Estimated reading time 4 minutes, 44 seconds.
In addition to safety, service standards, flexibility, company history, and reputation, flight price is a driving factor for users of jet cards, on-demand private charters, and fractional ownership flights.
Private aviation consumers can now compare complicated jet card and membership pricing policies in seconds via Private Jet Card Comparisons’ Quick Compare Flight Pricing, the first and only private jet flight cost tool of its kind.
Jet cards make flying easy. However, figuring out how much your flight will cost is not as simple as looking at published hourly rates.
“There are more than a half dozen small-print policy factors that can impact how much your jet card flight will end up costing. These factors not only vary between providers, but between programs from the same provider,” said Doug Gollan, founder and editor of Private Jet Card Comparisons, a buyer’s guide that enables private aviation users to figure out the best solutions, vendors, and specific programs for their unique flying needs.
The impact on what you pay can be huge.
On light jets, daily and segment minimums, the minimum time you will be charged for the flight, varies from 0 to 150 minutes between the over 250 programs in the Private Jet Card Comparisons’ database.
For example, Company A has a 60-minute minimum on light jets and a $5,500 hourly rate. Company B advertises a $4,500 hourly rate, with a 120-minute minimum.
For a 120-minute flight, before considering other factors, Company A would charge $11,000 ($5,500 x 2 hours) versus $9,000 from Company B ($4,500 x 2 hours), a 22 per cent difference.
Yet, for a 60-minute flight, Company A would cost you $5,500 ($5,500 x 1 hour) compared to $9,000 from Company B ($4,500 x its 2-hour minimum). The same flight on the same category aircraft with Company B costs 82 per cent more than Company A.
The internally developed quick compare flight pricing tool is available exclusively to paid subscribers at $250 for 12 months.
“You earn back the cost of the subscription 10 times over the first time you use it,” Gollan noted.
Subscribers who own fractional shares or have charter quotes can now easily compare their current solution costs versus jet card options.
The subscriber enters the estimated flight minutes for the flight they want to compare. They also enter the number of hours they expect to fly during the next 12 months. This amortizes the membership fees some programs charge into the flight pricing.
They can instantly compare charter quotes or their fractional share pricing to over 800 different options from more than 50 jet card providers.
“About 70 per cent of jet card users have more than one solution. Now, any private aviation user can figure out which option is best for each trip,” Gollan said.
QUICK COMPARE PRIVATE JET FLIGHT PRICING factors:
- Published hourly rates
- Daily minimums
- Taxi time charges and whether they are included or added to daily minimums
- Federal Excise Tax
- Peak day surcharges
- Deicing fees, including the ability to compare programs that don’t include it by using the estimated additional charge on a per-flight basis
- Fuel surcharges
- Initiation fees
- Monthly and annual membership charges
Additionally, subscribers can compare:
- Specific companies from more than 50 providers
- Providers they are considering side-by-side
- Ownership structure and company size of providers
- Safety standards and third-party safety ratings from Argus, Wyvern, and IS-BAO
- Types of aircraft offered, seat guarantees
- Upgrade and downgrade options
- Published hourly rates
- Service areas and destination surcharges
- How trips are priced – estimated or actual flight time, mileage or dynamic pricing
- Refund policy and escrow account options to protect your money
- Peak days and peak day surcharges
- Roundtrip and long-flight discounts
- Lead time for bookings and cancelations
- Segment and daily minimums
- WIFI availability
- Policies for bringing pets and extra charges
- The minimum age for unaccompanied minors
- Lifestyle perks and related partnerships
