Who Said Private Jets Have To Cost The Earth?

Jet Suite Private Jets

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I can’t be the only person who’s always thought that private jet travel is only for heads of government, big corporations, millionaires, pop stars and the occasional groupie. Well, it seems I was wrong.

JetSuite, a private jet company based out of Irvine CA, appears to be offering some pretty incredible prices for anyone wishing to fly last minute…..and to somewhere the jet happens to be going anyway. Ok, so that last bit makes the whole thing seem a lot less like something you could use in a practical way, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still some amazing deals that someone may find useful.

The Aircraft

JetSuite runs a fleet of Phenom-100 and Citation CJ3 jets that seat 4 and 6 respectively. The Phenom-100 can travel at up to 450mph and up to an altitude of 41,000 feet while the CItiations can reach 480mph and an altitude of 45,000ft – these are serious aircraft!

JetSuite Private Jets

The Deal

On a daily basis, JetSuite offers, what it calls, “Suite Deals” on its website. These deals are made available as the aircraft would otherwise fly a particular leg empty (presumably as the aircraft is positioned to a city/airport where it is needed) and, according to CEO Alex Wilcox, the company would rather sell the seats at a discount than have them fly empty.

The Cost

For a last minute booking the fares range from $536 to $1,499 for one leg on either a 4-seater Phenom-100 or 6-seater Citation CJ3 –  and that’s the cost for the whole plane!

Flight availability and costs vary from day to day and from route to route but here’s an example that available, online, as I type this right now:

JetSuite Last Minute Deals

It would cost you $536.43 to hire a private jet to fly you, and up to three others, from Las Vegas to Phoenix, Arizona. That’s $134 each! If you happen to need to do that journey that’s a price that just can’t be beaten.

Out of the two flights available one looks great and the other pretty pointless –  I really can’t see why anyone would part with money to fly between Burbank and Santa Monica. But the Vegas-Phoenix flight looks interesting. I’ve done the drive between those two cities and I would happily pay not to have to endure over 4.5 hours of boredom again!

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As for commercial airlines – A quick Kayak search show that a one-way ticket on a commercial airline for the same journey would cost $148 – and for that you get to share the plane with a hundred-or-so strangers.

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What would you prefer? A private 4-seater jet or a Delta Airbus A320?

Clearly these deals aren’t for everyone (especially not for those who like to plan ahead!) but JetSuite claim to fly to more than 2,600 airports in the United States so you never know when they’ll offer something that’s useful for you.

I’m not saying that I’ll be flying private jets from now on but, the next time I feel like doing a last minute trip to Vegas I’ll definitely be checking the JetSuites site before I head to Kayak, Expedia or any other travel site – I quite like the idea having of my own private jet for a few hours.