Life’s a beach riding to The Hamptons on Blade’s new $200-a-seat luxury bus
The road to Hamptons luxury is paved with D-listers and day-drinkers.
A swanky new bus service from the company that brought Big Apple elites $1,000 helicopter trips to the East End kicked off its first weekend of rides Friday — with passengers that included a cocktail-sipping reality TV star, a CEO and a nightlife promoter.
Well-to-do New Yorkers said they plunked down $195 to $275 for the one-way ticket on Blade’s new Streamliner bus to avoid cramped mass transit and safety risks associated with chopper travel.
“I don’t like public transportation,” said Zhanna Zervos, a self-described divorced housewife who appeared on “Hot Yachts Miami.” “This one I was like, ok, I can do.”
“I prefer a luxury way of traveling — private jet or helicopter,” added Zervos, who was drinking a complementary canned gin and tonic. “But I’m a little afraid.”
The posh coach ride made its maiden voyage from Manhattan Thursday to kick off beach season ahead of Memorial Day weekend.
The trip includes free drinks, hot towel service, extra leg room — and even seats that help prevent motion sickness. They were one of the biggest selling points.
“Every time it detects a small bump [the seat] is going to move with you. So if you have motion sickness, you don’t have it here,” said Kelsey Elliott, 30-year-old “passenger experience attendant” who works on the bus.
On Friday, when The Post made the 3.5 hour journey for $195, all 19 of the high-tech seats were sold out.
By contrast, a perfectly-fine ticket aboard the Hamptons-bound Jitney bus ran just $41 a pop.
But the posh price of the Streamliner trip came with amenities such as a swag bag stuffed with must-haves for any proper Hamptons weekend, such as facial serum and lip gloss.
“There’s a hair clip for all the girlies because we know beach hair is not the easiest,” Elliot said, pointing out other goodies in a so-called dopp kit.
“It really makes you feel special.”
Passengers raised their cocktails in salute of their bus trip through Long Island traffic.
“That’s the nicest bathroom I’ve ever seen on a bus,” Hudson Yards resident Rich Longo, 46, gushed to his friend.
“It has a regular toilet in there with stones in the sink. It’s more of what you’d see in a hotel,” he told The Post.
At around 10:45 a.m., Elliott made an announcement that the complementary cocktails and rose wine were up for grabs.
“We are about 45 minutes from our first stop. If anyone would like a beverage especially alcoholic please let me know,” she said via intercom.
Passengers were also treated to cashmere blankets, bagels and hydrogel eye masks.
“It’s like a magic school bus and I’m just excited,” said Amanda Levkoff, 26, who makes virtual reality video games and was headed to the Hamptons with a friend.
Her pal Vera Rees, 26, of the Lower East Side, said the seats were ideal for snoozing.
“I work in nightlife so I got home really late so I’m excited for the luxury experience so I can take a nice nap so I can feel rested by the time I get there.”
Some beach-bound New Yorkers said they didn’t mind shelling out for the ride, since the normal Jitney bus was not as luxe.
“The Jitney is too small so I’m excited about this,” said Jeff Ragovin, CEO of the tech company Semasio, who lives in East Hampton.
He said the bus’ high-speed wifi is ideal for laptop work.
“I’ve taken Blade [helicopter] lot. With the weather the last few days and they just rolled it out, I just wanted to try it. Get some work done on the way out.”
Common-folk travelers waiting for the lower-end motorcoach Friday, however, were quick to call the $400 round trip price for the bus absurd.
“That’s ridiculous,” said Lovely, a 47-year-old nanny from Astoria, Queens, who gave only her first name.
“That’s so expensive. I can spend that amount of money back home and it can feed two weeks’ amount of groceries,” she added.
“They might as well [go by] plane.”
Zervos, the reality star, however, noted: “The Blade bus was cheaper than taking Uber.”