When you think about flying, you probably haven’t considered flying privately. Flying privately isn’t only for the wealthy or for people headed for a business trip as it’s become more accessible for the average person. While there are benefits of flying commercially, private flights offer more flexibility, convenience, and comfort.The best way to satisfy your curiosity about flying privately is to rent a private jet. If you’ve never rented a private jet before, here’s our beginner’s guide to doing just that.
What Are Private Jets?
A private jet is a mode of air travel different from traveling on a commercial airline, such as British Airways, Allegiant Air, or Aer Lingus. A private jet minimizes your time at an airport going through security and waiting for your plane to arrive. It even eliminates the worry of rushing to the airport to catch your flight. While it can be an expensive option, private jets allow you to control who boards the flight with you, if anybody.
Why Fly With A Private Jet
There are many advantages to rent a private jet.
- Skip the hassle: You skip the hassle of dealing with security and crowds at the airport.
- Flexible departure time: Another advantage is setting your own departure time. If you want to fly from Seattle, Washington, to Miami, Florida, at two in the afternoon instead of being at the airport early in the morning, you can do that.
- Space: You also have plenty of space on the plane. When renting a private jet, you don’t have to worry about disruptions while trying to relax or work.
- Distance to airport: Private flights are also great if you live near a private airport but live some distance away from a major airport. You can take a flight from the small airport to the major airport and save on driving time and stress.
Disadvantages of Renting a Private Jet
There are disadvantages to keep in mind.
- Cost: Private flights are more expensive than commercial flights as fewer people are flying to split the cost of maintenance, fuel, and other fees the plane and airline have to pay.
- More Planning Needed: While getting onto a private jet is easier than a commercial plane, more planning is involved, such as creating a menu or setting the flight schedule.
How Much Does It Cost to Rent a Private Jet?
Many factors determine how much a flight in a private plane costs, such as:
- The type of aircraft
- How many people are traveling with you
- The distance you want to fly, fuel costs
- Airport taxes
- Landing fees
- Amenities
This means that flying from Seattle, Washington, to Miami, Florida, with a group will cost more (if the group doesn’t split the cost) than flying from Seattle to Miami alone. Additional charges can add up with requesting certain amenities, such as champagne and specific meals aboard the plane, versus doing without.
The cost of these private flights usually ranges from $2,000 going from Seattle to Portland to several thousand dollars, depending on where you go. There are websites, like LinearAir, that allows you to search for private planes as Kayak and Expedia do for commercial flights.
How To Rent A Private Jet
When you want to fly privately, you should contact your local airports and ask about private plane operators that use them. This includes private, regional, and commercial airports. Once you’ve compiled a list and asked about prices, it’s time to weigh your options by:
- Checking out customer reviews
- Check to see if the company is a member of an industry safety organization.
- Comparing prices
- Looking for discounts
- Getting a price quote
Once you’re ready to fly with the company of your choice, you can go to their website, app, or call them on the phone to book your flight and pay.
The steps involved in booking a private jet often differ depending on the site you use. For example, XO requires you to:
- Create an account: Before booking your flight, you will need to create an account.
- Choose the method of travel: With XO, it gives you the option of choosing between a charter flight and booking a seat.
- Select your route: To find the price, enter your origin and destination and then select.
- Select type of plane: Once you go to the next page, a pop-up allows you to choose the type of plane you want to use, ranging from turboprop to an ultra-long-range airplane.
- Choose the dates: Afterward, you select the date to see the available planes and the prices.
The next page will show you the itinerary with the estimated flight time and give you a range of origin and destination airports to choose from that affect your price. Once the details are correct, the next page allows you to pay for the flight. You can pay for the flight with a credit card, debit card, or wire the payment.
Companies Allow You To Rent a Private Jet
Many companies offer private jet flights; it’s just a matter of your destination. There are companies such as JSX, Blade, and XO that allow you to browse through the options on their websites and get a quote. Some websites might allow you to book a flight even if there isn’t a scheduled flight, but you’d have to pay for the entire aircraft. Booking a flight with a scheduled flight means you pay less for a single seat. There are also options for empty leg flights.
Empty leg flights are when a plane travels somewhere without any passengers. Empty leg flights are often a lot cheaper than standard private jet flights. If a private aircraft has to return to its origin after dropping someone, it only makes sense to bring someone or a group of people along as they’re headed there anyway.
Blade
With Blade, you can book a charter flight no matter where you want to go, but they have a handful of regular flights where you can book a seat. Blade’s key routes are NYC to Palm Beach, Florida, NYC to The Hamptons, NYC to Aspen, Colorado, NYC to Nantucket and The Cape, and Los Angeles, CA to Aspen, Colorado.
EvoJets
EvoJets offers flights on planes that range from short distances like Seattle, Washington to Omaha, Nebraska, up to longer distances like Seattle, Washington to Jakarta, Indonesia. It also offers empty leg options and experiences when renting a private jet.
Jettly
Jettly calls itself the Expedia of private jets and offers five free charter quotes. After you enter your information about your desired flight and press the quote button, it gives you the option to register for free, login, or send the quotes to your email.
VistaJet
If you want to travel privately internationally, VistaJet is a global private aviation company that offers a subscription program and has beds on its aircraft. This company also pledges to be carbon neutral by 2025.
NetJets
NetJets is one of the oldest private jet companies with 700 jets worldwide and has three options for membership. The first option for membership consists of committing to 25 hours of use over 24 months, while the third is best for those who fly more than 50 hours in a year and want to own a portion of the plane.
SetJet
SetJet has two membership options: regular and elite. The monthly membership fee for the standard membership option is $100 per month, while the elite membership is $1,000 per month. Both membership types have a one-time security check fee of $100. For example, a regional flight on the western side of the US is $750 for a one-way flight.
JSK
JSX is a regional fly-share company operating out of Las Vegas. It has seasonal flights to Miami and regular flights from Miami to Westchester County, New York. Flying from Los Angeles to Las Vegas costs a little over $100 with both the round-trip and one-way options.
Which Credit Card Allows Private Rentals?
There is currently only one credit card that works with private jet rentals, the Amex Platinum Card. The Amex Platinum card has many benefits, such as; worldwide airport lounge access, prepaid hotel credits, and a monthly Uber credit. In addition to these many benefits, the Amex Platinum card also has a partnership with WheelsUp.
WheelsUp created a premium private jet program. It connects flyers to private aircraft and allows them to discover the possibilities and experiences they wouldn’t have otherwise. The WheelsUp app lets you see real-time prices, select the aircraft type for your needs, and book your flight. When they first join, new members have a reduced annual membership fee and receive a $500 or $2,000 first flight credit. WheelsUp also has an option that allows members to pay as they go.
Apps To Rent a Private Jet
Apps make it easy to book, cancel, and check your flight information for commercial flights, and there are also apps for private jets for rent.
Flewber
The Flewber app is a private jet charter and travel app connecting people to regional and long-range private flights in Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico, and the United States. You can book or bid on flights for lower pricing on anything from luxury private jets, regional aircraft, or air taxis. All you have to do is book your flight and arrive 15 minutes before the plane leaves.
Uber Elevate
Joby Aviation acquired Uber Elevate to integrate each other’s services into each app. They are creating an electric aerial ridesharing program with vertical take-off and landings and zero operating emissions. For example, from their downtown heliport in Manhattan, the aerial rideshare can arrive at JFK airport in seven minutes, compared to the 49 minutes by car, depending on the traffic. As the rideshare program is still in development, the website currently does not have pricing or booking information.
PrivateFly
PrivateFly allows you to find the nearest private jet airport, access the 7000+ private jet rentals available, and lets you estimate private charter jet prices with the lowest market prices. The app, and the website, give you the option to choose one-way, round-trip, and multi-city flights.
Private charters are ideal for many reasons, whether you want to fly privately to avoid driving a few hours away to an international airport or attending a business meeting. Flying privately is easier than ever. While it’s still seen as a symbol of prestige, there are now options for everyone to fly privately and more options in development.
