Surf’s Up

Surf Air, the California-based members-only airline, offers unlimited flights for a fixed monthly fee. Pay $1,750 a month- plus a $1,000 signup fee- and fly as much as you want. Seriously. Forget TSA security, parking, and you don’t even need a photo ID. Since Surf Air’s inaugural flight two years ago, this fast-rising airline has grown to 1,400 members, with plenty more eager to sign up- currently, the waiting list numbers 600. The original business plan targeted businesspeople traveling between Southern California and Silicon Valley. Now the Santa Monica company is gearing up for a major expansion to four other California markets by October: Santa Rosa, Monterey, Sacramento and Palm Springs.

Surf Air hopes that with its entry into those cities, chosen because they are gateways or popular weekend getaways, it will evolve from a business airline into one that includes personal lifestyle travel. The airline has become a game changer among entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, and about a third of its passengers work in the tech sector. They operate 44 flights a day and currently fly into seven small, private airport locations including, Burbank, Santa Barbara, Carlsbad, Oakland and Truckee. The business model, executives say, is to keep the price closer to commercial fights but the experience on par with private jets…and maybe just pretend you’re a movie star 36,000 feet up. Well, Jared Leto is an investor after all. www.surfair.com