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Instead of the usual commercial flight, and with so many private jet companies in the market, maybe it’s time you use a private Jet Charter service for your next holidays. However, choosing the right one for you can be a time-consuming mission.
As good luck would have it, you can break down every single one of these companies (or at least the most important ones) and compare all the pros and cons between them, and make a sound decision that would satisfy your flying needs.
The 3 major game-changers when it comes to private jet services are JetSmarter, NetJets, and JetSuite.
JETSMARTER
JetSmarter, founded in 2012 by Sergei Petrossov in Fort Lauderdale-Florida, is a membership-based program that enables members to book their own flights on shuttle among the predetermined cities.
With JetSmarter, members who set their own flight schedule can post it to the app and the interested members can pay for available seats reducing the cost of the charter. Here’s the catch, once all the seats have been purchased, the member who created the flights flies for free.
NetJets
NetJets Inc. is an American company that sells part ownership or shares (called fractional ownership) of private business jets and is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. Founded in 1964, this company is an Executive Jet Aviation. NetJets was the pioneer in the world for doing private business jet charter and aircraft management company.
Chosen from several accessible types at the time of purchase, NetJets sells fractions of specific aircraft. Owners then have assured access (depending on share size, about 50–400 hours annually) to that aircraft with as little as four hours notice. Another aircraft of the same type, or a larger aircraft, will be provided if ever the Owner’s aircraft is unavailable for some reason.
A monthly maintenance fee and an occupied hourly operating fee are paid by the fractional owners. When an owner or guest is on board, that is the only time the latter is charged only and not when the aircraft is flying to a pickup point, or flying to another location after concluding a flight.
They can buy flight hours in 25-hour increments via its Marquis Jet and NetJets jet card programs for companies or individuals that were in need of less than the minimum 50 flight hours and the five-year commitment of fractional ownership.
With nearly 700 aircraft worldwide, NetJets’ fleet is the largest private jet fleet in the world.
JETSUITE
JetSuite is a private jet charter company and was founded in 2006 and based in Irvine, California.
JetSuite is a private jet airline. The company charters flights on its fleet of Embraer Phenom 100s and Cessna Citation CJ3 jets. Throughout the United States, Mexico, and Canada, JetSuite offers WiFi-enabled private flights. What’s distinctive about this company is that it does not impose membership or ownership fees.
Another prominent offering by Jetsuite is that it presents guaranteed online pricing compared to many of its counterparts. Uniquely JetSuite’s offer is its SuiteKey memberships. The memberships are fully refundable pre-paid accounts.
The highest-level safety audit rating in private aviation is the ARG/US Platinum safety rating which JetSuite has already earned in 2010 and has maintained it since for its flight safety standards.
For its premium passengers, Singapore Airlines partnered with JetSuite in 2011. The partnership resulted in private jet connections offer between international flights landing in Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, and Newark.
JetSuite in May 2017 announced it would engage in managing aircraft for owners. It has available for its on-demand charter and SuiteKey jet membership programs, the management service will also boost the aircraft. Management is restricted to Embraer type aircraft JetSuite already handles in its owned fleet.
JetSuite announced back in October 2017 that it was transitioning to an all Embraer fleet with the Embraer 300 its Citation CJ3 aircraft.
Here’s a quick round-up on the three companies.
Membership:
Starts at a minimum of $15,000 a year and book seats on already scheduled flights through the JetSmarter app.$15,000 for the first year. An annual fee of $11,000 and a joining fee of $4,000.
Programs/Services:
Program: JetDeals – gives members free seats on thousands of empty-leg flights each year. Services: Regular Charter Empty Legs JetShuttle Flights
Estimated cost of private jet charters
1Trips under three hours are included in the cost of the membership while longer ones are an average of $300 a person. Crowdsourced trips usually top out at $2,000 a person.
Average number of passengers per flight:
8-10 passengers
Downside:
2Depending on your membership level, you can only book one coast to coast flight at a time, which means if you were flying from New York to Los Angeles you couldn’t book your return until you got to your destination, and with only a limited number of seats, just looking at the app shows many flights sold out. The other downside is even larger private jets such as a Gulfstream 450 that can seat 13 people can feel crowded when totally full, and the nature of the club seats mean you could be spending six hours face to face playing footsie with a stranger.
Vantage:
1Travelers fly in and out of small, private airports where they usually don’t have to deal with the Transportation Security Administration and can arrive just five to 15 minutes before their departure time. Rapid service, reliable pricing, flexible flight options, ample customer support.
Membership:
6With a NetJets membership, you purchase an undivided interest in a specific aircraft and gain access to a fleet of more than 650 jets worldwide. Prices per share with the private aviation company vary depending on the type of jet you choose — light, mid-size or large-cabin — and how often you fly.
Availability:
5For NetJets Owners, 4 to 6 hours’ notice is required, and there are 15 peak period days (with 48 hours’ notice required during peak).
Programs/Services:
3Programs:
- NetJets Share
- NetJets Lease
- Jet Card programs
5Marquis Jet Cards, 10 hours’ notice is required for booking, and there are 30 to 45 peak days.
Elite Jet Cards are offered in 25-hour blocks on its two Citation light jets. Minimum booking notice is 24 hours, and there are 45 peak days per year, also with 120-hour minimum booking notice.
Estimated cost of private jet charters
5An entry-level prepaid fractional jet card providing 25 hours of flight time on a light jet will cost between US $145,000 to $165,000.
Average number of passengers per flight:
6With ownership in NetJets you can have a personal jet that accommodates seven to 14 passengers ready in as little as four to 10 hours, depending on the size aircraft you need and how large your share is.
Downside:
7Blackout dates, penalty for size changes, expiration of deposits.
Vantage:
7They provide modernized fleet and depart within 10 hours.
Membership
SuiteKey Membership.
Members may have the following advantages:
- Higher priority for booking
- Flexible Cancellation Policies
- Flexible change policies
- Peak day fees waived
9Normally, JetSuite sells memberships that start out around $50,000.
Availability
8No guaranteed availability.
Programs/Services
Program:
- SuiteDeals
- 2018 SUITEKEY MEMBER REFERRAL PROGRAM
8SuiteKey programs begin at $50,000
Estimated cost of private jet charters
1Last-minute deals for one-way private jet charters within the United States may cost between $500 and $2,000.
Downside
No guaranteed availability of your desired aircraft.
Vantage
2JetSuiteX gives you a slightly elevated service (free drinks, snacks and WiFi), and most importantly the ability to arrive at the airport as little as 15 minutes before departures, an expedited security process and arrivals and departures from a combination of FBOs and private hangars meaning that you don’t waste time coming and going. You can book online with a couple keystrokes.
You can fly for prices similar to commercial airlines but save a couple hours at the airport and get an experience in line to what you would get on short haul first class.
The ability of JetSuiteX to fly planes that range from four to 30 seats also gives it interesting flexibility.
4Flexible change and cancellation policies for members and non-members.
Sources:
1https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/24/travel/private-jet-flight-deals.html
2https://www.forbes.com/sites/douggollan/2017/01/14/these-two-airlines-are-redefining-private-jet-travel/#215b3a051e61
3https://www.netjets.com/en-us/
4https://www.jetsuite.com/
5https://www.sherpareport.com/aircraft/netjets-sentient.html 6https://stories.forbestravelguide.com/how-to-fly-private-jets-with-netjets 7http://www.jetcharterrewards.com/jet-card/marquis-jet-card-cost.html 8https://privatejetcardcomparisons.com/jetsuite/ 9https://www.travelcodex.com/review-jetsuite-private-jets/
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