Silverjet

[luxuryFan]

I was dithering about trying Silverjet but had read some good reviews. Don't think anyone on this forum has tried them yet so you may be interested in some impressions:
On the plus side:
Only 799 return, which is way cheaper than the usual London - New York fares.
Brilliant check-in and security at both ends - they have their own private terminal at Luton next to the main terminal with their own arrangements so you don't have to go through with all the other 10 million passengers flying that day (like at Heathrow). At Newark you also bypass the crowds - they have a lounge on the arrivals deck and you just turn up there, very quick and easy.
Very nice lounges at Luton and Newark (no shortage of champagne!)
Good food on board.
Lots of stretching room.
Nice atmosphere on the plane. With the whole plane being business class there isn't that huge seething crowd at the back! In fact I went for a pleasant stroll wandering down to the back of the plane.
On the minus side:
The seats turn into beds but they don't quite fold flat (like Virgin Upper). Am I being too fussy here?
Luton isn't going to suit everybody. If you live in London it's easy, or obviously if you're in the northern environs. We drove from Cobham and it took an hour on the M25 and the M1 (Heathrow's only 20 minutes).
The seats are in pairs (3 pairs across) and they're quite close together. So you don't have quite as much privacy as you do on Virgin Upper from your immediate neighbour. On the other hand if you're travelling with your other half or a friend it's great.
Would we fly Silverjet again? Definitely. I'd also like to try Eos, though it costs a lot more. I think these new business class only airlines are a great idea, probably we'll be seeing more of them, or more routes anyway. Nice to get a bit of luxury without it costing you the earth.
Good article on Silverjet etc. here:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...2837-2,00.html

[jashermd]

Hello,

Thanks a lot for the review of Silverjet -- I've also been dithering about flying with one of these airlines (a choice made harder by the fact that getting to Luton or Stansted is a serious expedition from Oxford -- I'd probably have to route via London). I really hope one of them gets a slot at Gatwick -- come on, if EasyJet can do it, anyone can!

Do you know anything about FF miles / alliances on these airlines? My trips to the US are my main source of FF miles (which have paid for my tickets to Africa) so that's one perk I'm rather loathe to give up.

Cheers,
Julian

[moirasage]

Hi! Do you know how long it would take to get to Luton from central London if you didn't have a car? I normally stay in London for business so I would be in the city center area and would normally take the Heathrow Express to the airport.

Moira
Message Edited by moirasage on 03-13-200706:56 PM

[luxuryFan]

jashermd wrote:
Do you know anything about FF miles / alliances on these airlines? My trips to the US are my main source of FF miles (which have paid for my tickets to Africa) so that's one perk I'm rather loathe to give up.

Hi jashermd,

Funny that you should be getting FF miles from flying to US and then using them to fly to Africa... For me it's been the other way round: trips to Lagos on Virgin Upper or BA Club racking up the miles and then I spend them going to places like the US! (Of course you won't be going to Lagos on your pleasure trips, no sane person does!) Anyway, to get to your point, so far you don't get miles on Silverjet and they're not part of any alliance, which is a shame. On the other hand they're far cheaper, and still a good service, in some ways better. I've become a bit of a miles junkie but if I'm paying for my ticket myself, the saving is worth more to me than the miles. If the company's paying, that's a different matter, though I expect these business-only low fares are aimed at CFOs and they'll be getting their execs to fly Silverjet to trim costs.
Message Edited by luxuryFan on 03-18-200703:57 AM

[luxuryFan]

moirasage wrote:
Hi! Do you know how long it would take to get to Luton from central London if you didn't have a car? I normally stay in London for business so I would be in the city center area and would normally take the Heathrow Express to the airport.

Moira
Message Edited by moirasage on 03-13-200706:56 PM

I believe there are two train services from London to Luton, or rather Luton Parkway which is the stop you need for the airport. First Capital Connect goes from St Pancras (also Farringdon, City, Blackfriars and London Bridge). They say there there are up to 8 trains an hour and the average journey time is 30 minutes. A friend of mine told me he did the journey in about 20 minutes, so maybe there's a faster train. What I do know is that at Luton Parkway Silverjet has a fleet of free taxis to pick you up and take you to the terminal which is about 5 minutes away from the station.
Have a look at these links:
http://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/luton.htm
http://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/luton_rail.htm
http://www.firstcapitalconnect.co.uk/
There are also trains run by:
http://www.midlandmainline.com/
It's a bit confusing compared to the Heathrow's '15 minutes every 15 minutes' from Paddington or the Gatwick Express from Victoria. They should give better information. But I expect it's easy when you get the hang of it. Hope this is some help. I was trying to figure it out for myself, though I probably prefer going by car and leaving it at the airport.