Uber Copter is there for people worth $ 400 at the hour

Uber is a modest company with modest goals. He just wants to change the way people move and bring New Yorkers from Manhattan to John F. Kennedy Airport in less than half an hour. I'm still not quite sure how he plans to do it first, but Uber's plan for the latter is pretty simple. Choppers

The flying genre, not the motorcycle genre, that's it. The kind of bike would, of course, be a lot better and tough.

Yes, Uber has officially launched Uber Copter, a lower Manhattan helicopter service than JFK, TechCrunch reports. No, you can not take the helicopter; they are reserved for Platinum and Diamond members of the Uber Reward Program. This means that you must accumulate at least 2,500 points, or $ 834 in Uber Black fares or $ 1,250 in UberX / Uber fares, before you can book a helicopter.

Helicopter tours start at around $ 200 per person, TechCrunch reports. Uber "hopes that Uber Copter will reduce the total time of transportation between New York and JFK to just half an hour", including the time needed to get to the helipad, to load into the airport. helicopter take off to land at JFK.

If it sounds vaguely familiar, there is another company, Blade, that offers helicopter rides from Manhattan to JFK for $ 200 per person. If anything best sums up the current version of capitalism in the final phase, it is that the rich now have two options for on-demand helicopter services, from Manhattan to JFK.

How fast is it faster than other options without a helicopter? A taxi from Manhattan to JFK costs $ 65. At this very moment (11:07 am EST on a Thursday), Google Maps indicates that the trip between the helicopter and JFK would take 38 minutes, which is more or less your best scenario. The height of pm rush would obviously be very different:

Meanwhile, it takes about an hour to get to JFK by public transportation from Manhattan, whether you choose the Long Island Railroad from Penn Station or the A Train.

But let's be honest: if you are an Uber Platinum or Diamond member, you probably consider yourself too good for public transport. To be able to use the service at $ 200 and save half an hour on your time, this means that you value your time at $ 400 per hour. I am sure that many people working in the financial district place more emphasis on their time. I would never dare to speak to these people, however, because I'm certainly not worth their time.