Learn to Fly Private

Welcome to the 17th edition of "Learn to Fly Private".

Today, I'm going to explain to you the truth behind many of the private jet memberships or jet cards.. After reading this, I hope you'll be able to make a more informed decision on your private flying in the charter world.

If you're interested in whole aircraft ownership, you might be more interested in popular past issues like How To Read an Aircraft Listing or A Subscriber Bought an $8.4m Challenger 300. Or, if you want to go on a binge and learn more information from the past 16 issues, you can find all of them cataloged nicely for you here. I

​

Were you forwarded this email? Join over 2000 others who are learning how to fly private. Subscribe

Do you have a specific question about private aviation that you want an insiders opinion on? You can book a free 15 minute consult call with me using this link. I don't charge you, but most people I talk to say they find it useful.

As always, I love to hear your feedback and making these newsletters as helpful as possible, so feel free to reply to this email or DM me on X (formerly Twitter) at @prestonholland6.

Now let's dive in...

The Truth About Jet Cards and Private Jet Memberships

Today's edition of the newsletter was inspired by a piece in Bloomberg about Patrick Britton-Harr, the founder of Aerovanti. I interviewed Patrick in the fall of 2022 for a streaming show I hosted called BusinessAir TV, which was a precursor to this newsletter. We didn't release the interview because I consistently found holes in his argument of how the financial model made sense, only charging $1,500 an hour plus a $1,500 in monthly membership fee to fly on a Piaggio Avanti. This came after another membership program based out of Clearwater, Florida Avantair tried this with the same airplane. The irony was not lost on me or anyone else in the business aviation community how close their names were.

The story of these two, and recently the fractional operator Jet It, inspired me to break down how these business models work and to explain the actual value you're getting out of a jet card/membership program and more importantly, where it can go wrong.

Jet Card vs. a Private Jet Membership

Let's define both of these terms, because they function differently in the economics of how the programs are administered.

Jet Cards: What Does It Mean?

In the traditional definition of a Jet Card, think of it like a pre-paid debit card for future flights on a particular type of aircraft. You pay the operator of the jet card a pre paid deposit in exchange for future flights at a "favorable rate." This would make sense, right? You're hedging your bets in the future.

Unfortunately, it's sometimes just clever marketing for chartered trips.

With the exception of fractional operators like Netjets, Airshare, or Volato, most jet card operators don't own and operate their own fleets. This means they go to the open market to find your flight. On many jet cards, you will actually pay above market rate on an hourly basis by 5-15% depending on the class of aircraft.

Buyer Beware: Do the Calculations

Know what you're actually paying for. Some jet cards are in disguise, and the lump sum up front is not for actual hours flown. For instance, there is a jet card that costs $110,000 for 10 days of access to the card. You then pay $4,400 per hour to fly on a Phenom 300. Or, on the Jettly card, you pay 6 figures up front for 100 hours, which locks in an hourly rate that you will pay per trip. When doing a calculation, make sure you're taking the initial upfront cost into your hourly consideration, as many of these jet cards are actually more expensive per hour than the open market.

So why would I buy one?

Many are looking for convenience when booking. You will enjoy a dedicated booking team, clear communication, and good customer service (at least that's what they promise). You also may be able to lock in rates at a discount, but you are really just paying for convenience. Before purchasing a jet card, I encourage you to subscribe to Private Jet Card Comparisons (this is an affiliate link). For $250 before you make a 6 figure investment, it seems like a no-brainer.

Some popular jet card providers (none of these are affiliate links):

• ​Sentient Jet​
• ​Magellan Jets​
• ​Netjets Jet Card​
• ​Nicholas Air​

Jet Cards Disguised as "Memberships"

• ​Fly Exclusive​
• ​Vista Jet​

Private Jet Memberships

In traditional private jet memberships, you'll pay a monthly or annual fee to maintain your access to the private flights. The one everyone knows about is Wheels Up, with pricing starting at an initiation fee of $2,995 and annual dues of $2,495. You don't actually have any rate lock or guaranteed dates with this membership and it's an expensive way to access to an app that allows you to book flights.
​

The promise is that members get access to discounted rates or locked in rates based on paying some sort of annual premium. This became very popular during the pandemic, because private aviation has experienced so many new entrants that they could charge whatever they wanted to and people would pay it. One of my favorite quotes I've heard is, "there is a large group of people that are going from Wheels Up back to Comfort Plus."

The marketing language will say that a membership is "perfect for someone flying 25+ hours per year." The real reason is they don't have to acquire you as a customer again in the future because you are now committed to their program for a period of time.

These memberships sometimes do and sometimes don’t include a required lump sum on deposit. You may get preferential treatment if you do place some sort of “flight deposit” ahead of time.

Some membership operations out there:

• ​Wheels Up​
• ​Volato​
• ​Vista Jet​
• ​Jettly​

Again, when looking in to a membership, be sure to calculate your membership fees across how many hours you'll actually be flying. This is how you calculate your effective rate.

How They Are The Same

They both traditionally operate under Part 135, which is an FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) regulation which has specific rules around pilot training and qualification, operational standards, and other regulations designed to make it safer for the general public. Part 135 is defined as non-scheduled, commercial aircraft operations. This means you are hiring the aircraft and crew for an on-demand trip that wasn't regularly scheduled. This is the same regulation that governs a trip that you charter through a charter broker. If you want to go deeper on this, I wrote about it here.

A Word of Warning

Any membership or jet card that requires a large deposit for flight hours comes with risk. In the example of Avantair, they offered an elite level of membership that cost $150,000. That money is all gone now, and there are around 10 members suing the operator for their money back. You must be confident in the operational longevity of an operator to put any sort of deposit down.

Do your research and make sure that it is a trusted brand with seasoned operators. There is a laundry list of providers in the private aviation space that have promised the world, but have left many holding the bag. There are bad actors out there that are looking to take advantage of people with the means to fly private. Always be wary of a deal that is too good to be true, because chances are it probably is.

The Alternative: A Good Charter Broker

I'm not a charter broker, but this is my plug for one. If you are looking to fly private and have someone who is going to get truly market pricing, a good broker is going to be your best bet. An experienced charter broker is going to have a network of operators that fits your trip criteria and can find true market pricing. As we come down off of the post-pandemic high, there are going to be operators that want to put demand into their airplane. A good charter broker will be able to find that for you.

Aviation is a niche market, and there has yet to be a good technology aggregator of supply and demand in the charter market. Wheels Up promised to investors it would, but even with their scale they're not able to achieve the level of customer service and the market pricing demanded by today's charter customers.

​

Until next week,

Preston Holland

Dive Deeper on These Topics

Wheels Up, Volato, and the 'Democratization of Private Aviation' Read article

Choosing Your Private Jet Membership Wisely Read article