Private jet
subscription service Surf Air is announcing a new membership package called
Surf Air Express alongside Indiegogo, which allows for members to pay a smaller
subscription for individual bookings on the company’s semi-private scheduled
planes.
For a mere
$2,000 subscribers can get access to seats on the Surf Air planes or small jets
for roughly $400 to $500 per seat.
That’s a
discount from the company’s $5,000 all-you-can-fly monthly subscriptions.
When it
launched five years ago, the Santa Monica, Calif.-based Surf Air pitched itself
as a better way to fly for customers that were frequent travelers on routes
throughout California and (eventually) Texas.
But Surf Air
was a luxury problem for luxury people and was charging an (apparently
unsustainable) luxury price.
Now to boost
demand to the merely wealthy instead of the really rich, Surf Air is now
offering tickets for individual flights rather than just at the all-you-can-fly
rates. Seats will be offered up to subscribers to the company’s service at a
flat rate of around $400 if flyers are willing to pay the annual fee of $2,500.
Meanwhile,
anyone will be able to book flights through Kayak and other services at what
Surf Air chief executive Sudhin Shahani calls market rates (which can range
anywhere from $600 to $1,000).
Subscribers
are also going to be eligible for other perks, including no change or
cancellation fees, access to member events, discounts at premium hotels and
access to flights for special events, like music festivals, games and
conferences.
“Five years
ago we cracked the code and changed aviation by offering a small group of
monthly subscribers “all you can fly” memberships with a premium flight
experiences to eliminate the hassles associated with commercial air travel,”
said Shahani, in a statement. “Through Surf Air Express we’re continuing to
upgrade the travel experience by opening up the Surf Air network to a
completely new market of travelers who’ve long needed a more convenient and fun
way to fly. It’s our vision that one day we’ll expand Surf Air to be
accessible, with our flight operators, across the online travel booking
websites and in every region around the globe where short-haul travel is
broken, while still maintaining the quality and value of our membership-first
business model.”
Surf Air has
raised $92 million to date, according to Crunchbase, from investors including
Jared Leto, Sway Ventures, Mucker Capital and ff Venture Capital.
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