Angeles
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    Christian
    Professional Large Cabin Jet Charter Caption here. They are a broker selling dead heads when they pop up from other charter companies. If it makes sense to have the plane re position to Detroit to pick you up, they will do it, take a cut and sell you the empty leg. The plane most likely, has already paid for that leg by the original customer.

    Scenario: I book a drop off from LA to Teterboro. The charter company charges me $70k because you always pay to get the plane back to its home base. Once the plane drops me off, they try to sell the empty leg back to LA...or something along the way back to the aircraft's home base. If you are in Detroit and going to San Diego, they might sell you the flight for $25k. That is total profit for the original charter operator.

    The original charter company will send out 'blasts' to other brokers in the hopes that a broker will pick up the empty legs. A company like Jetsmarter just finds the open legs and sells them to its customers.

    Its kind of a one stop shopping for one ways. I often wonder how they fill the flights when nobody is going between their clients intended destinations. Thats what you need ot be leery of when you plunk down money for a membership.

    Netjets is more expensive, but has its own network of aircraft. They guarantee you an aircraft or larger.
     
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  3. Townshend

    Townshend F1 Veteran
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    Jul 20, 2005
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    #3 Townshend, Oct 17, 2016
    Last edited: Oct 17, 2016
    I've been a Jetsmarter member since February. Supposedly there have been 189 Jet Deals to/from New York area and Detroit area which seems rather higher than I'd believe, but perhaps.

    Christian is mostly correct, the only clarification being they have relationships with XOJet, Delta Private Jet, Jet Linx, and a few other smaller players domestically as well. The empty legs you see will only be from those operators.

    The way it works is you will see small to heavy jets (most common are Citation X, CJ2, and CJ3s). Planes will have snacks/drinks and usually wifi on board. As a member you get 2-5 seats (which could be the entire plane) depending on the plane. Citation X's for example you get 3 seats including yourself at no additional cost. Jet Deals will appear same day to two days in advance, most commonly the day prior. You can then book the Jet Deal, however, confirmation of the flight does not occur until 5 hours prior to departure. Even then I have heard stories (though this hasn't happened to me) of the flight cancelling right up to departure due to mechanical issues or otherwise. What to note there is even when you book you aren't confirmed, it is supposed to be when you get the confirmation 5 hours before departure that you're good to go. The reason is as Christian stated XOJet is going to want to sell off that empty leg if they can as it would be far more profit than whatever deal Jetsmarter has with them.

    Happy to answer any further questions you may have!
     
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  4. Jason Crandall

    Jason Crandall F1 Veteran

    Mar 25, 2004
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    How do you travel like that? Sounds like a horrible deal.

    I looked at a bunch of JetSmarter flights on their website. Seemed to have a ton of short flights like Miami and Orlando. Who needs to go through all this to go from Miami to Orlando? I'm guessing you would NEVER find a long range flight like Miami to Aspen.
     
  5. Townshend

    Townshend F1 Veteran
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    Sorry that is specifically for the Jet Deals (aka empty legs).

    The Jet Shuttles which are run between a variety of cities (US, Europe, and Middle East) are set days and times and never change or cancel which is a bulk of what I utilize.
     
  6. Townshend

    Townshend F1 Veteran
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    Actually they're launching a seasonal shuttle to and from FLL and ASE that will run weekly.

    From FLL there are the following shuttles currently: Chicago, Atlanta, NYC, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Bahamas (seasonal)
     
  7. Townshend

    Townshend F1 Veteran
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    Jul 20, 2005
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    Sadly, the party has come to a conclusion. Jetsmarter was since acquired by the holding company for XOjet, Vista. Basically it's just an app now for XO, they don't even use the Jetsmarter branding anymore. Judge just approved a settlement in a class action lawsuit last week. Details are supposed to be sent to participants in October.

    Overall was an amazing experience. Over 3 years I spent $27k and flew about 75 flights. Some by myself, some with a couple of people, some with the cap of 12 people. Mostly to/from NYC and LA (I would go and grab lunch for a couple of hours and come home), although I did also take the G4 to London from the states a few times as well among other domestic destinations. It was great, I flew so frequently, especially on the NYC route, that the flight attendant would knew my favorite scotch (Macallan 18) and would go to the store to get if they didn't have it. During the winters the support staff kept my car keys and would have the car wiped off from snow and warmed up for my arrival. Clearing customs in London was a breeze; agent would board and say hello and that would be it. Had helicopter rides 100+ times it became second nature like taking the subway. I'll miss it :(
     
  8. SVCalifornia

    SVCalifornia Formula 3
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    Mar 28, 2011
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    Or what does chapter 2 look like??

    SV


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
     
  9. ChipG

    ChipG Formula 3

    May 26, 2011
    1,722
    Santa Monica, CA
    I have always been leary about pre-paying for a jet card through a broker, if they go bankrupt (and alot do) your out.
     
  10. donv

    donv Two Time F1 World Champ
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    This is exactly why it wasn't financially sustainable. Obvious to anyone who looked closely at it. The real surprise is that they went on as long as they did.

    $27k for 75 flights? So less than $500/flight? They were losing even more money than I thought!
     
  11. ttforcefed

    ttforcefed F1 World Champ
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    Aug 22, 2002
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    yeh wally you killed jetsmarter and i was the one who told you about them! so i killed jetsmarter!?!?!!?
     
  12. Natkingcolebasket69

    Natkingcolebasket69 F1 World Champ

    Really great learning about the business from u guys!


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  13. donv

    donv Two Time F1 World Champ
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    You each did your part, I'm sure.

    Get while the getting is good, I always say... if someone wants to subsidize my flying, sure-- but it probably won't last forever.
     
  14. 19633500GT

    19633500GT F1 World Champ
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    my co-founders good friend works for Sentient. They aren't cheap, but along the lines.
     
  15. jcurry

    jcurry Two Time F1 World Champ
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    what was this in regards to?
     
  16. Townshend

    Townshend F1 Veteran
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    It's just a front end for XO. Nothing nefarious and makes business sense. You can charter a plane through the app and it will allow you to share the charter. For example if you charter a G4 from NYC to Miami for $25k you can sell back the seats for credit.
     
  17. Townshend

    Townshend F1 Veteran
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    Misleading claims/fraud. A majority of Jetsmarter's sales pitch was pay $xx a year and fly as much as you want on our scheduled flights!

    Well, in June 2018 they got rid of those scheduled flights. At the worst case scenario you had members who spent $100k and expected to fly back and forth between NYC and LA every other week. Instead they were offered the chance to charter a plane through an app.
     
  18. Townshend

    Townshend F1 Veteran
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    lolol. Know any programs where I can grab a LaFerrari Aperta for a few hundred bucks a month as well? ;-)
     
  19. lear60man

    lear60man Formula 3

    May 29, 2004
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    Los Angeles
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    Christian
    The Jetsmarter scheduled route model has been tried and failed before. For those of us who have been in the business a while, it was only a waiting game until the new money stopped flowing in. I never did any Jetsmarter flights but at least the flight crews I know landed on their feet pronto.
     
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  20. sigar

    sigar F1 Rookie
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    Apr 30, 2005
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    NorCal
    Yeah, if you’re going to lose a job in aviation, now is not a bad time.


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