NEW RESEARCH: Jet Card Hourly Prices, Policies Were In a Holding Pattern During Q1 2024

Published jet card private jet prices increased by 1% in Q1 2024, and despite being down from the peak, were 22.6% higher than 2019 pre-Covid levels MIAMI, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES, April 15, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Is no news good news? According to an analysis of U.S. programs by Private Jet Card Comparisons, jet card hourly rates, callouts, and peak days during the first 90 days remained much the same as at the end of 2023. So what does it mean?

The analysis includes programs with guaranteed availability and fixed or capped hourly rates.

"After falling for most of 2023, published jet card rates were flat in the first quarter of 2024," said Doug Gollan, President and Editor-in-Chief of the private aviation buyers guide.

He added, "While demand is down, costs are up, so flight providers are trying to hold the line."

Private Jet Card Comparisons is a paid subscription buyer's guide that compares over 1,000 fractional ownership, jet card, and membership options from over 80 providers based on more than 65 factors that impact which program best meets the flyer's specific travel needs.

In terms of policy changes, Gollan said, "Jet card and membership flight providers are being cautious in how much they cut the minimum time to book guaranteed prices and the number of peak days in their programs.

The nature of jet cards for sellers is that they make money on some flights and lose money on others, and these policies can impact the number of losers."

Q1 2024 Jet Card Pricing: Overall, the average hourly rate for jet cards at the end of Q1 2024 was $10,862 compared to $10,754 per hour at the end of 2023, a 1% increase.

However, it is down 7.5% from December 2022, when the average hourly rate peaked at $11,748.

That's still 29.2% above the $8,405 per hour low in December 2020 when the CARES Act eliminated the 7.5% Federal Excise Tax.

Compared to December 2019, before the Covid-led demand surge, private jet flights today are 22.6% more expensive.

The biggest segment, light jet flyers, currently pay an average of $7,919 per hour, including fuel surcharges and tax.

That's equal to Q4 2023 and 6.4% down from Q4 2022. It's also 41.4% higher than Q4 2020 and 31.5% more than Q4 2019, before Covid.

Very Light Jet and Turboprop flyers also pay slightly over 30% more than before the pandemic.

Larger jets – Ultra-Long-Haul (+11.8%), Large Cabin (+17.0%), and Super-Midsize (+18.3%) – have seen the lowest hourly price increase since 2019.

A nice data point for flyers who make short flights is that daily minimums have also stabilized.

Daily Minimums are the minimum flight time charged in a day, even if your flight takes less time. For example, if your program has a 90-minute daily minimum, and you take one 45-minute flight that day, you are still charged the daily minimum of 90 minutes.

The daily minimums for the light jet (72.9 minutes) and midsize jet (79.0 minutes) are both below 2019 levels.

While Super Midsize daily minimums are now flat with pre-Covid, large cabin flyers find daily minimums 20% higher than they used to be.
The less-than-good news is that peak days continue to hold steady at an average of 47.5 days per year, in line with Q4 2023, but double their level in 2020.

The bad news is they are double pre-Covid days when the average program had just 22.8 pea days per year.

Since peak days often carry longer booking and cancelation terms, the ability to shift departures by +/- 3 hours, and surcharges as much as 100%, flying on these high-demand dates can be like another program.
Also, staying static was callouts.

The minimum non-peak lead time to book your guaranteed pricing was 69.2 hours prior to your flight, down one-tenth of a point since December.
However, that's triple the average callout before Covid when it was under 24 hours before departure.

About Private Jet Card Comparisons

Private Jet Card Comparisons is a consumer buyer's guide subscription service for private aviation programs, from on-demand charter and jet sharing to jet cards, memberships, and fractional ownership. Its database includes over 1,000 program options from more than 80 providers and more than 40,000 data points updated regularly—over 70 times so far in 2024.

Subscribers compare programs by over 65 variables in minutes, saving weeks and hours of research. Paid subscribers have access to the database and can request a custom analysis to identify the solutions and programs that best fit their flying needs. On May 1, 2024, the subscription price increases from $250 to $500 per year.

Douglas Gollan
Private Jet Card Comparisons
[email protected]
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