By Joseph T. O’Connor EBS Editor
BOZEMAN – The Yellowstone Club is partnering with a private aircraft company to whisk jet setters from two California locations to Bozeman and back, in style.
JetSuiteX, an Irvine, California-based jet service in June began providing Embraer 135 jets to fly passengers between the Yellowstone Jet Center and California locations in San Jose and Burbank.
While the service, called the Bozeman Shuttle, is partly an attempt to offer more convenient travel to members of private clubs in Big Sky, including the Yellowstone Club, the Spanish Peaks Mountain Club, and Moonlight, the flights are also available to public travelers seeking to avoid long commercial airport lines.
“Working with the Yellowstone Club, we and they want to provide a dedicated shuttle for their members, but they’re open to the general public,” said Chris Bernabe, senior marketing manager for JetSuite and JetSuiteX.
JetSuiteX travelers can book flights by the seat, as compared with JetSuite, which requires passengers to charter flights by the hour, according to Bernabe.
Passengers aboard JetSuiteX’s 30-passenger planes will receive full attention throughout their flight, Bernabe said. Amenities include soundproofing, free Wi-Fi, and free in-flight entertainment, while flight attendants serve free gourmet snacks and beverages to travelers in plush leather seats equipped with individual power outlets.
According to a Bozeman Shuttle brochure, seats have “at least 36-inch seat pitch,” which refers to legroom. Most economy airline seats have between 28 and 34 inches of pitch.
“We want to provide a seamless experience from booking to the time they arrive at the airport until the time they leave,” said Bernabe, adding that passengers can show up 30 minutes before the flight. “We want to make flying enjoyable again.”
The partnership will continue offering round-trip flights from San Jose and Burbank to Bozeman through Sept. 18, and will ramp up again in the winter, according to Bernabe.
“Yellowstone Club has received positive feedback from our members regarding the ease of this shuttle and we look forward to continuing to support this program this winter,” said Krista Traxler, marketing director for the Yellowstone Club.
Round-trip, direct flights between San Jose and Bozeman will run travelers $1,250, and a round-trip flight between Burbank and Bozeman, which include a layover in San Jose, cost $1,450.
