Blade Frequent Flyer Pass Can Save You up to $100 per Ride

Taking a casual helicopter to and from the airport may not seem as farfetched an idea as you may think. BLADE Continuous, the service that offers helicopter rides between Manhattan and New York City's three major airports, has launched two new annual passes in limited quantities.

BLADE Continuous currently flies passengers from Manhattan to New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport, LaGuardia Airport in Queens and JFK Airport for $195 per person per trip. While this cost is definitely not inexpensive, an Uber stuck in traffic during peak times can start to inch towards that price. The ride takes about five minutes to JFK, compared to a minimum 40-45 minute drive.

BLADE is releasing an "extremely limited" quantity of passes to encourage frequent travelers to make helicopter transports less novel and more common. The BLADE Airport Pass costs $295 and the BLADE Airport Pass PLUS costs $795. Both passes enable an unlimited number of BLADE Continuous flights for a discounted price, as low as $95 per trip. Here are the details of each pass:

BLADE Airport Pass: $295 per person per year

• Get $50 off every BLADE Airport flight within the next 12 months for you and $25 off one companion seat per flight
• Valid for BLADE Continuous trips between the three BLADE Manhattan Lounges and JFK, Newark or LaGuardia Airports
• Pass pays for itself after six one-way trips

BLADE Airport Pass PLUS: $795 per person per year

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• Get $100 off every BLADE Airport flight within the next 12 months for you and $50 off one companion seat per flight (unlimited flights to or from airports for $95)
• Valid for BLADE Continuous trips between the three BLADE Manhattan Lounges and JFK, Newark or LaGuardia Airports
• The discounted cost can fit within most corporate expense account limits for airport transports
• Pass pays for itself after eight one-way trips

While BLADE has been operating helicopter service in the New York area for a few years now, BLADE launched its regularly scheduled airport transport services to JFK in March and announced its expansion to Newark and LaGuardia Airports in May. LaGuardia's service takes passengers to and from Manhattan's Downtown/Wall Street Heliport, Newark from BLADE Lounge East (East 34th Street Heliport) and JFK from BLADE Lounge West (West 30t​h​ Street Heliport) across from Hudson Yards.

While this seems like a solid deal, at least if you're someone who's frequently commuting between Manhattan and New York City-area airports, there are some restrictions to be aware of. The airport pass savings can't be stacked with any other discounts, companions must be flying with you to receive the companion discount and you have to be connecting to or from a commercial airline flight to be eligible for the discounted seat price.

Uber also launched Uber Copter yesterday, a similar helicopter transport service, to JFK. The service is only available to those with Platinum and Diamond status of the Uber Rewards loyalty program. The average ride will cost around $200 and $225 per person, and Uber has not established a similar yearly pass.