U.S. Helicopter

Basically a complete sham of an operation.
I enclose my correspondence with the company:
From: Michael
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2008 7:44 AM
To:
Subject: Please forward to management: Flight to Wall Street:12/15
I have placed a call and left a message at your answering service.
I placed an online reservation on ¹¹⁄₁₉ to go from Newark Airport to the Downtown Heliport today, 12/​15, for your 7:00am flight, which I purchased for $ 109.00.
I use helicopter service from time to time, but had never tried your Newark service — coming in on a redeye and having an early meeting downtown, it appeared to be worth a try.
I got to your gate 30 minutes in advance to find no one there. I was told by on site personnel (Continental) that someone usually arrives by this time. I called your 800 number, and spoke to Monica. I asked told her that I was on the 7:00am flight and asked if everything was on time. She put me on hold, and told me that everything was on time, and I should expect someone shortly.
Around 7:10am, Eric Rodriguez showed up and after booting up his computers told asked me if I had been contacted about this flight, as it had now been cancelled for 2 months now. I told him that no one had contacted me, and I had made a reservation less than a month ago.
After explaining my disbelief at this, he told me, «You never heard of a flight being canceled before? Well this flight was cancelled.» In all, he was rude and unsympathetic. He told me that he could get me a cab, but it would take 45 minutes to an hour to arrive. He then said «So do you want a refund or not?»
Quite honestly, I expected a lot more of a company associated with Continental Airlines. I have been a longtime Elite flyer at Continental and their apparent endorsement of your company was a big reason I didn’t think twice about booking with you.
In the end, I am somewhat stunned at the lack of service, the demeanor of your personnel, and the apparent disregard for a potential customer.
Not that it matters, but I am now hopelessly late for my meeting, and I have the dubious excuse of being booked on a flight that never existed.
Your prompt response is requested.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Michael:
Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience that you experienced. I can truly tell you that this is not the kind of service we normally offer.
I will need to go to the departments involved and have a thorough investigation, before we respond to your e mail.
Regards
Jane Kennedy
Director of Sales
— — — — — — — — — — — — -
So, this woman never got back to me. Instead answered a followup emails saying that she could not find any answers, and I had ought to book directly with her next time. The kicker? Still waiting for my refund.
My advice — if you want a quick trip into the city from the airport? Take the train — at least they follow the schedule.

It’s not the cheapest way to get to JFK from mid-​town, but compared to the price of a car (2x) and the fact that it’s an 8 minute ride from the 34^th St heliport to JFK (during rush hour. Or not.) it seems like a steal. Besides, how many times do you get to say «driver, heliport please.»
The 34^th St Heliport is under FDR and a bit of a challenge to find the first time. US Helicopter is the 2^nd of the two trailers. Since each chopper holds no more than 8 people, there’s not much of a line. They said check-​in takes 25 minutes, it took 5, and that included the whole TSA security scan. The cool part is that if you’re flying through on Delta from JFK (Continental from EWR) you’re basically done with security.
The flight itself is too quick: a quick jaunt down the East River over the power station and then a left turn to JFK. You’re in the Delta terminal in mere minutes.
I won’t do this every time.. . it’s expensive. But on those days I need to get to JFK during rush hour… I’ll definitely consider it.

Like most things designed to be a brilliant way to save you time, US Helicopter’s service is expensive. No matter what value you put on your time, what rationalization you can apply for the cost of frustration you would incurr in a cab, let’s just be clear: this is a luxury.
The idea is easy — why wait in traffic on the way to the airport, why wait in line at security, when you can simply fly above it? Chartered helicopters to the airport are nothing new — but a regular shuttle, with timetables and online booking, well, that’s rather new indeed.
I booked my ticket via their website, and in doing so feared I’d renounced my status as a poverty jet setter once and for all, feared I’d finally turned yuppie. Then I remembered the number of dinners-​out I would be skipping, and figured I could claim PJS status a little while longer.
Booking was easy, though I think the «of course our helicopters are safe» answer in their FAQ is rather condescending and not particularly useful.
But oh, lordy, the service itself. I was running late, and attempting not to wig out, and the cab driver finally found the heliport and I paid quick and ran in and, with ten minutes before my helicopter was supposed to leave, got checked in for my flight, cleared security, got a personalized safety presentation, and walked out to the helicopter.
Eight minutes later, I was at the airport. And it was rad. When you land, two men in suits and earplugs walk out and take your luggage. You walk upstairs, and through a jetway, and, there you are in the middle of the terminal. Brilliant.
Tip: if your cab driver doesn’t know where the downtown heliport is, ask to go to the South Street Seaport. It’s half a mile southeast from there, and almost within sight.