While NetJets previously said it would suspend jet card sales at least until next year, it is now offering renewals.
The private aviation industry’s biggest player, NetJets, has restarted jet card sales.
It was the first major provider to suspend jet card sales back in August 2021 as the market crescendoed to record demand.
This latest move comes after it had hedged on the return of cards.
Late last year, the company said it expected to have its full line-up of products, including jet cards, back on the market during the year’s first half.
It then rolled out 25-hour leases for U.S. customers instead. The lease options are for three-or-five years.
Leases had started, like fractional ownership, at 50 hours.
At the time, it said jet card sales would remain on hiatus throughout 2022 in the U.S.
A notice posted to its website at the time read, “The card program is an important part of our business; however, to preserve the level of service our owners deserve, we will not be offering the card program for the remainder of 2022.”
An official with the Berkshire Hathaway-owned provider confirms that NetJets has restarted jet card sales.
However, jet card sales are limited to current and past customers for the time being.
Like the 25-hour leases, they come with 45 blackout dates plus 45 peak days.
Callouts have also been extended to 48 hours.
Previously, NetJets offered two jet card types, with either 10 or 24 hours non-peak lead time for reservations.
Jet card hours still must still be used within 24 months.
The new cards are currently limited to the Phenom 300, Citation XLS, and Sovereign, plus the Challenger 350.
Research by Private Jet Card Comparisons shows the average number of Peak/Blackout Days for industry providers is currently 53.7 days, more than double the pre-Covid average of 22.8 days.
The lead time for non-peak booking is 62.9 hours compared to the 23.2 hours average we tracked in Dec. 2019.
According to data from the upcoming Jet Card Report 2022/23 by Private Jet Card Comparisons, NetJets has the largest pipeline of consumers who bought with another provider but are still considering it for the future.