all-business or all-first class flights New York to Miami
 

A friend of mine told me that there are all-business class type flights on corporate type jets between New York and Miami from the smaller airports. Could anyone give me a company name as I am interested in buying tickets.

You can fly Jet Blue which basically has all business class seating from LGA to MIA.

There are a few private Jet operators that offer seats on deadhead flight between cities such as NYC and MIA but they are VERY EXPENSIVE (Think in terms of $3,000 to $8,000 PP each way depending on the size of the aircraft) and how many people are traveling in your group.

Start your research here:

www.wannajet.com

http://www.paramountbusinessjets.com...k_to_miami.php

<b>RoamsAround</b> hilariously typed: <i>You can fly Jet Blue which basically has all business class seating from LGA to MIA.</i>

How many facts are you going make up in a single sentence?

JetBlue does not fly from LGA to MIA -- in fact, JetBlue does not fly from <i>anywhere</i> to Miami -- and their aircraft cannot be considered to have any business class, let alone all business class. They fly Airbus 320s in 3+3 configuration, or the narrow Embraer with 2+2 configuration (though the latter are indeed comfortable). The seat pitch is a couple of inches better than other airlines, but it certainly isn't business class (no complimentary alcohol, no meals, etc).

<i>etBlue does not fly from anywhere to Miami -- and their aircraft cannot be considered to have any business class, let alone all business class</i>

Well, it depends how you define business class. Certainly, JetBlue offers a product that meets or exceeds the comfort of, say, KLM's Europe Select. And while it may not have free booze or free 'food', it does offer live TV and XM radio, which are not offered on any short-haul European business class. If offered the choice between select seating on JetBlue and KLM Europe Select for the same route, I would take JetBlue every single time.

As to the original question, I struggle to think of any scenario where the cost would be worthwhile, compared to just buying a First Class ticket on a scheduled flight, but the two companies noted above would be a good place to start. The only way I can conceive of this being remotely worthwhile would be if you are traveling with a larger group and can charter the entire jet, but even then...

<b>travelgourmet</b>, that's a stretch. The people who think of business class advantages only in terms of seat comfort tend to be those people who hardly ever fly business class.

I've never flown on KLM's Euro-business product. On BA and LH and LX and IB, though, the business class product includes all of the following, none of which have anything to do with seat comfort:

- Separate check-in area, almost always with shorter check-in lines

- Increased baggage allowance and priority baggage service (though the latter is sometimes more in theory than in practice)

- Hot meal on mealtime flights, snacks on all others.

- Free drinks, served in glassware.

- Better service due to higher ratio of FAs to passengers

- Departure lounge available

Does JetBlue offer any of those features, or were you just cherrypicking when discussing the seat comfort? (I'm also assuming that KLM does not guarantee you an adjacent empty seat. One LH/LX and maybe others, you do get that guarantee on their mainline flights.)

Rizzuto, we may have to agree to disagree, but rest assured that I fly business class plenty. I even pay for long-haul business class out of pocket. I've flown short-haul business class on SAS, BA, LH, LX, and AF. I fly domestic first class in the US, too (granted, via upgrades). I still think it is all about seat comfort.

I mean, free drinks and a meal that you hope is edible? I don't see the value proposition here. The incremental value of the meal is very, very low to me, and the carriers you mention offer free drinks in the back, too. Sure, BA may give you some Monopole in front, but since when is a couple of glasses of $10 champagne compelling value, even if it is served in 'real glassware'?

The lounges might be the one selling point, at least for BA and LX, but LH? The LH biz lounges, frankly, stink. Besides, elite status takes care of that and the check-in issue.

Here is how I look at it. I'm going to noma in a couple of weeks. This was named best restaurant in the world in the San Pellegrino poll. I am 100% certain that the food and service will greatly exceed, by several orders of magnitude, anything offered in any European short-haul business class. The cost of this meal is around DKK 1,000, and the experience will last upwards of 3 hours.

To me, that means the upper limit of what I would pay for better food and service would be DKK 333/hour. Given the food and service are almost certain to be markedly inferior, I'd put the actual value offered by short-haul business class (exclusive of the seat) at maybe DKK 50/hour. And I'm possibly being generous.

As for JetBlue specifically. No, they don't offer lounges and they don't offer priority check-in or baggage. But their standards of service are very high. They offer unlimited snacks and non-alcoholic beverages, with frequent trips up and down the aisle. The cabins are clean, their IFE is among the best in the biz, the seating is comfortable and, in the select seats, they offer far more legroom than any of the major European business class cabins. You have to hope for an empty seat next to you, but that is no different from KLM. And their baggage allowance is only 7 kg less than that offered for LH biz.

Actually I was thinking about concept like the now bankrupt "Silverjet"

Wanderlust, have you ever looked at flyertalk.com? I think you might find more information there. I can't even begin to tell you which forum might have an answer on that website, because I usually just 'hang around' the United forums. But take a look at flyertalk. It's a very active site for flyers of all types.

Thanks Roamsaround - I did check out WannaJet but think that the chances are minimal to find a seat for around $2000 as there are no dates posted, but the concept is good. Welcome any other ideas. Was planning to spend around $2000 for a seat - anyway will keep looking.

rizzuto - you are right - I meant to type LGA to Fort Lauderdale so I'll say "mea culpa".

<I>wanderlust37 on Jan 24, 11 at 6:07pm
Actually I was thinking about concept like the now bankrupt "Silverjet"</I>

There are no scheduled, all-business carriers operating in the US. Your only options are to buy a normal first class ticket, charter the whole plane, or use a service like those noted above - where you would basically be filling an empty seat on someone else's charter. Since you will be beholden to someone else's time schedule in the case of joining someone else's charter, I struggle to think why this would be preferable to simply buying a first class ticket.

There had been airlines that tried, but all of them had failed. A notable one was MGM Grand Air tried all business JFK-LAX in the late-80's to mid-90's. And then Midwest Express also had 2-2 "Signature Service" seating on its DC-9 (similar to other airlines' domestic FC) throughout its small network out of MKE; but that model failed, and they added regular "saver service" aircraft on some routes, and then converted to traditional 2-class service. Eventually it was sold to AirTran.

Oh, and there was Legend, which put 56 seats on its DC-9 to get around the Wright Amendment out of DAL in the early 2000's.

rkkwan - thanks to you and all for the info about the options and bankrupcies.... I think that Signature Service was what I had seen in the past. wonder why they all fail ....

<i>wonder why they all fail ....</i>

They all fail because:

1) There isn't enough of a market for all-business class travel, except for a few routes. None of those routes, save (maybe) LAX/SFO-NYC, are in the US. Heck, I would guess that most legacy carriers have to give away up to 50% of their first class inventory, via upgrades.

2) What market there is values frequency, and a niche carrier can't deliver that.

3) First class options exist on legacy carriers, and they can leverage their far superior networks and frequencies to dominate the market.

4) None of the specialized carriers have ever delivered a product that is differentiated enough to justify choosing their service over traditional first or business class cabins on other carriers. Realistically, it is hard to imagine a suite of benefits that would be economical to offer that would also drive above-normal loads or yields.

<i> wonder why they all fail ....

</i>

because 99% of the traveling public refuses to spend that kind of money for a 2-3 hour flights.....

Australia had an all business class airline... went out of business pretty quickly

Domestic business class is rarely worth spending extra unless you're going coast to coast. LGA to MIA? Very few amenities to enjoy in a short flight and you'll spend about $200 per extra inch of seat pitch.