The Reality Of Flying On Private Jets

For the past 60 years private jets have been exclusive to only the wealthiest people in the world. For the most part there are 2 types of people that fly private.

1. People that own their own plane

2. People that have the money to pay $20,000 - $500,000 to charter a jet for a single flight 

Thanks to technology and a very smart entrepreneur that is now changing. Jetsmarter is giving the every day individual and the frequent flier a chance to access the private skies for a fraction of a regular charter. They are a membership based mobile app that offers a wide range of services. I will dig more into their different membership options but first I'll talk a little bit about my personal experience with them.

The Service

Jet smarter offers 3 different types of services when it comes to flying. Shuttles, charters and empty legs.

Shuttles - Shuttles are weekly flights that Jetsmarter offers to their members. These flights are accessible to anyone with a membership and you are usually sharing a jet with other people on these flights. Shuttles range from twice a week to once a week so you have to work around their schedule. This is great for people that travel from Miami to NYC and Los Angeles and need to be constantly hopping around. Jetsmarter is also now offering shuttles from NYC to London and London to Dubai. There are also various shuttles in between Europe and the Middle East.

Charters - These are the traditional method of booking private jets. Traditionally you would have a broker that would arrange the flight for you but now it is as easy as pressing a button on an app. Simply type in your departure location, destination and dates and Jetsmarter will give you pricing options based on plane type. 

Charters are not included in the membership and are offered more as a booking convenience. For example, a charter from Miami, FL to Orlando, FL can range from $6,000 to $92,000. You can see how this can start to get pricy....

Empty Legs - This service is the one giving the every day person the chance to fly the private skies. There is only one catch. You can't be picky in any sense of the word. Empty legs are flights that happen because a plane has either finished a charter or is going to a charter and needs to reach its original or determined destination. In the past these planes would fly to their destination empty and the companies would have to swallow that cost. The deals tab at the top of the app will show you empty legs around the country within a 2 day time frame and will tell you the price per seat to fly. You can narrow down the options by location to find flights that apply to your location but thats about as picky as you can get. This is more for the adventurous, spontaneous people that are willing to go somewhere at the drop of a hat. Empty legs are free for members for up to 4 people. Jetsmarter is currently offering a free 90 day trial and they will sell you a seat on an empty leg for an extremely reasonable price. I live in Orlando I see flights from Orlando to south Florida almost every day for around $150 per person, extremely cheap. Below is an example of an empty leg in a Citation X from Orlando to West Palm Beach.

The Experience

Me being the travel addict I am I decided to try out their service. I was down in South Florida for the weekend and by chance there was an empty leg to Orlando. How much? Well..... Only $96! Yes you read correctly. $96 to fly on a private jet and arrive in Orlando in 25 minutes. If that's not a deal I don't know what is. Once I booked the flight I was told I would be contacted by a flight specialist with the details of my flight. 15 minutes later I received a message on the app asking for my full name and how many people I would be flying with. After confirming my payment information I received an invoice and a flight itinerary. The best thing about flying private is you don't have to show up to your flight until 15 minutes before your departure. The craziest part is that you can be driven up right to the plane and not have to go through ANY security at all. It's pretty mind blowing that just because you have the money to fly private that security is no issue. There is also no separation between the cabin and the cockpit so the pilots are completely exposed. The next day I showed up to my flights 20 minutes before my flight and greeted by the pilot. The only information you need is the plane tail # so the aviation company can point you to your plane.

The pilot greeted me by my last name and said "Mr Yepes, I just need to check your id due to state law, I truly apologize for the inconvenience". That was about as much security screening as I got on this flight. Empty legs can also be shared flights if other people on the app book a seat but I was lucky that day to have the whole plane to myself. The cabin inside was fantastic and elegant.

In between each group of seats there are tables that come out for longer flights. I took a seat and the co pilot asked me If i wanted anything to drink. Every cup holder in the plane had a bottle of water which was convenient as well. I ordered a coke and waited for the pilots to close the boarding door.

The captain briefed me on the weather and the flight and advised me it would be 25 minutes before touch down in Orlando. Let me warn you, these small planes are not smooth like commercial planes. You feel the speed and you feel the shake, during take off I got nauseous for the first few minutes until the plane leveled off.

The flight was quiet and it was nice to reflect and enjoy the scenery. When I arrived in Orlando I was picked up by Signature Flight Support cart and taken to the lobby. Overall it was an amazing experience.

Membership

Now to talk about the real cost. Jetsmarters membership is $15,000 a year plus a $1,000 initiation fee. They also offer a $5,000 membership that has a lot of features taken away such as shuttles only under 3 hours.

Is it worth it? Absolutely if you have that kind of money to throw around. For people that travel only to major cities this is an amazing deal. Does it make sense for me? Unfortunately not. My travel consists of a mixture of smaller cities and major cities Jetsmarter wont take me to. They also offer a $500 membership that gives access to the empty legs on a pay per seat basis which is an attractive membership that I will most likely sign up for.  Jetsmarter also just released their luxury house feature which allows you to book houses and villas around the world for a weekly low rate. I am excited for the future of Jetsmarter and hope to use them more in the future.