NEW RESEARCH: Shorter private jet flights get less expensive even as jet card rates increase

Even as fixed and capped rate jet card prices edged up in Q2 2024, relaxed rules mean some short-flight flyers are seeing prices come down significantly

MIAMI, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES, July 11, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Sellers of fixed and capped-rate jet cards with guaranteed availability increased pricing in the second quarter of 2024. However, they continued to make using hours easier with fewer peak days, lower daily minimums and reduced lead time to book flights.

According to an analysis of Private Jet Card Comparisons, a buyer’s guide to private aviation flight programs that tracks over 80 jet card and fractional providers and more than 1,000 programs, the average hourly rate increased 0.8% from Q1 of 2024, when rates increased by 1%.

“It’s a good news, bad news situation,” said Doug Gollan, President and Editor-in-Chief of Private Jet Card Comparisons, adding, “After declining from their 2022 highs in 2023, jet card pricing has now stabilized and is inching back up.”

The average hourly jet card price at the end of Q2 2024 was $10,953, 6.8% less than Q4 2022 but still 30.3% higher than Q4 2020, when the CARES Act waived the 7.5% Federal Excise Tax.

Jet card rates are 23.6% higher than Q4 2019 pre-Covid.

The biggest increases have been in turboprop (+37.2%), Light (+32.7%), and Very Light (+32.6%) jets over the past five years.

By comparison, hourly pricing for Ultra-Long-Haul jets is just 12.2% higher than in Q4 2019.

At the same time, jet card sellers have been reducing daily minimums, the minimum flight time charged per day, which impacts shorter flights.

Light jet daily minimums dropped 14.6% from Q1 to Q2 2024 to 66.7 minutes, down from a high of 87.9 minutes in Q4 2021 and lower than in Q4 2019 when they stood at 78.1 minutes.

Daily minimums for midsize and super-midsize jets also dropped.

"Short flights to avoid connecting in airline hubs or long drives are a popular reason to use private jets, so the decrease in daily minimums is important for those customers,” Gollan said.

For example, a 50-minute light jet flight that would have cost $10,690 in Q4 2022 would now cost $8,885, a savings of $1,805, or 16.9%.

At the same time, the number of peak days continued to edge downwards.

Surcharges range up to 50% on peak days, there are longer lead times to book and cancel flights, and providers can typically shift departures by three hours in either direction for operational reasons, so it can often seem like they are in a different program for members.

At the end of Q2 2024, average annual peak days were down to 46.4 dates from 55.7 in Q4 2022. Still, they are more than double the 22.8 average in Q4 2019.

For non-peak callouts, the lead time to book at contracted pricing also dipped to 64.5 hours from 69.2 hours in Q1.

Still, that’s three times longer than in 2019, when the average lead time was just 23.2 hours before departure.

“Operators are seeing increased costs via pilot and maintenance tech salaries; they face higher costs for parts, and aircraft stay grounded for longer due to supply chain issues. At the same time, with demand down from Covid-peaks, flight providers are hunting for business even if they hold published rates, which means more room to negotiate. That’s good for buyers,” Gollan said.

About Private Jet Card Comparisons

Private Jet Card Comparisons is a consumer buyer's guide subscription service for private aviation programs, from on-demand charter and jet sharing to jet cards, memberships, and fractional ownership. Its database includes over 1,000 program options from more than 80 providers and more than 40,000 data points updated regularly—over 110 times so far in 2024.

Subscribers compare programs by over 65 variables in minutes, saving weeks and hours of research. Paid subscribers have access to the database and can request a custom analysis to identify the solutions and programs that best fit their flying needs.

Douglas Gollan
Private Jet Card Comparisons
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