California has been on quarantine lockdown since March 13th, 2020, and as travelers who were lucky enough to have made it home in time from our international trips, we've been doing our part by staying home and doing what we can to flatten the curve.
By mid May, counties throughout California started slowly opening up, restaurants, bars, breweries, nail salons, little by little we were seeing a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. Because Frank and I can work from home, being on lockdown didn't affect us much only that we couldn't travel as much but seeing that it may be safe for us to start domestically, we decided to take the opportunity to take on our first flight recently. Mind you, this is not just any normal flight, this is a flight that we have been on numerous times since we discovered it.
JETSUITEX aka JSX
We have a friend in Las Vegas who was moving into a new home and without the help of her deployed husband, we decided that we would take this opportunity to take a short flight from Burbank, CA to Las Vegas, NV on JetSuiteX (JSX.com). Back in early 2019, I found out about JSX through a promotion that Blackbird was promoting on their app . Since then flying was the only way I would travel to Las Vegas to avoid the traffic that would sometimes make the 3 hour drive into 5 or 6 hours.
JSX is a semi-private flight service open to the public as long as they have routes to/from your destination. They currently serve Southern California from Burbank, CA (Burbank Airport), and Santa Ana, CA (John Wayne Airport) with destinations that includes Oakland, CA, Las Vegas, NV and Phoenix, NV.
I have flown JSX 10+ times now and I never felt unsafe. It is a smaller plane, which scares a lot of people but they have amazing safety records and to be honest, I love to fly so being in a smaller plane does not bother me much. The flight from Burbank to Las Vegas is about 70 minutes. You don't have to show up for check-in until 20-30 minutes prior to your flight time, which is amazing. I have so far flown from Las Vegas, Burbank, Santa Ana and Phoenix, and enjoy their clean and comfortable lounges.
Check-in pre and post COVID-19 are relatively the same, except that there is less physical contact between you and the JSX staff. Masks are required to enter the facilities and must be worn throughout the entire flight. You are allowed to check 2 bags per person up to 50lbs each and carry on whatever small personal item that fits under the seat in front of you.
ON BOARD
Once onboard the uncrowded 2 x 1 seating plane, I noticed that passengers were generously spread apart the 30 seat plane which Frank and I appreciated. The masked flight attendants are always so friendly and kind, and willing to serve you whenever you need it during the short flights. Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are always offered during the flight as well as a light snack, but just be aware that during the short flight, you don't have the luxury of slowly sipping on your drinks.
The plane itself has always seemed very clean to me, but during COVID times, I am more aware of what I touch and always carry hand sanitizer with me.
For the most part, those around me wore their masks throughout the entire flight except when they had their beverage in hand or snacking. After hearing all the horror stories on commercial flights, I do appreciate those flying on JSX helping do their part.
PRICE
As for the cost of flying with JSX, it's actually not as bad as one would think. You can easily grab a one-way ticket from Burbank to Las Vegas for $99 one way, which, for the convenience of not having to go through long TSA lines and herded onto a crowded plane, is absolutely worth it to me!
If you have never flown with JSX, try them out and take $20 off your first flight using our referral link here.
Have you taken a flight since the pandemic or flown with JSX? Share your experiences with us in the comments below.
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