For those who don’t live in the New York City area, you might not be too familiar with Blade. Essentially, Blade is like Uber, but instead of requesting a cloth lined Toyota Camry with “Black Ice,” you request a helicopter. Blade offers helicopters from New York City to the various airports, the Hamptons, or other popular destinations. What makes Blade especially unique is that you can either buy a single seat on a helicopter or charter an entire helicopter.
For what it’s worth, I actually quite like Blade and think it makes a lot of sense. Now before you call me crazy, consider this. A typical cab from New York JFK airport to the Blade Helicopter pad near Hudson Yards Manhattan can cost close to if not more than $100 (w/ tip) and take well over an hour. By comparison, you can request a ride with Blade for $195 and the ride takes just over 5 minutes. To top it off, you can also get some incredible views of Manhattan in the process.
I haven’t taken Blade yet, but would like to at some point to test it out. Sure it’s pricy, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable, especially if you are in a hurry.
Blade’s Brunch Special
This year, Blade has decided to try to take brunch to the next level. From now until early November, Blade is offering a brunch special. The special includes a helicopter ride from Manhattan to New York JFK’s TWA Hotel for brunch.
The special includes pre-takeoff drinks, a helicopter ride from Blade’s east side heliport, brunch at the TWA Hotel Rooftop ($50 credit), TWA Hotel Rooftop Pool access, and a helicopter ride back to Manhattan. In total, the Blade brunch special costs $340!
While the price is a bit steep, I don’t think it’s actually all that bad when you consider what you’re getting. For starters you’re getting two helicopter rides from New York City to JFK Airport. Since you’re departing from the East side of Manhattan you won’t get the views offered if you leave from the West side, but you’ll still get a nice ride.
Once you get to the hotel, you’ll get access to the rooftop pool, which currently goes for $50/weekend day, and you’ll get a $50 meal credit for brunch. Now this isn’t for everyone, but I could think of many worse ways to spend $340.
Final Thoughts
Again, $340 is a lot of money to spend, but I don’t think it’s all that bad when you consider you’ll pay similar rates to say at the hotel (without food credit or transportation). Likewise, if you’re into planes and helicopters I think it could be a fun way to spend a weekend afternoon.
Personally, I’d rather stay at the hotel and enjoy the rooftop during a long layover in New York. However, if you live in New York and are looking for an excuse to visit the new TWA Hotel, this isn’t a terrible option. Sure the price is a bit steep, but when you consider the cost of a typical NYC brunch it seems a bit more reasonable. Especially so when you factor in the two helicopter rides and pool access at the hotel.
Featured Image Courtesy of the TWA Hotel
