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Easily Avoidable Mistakes When Booking a Private Charter Flight

If you’re a first-time flyer when it comes to private jets, you’re probably excited to finally board one. However, you’re likely also worried that you might have missed or forgotten something. If you’re not prepared when you charter your flight, you might get a low-quality flight experience and possibly increase the risk of it not being enjoyable at all.

Make sure your private jet charter goes perfectly. Read on to learn about mistakes you can easily avoid.

Failing to Research A Charter Flight

Due to the convenience provided by applications for chartering private jets, it may seem as if all the research is being done for you. However, it’s important that you find out as much as you can about the company’s insurance policies, reputation, and possible hidden costs. If you don’t, you put yourself at risk.

Make sure the company is insured, licensed, and registered. Look for the operator’s safety ratings. A Wingman Certification, for example, is one of the most trusted indicators that an operator adheres to high standards for safety.

Not Optimizing Your Charter Flight

Don’t just pick any aircraft. Jets have different capabilities and come with different amenities. Choose an aircraft with just the right passenger capacity for your group.

If you need Wi-Fi during your flight, pick an aircraft that provides it. You may also be able to save money by not hiring personal staff on board. There’s usually a better option that an operator might not be informing you of.

Make Use of Special Offers

Most first-time fliers book flights directly through an airline’s website, causing them to miss out on offers. Ask operators about their special packages and get a cost break-up of what they include. This allows you to negotiate with the operator for a better deal.

Last Minute Booking

Last minute chartering provides you with fewer options and private operators need to check their aircrafts’ availability. Booking a flight earlier gives you more options, some of which could save you money.

Booking early is especially important for weekend flights as these tend to get sold out faster.

Unorganized Itinerary

You’ll only be able to make the most of your private jet charter if you plan ahead with an itinerary. Private jets are able to make use of shorter runways, so they have access to a lot of airstrips you’re likely not aware of.

Carefully planning your flight allows you to make use of these airstrips to land closer to your destination and save time.

Not Bringing an ID

A common mistake among first-time travelers is to not bring an ID. Proof of identity is always needed at landing. Domestic flights require a state-issued photo identification card. International flights require a passport.

Assuming Private Jets Are Highly Expensive

Chartering a private jet costs more than booking a first-class flight. However, there are ways to save money when chartering private jets. If you are traveling with a group, then the cost is split more ways, and it could even end up being lower than first-class for everyone.

Let Vault Aviation Handle Your Charter Flight

If all of the above sounds like a lot to remember, then call Vault Aviation. We take a client-first approach to on-demand private jet charters. We’ll help you make informed decisions with each flight and find the best deals to fit your needs.

Get a quote by filling out our online form or call us at 1-866-325-4569.

Points to Consider When Comparing Private Jet Companies

At a time when people live in an on-demand society — where you can book a ride-hailing service or subscribe to a television and movie streaming service with a few quick taps on your smartphone — it makes to want a hassle-free way to book your flights and travel privately.

Add in the fact that the pandemic has made air travel more technologically innovative, and it’s no surprise that people are looking for a more convenient way to travel. Private jet memberships have become increasingly popular for people who want the benefits of a private charter without the commitment of owning a jet.

However, before you apply for a jet card membership that caters to your travel needs, you must consider various factors that make your membership worthwhile.

1. Passenger Capacity

The first question you want to ask about your private jet membership is, “How many passengers can the aircraft accommodate?”

Most private jets have a limited seating capacity, with configurations as low as four to six seats per aircraft. Provide a rough estimate of how many passengers are joining your trips so you can decide whether the company’s aircraft models can accommodate your party.

2. Luggage Limitations

Another important consideration is the luggage limitation: How much luggage can you take when traveling on a private aircraft?

Commercial airlines have a large cargo capacity. But for private jets that are much smaller than commercial planes, there is a limited amount of baggage that you can take with you. Choose a company with aircraft models that can accommodate your total luggage weight and size.

3. Travel Range

Before choosing a private jet membership to apply for, answer the question, “What is the typical range of my travel destinations?”

Your destination plays a major role in the private aircraft you use because the size of an aircraft affects its range. Larger planes have greater fuel capacity, therefore having a longer travel range. Choose a jet card membership with a company that accommodates your travel range.

4. In-Flight Amenities

If you’re going to fly privately anyway, then make the most of it. Ask about the in-flight amenities that you can enjoy.

One of the most important factors, regardless of the flight duration, is Wi-Fi connectivity. It assists with work productivity and keeps you entertained. Culinary amenities are another thing to consider. After all, you’re not paying for private aviation to get bland airplane food.

5. Aircraft Availability

Finally, because private aviation is all about convenience, ensure your private jet membership has guaranteed availability.

Find out whether you can book a private flight whether you’re traveling during the off-season or on peak days. You would also want to know whether there are surcharges on high-demand days. Study the company’s reservation and cancellation policies, too, before applying for membership.

Fly Privately with Vault Aviation

If you choose to fly privately, do so with Vault Aviation. You get all the benefits of aircraft ownership without the hassle of looking after your private jet. You get to fly whenever you want to wherever you want, whether it’s for your annual vacations or for your monthly business trips.

Vault Aviation always finds the best available aircraft for your travel needs. Get a quote today.

What’s the Best Private Flight Option?

Over the past half-decade, there has been a steady decline in fractional ownership and full ownership of private jets. This is for many reasons, but especially because there are more options now for private jet charters.

Many individuals are moving towards more affordable options with more flexibility and greater choice – after all, you may only want a Light Jet for one trip but a Super Midsize or Heavy Cabin Jet for another, so owning just one jet of only one size may not be the best option for your varied needs.

Full Private Jet Ownership

The advantages are clear for owning your own private jet – you own it, meaning you have full control over times, dates, customer services, amenities, personalized features, and frequency of use.

But strengths can also be weaknesses.

Whole or full ownership means you, fully own just one aircraft, and this aircraft has to fit all of your varied needs – for work, pleasure, long-haul, and short flights. This also means no multi-departures or availability during maintenance. Additionally, there are extra repositioning fees, high initial costs, steep depreciation, and very high capital at low levels of use.

So, do the positives outweigh the negatives? For some flyers, it might! But for many, full ownership is just too high of a cost for little flexibility or variety.

For some clients, whole ownership and the associated fees (anywhere from $700,000 to $4 million in maintenance and continued costs per year) are not a deterrent for the convenience and clout of having your very own private aircraft. However, for most private flyers, this is not their preferred option.

Benefits of full private jet ownership:

  • Full control over your aircraft
  • High levels of services, customization, and initial choice
  • Low costs with high levels of use

Cons of full private jet ownership:

  • High initial investment
  • Aggressive depreciation
  • High costs with low levels of use
  • No use during maintenance
  • One aircraft for all trips – short, long, international, overnight, large group, etc.

Fractional Private Jet Ownership

Fractional ownership can most easily be explained as if you are buying a share of a fleet or plane, but issues similar to timeshares can come up because of this, in particular, the sharing.

If you are spending at the very least 100,000 dollars, then often fractional owners have difficulties agreeing on usage times, dates, and heavy-flying periods, even if the fleet is large.

Additionally, there is a time commitment involved, anything from 3-7 years, which might not be convenient for all fractional owners. How can you know your travel needs for the next 7 years? What if you find yourself needing more in-air hours or fewer? What if you require international private jet flights and your company doesn’t cater to that need? Or what if you find the service or aircraft not up to expected standards and are then locked in for multiple more years at a high cost?

It is important to note as well that there is a higher cost at a higher level of utilization for most fractional ownerships, meaning those who use private jets often are not getting the best deal from fractional ownership.

Benefits of private jet fractional ownership:

  • Sharing of costs, responsibilities, depreciation, and maintenance
  • Low costs with low utilization

Cons of private jet fractional ownership:

  • Long-term commitment
  • Sharing availability on heavy travel dates
  • Lack of flexibility for your in-air hours over the course of your time contract
  • High costs with high levels of utilization
    • The highest cost for flyers of over 150 hours per year
    • Paying for hours in addition to reoccurring ownership/management costs
    • Upfront costs can be hundreds of thousands of dollars for 1/16th ownership

On Demand Private Jet Charters

In recent years, private jet brokerage companies have found the sweet spot between technology, customer services, and inventory in order to best serve the needs of their clients. However, there are downsides to this as well, and they all stem from your brokerage and their experienced and connections in the industry.

If your broker is not full-service, as Vault Aviation is, you might have to book through multiple operators – costing you more of your time, energy, and money. This is why it is imperative to find yourself working with a full-service broker who is able to find whatever you want, whenever you want, and do it all themselves.

Benefits of On Demand private jet charters:

  • No investment in a depreciating asset
  • No fixed costs or fees
  • No contracts or time commitments
  • Only pay for the hours you use
  • More flexibility for changes in hours, days, number of flights or aircraft desired
  • Lowest cost for flyers of 50-500 hours per year

Cons of On Demand private jet charters:

  • Less control over availability if your broker isn’t well connected
  • Might need several operators if your broker isn’t full-service

Contact Vault Aviation for Your On Demand Private Jet Charter & Choose the Best Private Flight Option!

If you fly under 50 hours a year, fractional ownership could be a good option for you. If you fly over 500 hours a year, then fully owning a private jet might be worth the high ticket price. But for anyone between 50 and 500 hours – a private jet charter is the answer.

Want to get there faster on any private jet you want, anytime you want? Contact Vault Aviation and Fly Like a Champion on one of our On Demand private jet charters! We save you time, money, and hassle.

The History of Private Jet Charters & Private Flight [1903-Now]

We all know the story of the Wright brothers in 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on that early December afternoon, but what happened after? And what’s happened in the last one hundred and seventeen years to create the wealth of private flight options we know today?

As much as Vault Aviation loves luxurious flights and travel, we love the history of luxury, flight, and travel too!

The Story of Flight is Really the Story of Private Flight!

Did you know that aviation started out as private? Back in the beginning, the size of the aircraft could only really fit one or two people or passengers. However, private jet ownership didn’t begin until about sixty years later in the 1960s.

Private Aviation Grows by Leaps & Bounds: 1903-1950s

In 1927 the first nonstop trans-Atlantic flight was completed by Charles Lindbergh just twenty four years after the Wright brother’s 852 foot flight – that’s a lot of progress in under a quarter-century!

Closely following Charles Lindbergh’s success was the invention of the jet engine in 1930 by the British inventor Frank Whittle and Dr. Hans von Ohain. This revolutionized flight and propelled private aviation forward! Ohain was the first to get a private jet to successfully takeoff, with Whittle quickly following.

After the quick succession of advancement, private aviation slowed down to perfect the engine, aircraft, and their understanding of private flight for the next twenty or so years. The industry tested propeller-driven aircraft vs. jet technologies and discovered that props worked better for short hauls while jets were better for longer flights.

As private jets and private aviation grew in popularity, it was only the affluent families who owned the first private planes and jets, which usually cost about $1 million each. For comparison, private jets now cost anywhere from $3 million to $90 million! These huge costs are exactly why private jet charters began to emerge!

Private Aviation Advancements in Speed & Luxury: 1950-Now

In 1950, Lockheed released the JetStar, the first business jet that could hold ten passengers along with two crewmembers – and with this leap towards luxury, the race for the number one spot began!

In 1963, Learjet created the fastest, lightest private jet yet, with 561 MPH capabilities. In 1966, Gulfstream unveiled their large cabin private jet that could hold 19 passengers. Just four years later, Boeing released their 747 VIP Private Jet and stole the top name in luxury. And within a decade, the first airport exclusively for private jets opened its runways in Paris, France.

The next big wave didn’t arrive until the 1990s when fractional ownership of private jets began to gain popularity due to NetJets, Richard Santulli, and Warren Buffett. But there was still so much waste and little freedom in the business model. From time constraints, aircraft limitations, and other pitfalls of a ‘timeshare plane’, private aviation was still looking to perfect the experience.

Throughout the 1990s and new millennia, Cessna, Dassault, Gulfstream, Bombardier, and others continued to release bigger, faster, and more luxurious private jets, with the latest supersonic biofuel private aircrafts topping out at over $300 million each!

Private Jet Charters Beat Out Fractional & Full Ownership

The natural progression from full ownership to fractional ownership to private jet charters helped individuals who fly privately to finally have the freedom, ease, and choice that private aviation has been working towards for over one hundred years!

Instead of fully owning a plane that’s too big for some trips, too small for others, and letting it sit and collect dust for much of the year – you simply say what you want, when, to where, and you are airborne in just a couple of hours. And instead of working your schedule around all the other fractional owners (and still having a plane that is the wrong size for certain trips), you simply tell your broker what you want and they find it for you. And all at a lower cost than owning.

So, has private flight hit the ceiling? Is the time of aviation advancement finished? Absolutely not! There are still great things on the horizon for private jets and private flight, and Vault Aviation can’t wait to be a part of it!

If you want to try a private jet charter service, contact our knowledgeable team today and Fly Like a Champion with Vault!