You have GOT to be kiddin' me!

SCCutler

SCCutler

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Spike Cutler
Off to Baton Rouge for the day tomorrow; 324.8 NM from ADS, but (unfortunately) client's wife is mortified at thought of him flying in a "dangerous little plane," so we fly commercial.

"How much," you ask, "does it cost to fly round trip Dallas to Baton Rouge in a skinny, little jungle-jet?"

Wouldja believe, $764.00 ROUND TRIP?

Southwest can manage a grown-up jet plane to New Orleans for $266.00 round-trip, and they pay their pilots top wage. Why can't American Eagle make a rational price?

Just because you can charge a lot, does not mean you must.

/rant.

Talk amongst yourselves.
 
emot-argh.gif
AIRLINES!!!
 
Spike:

Regarding the business stuff, one also has to consider what happens to one's family if something goes wrong with "that little plane". Hate to say it, but I've become very selective with who I fly in my plane. My Sister's company has 25MM coverage on their corporate jet!

As a younger person, one has potential. Over that years, some of that potential gets converted to assets. If one loses those assets, they start the accumulation process over: retirement completely changes. So, as one gets older, taking on potential liability makes less sense.

Look at the insurance available today. If there is little to get behind that: fine, go for it. If there is, that client's family will certainly feel entitle to it. My insurer told me last renewal, that I was too well off to be a pilot--great, huh?

Hate to say it, but as pilots, we are "part timers". Sometimes, we just have to remind ourselves of it <g>

Best,

Dave
 
leave the clients wife at home, rent a Bo :):)

The difference between Dave and I: I tell you what you want to hear, Dave tells you what you should hear :D
 
Dave Siciliano said:
Look at the insurance available today. If there is little to get behind that: fine, go for it. If there is, that client's family will certainly feel entitle to it. My insurer told me last renewal, that I was too well off to be a pilot--great, huh?
Click to expand...
Dave, you radical risk-taker! :eek:

Spike, I started to think it was limited competition but I just ran an Orbitz query between DFW and BTR. Was that $764 for one ticket or two? Continental came back at $318 for one stop but American Eagle came back at $464 for non-stop; both same day with about four hours in town.

Okay, I just ran it again with an overnight stay and departing next afternoon. Then, American Eagle jumps to $744. Geeze!
 
Dave, you are (of course) correct.

Last time I flew there, a few weeks back, it was in the $350 range/ round-trip, and I bought the tickets the day before. I am sort of stunned.

Making a connection on a flight of that length is sort of ridiculous; if I had the time for that monkey-motion, I'd just fly Southwest to New Orleans, enjoy better service, and drive gator alley to BTR.

As for going ahead and renting a plane? Can't really do that to the client, can I? Plus, introduces logistical issues. naw, just stuck with it.
 
Isn't chartering A JET in the same price range? Try Blue Jets or whatever.
 
Suggest to client to grow some balls and tell his whiney wife to shut her pie hole.
 
I would be more torqued about having to fly airlines, than the $$$ - hey, the client pays expenses - no, Spike?

"Wife says no little planes? Sorry to hear it - well, see y'at the meeting, hope TSA doesn't do a body cavity search on you!"
 
mikea said:
Isn't chartering A JET in the same price range? Try Blue Jets or whatever.
Click to expand...

Had I realized where this was going earlier, I could have certainly arranged an appropriate charter with a fine 135 guy I know, in a pristine 414. Certainly would have been less-costly, and (as we all know) a heckuva lot more pleasant.

EdFred said:
Suggest to client to grow some balls and tell his whiney wife to shut her pie hole.
Click to expand...

Ummm.... yeah.

Let'sgoflying! said:
I would be more torqued about having to fly airlines, than the $$$ - hey, the client pays expenses - no, Spike?

"Wife says no little planes? Sorry to hear it - well, see y'at the meeting, hope TSA doesn't do a body cavity search on you!"
Click to expand...


Spike wishes...

...off to DFW, where the plane does not wait for my arrival (grrr).
 
EdFred said:
Suggest to client to grow some balls and tell his whiney wife to shut her pie hole.
Click to expand...

While that made me laugh out loud, telling clients to "grow some balls" usually results in them growing just enough to fire your ass.
 
The same client who will pay five times the cost of traveling a few hundred miles in order to appease a wife will also refuse to pay the fuel surcharge on courier expenses. Then the same person will b!tch about fuel prices on the way home when stopping for gas.

And, all this will be done by the same person who has a BA or MA in a business-type discipline and has more than ample understanding in economics to include the laws of supply and demand.

:rolleyes:
 
SCCutler said:
Southwest can manage a grown-up jet plane to New Orleans for $266.00 round-trip, and they pay their pilots top wage. Why can't American Eagle make a rational price?

Just because you can charge a lot, does not mean you must.
Click to expand...

Be glad you don't live in Cincinnati. It used to be less expensive for me to fly SAT-CVG-London/Paris than it was to fly simply SAT-CVG. The airlines figure that you're paying with OPM.
 
Well ya gotta do it in a diplomatic way. Obviously just blurting out "grow some" isn't going to work.
 
SCCutler said:
Off to Baton Rouge for the day tomorrow; 324.8 NM from ADS, but (unfortunately) client's wife is mortified at thought of him flying in a "dangerous little plane," so we fly commercial.
Click to expand...

Buy him a ticket on American and fly yourself. When you come to pick him up looking none the worse for the wear and he's been strip searched, relieved of all "dangerous" objects, and herded into the cattle car, he just might put his foot down next time with the wife.

Just because you can charge a lot, does not mean you must.
/rant.
Talk amongst yourselves.
Click to expand...

Someone's gotta pay extra to make up for the cheap tourist fares and you've been elected.
 
wsuffa said:
Be glad you don't live in Cincinnati. It used to be less expensive for me to fly SAT-CVG-London/Paris than it was to fly simply SAT-CVG. The airlines figure that you're paying with OPM.
Click to expand...

The biggest downside, for me, of moving to DAY...

Cheers,

-Andrew
 
astanley said:
The biggest downside, for me, of moving to DAY...
Click to expand...

Fly from DAY.

I may need to run from DC to Cincy (well, the Hamilton area) next month.

DCA-CVG: $320 RT
BWI-CVG: $320 RT
DCA-DAY: $217 RT
BWI-DAY: $98 RT

"I'll take Savings for $200, Alex!"
 
wsuffa said:
Fly from DAY.

I may need to run from DC to Cincy (well, the Hamilton area) next month.

DCA-CVG: $320 RT
BWI-CVG: $320 RT
DCA-DAY: $217 RT
BWI-DAY: $98 RT

"I'll take Savings for $200, Alex!"
Click to expand...

Yup. On DL, my trip to DAY for the interview went BOS-DAY; DAY-CVG-BOS; all for $350. If I had done BOS-CVG-BOS it would have been $900!

:mad:

Cheers,

-Andrew
 
astanley said:
Yup. On DL, my trip to DAY for the interview went BOS-DAY; DAY-CVG-BOS; all for $350. If I had done BOS-CVG-BOS it would have been $900!
Click to expand...

Sounds about right. Welcome to Fortress Hub Cincy. BTW, DL flies so many Barbie jets and Jungle jets out of Cincy that you may well be better off going from DAY. CMH is not too far, either, and WN keeps fares low out of there.

I still remember when DAY was a hub for Piedmont (sigh).
 
wsuffa said:
Sounds about right. Welcome to Fortress Hub Cincy. BTW, DL flies so many Barbie jets and Jungle jets out of Cincy that you may well be better off going from DAY. CMH is not too far, either, and WN keeps fares low out of there.

I still remember when DAY was a hub for Piedmont (sigh).
Click to expand...

yes...cvg fares are over the top. it has been ranked the most expensive airport in the country for a few years running now. it is very common to see savings of 2-3-even $400 to drive to Dayton, fly to Cincy and get on the very same flight you would have originated on from CVG. So..2 extra legs save you hundreds of dollars. Why do they do it..because they can. On my business trips I fly out of CVG, but for personal trips I don't fly myself we often drive to SDF, DAY, CMH, or IND. All are less than 2 hours away, and with a family of four $200 savings per ticket adds up fast.
 
jbehler said:
yes...cvg fares are over the top. it has been ranked the most expensive airport in the country for a few years running now. it is very common to see savings of 2-3-even $400 to drive to Dayton, fly to Cincy and get on the very same flight you would have originated on from CVG. So..2 extra legs save you hundreds of dollars. Why do they do it..because they can. On my business trips I fly out of CVG, but for personal trips I don't fly myself we often drive to SDF, DAY, CMH, or IND. All are less than 2 hours away, and with a family of four $200 savings per ticket adds up fast.
Click to expand...

Even when I paid with OPM, I hated paying the premium for CVG. From SAT, I could save as much as $800 flying into LEX and driving. 90-100 minutes to the city, about 75 minutes in the car from LEX to CVG.
 
wsuffa said:
I still remember when DAY was a hub for Piedmont (sigh).
Click to expand...
I grew up in the shadow of DAY and remember my friends and I riding our bikes over there to watch the occasional airplane land. And then there were the weeks when the trapshooting competitions were held out there? Do they still do those? Jeez, gunfire all day long. I had flashbacks to that when I lived in Miami.
 
wsuffa said:
Even when I paid with OPM, I hated paying the premium for CVG. From SAT, I could save as much as $800 flying into LEX and driving. 90-100 minutes to the city, about 75 minutes in the car from LEX to CVG.
Click to expand...

I agree in principle, but 9 times out of 10 the added legs and driving distance make the schedule difficult to manage. My company is quite large and spends a lot on air travel so we have a deal with Delta to get airfare below published rates, but they are still high. The best way to travel is to hop on one of our GVs from KLUK and fly direct to pretty much anywhere. Sadly, those trips are a small portion of my business travel.
 
Ken Ibold said:
I grew up in the shadow of DAY and remember my friends and I riding our bikes over there to watch the occasional airplane land. And then there were the weeks when the trapshooting competitions were held out there? Do they still do those? Jeez, gunfire all day long. I had flashbacks to that when I lived in Miami.
Click to expand...

Ken - where are you based in Jacksonville? KJAX? KCRG? My wife's parents live a couple miles from 55J. Haven't flown there yet from Cincy as I am still working on my IR, but have rented their Archer a couple times.
 
Ken Ibold said:
I grew up in the shadow of DAY and remember my friends and I riding our bikes over there to watch the occasional airplane land. And then there were the weeks when the trapshooting competitions were held out there? Do they still do those? Jeez, gunfire all day long. I had flashbacks to that when I lived in Miami.
Click to expand...
As of about a year ago they were still shooting traps at DAY. Could hear them from the rental car parking lot.
 
mikea said:
Isn't chartering A JET in the same price range? Try Blue Jets or whatever.
Click to expand...

Well, let's just look! Our local FBO, Million Air (and you guess who's the millionaire after working with them <g>) just sent me a quote. Nice Citation Jet for only $1,700 per hour. Round trip from Addison to Boot-on Rouge for the mere price of $6437.24.

Geesh Spike! Talk about a way to win friends and influence people; how'd you miss this great bargain? You probably could have 'xpained how it would be cheaper for your client to pay that than the normal billing rate for your travel time---oops, forgot, you're not with one of the big downtown firms :rofl:

Course, they own their jets; no need to fool with a Citation when the client is paying for the jet! Need Hawker!!

Best,

Dave
 
Spike,
Just this once, I hope you have a miserable day.

Here is the reason behind this hypothetical ill-wish:
I assume you will have follow up visits to kbtr. If so, should the client has a less than enjoyable experience, maybe he will be so affected to then influence his wife to see it your way!
(I don't really wish you a miserable trip, but anything to avoid the scarelines!)
 
Dave Siciliano said:
Well, let's just look! Our local FBO, Million Air (and you guess who's the millionaire after working with them <g>) just sent me a quote. Nice Citation Jet for only $1,700 per hour. Round trip from Addison to Boot-on Rouge for the mere price of $6437.24.

Geesh Spike! Talk about a way to win friends and influence people; how'd you miss this great bargain? You probably could have 'xpained how it would be cheaper for your client to pay that than the normal billing rate for your travel time---oops, forgot, you're not with one of the big downtown firms :rofl:

Course, they own their jets; no need to fool with a Citation when the client is paying for the jet! Need Hawker!!
Click to expand...

If you consider that's for a 4-6 seat jet, it does cost in the same range if you were flying 4-6. Well, OK, only 30% more.

Heard an ad for these guys on the mere mortal radio:
http://www.bluestarjets.com/
"You can keep your shoes on."
I loved it, imagining it was giving the airlines agita.
 
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Let'sgoflying! said:
Yes he is Dave! He has his own! Tallest building in Dallas no less. Soon he'll be zipping around the country in his own lear and we will be begging him for rides.
Click to expand...

Your mouth to God's ear, Dave...


...insult to injury: at the conclusion of the big meeting, as we are leaving the hotel, one of the guys we were meeting with asks if my client wants a ride back in their Citation. GrrrrrRRRRRrrrrr!

Oh well. Waiting for our plane, 3:55.
 
SCCutler said:
...insult to injury: at the conclusion of the big meeting, as we are leaving the hotel, one of the guys we were meeting with asks if my client wants a ride back in their Citation. GrrrrrRRRRRrrrrr!
Click to expand...

Ouch! So you were meeting with other people from your area, but had to go to BTR to do it? Why didn't they give you a ride there in their Citation? Dirty ba$tards. :rolleyes:
 
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