Private on-demand air charter—also known as ad hoc charter—is a process by which you book a whole aircraft for private charter, which could be for a one-way flight, an empty-leg flight or a round-trip flight. Private on-demand air charter as opposed to jet card memberships or fractional-share aircraft programs (that require advance payments for future flights), is paid on a trip-by-trip basis. In other words, rather than investing your money—up to a million dollars—for future flight hours, private on-demand air charter is a pay-as-you-go method.
Does Private On-demand Air Charter Save Money?
Private on-demand air charter offers a wide variety of aircraft types to choose from— turboprops, light jets, midsize jets, super midsize jets, heavy jets and executive-configured airliners. Sounds good, right? However, does private on-demand air charter really save you money versus paying in advance for future flight hours? The answer is simple. Yes, because you are not tying up hundreds of thousands of dollars—betting that promised future flight hours will be available. Not only that, but say you invest $500,000 on future flights through a jet card or membership program, your money is not working for you. Your money could be at risk. In fact, many people have lost their investments on future-flight charter hours because the charter provider filed bankruptcy.
As for pre-paid jet cards or membership programs, you also have to factor in that you are not getting any special deals, albeit there is plenty of marketing hype that says otherwise. The fact is that private on-demand air charter provides consumers the same (if not better) aircraft quality and availability with benefits. In today’s economy, why would anyone want to give a company hundreds of thousands of dollars in advance for the promise of flying on a private aircraft? Anyone can book a private plane, but investing huge amounts of money in advance may not be a smart move.
Despite the marketing hype by charter providers that sell pre-paid future air charter hours, the fact is that there is no such thing as a free ride. As a consumer of private on-demand air charter, you need to know what you are really getting for your money. Have you ever heard the term “private jet hedging”? Private jet hedging is a program we developed that helps consumers determine what options are best through a complimentary third-party validation. Next time you plan to utilize private aircraft, it certainly is worth the time to see what you’re getting for your money.
Nevertheless, more and more companies and individuals are discovering that private on-demand air charter is the most reliable option for chartering a private plane. On-demand charter is a cost-effective way to fly from point A to point B. This method of air charter also affords business people to fly city pairs and return to the office or home that same day; you cannot depend on commercial airline travel and accomplish the same.
