Usually traveling via private jet meant that you had to either own the jet, charter it or lease it. Now all of that has changed with private jet cards.

When security, privacy and convenience are important and money is no object, then upscale travel via private jets is an option. If this is not the case, then see our article on First Class Air Travel to select the best airlines and seat.

Many companies own their own jets and some lease them to ferry around corporate executives. Ditto if you are a movie star, TV celebrity or rock star. You'll definitely avoid long check-ins, long security lines and the paparazzi with this option.

Private Jet Cards- another option
A third way to travel via private jet is to use a private jet card. This is more economical if you fly less than 50 hours a year. Here's how it works.

1. You pay $25,000 to a company that entitles you to use various jets in the companies fleet,
2. You pay only for the time you are in the air (wheels up to wheel down)
3. You can choose from a variety of jet aircraft,
4. You can take as many people on the aircraft as it can accommodate.

Time is Money
Twenty five hours on a Citation V Ultra jet costs about $116,000 or $4,640 per hour or $663 per person. So a roundtrip flight from New York to West Palm Beach Florida will take about 5.6 hours and cost about $1,856 per person (Call it $2,000).

A comparable round trip flight on Sun Country Airlines booked for February 1st and returning February 4th will cost about $783 round trip per person.

Factor in getting to the airport about an hour and 30 minutes before your flight on Sun Country's flight and that you will virtually eliminate check in time with a private jet.

Marquis Private Jet and Sentient Jet are two well known companies that offer private jet cards and this service. If you exhaust the amount on the card, you just add to it and off you go. Aircraft are also available for European and Asian travel.

Who uses it and where do they go?
Warren Buffet, other corporate executives, and many movie, television and music celebrities all use private jets. Some of the more popular destinations for users of private jet cards are:

1. Palm Beach, Florida
2. Aspen, Colorado
3. St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles
4. Los Cabos, Mexico
5. Sun Valley, Idaho
6. The Bahamas
7. Jackson Hole, Wyoming
8. Las Vegas, Nevada
9. Anguilla, British West Indies
10. Palm Springs, California

Resources

• Luxury Air Travel in Southern Magazine [PDF]
• Success- When Private Jets make Sense [PDF]
• Vanity Fair Magazine [PDF]
• Miami Herald Article on Prepaid Jet Cards