September 26, 2007 Home * Travel Deals * Website of the Week Web Cams * Travel News

Cheerio from London! I know, I know ... you’re thinking, “What the heck? Last week, didn’t you fly from France to New York and then on to Nantucket?” Yes, I did. And then I made my way out to LA, where I attended some fun parties and took part in two very special inaugural flight events. One was Virgin America’s and as you can see from this picture, that’s my main man Sir Richard Branson sitting next to me. How cool is that? This week, I’ll tell you all about that encounter. Plus, I’ll fill you in on MAXjet’s new LAX-STN service. MAXjet is a low-fare carrier but one with a twist. To learn more, you’ll have to read on. If you’re not up for flying, then my sister Georgie Jet has just the thing for you. She’s written a compelling piece that’ll entice travelers to spend their next vacation on a sailboat in Maine.

NANTUCKET TO CONNECTICUT
Last week we left off on the island of Nantucket ... that’s where I found this funny T-shirt. Instead of flying back to the New Bedford airport where we took off from, we jumped on the ferry to Hyannis and drove back to my hometown of Norwalk, Connecticut. Unlike Massachusetts, it was a beautiful day in southern New England, which we took full advantage of by going out on my brother’s boat to fish with my niece and nephew. The only bite I got was from a mosquito but my sister Carol reeled in a baby striper. We didn’t keep it.

NEW YORK TO LOS ANGELES
Norwalk to JFK is a hellish, 42-mile drive, hellish because of the never-ending construction and I-95 traffic. I couldn’t ask anyone to take me so I took a PrimeTime Shuttle van ($63). If it weren’t for the smoking hot model/actress sitting next to me, the ride would have been miserable. For starters, the driver was 30 minutes late; then we had to make two more pickups before finally arriving at Terminal 2 with no time to spare. I flew Delta home to LAX and the five-hour flight was easy as can be; I had an exit row aisle seat and the woman sitting next to me was another friendly, gorgeous, skinny Hollywood wannabe.

LOS ANGELES
It’s always great to be home to catch up on work and sleep. Plus, being home means I get to play beach volleyball and attend dinners and fun parties. The highlights of my return trip home were Peter Greenberg’s boat party and Entertainment Weekly’s pre-Emmy party. I’m a regular on Peter’s weekly radio show, which can be heard nationally. Peter also recently launched a new website, PeterGreenberg.com, where you’ll find travel news, tips and a Johnny Jet website of the week!

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY’S EMMY PARTY
The pre-Emmy party was at Opera and Crimson. These are two swanky Hollywood nightclubs, situated side by side. When I rolled up with my buddy Adrian, the LAPD had blocked off all but a single lane, a quarter-mile from the entrance. Those without parking passes (silly me, I forgot mine) had to get cleared before being allowed to drive up any further. At first, the security guard, dressed head to toe in black and sporting an earpiece, couldn’t find my name on the list. Then he checked with “headquarters”, using his Secret Service-like communication device. After a few tense moments, he plopped a parking pass on my dashboard and I drove up to the army of valets. One handed me a ticket and then called me back a second later, only to apologize for handing me the wrong color of ticket. “I didn’t realize you were VIP,” he said, and went on to explain that this ticket would get me out of the parking lot a whole lot quicker when I was ready to leave. I told him it was okay; I didn’t realize I was VIP either and wondered how, in a matter of minutes, I could go from almost not getting into the party to being a VIP.

THE FOOD
Finally, after getting clearance on yet another list and being handed the golden ticket, we were in. The entrance to the party should be acknowledged, as it was one of the coolest entries around. The magical door was created by a smoke effect, with the Entertainment Weekly (EW) logo illuminated above; I imagine this is what it must feel like if you were say, a ghost walking through a wall. Inside, the party was pumping. There had to be at least a thousand people spread throughout several rooms and there was a monster backyard. Never in my life have I seen more beautiful women, all in one place, and surprisingly, very few looked like they had had plastic surgery. Actually, many of them were serving the drinks and finger foods, from bacon-wrapped figs to French fries. EW easily spent at least a million dollars on this swanky party, as high-end alcohol was flowing from bars strategically positioned throughout the place. I didn’t see any goodie bags at the end but the party sponsors (Revlon, Dove and others, which I can’t recall) had their teams of beauties handing out products and treats throughout the night. What killed me was Dove’s chocolate fountain, surrounded by an endless supply of fresh cut strawberries, pineapple, bananas, Rice Krispie treats, pound cake – you name it! I couldn’t get enough and almost just stuck my face in the chocolate fountain.

CELEBRITIES GALORE
It’s almost surreal going to these parties; about 15% of the people are Hollywood stars. Some you recognize instantly, others you know you’ve seen but don’t know their name. I don’t watch a lot of TV so I didn’t even know half of the celebrities attending. If I named them all, my fingers might cramp from all that typing. But to give you an idea, Vanessa Williams was sitting at the table next to me, Jane Seymour was mixing it up nearby, cast members from Prison Break, Grey’s Anatomy, Heroes, Two and a Half Men, and yes, even Stiffler’s mom were there. Most of the celebs were so much shorter and/or skinnier than they look on TV. Especially Kathy Griffin, Neil Patrick Harris, John Stamos, Eva Longoria and Jonathan Silverman, who, by the way, is a very nice guy; I talked to him and his wife about Treetops Lodge in New Zealand where they got engaged. I didn’t see my boy Anthony Michael Hall, who I met last year, but hopefully there will be more soirees to come.

VIRGIN AMERICA
As you may have already heard, the United States’ newest low-fare carrier is Virgin America (VA). Based out of San Francisco, they currently offer service from SFO to JFK and LAX and will soon be expanding that service to include Las Vegas and Washington D.C. I was fortunate enough to be invited on its inaugural flight from LAX to JFK but sadly I had to decline. I had already committed to taking another airline’s inaugural flight the following day. What are the chances of that? However, the VA public relations person invited me to have a one-on-one meeting with Richard Branson the day before, since I wouldn’t be able to make the flight. Of course, I acted all cool and said, “Let me check my schedule.” When I confirmed that I’d be there, I hung up the phone, double-checked that it was hung up properly, grabbed the football from my desk and did the Ickey Shuffle. I screamed, “Touchdown!” so loud that I woke my neighbor’s baby and then hurt my shoulder, as I dove onto my couch. Excited? Yeah, just a little.

IN-FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM
Richard Branson, the Rebel Billionaire, is the man behind all of the Virgin companies. Sir Richard has been one of my travel idols for some time now. I love his attitude, his innovative vision and all that he’s doing for the environment, for example, investing in alternative fuels. When I arrived at LAX’s Flight Path Museum where the A320 Virgin America plane was parked, I got excited. I was greeted by a couple of his team members who toured me around. The cabin has mood lighting, which soothes passengers’ nerves and helped me relax, too. The 141 seats in economy are black leather with a shiny white shell. I immediately recognized them from a tour I did a year ago at the Recaro seat manufacturer plant in Fort Worth, TX. I was there checking out American Airlines’ new business class seats. When I asked the Recaro representative whose sleek seats these were, he said, “It’s a secret.” Well, not anymore! In each of the seat backs is a nine-inch video touch screen with the most advanced in-flight entertainment system of any domestic airline. They come with a handheld remote to turn the 18 live channels of satellite TV, a variety of video games, MP3 music files and 25 pay-per-view, on-demand movies. On the flip side of the remote is a keypad so passengers can type messages to fellow passengers and later, down the road, when Internet is introduced in the airlines, passengers will be able to surf the net. As a frequent flier, I really appreciate this and the 110-volt power ports each seat has so you’ll never run out of juice. As if that weren’t enough, (is Branson ever satisfied?) passengers can order food and drinks from their seat. That’s an industry first. Hungry passengers just choose what they want, swipe their credit card and voila! In no time, the flight attendant will be strolling down the aisle with the order. Genius!

RICHARD BRANSON
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone walking down the aisle of the plane towards me. I looked up to see Sir Richard wearing a black shirt and jeans. He extended his hand and said, “You must be Johnny!” I smiled, nodded and before I could put together a full sentence, he suggested we go up to first class and have a chat. At first I was taken aback by how tall and skinny the man is (he’s probably 6’1”). I plopped myself down in one of the eight first-class, 55-inch seats and consciously tried not to fiddle with them, including reclining them to see if they really went to a 165-degree angle as advertised. I opened up by saying, “I met you a long time ago at your Virgin Cola party in NYC.” He said, “Well, let’s just hope this venture goes a lot better than that one.” We both chuckled. He was a bit shy and almost seemed nervous but he was probably just trying to ease my nerves. Instead of asking him the same old questions that he must get over and over again (questions to which I can find the answers on the Internet!) I took a different approach.

Q&A WITH SIR RICHARD
I began by asking Richard how often he flies. That took him off guard and he dropped the F-bomb, telling me that he flies practically every other day. When I asked if he ever flies commercial airlines besides his own Virgin brand (Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Blue, Virgin Nigeria, and now, Virgin America), he said, “All the time.” He joked that that’s why he’s trying to build a network of Virgin planes around the world so that he doesn’t have to fly with other carriers. I was surprised when he told me that to get the new in-flight entertainment system, he tried to borrow $10 million, but the banks turned him down. So he approached Boeing and Airbus. If he bought a bunch of new planes, he asked, would they throw in the entertainment system for free? They did and he had no problem getting the banks to loan him $2 billion. Go figure!

I asked if there were plans to expand Virgin America to other markets. He said he would like to have them service the Virgin Islands where he lives, but they will most likely get into the Hawaii market next. We chatted for a while and to be honest, I don’t even remember half of our conversation or the exact figures. Don’t ask me why I didn’t bring a tape recorder! I was too busy trying to keep my composure. When I said, “It was great to meet you,” he asked if he would see me the next day on the first flight. I explained that I had already committed to another inaugural flight to London. He asked who the flight was with and I told him it was with MAXjet. “Oh, they should take good care of you,” he said. Note: This meeting took place a few days before his buddy Steve Fossett disappeared and I totally spaced on inquiring about their Virgin Galactic venture -- commercial flights to space.

VIRGIN AMERICA’S LOW FARES
I have no doubt that Virgin America will be successful; the amazing in-flight entertainment options will undoubtedly win the business of the traveling public – as will Virgin’s friendly staff and low prices; just $149 one-way for transcontinental flights and $49 from LAX to SFO. I hope to find some time to fly Virgin America in the coming months so be on the lookout for my full review.

NEW CARRY-ON BACKPACK
One of the perks of my job (besides getting to meet Richard Branson and traveling all over the world!), is that companies constantly send me products to try out. The good folks over at Eagle Creek had impeccable timing when they shipped me their newest bag; the Switchback MAX ES 22 backpack on wheels. Since my Roots carry-on was off being repaired and I didn’t want to take one of my larger suitcases, I decided to give this one a shot for my trip to London. What I really like about the bag is that it’s durable, sleek and useful. It has lots of compartments to store goods and the best part is that you can easily unzip half the bag off and turn it into two separate bags, using one as a daypack. Both backpacks fit easily into airplane overhead bins and the suggested manufacturer retail price is $290.

MAXJET
I learned about MAXjet when they launched their service from JFK to London Stansted (STN) in November, 2005. Shortly after, I took a flight on their competitor, Eos Airlines and found their 48-seat 757 equipped with flat beds simply amazing. When I got the MAXjet invite a couple of months ago, to travel on their inaugural LAX-STN flight, I jumped on it. I then did some research and learned that MAXjet offers a completely different product than Eos Airlines. Eos is more of a first-class airline (that's why they charge more), while MAXjet is a low-fare, business class carrier. It was a good thing I found out this bit of info because now I had more realistic expectations.

CHECK-IN
With my new bag in tow, I arrived at LAX’s International Terminal two hours in advance of my flight time. I was shocked when I saw how long the check-in line was, especially after being told it would take just two minutes to check-in and that I didn’t need to be there until 90 minutes prior. Thirty-five minutes later, I reached the counter but no one, not the other passengers, nor myself, were upset. MAXjet’s representatives were very apologetic and informed us from the moment we arrived that this was their first day of operations and that the computer system had crashed. Therefore, everything had to be done by hand including issuing handwritten boarding passes, something I haven’t seen in a long time.

PARTY AT THE GATE
It took all of four minutes to clear security and I was able to bring both my carry-ons through. My backpack was stuffed to the gills so it was way over the size limit but to get by, I didn’t draw any attention to it. Besides, I wasn’t worried since I had MAXjet’s approval to bring them both on the plane ... not that the TSA would have cared, but if worse had come to worst, I planned to just go back and check it. Because of the delay to get my boarding pass, I missed the MAXjet press conference but did make it to the party at the gate, which made passing passengers from other airlines jealous. MAXjet’s CEO Bill Stockbridge made a quick champagne toast, cut the cake for everyone to share and then wished everyone a pleasant flight. As each passenger boarded, we were handed a small MAXjet gift bag stocked with a stuffed dog (similar to one the airline is named after), a mug, a baseball cap, anti-aging cream, chocolate and a pen.

BUSINESS CLASS LOUNGE
If there hadn’t been a party at the gate, I would have been passing time (or snacking on the free food and drink) in the International Terminal’s new business class lounge, shared by 34 airlines including MAXjet. It’s on the second floor and is a long walk but it’s quite nice, particularly since it’s just undergone a multi-million dollar renovation.

BON VOYAGE
Because this was an inaugural flight, two trucks from the Los Angeles Fire Department were there to bid us farewell with a water cannon salute as we taxied down the runway. This was the second time I’ve witnessed this special occasion; the first was when I arrived on the inaugural flight of the world’s longest commercial flight from Singapore to Newark. NOTE: The pictures were taken by Brett Snyder from Crankyflier.com.

MAXJET PLANES
MAXjet has four Boeing 767-200 series planes that serve four US cities, all of which are either to or from London’s Stansted airport. New York (6), Washington D.C.(4), Las Vegas (4) and now Los Angeles (4). They don’t offer daily flights so the above numbers in parentheses indicate how many days a week they offer the service. Beginning October 20, there will be daily JFK-STN service and there is also speculation that they might open up a Miami route soon. The planes are not brand spanking new like I was hoping but they have 102 blue leather business class seats and 17 rows configured two by two by two. The usual same sized plane has 38 rows and 245 seats so there was plenty of legroom. However, when everyone has their seats reclined in its full, 160-degree position, it’s difficult to grab your belongings from the floor. Though the seats are not state-of-the-art, they are fairly comfortable and I was able to sleep for a good three of the 10-hour flight. My biggest disappointment was that there were no outlets to plug in your computer or whatever else you need to charge.

SAFETY
My first impression of the plane was that it was old and needed a deep cleaning, kind of like my sister’s car after a week of driving her kids around. There were crumbs in between the seats and the bathrooms needed some help. I looked up the tail number of the plane (N250my) to learn that it was built in 1985. That seems pretty old but I’ve been told that the age of an aircraft doesn’t really matter, as long as it’s properly maintained. When our pilot came out for his rest and to post a hand-drawn map of our flight route (unfortunately, they don’t have those cool GPS air shows), I spoke to him for about 30 minutes. He was an interesting guy who had tens of thousands of flight hours under his belt. I asked about the aircraft’s check-ups and he said they have an amazing maintenance program and that he is never worried, not for a second. Of course, that was coming from a tough, former military pilot so I asked the more down-to-earth flight attendants; they all concurred with him. Big sigh of relief.

MAXJET SERVICE
The MAXjet’s flight attendants were very friendly and hailed from all over the world. Their names tags listed the countries where they were born and I spotted places like Barbados, Philippines, Poland, Guatemala, Ecuador and the US. Naturally, the service was going to be good since the CEO was sitting a few rows away from me, but I found the same solid service on my flight home ... and all the MAXjet frequent fliers I interviewed had the same experience. Maybe that’s why Travel and Leisure Magazine rated MAXjet #2 (between Singapore Airlines and Emirates) in their 2007 reader poll for top international airlines.

ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM
MAXjet uses the digEplayer entertainment system that is loaded with over 100 hours of movies, TV shows, music and games. What’s nice is that they’re all on-demand but I hear the batteries tend to run out quickly. One problem using these instead of screens built into the seats is that they take up eight of the already small overhead compartments. When the flight is full, it’s actually difficult to find space. Also, the movies that were pre-loaded were dated and I ended up watching The Queen, in honor of this trip to England. Note: These digEplayers do NOT play DVDs, so leave yours at home.

MAXJET FOOD
The food on MAXjet was fair. It wasn’t bad but their presentation and service need some help. They started off with an assortment of canapés that I had no palate for: crab rillette and a blue cheese mousse on pumpernickel bread. I guess it’s not their fault that I like white-trash food. The nuts are served cold and meal service took a while for them to begin then complete. I was starving so it only made things seem worse. In most business class cabins, flight attendants don’t use carts to carry the trays for the meal service but on MAXjet they do; that makes it feel more like you’re in coach. The dinner service began with a mesclun green salad with feta cheese. It was good but they should’ve taken the tasty lemon vinaigrette salad dressing out of the small plastic containers and used a proper serving container. Gosh – maybe watching The Queen made me notice all these details. Also, MAXjet needs to find a new caterer because the bread was so hard, I almost played catch with it in the aisle. When the flight attendants dragged the cart through the aisle for a second time, it seemed to be an hour later and my body wasn’t sure if it wanted to sleep or eat. But the pig that I am, I couldn’t turn down any one of the main entrees: Maine lobster tail, lemongrass chicken or Hawaiian short ribs. The flight attendants were slow in picking up the trays and serving dessert; they used that damned cart again, going row by row instead of roaming the aisles looking for empty trays. In my section of the plane, I witnessed four passengers take their own trays to the galley. If they get rid of the carts, they would alleviate most of these problems.

BREAKFAST
Another big complaint is that on MAXjet, breakfast is served way too early. The cabin lights were turned on and woke everyone up a good two hours and 20 minutes before touchdown. What were they thinking? In economy on most major carriers, they usually begin the morning service two hours out. Eos Airlines began their service 40 minutes prior to touchdown, giving passengers the maximum amount of time to sleep. I know this isn’t possible for MAXjet because they service twice the passengers, but they could at least wait until 90 minutes prior to touchdown.

STANSTED AIRPORT
The most important part of any flight is landing; ours was smooth. Stansted airport makes it a bit of a nuisance for passengers because they have to use the plane stairs to both board and deplane. But for those who are not UK or European passport holders, the passport control line is a breeze; as usual I cleared in less than 4 minutes. Baggage came out minutes later. I agree with the pilot who said that Stansted airport is Chicago’s Midway and Heathrow is O’Hare. This airport makes traveling to London a joy, as a train whisks passengers to and from Central London in 45 minutes and trains depart every 15 minutes, so no waiting around.

OVERALL MAXJET EXPERIENCE
Practically everything I complained about on MAXjet can be easily fixed. They could deep clean the plane interiors, get rid of the food carts and move a little quicker, but otherwise, I found their product to be impressive. And all of this is before I even get around to telling you the best part – the cost. I interviewed a dozen passengers and they all agreed that this is a great deal. The person sitting across the aisle from me, paid $1,600 for her roundtrip ticket (introductory fare) which is an unbelievable fare; with other major carriers, business class fares begin around $5,000. Even MAXjet’s published fares are usually lower than major carriers’ "full-fare economy" seats and MAXjet is five times better than that. I just did a search for a flight from LAX to STN in a week’s time on MAXjet and found one-way fares beginning at $1,099! For those same dates, United wanted $4,300 for business class and American Airlines was $3,300. Heck, their regular economy seats were more expensive. This is insane, no?

If I were watching my budget but still wanted the luxury of business class travel to London or, for that matter, to Europe (Stansted Airport is a great springboard; the airport offers routes to practically every major European destination with Europe’s top budget carriers), then I would seriously consider flying MAXjet. Also, MAXjet’s prices now give executives, whose companies forbid them from flying business class, a new hope.

VIDEO
Here's a short Johnny Jet video of my flight on MAXjet. It's also on YouTube, so it only takes a few seconds to load (though the quality is not as crisp). We also have all the Johnny Jet videos ever made on their servers.

NEXT WEEK
Next week we tour London with a very special guest!

Happy Travels,
Johnny Jet

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Note: This trip was sponsored by MAXjet.


Copyright 2007 JohnnyJet, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.