Many people are flying private jet services for the first time. Here’s what they’re paying

Private air trips are thriving under the pandemic.

In fact, interest is so high that many private aircraft companies have a different problem of their hands: stay up with demand.

The Vistajet Private Aviation Company said the new memberships for the first half of 2021 have increased 53% compared to 2020, and Europe contributed the largest number of new members (51%) during this period.

“It is not surprising that ‘Trips Chárter’ searches have increased by 520% ​​in the last 12 months,” said Naveen Dittakavi, CEO of the Next Vacay flight site. “The searches for ‘If you wanted to take a private plane’ have increased by 1,100% in the last 12 months worldwide.”

The majority of people who can luxury privately fly, said Gregg Brunson-Pitts, founder of Advanced Aviation Team, a private jet corridor based in Virginia. Pandemia caused some of those people to reserve private planes, many for the first time.

“People … They got out of the sea,” he said. “They were not just rich people with media, governments used them. They were a way of moving supplies, so our business picked up quite quickly even during closing.”

Brunson-Pitts, who was the director of the White House Travel Office during the second term of President George W. Bush, acknowledged that Jet’s charter prices are not as transparent as the commercial flight. But there are reasons for this, he said.

Unlike a commercial flight, where passengers fly on the same plane at the same time on the same date, charter planes vary considerably according to size and service (none vs. “VIP catering and flight attendees”), said Brunson -Pitts. Due to the increase in demand, flexibility around travel dates also affects prices, he said.

As such, a flight for a family of four from New York City to Washington, DC, could easily vary from $ 10,000 to $ 50,000, he said, depending on the requirements of customers.

To have a broader idea around prices, CNBC spoke with newly converted private flyers about how much they paid for their first flights during the pandemic.

Name: Jarrett Preston
Profession: CEO of the International Assets Commerce Commerce

Preston said it was “a very occasional private steering wheel” before the pandemic.

“I fought for years with the costs and benefits of private trips,” Preston said. “As the global pandemic moved to full peak and the flights were drastically reduced or redirected, the lines became longer (and) violence on board airplanes, I decided that private air trips were necessary.”

He paid around $ 10,500 to fly from tampa to Miami and back with the Monarch Air Group letter -based in Florida.

“Beyond incalculable time savings, my safety and that of my family and my team are the first,” he said. “It has been one of the best commercial and personal decisions I have taken.”

Name: Ahmad Sahroni
Profession: Entrepreneur and politician

As a member of the Popular Representative Council, one of the two elected agencies in the Legislative Branch of Indonesia, Sahroni said he began to fly privately for “security, privacy and comfort.”

He paid around $ 36,000 for his first flight, which was with the Indonesian Aviation Company CEOJETSET. Bali flew to the country’s capital of the country.

“As a person with high mobility … time efficiency is also the key factor,” he said.

As if it plans to continue flying privately after the pandemic it decreases: “Yes, definitely.”

Name: Steven Sadaka
Profession: CEO of the executive search firm Stevendanduglas

Sadaka often leaves Miami International Airport.

“It is very stressful to go through such a large international airport. There are endless lines through security and treat you as a number,” he said. “This was always a point of pain for me, but I could never justify (spending) $ 6,000 per hour for a charter plane.”

The company with which now flies, Jet It, costs around $ 1,600 per hour, he said. He paid $ 8,000 for a round trip from Boca Raton, Florida, Tetterboro, New Jersey, for his first flight.

Sadaka said that private jet trips “eliminates all trip stress.” Now, he said, he won’t come back.

“I can arrive five minutes before takeoff, a car is waiting at my destination and I don’t have to worry about cancellations,” he said. “I can travel at my time, even if it changes.”

Instead of a charter service, Jet It operates through a fractional property model that requires buyers to pay a unique investment of $ 630,000 and monthly installments of $ 4,500 per month for five years. The owners can cancel the acquisition cost, and the company buys the participation of the property at the end of the term, according to a Jet It representative.

Name: Derrick L. Miles
Profession: Founder and CEO of Health Tech Company Courmed

Miles made the change for two reasons: SAVINGS OF TIME AND SECURITY COVID-19.

“Travel delays, spending time in long lines can negatively affect our organization’s ability to get more achievements every day,” he said. “Time is money.”

He is now flying with JSX, a service with headquarters in Dallas that operates 30 -seat airplanes in the United States. On his first flight, he paid $ 1,200 to fly and turn from Dallas to Miami.

“While JSX does not operate a true charter service, I personally prefer his ‘Hop on’ Jet service,” said Miles. “They have pre -established flights to go to certain destinations, and I can travel at a more modest price.”

The biggest benefit, according to thousands: “Recovering my time.”

“I don’t have to go to the private hanger up to 20 to 30 minutes before the game,” he said. “In addition, the JSX parking is about 20 meters from the installation. Therefore, I am saving hours of time and I can concentrate on the liquidity, profitability and growth of the company.”

Name: Brandon Ham
Profession: Investment Manager in the financial industry

It is not in a jet, but the ham flies in the most private way possible: pilot your own plane.

Lessons began to fly just before the pandemic began, he said. In September, he bought a single -engine piston plane CIRRUS SR22.

He declined to share the cost of the plane, but said that certified airplanes reach “seven figures quickly”, while the new jets cost “many millions.” He said that it is much more expensive to own and fly his own plane than to fly commercially in first class seats. However, renting a plane with a professional pilot is even more expensive, he said.

“The purchase price only counts part of the story,” he said. “Operating costs and maintenance are massive expenses with all airplanes, with airplanes that usually cost thousands of dollars per hour to operate.”

The largest aspect of the property of the plane is the flexibility, that the services of the tall letter, said Ham.

“If you feel like sleeping, you can. If you wonder if you have time to finish your golf round or take another race for the mountain, you can,” he said.

But there are also inconveniences.

“The cost is surely one of them, and the fact that the plane has no bathroom, no food and drink … My plane will also fly much slower than a commercial jet,” Ham said.

However, time is saved “on the floor,” he said, and added that door to the door, from his department in Chicago to his sister’s house in Nashville, it is faster to fly his own plane.

Ham did not fly privately before becoming a pilot, he said, adding that he will continue to fly commercially, especially to go abroad.

Clarification: This report has been updated to reflect more precise costs associated with Jet It.