At a time when flying commercial has become fraught with long airport lines and cascades of cancellations and delays, some travelers may be wondering, is it worth flying private? Of course, there’s the cost to consider—private jet travel isn’t known for being cheap. But there are a growing number of options, including some that are more affordable. Here’s a complete guide to private and semi-private flights.
How much does it cost to charter a private jet?
According to Delta Airlines partner Wheels Up, a private jet membership and charter company, it costs between $5,000 and $15,000 per flying hour to charter a private jet, depending on its size.
This is the cost per hour for five types of private jets:
| Type of Private Jet | Number of Passengers | Cost |
| Turboprop | 4–6 | $5,000–$7,000 |
| Light jet | 6–8 | $6,000–$8,000 |
| Midsize jet | 7–9 | $7,500–$9,000 |
| Super midsize jet | 8–12 | $7,000–$11,000 |
| Large cabin jet | 10–19 | $12,000–$15,000 |
In addition to Wheels Up, other companies that offer private jet charters include PrivateFly and Jettly, booking platforms for on-demand private jet charters.
Not surprisingly, several private jet charter companies and luxury resort and villa properties also offer flight service directly to exclusive villas or resort destinations.
For $148,000 per person, you can fly on a two-week private jet itinerary hosted by Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts with stops in Greece, Egypt, Tanzania, Rwanda, Zambia, and South Africa. The 13-day African Wonders journey takes place on the Four Seasons private jet, and guests stay at Four Seasons luxury properties globally. Four Seasons currently hosts numerous other private jet journeys each year.
Which companies offer semi-private flights and how much do these cost?
A growing number of companies are offering travelers the ability to book a single seat on a semi-private flight, similar to how you would on a commercial flight. The cost to book a seat on a semi-private jet starts from as little as $249 one-way with JSX.
- Aero: Semi-private, luxury airline Aero has its hub in L.A. and offers one-way flights to Aspen starting at $1,950 Los Cabos from $2,250, and to Napa for $725. Prices include one checked bag and one carry-on aboard aircraft that seat up to 16 passengers. Aero flies from Aspen, Colorado; Los Angeles; Los Cabos, Mexico; Napa, California; and Sun Valley, Idaho.
- Blade: A helicopter and semi-private flight service, Blade operates flights between Monaco and Nice, France; Vancouver and Victoria, Canada; New York City and East Hampton; and New York City and Atlantic City, New Jersey. It also offers helicopter service from Manhattan to John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark International Airport. A one-way flight between NYC and East Hampton starts from $1,050.
- JSX: JSX is by far one of the most affordable options for semi-private travel, with one-way fares starting at $249 on 30-seat Embraer E135 planes, which includes up to two checked bags, snacks and drinks on board, and free Wi-Fi. JSX connects several California hubs, including Burbank, Carlsbad, Concord/Napa, Los Angeles, Monterey, Orange County, Oakland, and San Diego. The air carrier also flies to Dallas, Denver, Gunnison/Crested Butte (Colorado), Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, Orlando, Scottsdale, Reno–Tahoe, Taos (New Mexico), and Westchester County in New York. There are seasonal international flights to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, from L.A. and Dallas.
- Surf Air: Surf Air is a jet membership service that includes both scheduled semi-private flights (such as JSX flights) and on-demand jet service. The semi-private scheduled flights operate from Truckee, San Carlos, Santa Barbara, and Hawthorne in California, and the on-demand flights, with commuter airline Southern Airways Express, can be booked to and from hundreds of hubs all across the United States. Memberships cost $295 per month to access the inventory, and then you pay per flight.
- Tradewind Aviation: The Oxford, Connecticut–based Tradewind Aviation operates on-demand and scheduled flights throughout the United States and Caribbean. Scheduled service includes flights to Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard from Westchester County in New York, Marsh Harbour and North Eleuthera in the Bahamas from Palm Beach, Florida, and between the Caribbean destinations Anguilla, St. Bart’s, the British Virgin Islands (Virgin Gorda and Tortola), San Juan, Antigua, and St. Thomas. Caribbean flights start at $129 one-way, Bahamas flights start at $229 one-way, and Northeast flights start at $419 one-way, depending on the day and routing. The aircraft fly out of private terminals and include in-flight snacks and refreshments, including wine and beer.
There’s a private jet app for that
There are also several private jet startups based on a sharing economy-style model for booking private jets. One of them is XO, an app that allows passengers to book a private or charter or seats on an available private flight. XO has two styles of payments, a membership fee model and a pay-as-you-go model. Memberships range from $595 per year, which allows you to skip the $395-per-flight service fee that applies to individual private flight bookings, or you can pay a $395 fee for a seat and add to that a $995 trip cost. For $995 per year, you can access the XO Reserve membership with a minimum $250,000 deposit that includes set hourly private charter pricing and no added fees.
Private jet app UberJets also helps users find and book charter aircraft. It doesn’t own or operate a fleet of aircraft and simply serves as a booking tool.
What is an empty leg deal?
An empty leg is a nonrevenue repositioning private jet flight—a private jet that has dropped passengers off on a one-way leg and would otherwise return to its home base empty. Because these are uncommissioned flights, they can often be accessed at a much lower price than a standard private jet flight as operators are happy to recuperate any of the costs and sell the flight for a deal—well, a deal for an entire private jet.
Private jet services such as Jettly and XO will often list their current empty leg deals and routes online.
What is a private jet card membership and how does it work?
A common way to access private jet service is through a private jet card membership. You pay a fee upfront—typically in the range of $100,000 to $200,000, according to Private Jet Card Comparisons, a site that allows users to compare the different programs available. Then private jet flights will be deducted from your initial deposit, typically at a set cost per hour. Hourly rates range from about $2,000 to $4,000 for a turboprop or smaller private jet up to $20,000 or more for a midsize or larger private jet that can fly longer-haul journeys.
“A jet card refers to debit card–style program that typically enables you to prepay for private jet flights at a fixed hourly rate with guaranteed availability,” Private Jet Card Comparisons explains on its site.
There are dozens of companies that sell private jet cards, including Airshare, Airstream Jets Inc., Alliance, Charter Flight Group, Flexjet, International Jet, Magellan Jets, Netjets, PrivateFly, Quantum Jets, Sentient Jet, and Unity Jets, among numerous others. Some companies specialize in shorter, domestic flights, while others offer access to global destinations, such as VistaJet.
For a fee of $500, Private Jet Card Comparisons breaks down the options and what each card and program has to offer.
Is it worth flying private?
Two major benefits of flying private are a less hectic experience and getting closer to your destination, so you spend more time enjoying your trip and less waiting at airport security.
Avoid the crowds at the airport
Fly private and you won’t be going through the same check-in procedures and security lines as everyone else at the airport; you’ll have a separate, more secluded, and much less crowded area only for private fliers. Be sure to establish what restrictions there are on luggage and flying with animals—these will vary depending on the size of the aircraft and by operator, although many typically have standard luggage allowances and allow pets to come along.
Access to more destinations
Many private jet flights skip the larger, more bustling hubs and fly instead to smaller, less congested airstrips. Those smaller airports often get travelers even closer to their destination than a larger hub would. Access to destinations that don’t have regular commercial service or any service at all is another huge bonus of flying private.
The environmental impact of flying private
We’re not going to sugarcoat it. Flying private does not have a good track record when it comes to the environment. In an April 2021 report, the European Federation for Transport and Environment found that private planes are up to 14 times more polluting (per passenger) than are commercial planes and 50 times more polluting than trains.
Consequently, the report advocates for the rapid electrification of the private jet sector, which it notes is the segment of the air industry that is most amenable to going fully electric in the very near future.
Investments in electric aircraft are being made by companies that include Boeing, Airbus, NASA, and Toyota, as well as startups such as Archer Aviation and Joby Aviation, both in California, Germany’s Lilium, and England’s Vertical Aerospace.
This story was originally published in 2019 and was updated on September 23, 2024, to include current information. Sophie Friedman contributed to the reporting of this story.
