Jet Card Flight Prices Drop 8.8% As Decreasing Daily Minimums Offset Hourly Rate Increases in Q4

While jet card prices increased by 21% in 2022, decreasing daily minimums offset rate hikes for shorter flights, according to Private Jet Card Comparisons

MIAMI, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES, January 4, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Fixed and capped hourly rate, guaranteed availability jet cards, and private jet memberships saw a 4.9% quarter-to-quarter increase from Q3 2022 to Q4 2022, with the average hourly price climbing to $11,748 across all categories. It caps a year of increases for jet cards, with hourly rates having risen 21.0% since December 2021.

However, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Daily Minimums (The minimum amount charged per day) decreased to pre-Covid levels for Light, Midsize, and Super Midsize private jets, negating the recent hourly rate increases for shorter flights and actually bringing some flight costs down.

Overall Daily Minimums dropped from a Q2 2022 high of 109.3 minutes to 94.7 minutes in Q4 2022, although still higher than the pre-Covid low of 86.2 minutes in Q4 2019. The result was the cost of shorter flights dropped by 8.8%.

Using Q4 data, at an $11,748 jet card average per hour rate x 94.7 minutes as the daily minimum, the minimum average jet card flight would be $18,542. In Q3, at an $11,200 jet card average per hour rate x 100.3 minutes as the average daily minimum, the minimum average jet card flight was $18,704. Similarly, the minimum average jet card flight was $20,374 at the Q2 peak for daily minimums.

Additionally, the average cost for fixed-rate jet cards beat on-demand charter pricing in 5 of 12 different flight scenarios we track quarterly. The average flight price for fixed/capped rate Jet Cards and Memberships with guaranteed availability essentially matched to lowest on-demand flight costs, $27,738 versus $27,853.

Fixed-rate, guaranteed availability jet cards require either a deposit or a joining/membership fee. On-demand charters are arranged trip-by-trip with dynamic pricing that varies day-to-day and route to route.

Jet Card Pricing – December 2022 (Guaranteed Availability, Fixed/Capped Hourly Rate Programs)

Q4 2022 Jet Card hourly rates, including hourly cost, fuel surcharge, supplemental charges, and the 7.5% Federal Excise Tax.

- Turboprops averaged $7,348 per hour at the end of Q4, up 11.2% from the end of Q3 2022, up 22.8% from Dec. 2021, and up 65.0% from Dec. 2020
- Very Light Jets averaged $8,379 per hour, up 13.7% from Q3 2022, up 24.6% from Dec. 2021, and up 64.2% from Dec. 2020
- Light Jets averaged $8,462 per hour, up 5.2% from Q3 2022, up 21.3% from Dec. 2021, and up 51.1% from Dec. 2020
- Midsize Jets averaged $9,806 per hour, up 4.9% from Q3 2022, up 22.8% from Dec. 2021, and up 40.9% from Dec. 2020
- Super Midsize Jets averaged $12,675 per hour, up 4.6% from Q3 2022, up 19.9% from Dec. 2021, and up 37.9% from Dec. 2020
- Large Cabin Jets averaged $16,108 per hour, up 5.5% from Q3 2022, up 26.1% from Dec. 2021, and up 33.0% from Dec. 2020
- Ultra-Long-Haul Jets averaged $20,646 per hour, up 2.6% from Q3 2022, up 21.4% from Dec. 2021, and up 34.8% from Dec. 2020
- Overall, the average hourly rate for fixed/capped rate jet card programs is now $11,748, up 4.9% from Q3 2022, up 21.0% from Dec. 2021, and up 39.8% from Dec. 2020

Jet card prices include North American providers currently selling or renewing fixed/capped-rate jet card programs and memberships with guaranteed availability.

READ the Full Q4 Private Jet Pricing Report²

"While Jet Card hourly rates continue to increase, lowering Daily Minimums means savings for shorter flights," said Doug Gollan, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Private Jet Card Comparisons¹, which provides data-driven comparisons for consumers of private aviation jet card, membership, charter, and fractional ownership programs.

"In 2022, we updated our database of over 250 programs 106 times, so companies are constantly tweaking and adjusting their pricing and policies. Since fixed-rate jet card and membership pricing is often guaranteed for 12 months, the data suggests that customers who have been buying for future needs saved significant money over current pricing," said Gollan, adding, "The changes in Daily Minimums are a good example that what you pay is often be driven by the fine print in your contract."

QUICK COMPARE FLIGHT PRICING enables paid subscribers of Private Jet Card Comparisons to compare Jet Card and Membership fixed/capped flight prices based on flight minutes, daily minimums, taxi time, membership fees, as well as peak day surcharges.

Fixed Rates vs. Dynamic Pricing

Fixed-rate jet cards give users contracted hourly pricing, typically available nationally and even internationally with some programs, so members don't have to get quotes for each trip but know ahead of time how much the flight will cost based on their fixed or capped hourly rate. Dynamic pricing varies based on the route, demand when you are going, and other factors and can change daily.

The 12 head-to-head scenarios we track between fixed-rate, guaranteed availability jet cards and on-demand charter include both busy markets such as Miami-New York and less frequented routes such as Oklahoma City-Pittsburgh. The scenarios cover light, midsize, super-midsize, and large cabin jets. On-demand pricing used is from bookable hard quotes from five different brokers, so the comparison uses actual pricing for both cards and on-demand charter instead of estimates.

The average of the lowest dynamic pricing charter prices for the 12 flight scenarios was $27,853 each way, with a high average price of $40,868. The average price for all jet cards in the Private Jet Card Comparisons database was $27,738.

The flight scenarios included were for one-way pricing between Jan. 5 and Jan. 25, 2023, and included: OPF-TEB, Light Jet; OKC-PIT, Light; BFI-PSP, Light; OPF-TEB, Midsize Jet; PDK-HOU, Midsize; ASE-MSY, Midsize; OPF-TEB, Super Mid Jet; OKC-PIT, Super Mid; BFI-PSP, Super Mid; OPF-TEB, Large Jet; ASE-MSY, Large; BFI-PSP, Large.

As typical on-demand pricing was lowest on high-traffic routes, beating jet cards across all categories OPF-TEB. For example, the lowest on-demand light jet price was $16,807 on the route compared to the average jet card price of $23,750. At the same time, the high quote for on-demand charters was $29,745.

Daily Minimums

Daily Minimums were a bright note for consumers.

Daily Minimums impact shorter flights in that if your flights during the day are less than the Daily Minimum, you pay the higher Daily Minimum amount.

- Overall Daily Minimums dropped from a Q2 2022 high of 109.3 minutes to 94.74 minutes in Q4 2022, although still higher than the pre-Covid low of 86.2 minutes in Q4 2019.
- Daily Minimum for Light Jets was down to 75.8 minutes in Q4 2022 from 104.0 minutes in Q2 2022 and in line with 78.1 minutes in Q4 2019.
- After spiking to 105.9 minutes for Midsize Jets in Q2 2022, Q4 2022 Daily Minimum dropped to 83.0 minutes, lower than 83.7 minutes in December 2019.
- Super Midsize Daily Minimums are now lower than pre-Covid at 94.1 minutes in Q4 2022, down from 95.7 minutes in Q4 2019 and 110.3 minutes in Q2 2022.
- Large Cabin Daily Minimums dropped to 110.2 minutes in Q4, down from their Q2 high of 130.5 minutes, but still above 101.4 minutes in Q4 2019.

"The data continues to show that for flyers looking for the best pricing, they need to be flexible and will need to use multiple solutions, between cards, memberships, and on-demand charter," Gollan noted.

About Private Jet Card Comparisons

Private Jet Card Comparisons is a consumer buyer's guide subscription service to private aviation programs, from on-demand charter and jet sharing to jet cards, memberships, and fractional ownership. Its database includes over 250 programs and more than 40,000 data points updated regularly. Subscribers compare programs by over 65 variables in minutes, saving weeks and hours of research. They can also receive a complimentary custom analysis identifying the best solutions, providers, and programs for their specific needs.

Doug Gollan
Private Jet Card Comparisons
+1 917-328-6518
doug.gollan@privatejetcardcomparisons.com

WATCH NOW: Explaining Jet Card and Private Jet Membership Pricing at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HTZ6YJSjHU&t=3s

¹ https://privatejetcardcomparisons.com/
² https://privatejetcardcomparisons.com/2023/01/03/q4-report-2022-private-jet-price-for-jet-cards-rose-21-last-year/