Is this a proposition that would be a winner on Shark Tank? Englewood, Colorado-based private jet broker OneFlight International, which is fronted on TV commercials by Robert Herjavec, is offering customers who buy at least 50 hours in its BAJIT jet card program during March a $25,000 flight credit.
OneFlight’s unique jet card membership enables customers to select from a roster of over 75 different aircraft types on a trip-by-trip basis.
It’s a twist from the traditional category box-of-chocolates model where you choose a category – light, midsize, super-midsize, and so forth. While some operators offer aircraft-specific choices, they are usually based on their individual fleets.
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With OneFlight, for example, you select a specific aircraft type, a King Air C90, a Pilatus PC-24, or HondaJet, to a Global 6000. Each has its own one-way hourly rate. You can also switch on a flight-by-flight basis.
You pay a $15,000 joining fee, then another $95,000 for the right to buy 50 hours, so an average of $1,900 per hour. The OneFlight rate card reflects that buy-in, so you need to add it to the published hourly pricing.
For example, a King Air 100 is $2,389 per hour, plus FET, while a Citation Mustang is $2,714, a Legacy 450 is $6,767, and a Global 7500 is $15,071, plus FET.
Private Jet Card Comparisons’ exclusive QUICK COMPARE FLIGHT PRICING enables subscribers to compare flight pricing between providers. It amortizes joining fees and other fees so you can compare true head-to-head trip costs.
Ferren Rajput, CEO of OneFlight, tells Private Jet Card Comparisons the move is designed to correspond with the increased interest in travel as states roll back COVID-19 restrictions and more Americans are vaccinated.
How much is this jet card deal worth?
That depends on what type of aircraft you are flying. While everyone ends up paying the same joining fee and the fixed fee for the right to buy 50 hours on a pay-as-you-go basis, the savings are tilted towards lower-priced aircraft.
For example, if you split your flying between a Pilatus PC-12 at $2,234 per hour ($2,234 x 25 hours = $55,850) and an Eclipse 500 at $2,754 per hour ($2,754 x 25 hours = $68,850), you will spend $124,700, plus the $95,000 and $15,000 joining fee, or in total $234,700.
That means the $25,000 flight credit represents a 10.7% bonus.
If you are splitting your hours flying larger jets, for example a Citation X ($7,183 x 25 = $179,575) and Falcon 2000 ($11,081 x 25 = $277,025), you will spend $456,600, plus $95,000 and $15,000, for a total spend of $566,600.
In this case, the $25,000 flight credits represents a 4.4% added value.
Since the typical off-the-shelf discount from jet card providers is one bonus hour for every 25 hours, a 4% discount, the OneFlight deal for lower-priced aircraft is particularly attractive.
Even more than the credits, OneFlight’s offering which enables you to match specific aircraft to mission means you are never buying more than you need. For example, for one or two persons making a longer flight, say over 1,500 miles, there’s no worry about having to upgrade to a midsize jet due to range issues. Just choose a light jet that can make the flight nonstop.
You can also choose aircraft on a flight by flight basis, so you can choose one type for westbound flights where there are headwinds, and another for eastbound flights, which are often shorter due to tailwinds.
