Think you’re forever doomed to sit with your knees smashed into the seat in front of you? A life-time sentence of seating in coach? Well, think again, friend! FareCompare has tells you all about the world of private jets: a world, you too, can afford. You could be King for a day (or week or month…)

by Karlene Lukovitz

Think private jets are strictly for the likes of Oprah and The Donald?

It ain’t necessarily so. These days, mere mortals are finding that if they can afford first class, there are private jet options that are often just a little more expensive — or actually on par, cost-wise — with premium commercial.

The New First Class

What does First Class cost? Depends when you buy and where you’re going, but, you could spend literally thousands of dollars on a single ticket.

No wonder more and more folks with a yen for luxury are opting for private jets.

In fact, about 60,000 U.S. travelers are already flying by private jet (many on their own dime, not the company’s), and some estimate that its now affordable for maybe a half-million households.

Have It YOUR Way

If you’re a masochist who just loves getting up at 4 am to rush to an airport and sit around for eons, eating prefab-burritos, and deplaning with massive leg cramps, then private jets aren’t for you. But if you’re sick of that scenario, take a look at the perks of private-jetting, and drool:

• FLY WHEN YOU WANT: By reserving a private jet, you can schedule flights anytime you wish, according to your schedule
• LAST MINUTE AVAILABILITY: You can reserve a charter plane just a few hours in advance of your flight
• RUNNING LATE? NO PROBLEM: They’ll wait for you
• NO SECURITY HASSLES: Skip the lines and skip the questions about whether thats a 5oz or 3oz bottle
• PET FRIENDLY: Don’t worry about the possibility of Sparky meeting his maker while traveling as cargo; hell ride in style with you in the cabin.
• NO LOST BAGS: Yours are the only bags aboard! And not only will they be there at the end of the flight, they’ll be graciously delivered into your hands

How To Achieve Private Jet Status (5-Scenarios)

SCENARIO #1 The Billionaire Way

• GET A HOLD OF SOME MONEY: Make or inherit a fortune.
• SPEND IT: Pay $3 to $4-million for a no-frills light-jet; $20-million for the mid-size jet Tom Cruise reportedly bought for Katie Holmes; or $45-million for a Bombardier BD-700 Global Express, the choice of folks like Stephen Spielberg, Bill Gates and Celine Dion.
• SPEND MORE: Pay another $20-million, and you get a customized interior by Donatella Versace (a bargain; her interiors for a 747 cost about $200-million)

Having trouble making or inheriting a fortune? Move on to Scenario #2.

SCENARIO #2 The Occasional Charter

• CHARTER: Chartering can be cost-effective for infrequent private-flyers (10 to 20-hours a year). You can hook-up directly with one of the many on-demand charter services, but brokers like Blue Star Jets, which act as middlemen for numerous charters, generally offer more options and better prices.
• PER-HOUR CHARTERS: Costs start at about $1,500 for light jets and $2,000 for mid jets and should include the various fees, surcharges, catering and crew expenses (check out SherpaReport for more details). But if its a one-way trip, you may have to foot a deadhead cost for getting the plane back to its base.
• JET BOOKING SERVICES: OneSky Jet Network, a central booking service for private jet-setting, touts savings over standard broker deals of up to 50% between major destinations. Fortune/CNNMoney.com reports that a small jet between LA and Aspen in May that could cost about $8,000 each way through charter brokers might be had for under $6,000 through OneSky — or even under $4,000 if you’re scheduling is flexible. Even at $12,000 round-trip, you and five cost-sharing friends would pay $2,000 apiece, and a group of 10 would spring for just $1,200 each. Not so different from First Class.
• EMPTY LEG AVAILABILITY: You might also want to check out sites where charter services and individuals post available seats on private flights that have empty legs (one leg of the trip isn’t yet booked), like Private Jets.

SCENARIO #3 Charter/Fractional Jet Cards

Need to travel more than 20 hours but less than 50 per year? This may be for you:

• Many services including Delta AirElite, Bombardier Skyjet JetCard, Sentient Jet and Blue Star Jets SkyCard offer jet charter cards or memberships that work like debit cards. You pay an upfront deposit (some services minimums are $50,000; others are $100,000 and up), and the predetermined flat hourly-rates are deducted each time you fly.
• Fractional jet cards also work like debit cards, but you’re subleasing time from fractional jet ownerships (jet language for ownership- or lease-sharing deals), and the deposits are heftier than with charter cards (generally $120,000 and up for 25 hours). Options here include Bombardier’s FlexJet Card, Marquis Jet’s partnership with NetJets and others. Most services offer options ranging from 20 to 50 hours a year.

SCENARIO #4 Fractional Ownership or Leasing

If you or your company fly a lot over 50 hours a year you might even want to look into the partial ownership or lease-sharing option. Costs vary depending on flight range, capacity and your share. A 1/16th share (100 hours) is the minimum (think several hundred thousand dollars in initial outlay on a light jet, plus ongoing maintenance and other costs).

• NetJets is one of many fractional ownership programs (see SherpaReport’s handy list).

SCENARIO #5 Air Taxis: Coming Soon to a Neighborhood Near You!

• Very light jets (VLJs) are poised to take off, in more ways than one. These fuel-efficient babies can carry one to four passengers plus two pilots, and should hugely expand flight options to thousands of communities across the country over the next several years. (The FAA expects 5,000 to be flying within 10-years).
• VLJ air taxi prices are promoted as on par with first-class/business fares, twice the speed of turbo-props and most of the benefits of private jets.
• DayJet, currently serving Florida and southern Georgia (with plans to serve the whole Southeast) is officially launching its per-seat, on-demand air taxi on October 3, and Linear Air is offering per-hour rental services starting in the Boston, New York and Washington DC areas (and expand to LA and San Francisco next year).

First Class? Sure, its great, but expensive. Still want it? Then maybe you want, and need, a private jet. Check them out; you may be pleasantly surprised.