To get to New York JFK, we flew a BLADE helicopter from the West 30th Street heliport in Midtown Manhattan. At its current price point, BLADE can make a lot of sense when the convenience is factored in.
BLADE Helicopter Review: West 30th Street to JFK
There was a heliport right outside Casa Cipriani that would have been incredibly convenient, but we were looking at $2,000 to charter a helicopter to take us on the five-minute journey to JFK. Sorry, not reasonable. But $195 each to go from the heliport on West 30th Street to JFK was much more reasonable.
It was all so simple. We decided a couple of hours before to book, pulled up the Blade website (the app is even easier), and within minutes were booked to JFK at 2:00 pm for $195 each.
Luggage On BLADE
Was this really the ideal time for a BLADE trip? Probably not because my friend was traveling with two large checked bags. Only a carry-on bag (weighing 25 pounds or less) is permitted onboard. BLADE offers a luggage service in which your bags can be picked up in advance and then will be waiting for you once you arrive at JFK or Newark. We booked too close in advance to take advantage of this so we sent the bags ahead in the hotel car after it dropped us off about 20 minutes before departure at the West 30th Street Heliport.
And of course, we were at the Casa Cipriani in Downtown, which meant a 20-minute drive to reach the Midtown heliport.
BLADE Lounge
BLADE guests can wait for their flight in a lounge prior to departure. It was crowded so pictures are limited, but the lounge offers complimentary drinks and has restroom facilities.
There is no security, but your ID is checked and you are given a colored bracelet to correspond to your flight.
A flight to Newark was just leaving upon our arrival.
Onboard BLADE Helicopter To JFK
Boarding was called at 1:45 pm and we were escorted out to our helicopter. As the first two passengers onboard, my friend and I asked for the “view” seats which are the two seats furthermost in the helicopter. The seating arrangement is 2-2 with the four seats facing each other.
We were instructed to put on headsets, the pilot recited a brief safety briefing, and moments later we were on our way.
The journey took us over the Hudson before we turned east, flying over Brooklyn and then Queens, finally arriving at the JFK General Aviation Terminal beside an Atlas Air 747 and a German government A340.
There are no drinks or snacks onboard…there is neither time nor space. All four seats were booked…our seatmates were a couple of guys also out for a splurge.
BLADE Terminal (JFK General Aviation Terminal) To Other Terminals At Kennedy Airport
Once at JFK, a complimentary shuttle will take you from the private terminal to your airline terminal or you can pay an extra $100 for a private car. We just had the hotel driver meet us, which meant we chilled in the lounge for a bit before the car made it, which contained our bags.
CONCLUSION
This was not my first BLADE journey. I enjoyed an extended ride to Newark a few years back with Zach Honig after ATC delays kept us in the air for nearly 20 minutes. What fun! This ride was very by-the-books, taking only five minutes.
Sure, it was still a lot of fun and a beautiful day for a helicopter ride over Manhattan, but I think this service would have been far more valuable if we had no checked bags and were staying in Midtown. Nevertheless, $195/person is a reasonable value proposition, especially if you are traveling alone (have you checked Uber prices lately?).
I’d absolutely use BLADE again under the right circumstances (like with my son Augustine), though in most cases I think a car is still going to make the most sense.
Great option but I hate helicopters. Not a fan at all. I am a bit puzzled why you took the helicopter if the hotel car had to take your luggage to JFK anyway. Why not ride on the hotel car with your luggage?
Of course that’s a reasonable question—it was quite impractical in that sense, but we just wanted to try it.
The hotel car takes you to Kennedy for free? That’s a nice value add vs the room rate
No, it was extra. The hotel only offers free drop-off within a five-mile radius.
This looks like a lot of fun, but getting to the heliport is a chore. Interested in hearing more about the journey from the JFK heliport to the terminals . . . how much time should one budget for that? I think the best use case for Blade is to/from EWR . . . transport options to/from Newark are fewer, less comfortable, more expensive, and more time consuming.
For me, the best way to get to JFK from midtown will remain the E Train/Air Train. I can walk to a station, it’s a fairly predictable journey, and it drops me right at the terminal.
Agreed that BLADE is more useful for Newark. The journey from the general aviation terminal to T1 where our LH flight departed from was less than five minutes.
Maybe one day, but my goodness, I get pissed having to pay $8 to get off the AirTrain at Jamaica station.
I remember NYA (New York Airways) had helicopter service. It flew a triangle route with continuous service JFK-Grand Central (On top of Pam Am Building)- LGA-JFK. I have taken it many times until a a blade came off on take- off from the Pam Am Building. The helicopter would hold approximately 20 passengers with a flight attendant on board serving drinks in flight. I believe these flights operated from 1976-1979?
I do know that they operated in 1967 to at least 1971 has my dad did not like to drive to Newark airport to pick me up from college. Student standby at that time was five dollars each way. A stop on the Pan Am building was a memorable between Newark and LaGuardia.
Chancellor Scholz’s plane in one of the pictures?
One of them. This was August 2nd. I don’t believe he was in the USA during that time.
Unrelated to Blade, but the photo you snapped of the JFK long term parking lot let’s people in on the biggest secret on JFK. There are two Air Train stations serving long term parking. Nearly everyone gravitates toward the first of the two stations, often parking very far away from it (as can be seen from the photo). If you continue to the far end of the lot, you often can get a spot just a few steps from the second of the two stations. The incremental ride time between the two stations is around 45 seconds.
I looked into this a few months ago with a day long layover in Newark. Interestingly when compared to a sedan service for 1 person it’s reasonably competitive. We were a party of 4, which made it hard to justify other than a splurge.
Also, helicopters in my experience are more prone to weather issues, and our day there was a weather issue.
I noticed you threw in a few Atlas Air 747 pics. One of their routes to Alaska goes over my house regularly. I never really noticed it until the pandemic. At first I thought it might be a LH 747 on a repositioning run (LH doesn’t fly to my home airport) but the livery just wasn’t right (it was pretty high up). So I looked it up, and learned about Atlas.
FlightAware can be your friend. My son and I love it.
Augustine and I love it too.
That is how I figured out the carrier and route!
Nice pictures of NY.
Thanks.
“my friend and I asked for the “view” seats”…
Strange. Every time I’ve ridden in a helicopter, all passengers are weighed and seated accordingly for balance. This includes helo tours in Hawaii and Alaska, as well as my morning “commute” flights in Kwajalein Atoll.
Sounds like a baller trip!!! Do you hide the expenses from Heidi? 🙂
Ha. No, she has full transparency.
Just out of curiosity I looked what a Uber would cost from West 30th St to JFK airport right now. $149 for Uber Black (I only use Uber Black for corporate travel) and it says it will take 1 hour and and 20 minutes for the trip. Thus, if riding alone, Blade makes total sense.
This isn’t an apples to apples comparison because Blade passengers are necessarily closer to JFK than where the 30th Street Heliport is situated, and are traveling there from a place which is necessarily a shorter and cheaper Taxi/Uber/Subway ride to JFK. Of course, if you want an apples to apples comparison you also have to factor in the cost of traveling from home/hotel/work to the Heliport on the West Side Highway and 30th Street, which is close to almost nothing.
I have flown helicopter flight before. It’s fun. However, I do not think it should be habitual because it is significantly less safe than an airline flight. Think about how sad Augustine would be if Dad died in a crash. I have a relative that died in a helicopter crash. I look at my helicopter flights as a fun thing in the past. I do not rule out another helicopter ride in the future but I will try to avoid most of them. I really would avoid tourist helicopter rides in Hawaii because those do crash.
One drawback of Blade is the W. 30th Street location which is only convenient to possibly Hudson Yards. The greatest location, the Pan Am Building (now Met Life), closed after a terrible accident many years ago. Some people were sliced in half by a broken helicopter blade.
Helicopters are interesting. In New Zealand you get to learn a great deal about them as, after all, it’s national bird. When running rivers there in the past we needed to rely on farmers who all own them on the South Island to access different areas of whitewater. My favorite quote from one was, “Yeah, 1000 moving parts, and if one goes bad we are all screwed, mate.” Never had much of a liking for them since. I prefer my risks to be more controlled. With options. Or at least something I am responsible for as a plan b.
Absolutely stunning pics of Manhattan. Worth the price of admission on its own.
Agree. But every time I see pics like this or fly into a mega city I thank my lucky stars that I don’t have to live in such a mess of (in)humanity. Give me small city flyover country.
You have a great blog Matt, and I really hate to be that guy, but I find it a tad irresponsible that you chose to have a hotel car bring suitcases AND took the ride in a helicopter.
I fly all the time and am not opposed to people flying. However in the context of global warming/climate change, I do think it is wise to temper some of our most outlandish excesses.
If you want to take the helicopter go for it. If you want to drive go for it. But, you take both just for the hell of it? Come on man.
and also, the argument that *the emissions would have been undertaken with or without me*, which is true of commercial flying, Blade, etc. definitely can NOT be used in the context of the car taking your suitcases down, since that car would NOT have made the drive without you.
We all need to play a small part in helping protect the environment, and I can’t help but think this is a bit much, and sets a really bad example.
Criticism accepted. Appreciate you taking the time to write.
You have to love how this person measures other people’s climate “excesses” by what they choose to do. Flying is ok, but I wouldn’t do the helicopter, so therefore you are guilty of “excess.” This is a small hypocrisy, but still hypocrisy. Much better not to judge the way other people live and behave, and be concerned with how we ourselves behave.
Totally agree @Mak. One never has to write “I hate to be that guy…” if one doesn’t choose to be the guy who goes on a long and arbitrarily judgy rant. Live and let’s fly for real. Otherwise, take a hike and save the environment cus you know if all of us took one less helicopter ride…
For bros who have $ to burn, this may be an option. But if it’s about getting from downtown to JFK quickly, take the E or 1 to Penn Station, the LIRR to Jamaica and the air train to your terminal. It takes 1.15 at the most, costs around $20 and gives the environment a break. Can you beat this?
Yes, you can. The E train can be stuck with train traffic in front of you for 20 minutes. Longest 20 of your life. If you were arguing for LIRR I’d almost agree with you. At the end of day, blade is like a tricked out car with stereo turned up. Yeah, you get from A to B but it’s a total look at me moment, which is great. It’s a mentality that fuels a subset of people to cities. Helpful article. Thanks
You certainly have a fat wallet. But you certainly are skinny enough not to carry any extra payload. Unlike most of us.
Aside from the cost and environmental impact, a traffic reporter friend of mine was involved in two on-air helicopter crashes in NYC. She didn’t survive the second one. RIP, Jane.
I need tight security for family you also can sent a plane