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How much is it to travel in a private jet in 2024? We outline the cheapest way to book a private and why private jets are better and faster than flying on commercial airlines.
How Much Is Private Jet Travel?
- Private Jets can be rented for around $2,000 USD per hour
- Longer range Private Jets can cost as much as $12,000 USD per hour
- The average cost of a Private Jet rental is around $5,000 USD per hour
- A Cheaper private jet option is to take a private jet journey
Most of our readers book into luxury hotel brands like Four Seasons, Aman, Mandarin Oriental, Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott, and Belmond. They book via our luxury travel concierge to get prioritized room upgrades as well as resort credit, breakfast for two, and welcome amenities. But most still fly by standard commercial carrier to get to their luxury hotel.
Below, we investigate the cost of private jet travel and whether it is a feasible option for most luxury travelers.
How Much Is Private Jet Travel?
Turboprops and Executive Light Jets are the cheapest jets to charter. Usually, private plane flights are purchased by flight hours, which start at around $2,000 USD per hour in America, for these smaller planes.
As you increase the size and range of the jet, the rates of renting a whole plane rise to around $12,000 USD per hour.
Prices are reduced if you buy a seat from a private jet share company. These companies allow you to buy a space on a private jet that is already planning to fly to your destination.
Over in Europe, the private jet hire of an entire bombardier plane starts at around €6,000 EUR per hour.
Taking the European jet as an example, it would cost around €12,000 EUR to travel one way from London to Nice for a trip to Four Seasons Cap Ferrat. While this sounds like a lot, if you can round up enough friends, this may not be such a bad deal.
Equally, if you are a family of 8 who would usually travel Club Europe on British Airways and book at the last minute, you will probably pay around €4,000 EUR return, so flying on a private jet is expensive but not as large a jump in price as you would think.
When Is It Cheapest To Book Your Private Jet
The cheapest time to book your private jet flight is usually around one month before you depart. You can also try to pick up a deal at the last minute, which can sometimes be cheaper if there is an aircraft available.
How Much Faster Is Private Jet Travel?
For my family, it takes 2 hours to drive to London Heathrow. We need to be at the airport around 2 hours before departure, and I always like to have one hour spare in case of bad traffic. It therefore costs us 5 hours per person before the flight takes off.
Admittedly I quite enjoy the hour or so that we spend in the best airport lounges at London Heathrow but this is time wasted nonetheless.
If we were to travel by private jet, my partner and I would not waste around 10 hours between us. The value you might put on this time depends on how long your holidays are and also how much your salary pays per hour. Suffice it to say, that knocking the 10-hour waiting time on your departure journey does have some value.
Should You Fly By Private Jet?
If you can afford it, private jet travel is appealing on the face of it. The more luxurious seating and cabin, the fact that you are not sardine canned in with a large number of strangers who may pass colds to you, and the time saving all make private jet travel very appealing.
Add the hassle of lost luggage and carousels, and yet more time is saved. British Airways has recently lost my baggage twice recently, which is stressful, inconvenient, and costly. My travel insurance only covers £1,000 GBP per case, which is not sufficient to replace everything that I travel with.
My insurance will not offer new prices for used items, even if they are in perfect condition, so the possibility of lost luggage is a problem and a cost with commercial airlines that is completely negated with private jet travel.
For me, what makes private jet travel less appealing is the environmental impact. Until planes can fly solely on batteries that can be recharged or biofuel, private jet travel is bad for our planet. I hope (although doubt) that all those who can afford to private jet offset their travel with a contribution to reforestation or seagrass growth-type projects. For me, this is the nail in the coffin for private jet travel, although I have great respect for those who fly private jets and offset their carbon footprint accordingly.
Whichever way you look at it, flying by private jet ethically without increasing your carbon footprint adds a significant additional cost to your private jet travel.
What’s the cheapest private jet?
Private jet journeys can offer the cheapest private jet option if you are looking to vacation via a private jet.
Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts have an all-new Four Seasons Private Jet, evoking air travel’s bygone glamour and thoughtful, guest-centric design.
Four Seasons Hotels And Resorts are not the only hotel company that offers private jet journeys. Aman Hotels and Abercrombie & Kent are just two other suppliers that offer similar private jet journeys between their hotels and the hotels they partner with. But in this extremely high-end but competitive marketplace, the new Four Seasons jet looks like it will take the top spot.
If you book one of these private jet journeys, you will be sharing your jet with a group of discerning travelers who want to fly in a more luxurious environment than commercial, avoiding all the faff of commercial airports and usually for a more competitive price per hour flown.
The Four Seasons private jet tour of Hawaii, for example, is available through December 1, 2024. The eight-night experience, including private jet transfers from California, is $227,000 USD (excluding tax and fees) in an Ocean-View Guest Room.
Crucially, this also includes the cost of the hotel rooms for this 8-night period and includes the 6-hour flight to Hawaii in a long range private jet, making the package a very good deal if you like the look of the best Four Seasons in Hawaii.
Alternatively, if you don’t want to go to Hawaii, we have reviewed some more of the best private jet vacations which will inspire you on alternative destinations.
Private jet journeys offer the cheapest way to fly by private jet once you account for accommodation at the best Four Seasons hotels, extras, transfers and the distance flown, although the upfront cost is hefty.
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