The Smartest Trip You’ll Ever Take In Your Biglaw Career

UPDATE: Do you want to win a free helicopter trip to JFK? Enter our contest here.

Have you ever found yourself furiously scrambling around the office to finish up the last loose-ends so you can get out to the airport for that early evening flight to who knows where to conduct the 30th in a stream of inevitably irrelevant depositions? Trying to get that last matter off your desk so you can avoid spending security nervously checking your watch and wondering if you’ll make it. It’s excruciating. Especially when you realize you’re about to spend over an hour crammed into a black car your firm booked because catching a cab during the rush hour shift change is madness, pure and simple.

It may make for a good story after the fact, but it’s not exactly an enjoyable use of your time.

Nor is it particularly productive for your client. That black car is going to run them big bucks — perhaps upwards of $200 — when it’s all said and done. Ultimately you’re going to end up billing some of that commute too and, at your rate, that could run them another couple hundred at least.

So why don’t you take a helicopter from the airport like some benevolent plutocrat? That might sound crazy and may seem like a hard sell to a client, but if you could get from Manhattan to JFK in a tenth of an hour of billable time for a mere $295, then it’s actually crazy not to consider it.

And even if you aren’t going on the client’s dime, it’s a no-brainer. If you’re an associate, you are, after all, a “HENRY” as one might put it. “High-Earner, Not Rich Yet.” Shelling under $300 for the luxury of a hassle-free trip to JFK is more than worth it.

That’s what you can get with Blade, a private aviation company that offers — among other trips — a rush hour-conquering 5 or so minute flight from Midtown Manhattan to JFK for $295. It’s the best trip you can take as a Biglaw attorney if you’re ever traveling to or from New York. And, stay tuned, because we’ll be giving away some free trips from Blade over the coming days.

Last week, Blade offered me the chance to try the JFK excursion and I decided, why not live out my infantile desire to put on my best faux Schwarzenegger and yell “Get to the choppah!” to people actually getting on a chopper. And the whole experience convinced me that this is the way to go if you’re ever even thinking of booking a flight after work.

Before we even get to the flight, let’s set the stage. Blade runs this flight out of their lounge at the West 30th Street Heliport on the far side of the West Side Highway every weekday at 5:15 p.m.

To interject, while every attorney could benefit from this service, this will be an absolute MUST for Boies and Milbank lawyers moving to the new Hudson Yards complex. You’re going to be within walking distance of the chopper.

You walk up to a seemingly sparse trailer along the water that doesn’t begin to suggest what you find inside. Suddenly you’re in a well-appointed lounge surrounded by images of famous helicopters — think Marine One and the Batcopter. A flight attendant dressed straight out of a vintage Pan Am ad checks your name against her register and offers you a drink from the full bar. I chose a Maker’s on the rocks… as one does when they’re about to take a chopper around New York on a windy Thursday.

After chatting with some of the other passengers while snacking on the complimentary chocolate covered almonds, the helicopter arrived. We surrendered our drinks (temporarily — our hostess made sure we got them back once we were secured on the aircraft) and walked out to the waiting helicopter.

Now there’s no sugar-coating it: the helicopter is a tight fit. Unless you score the seat up front next to the pilot, it’s a cozy vehicle. But you’re not going to be in it very long anyway. Less than a minute later, you’re pulling away from the helipad and off over the Hudson river.

It’s easy to forget this is all about convenience when the views are so stunning. The 5:15 p.m. departure in late January guarantees the setting sun reflects off every building as you make your way to the airport.

And then you’re there. Just like that. You hop off the airport into a private aviation terminal where a van is ready to take you to your airline’s terminal.

Or… well, Blade offers private charters too but that’s a whole other ball of wax. If you’re looking for a quick excursion to Miami or a quick lift to the Hamptons or a charter anywhere, they can hook you up.

(In the interest of full disclosure, Blade is not an advertiser, but they are giving us seats on their JFK helicopter as a promotion that we will be giving away to readers… watch Above the Law over the next few days to see how you can win them.)

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Joe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.