December 21, 2024
Jet card and fractional buyers tell us which extra perks and discounts they negotiated, from fuel waivers to free hours.
Remember back in 2021 and 2022 when you wanted to buy a jet card, you would call and email companies, and you couldn’t get a response? LOL, right. Yes, times have changed since the Covid demand surge. Demand is no longer going up by double digits. Nearly 600 Private Jet Card Comparisons subscribers told us what you negotiated in your last purchase, and it provides some serious insights into where the market is headed.
We specifically asked, “With your last jet card/membership/fractional purchase, did you negotiate/receive any of the following benefits or discounts beyond the standard terms?”
The good news for buyers is that the percentage of buyers who were able to negotiate extra concessions increased from 50.2% in 2022 to 65.5% in 2023 and 69.6% this year.
In other words, there was a nearly 40% increase in jet card and fractional buyers who were able to get benefits beyond any promotions suppliers had on the market.
Free hours continued to be the top perk.
Sequentially, those of you who received free hours increased from 18.4% to 25.6% last year and this year 45.2%.
That’s a 145% increase over the past three surveys.
Flight credits also increased, going from 12.6% in 2022 to 21.0% in 2023, and 29.3% this year.
We see the 10-fold increase in rate lock extensions as being particularly salient.
The flight providers willing to extend rate locks jumped from 2.0% in 2022 to 12.7% in 2023.
This year 20.6% of you said you had been able to lock in your capped or fixed rates for an extended period.
We interpret that as flight providers believe that the flight pricing is not going up.
Jet card sellers who offer capped or fixed hourly rates on a guaranteed availability basis found their heads securely in a vice back in 2021 and 2022 when the surge in demand meant they often lost money on too many flights.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting fuel price spike added to the pain.
In sum, it caused jet card providers to rewrite contracts to add fuel surcharge clauses and extend force majeure language.
Still, management is comfortable with locking in pricing for an extended period.
The standard rate lock is 12 months.
Extending it seemingly means management is comfortable that they can, for the most part, fly you for less than they are charging.
Yes, there are risks on both sides.
You send the company money for future flights at a specified cost.
Providers had better make sure their guaranteed pricing and sourcing costs were right.
If you don’t like membership fees, well, 18.8% of you had them waived.
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
| Free hours | 18.4% | 25.6% | 45.2% |
| Nothing | 49.8% | 34.5% | 30.4% |
| Flight credits | 12.6% | 21.0% | 29.3% |
| Rate lock extension | 2.0% | 12.7% | 20.6% |
| Waived membership fees (if applicable) | 12.4% | 7.5% | 18.8% |
| Upgrades | 11.7% | 13.5% | 18.0% |
| I’m just in the process of choosing | NA | NA | 10.4% |
| Short-leg waivers (waiver of Daily Minimum for shorter flights) | 6.5% | 5.0% | 10.1% |
| Catering credits | 8.3% | 6.0% | 7.8% |
| Other | NA | NA | 7.3% |
| Destination waivers (extending fixed rates to destinations not in the fixed-rate service area) | 4.5% | 2.0% | 1.5% |
Source: Private Jet Card Comparisons
Another popular concession was guaranteed upgrades, up to 18.0%.
Subscribers say they like the upgrades so long as they can be used around vacation periods.
“We were able to get them to agree we could use our upgrades on peak days. I was surprised as my salesperson first said, there is no way management would approve that,” one respondent said.
We expect to see the number of peak days decline next year.
Beyond our list of options, fractional share buyers told us they could negotiate waivers of fuel and management fees, additional long-flight and efficiency discounts, guaranteed downgrades without interchange fees, better cancelation terms, and free helicopter transfers.
Our AI analysis of your comments reveals that negotiation is common in private aviation, particularly with jet cards and fractional ownership agreements.
Customers frequently secured free hours, discounts, and upgrades by negotiating, with long-term relationships often resulting in better deals.
However, some customers faced limitations in their negotiations, particularly with certain providers or during periods of high demand.
Flexibility seems to be greater with jet cards than with fractional ownership programs.
Buyers say transparency during negotiation is crucial for building trust and customer retention.
Customers who could not get clear answers during negotiations were likelier to switch providers or look for alternatives.
As the saying goes, if you don’t ask, you don’t get.
READ: Private jet execs are trying to figure out where the puck is going
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