Today was one of those days that I think I will remember for as long as I live. First, I owe thanks to several enthusiastic fellow DDFers, especially westman812, who prompted this trip, gave me assistance along the way, and even paid for part of my ground transportation. I will acknowledge the others in the TR thread. I also need to thank Mrs. zow, who told me several times that I am crazy but still let me go and check off some bucket list items and meet some new friends along the way.
The 14,000-foot summary (because that was our cruising altitude from BOS to HPN):
I woke up at 5:15 this morning, went to the J to work out, took my Metamucil, ate my egg, as is typical for me many mornings. I then rode the T in to see my Mom, whom I was accompanying to a routine doctor visit. The visit was routine, and B'H, she is doing well, until I got a personal message from xxx about this BOS-HPN JetSmarter flight. Seemed that he and AJK were going to fly up to BOS early afternoon with Avios, maybe grab some Milk Street, and then take the JetSmarter back to HPN. The kicker was that they would then take a helicopter (included with the private jet) into 30th street Manhattan.
It was really noteworthy that westman812 reached out to me about this opportunity, especially considering that before today we had never exchanged any messages, and until tonight, had never met. I was thus really excited by the possibility of joining him and AJK on the flight. At a minimum, if I couldn't fly, at least I could join them at Milk Street. Alas, by the time I was able to engage (my mom doesn't walk so fast now, as she broke her hip two months ago), they had aborted their plan, mostly because they were worried that weather might delay their flight up to Boston so much that they would miss the PJ.
This was my moment of truth. I could have called the jam off for myself, too, and that would have been justifiable. After all, I had meetings scheduled, commitments to my wife for home stuff, and back logged projects. Plus, I knew that flying solo, even a PJ and heli, would be more fun with others. I'm not sure what compelled me to proceed. Probably has something to do with the fact that at work I am going to need to take on some new responsibility next week, which will likely (and, admittedly, appropriately) keep me off the DDF so much. I saw today as something of a "last hurrah," now-or-never moment. (I hope I'm wrong about that, by the way!)
Around 10:30, I pulled the trigger and "purchased" my JetSmarter. Air-quotes because it was free. I must have previously used the sign-up promo code and have some credit in my account. They did ask for a credit card, so I used an old, almost empty VGC. And they never charged anything.
After maybe 30 minutes, I exchanged some in-app messages with JetSmarter, and before you can say, "Only on DDF," I had my confirmed itinerary, and a confirmation that they would get me a heli from HPN to 30th street, weather permitting, with a departure planned from BOS at 2:45pm.
My itinerary:
I then proceeded to work on my return itinerary. The obvious go-to is AA LGA-BOS, either with 7,500 Avios or 10,000 (IIRC) AA. Nothing was showing up as available this evening, though. My next thought was Amtrak, but I can't remember what points transfer to Amtrak. I'm pretty sure as of last month one can no longer transfer UR to Amtrak. And I couldn't easily find the answer. Fortunately, my guardian angel, westman812, once again stepped in and told me that there was availability on UA NWR-BOS at 8:45 pm. Great, I thought, I can transfer UR to UA in my sleep.
I went to book the UA flight for 10,000 UA and I saw that it was not just 10,000UA but also $80+ due to "close-in" fees. I had heard about these fees in the past but had never had occasion to encounter them. Kind of kills that deal for me. But once again westman812 came to the rescue and told me that Aeroplan has no close-in fees, though the price is 12,500 miles. I liked that much better. But I don't have Aeroplan miles, and in fact I didn't think I even had an aeroplan account. Once again, sensei told me that i could transfer MR to Aeroplan instantly.
I have transferred MR to other partners in the past, such as Avios, so I was comfortable that this would work out. Not so fast, kimosabe. I was able to register for an Aeroplan account no problem. But I couldn't get my Amex MR to link it properly. It kept asking me to change my address to something only alphanumeric, even though it already was.
By now, I had gotten to my office, had a few meetings, and postponed my late afternoon meetings. It was nearly 1:00 pm, and I knew I had to leave promptly if I wanted to be able to take public transit to the airport. I still hadn't made my return travel plans, but I figured I would be able to link MR to Aeroplan when I met up with fellow DDFers at the DO. Plus I knew if all else failed I could always ride the Fun Wa or MegaBus back tonight (I know, I know: "at Dan's Deals we don't do buses."). So off I went to Logan!
I had taken the MBTA bus from my mom's to my office, and I knew I would be hopping on the T in less than 2 hours, so all I had to pay to get to the airport was the $0.50 transfer fee. I rode the Green Line to the Orange Line to the Blue Line (sorry I didn't remember to get a picture of the latter).
Green Line Train:
Orange Line Train:
Elvis sighting at Downtown Crossing:
Once at Airport, I walked about 10 minutes to the Signature Flight Support terminal. There, I checked in, took a pic of the complimentary coffee, met the Captain and my one fellow passenger, and then proceeded to board.
Boarding is very easy. The captain, who works for Delta Private Jets, asked to see my ID, shook my hand, made some small talk, and then we put our stuff through the X-ray and walked through the metal detector. From there he walked me and my fellow pax, a JetSmarter member, to the plane.
The terminal and waiting area:
My ride to HPN:
The Captain apologized in advance that the flight was going to be bumpy. Not gonna lie: I was pretty nervous. I am a much calmer flyer now than maybe 20 years ago, but I do get pretty tense and start saying tehillim when the flight is like a roller coaster. Fortunately, except for our landing, it wasn't really wicked bad turbulence.
They had Fiji waters available, and I had one. They normally have cider available but apparently the ground crew dropped the ball. The copilot (whose name was Roger, even though the pilot's name was not Captain Over) apologized that they didn't have any ice. They apologized that they didn't have any soda. They didn't say anything about alcohol. Here is where it would have been helpful to have westman812 or another veteran with me. I was kind of nervous and didn't want to seem like a schnorrer (even though I was taking free PJ and heli from them), so I didn't ask. I also understand now that if I had wanted, I could have gotten up and helped myself. Live and learn.
Interior views of the Cessna Citation:
Out the window:
The flight itself was fun. I was struck by how quickly we were airborne. We accelerated for maybe a second or two, and then we pulled up and away. A little bumpy on the way up, but nowhere near the worst I have experienced. Once over the clouds, we were smooth sailing.
The landing in HPN was a little scary. Pretty bumpy. I the sensation is magnified by being able to see out the front of the pilots' window. After we landed I heard Roger say something to my fellow pax, who was an entrepreneur but also had flown similar planes, about wind shear. Nice concept to have in mind as I contemplated the next leg of my journey, the helicopter to Manhattan.
The private jet service company had a shuttle driver to take me and the other pax from the plane into the terminal and then to take me back to my heli. Turns out that this driver had previously shuttled Justin Bieber and the Bieb invited him to cut a track with him. Apparently there is a YouTube video with over a million hits, and this guy recently signed his own record contract as a result of it. (My fellow pax recognized him and called him out. I would never have known and he certainly wasn't bragging. ). I wanted to take his picture for you all but he said he couldn't do it as he was in uniform (company policy) but he gave me one of his demo albums!
My private driver:
I hadn't gotten any written confirmation of the heli, so I was a little bit nervous, wondering if I would need to find my own ground transport to NYC from HPN. I contacted JetSmarter, and they told me the heli should be there and they apologized that I had to wait! After not more than 5 minutes my driver said the heli was here and he drove me out.
In my excitement and nervousness, I didn't remember to snap a photo of the heli. I did get one later in NYC, but it's mostly obscured by the fence through which I was peering.
Poor pic of the heli:
I met my heli pilot. Her name was Kim. I think she was Aussie. She warned me that the flight would be a little bumpy until we got to the (Hudson) River but then it should be smooth. I would say the heli ride was never really awful bumpy. For certain, I had the sense that we were like a little bug being buffered by the wind, but it wasn't like a roller coaster. The views from the heli were incredible:
And here is a video of the landing:
(Author note: video seems not to be loading. I will try again. )
The ride from HPN to 30th Street was probably about 25 minutes. After landing, I didn't really know where to go. But I knew that CXXC and others were planning a DO! I stated walking toward midtown and then, after getting instructions, circled back to the Javits Center, and found the subway station for the #7 train. I probably could have gotten to midtown faster by walking (I was actually already at 30th and 9th avenue when i turned back!) but live and learn. Turns out the subway had a mechanical issue and was delayed. But no worries, as I had to daven mincha.
Eventually, at 5:15, I arrived at the appointed place (Schnitzel Express), met up with Incendia and ShwarmaBob, and we were later met by westman812, followed by EJB. I enjoyed my chicken salad with garlic mayo and a diet Sunkist. I think the prices at that place are a little steep, but I guess it's Manhattan. After a while, Incendia and then EJB had to bolt. ShwarmaBob and westman812 very generously and patiently waited as I then figured out my return flight!
By this time, it was after 6pm. I tried and again failed to link my Aeroplan to my MR. But once again, westman812 came through with more info: JetBlue had availability. Now, everyone knows that JetBlue does not have a lucrative points program. Although I knew I had a True Blue account, I didn't think I had any points in it. But again sensei comes through with the guidance that one can transfer MR to B6. Who knew?!
So, with westman812 and ShwarmaBob patiently standing by with encouragement, I proceeded to set up the linkage and transfer. Of course, I didn't have either of my MR Amex cards with me, but fortunately my dear son was home and was able to find the card and read me the CVV and CSC codes, twice actually. After a few more minutes, I completed the transfer of about 16,000 MR to B6, and on logging into B6, I realized that I had already had enough points for the flight. Doh!
No worries. We packed up, and westman812 was kind enough to escort me on the subway to Queens (and pay my fare) where I transferred to the E and then the AirTrain. Once in T5, the security lines were ridonculous. Why on a Thursday evening? The long waiting and borderline inhumane treatment by the staff served as a stark contrast to the VIP treatment I had received in BOS and HPN earlier in the day.
As I write, my B6 flight is about to land in BOS, where I began this journey less than 8 hours ago. In some ways, I feel like I have "gotten this out of my system," and in others, I can't wait for the next travel-deal-adventure. Until next time, thanks for reading and for including me in this special community.
Shabbat shalom.