If I were to ask you the worst thing about flying, I can only imagine the plethora of responses to go airborne my way.
Bumpy landings? Check. Inevitable delays leaving you stranded at the airport for hours at a time? Check. Those people who erupt into a chorus of clapping as soon as your plane lands? Undoubtedly.
None of those quite compare to the cramped conditions and lack of leg room though, which ultimately result in you and your fellow passengers getting packed in like sardines with little room to breathe, much less move around.
PexelsSo imagine if you were to arrive at your gate alone, only to realise you’re the only person waiting to board. And that when you get on, you’re the only person on board for the entire journey?
That’s exactly what happened to one man recently who, upon arriving at Aspen, Colorado, for his flight to Salt Lake City in Utah, got the best private jet experience ever (i.e. he didn’t have to pay for it).
CollegeHumor OG and director Vincent Peone hilariously documented his solo journey in a video posted to Twitter yesterday (August 12), which showed everything from him first boarding the plane to shaking the pilot’s hand.
Take a look below:
The video first shows airport staff making a boarding announcement, calling for the ‘only passenger’ to come forward. At this point, Vincent pretends to rush for his flight before getting escorted to the plane.
As he’s walked to the Delta plane, the director then asks the flight attendant whether she’s ever witnessed a plane have just one passenger before – to which she replies with: ‘yes I have’.
Not letting this dampen his spirits though, Vincent continues with his journey and takes his seat on the plane, but not before panning his camera to show crew members loading sandbags onto the aircraft so it meets the weight requirements.
Although he was the only passenger, Vincent was still welcomed warmly on board by the flight attendant, who went on to announce the flight safety instructions.
She said, before asking him to remain in his ‘assigned seat’:
Good evening Vincent and welcome aboard. We are looking forward to taking care of you today. If you need any assistance getting settled we’re delighted to serve you.
The excitement didn’t stop there though, because the director was then able to greet the pilot and co-pilot in the cockpit, one of whom tells him ‘it’s your own private jet’.
If you want your own experience like Vincent’s, maybe cross your fingers and hope for your flight to get rescheduled – because that’s exactly what happened here, according to the director.
In an interview with the Washington Post, as per People, Vincent said he believes his private experience ‘had everything to do with’ the flight getting rescheduled.
He explained:
I’m Diamond Medallion, so Delta was very good to me. I had called them and got some information about what was available. Coming back at 7 p.m. meant I would have gotten to see more of Aspen, because it was a short trip anyway, so I took the later option.
As per Delta, Diamond is the highest Medallion Tier offered by any airline and includes exclusive benefits, including the highest complimentary upgrade priority and premium boarding. Although not necessarily a private jet experience.
Hi Vincent! That looks like an awesome experience! Thank you for the shoutout, and we truly appreciate you for choosing Delta! Take care. ✈️😊 AJM
— Delta (@Delta) August 12, 2019
However, achieving this tier requires passengers to accumulate a lot of qualifying miles in a year (125,000) as well as meet a qualifying spending requirement on Delta and partner airlines, or spend a significant amount of money ($250k to be precise) on Delta co-brand credit cards.
So it looks like it’s not all that easy to get the private jet experience after all.
Ah well, cramped seats it is.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).