March 12, 2025
35% of Private Jet Card Comparisons subscribers fly privately instead of driving. These are the short-flight, lowest-cost private jet options.
What’s the cheapest private jet program for short flights? More than one-third (34.8%) of Private Jet Card Comparisons subscribers say they use private aviation instead of long drives in the car. A 200-mile, 30-minute flight can replace a four-to-eight-hour drive.
Think heading to the Hamptons, Cape Cod, Key West, and within Southern California.
Also, flights across Lake Michigan, in the Mountain West, or the Southeastern U.S.
Traveling 200 miles as the crow flies privately means approximately 30 minutes in the air and a bit longer with turboprops.
Turboprops can be cost-effective for short hops where jets don’t have the opportunity to leverage their speed advantage.
However, the lowest cost guaranteed availability and rate solution for these short hops may surprise you.
It also reflects a key term of many jet card programs flyers miss at the expense of their pocketbooks.
Looking at published hourly rates for private jets – and turboprops – is just the start.
Other key factors include daily and segment minimums.
Also, is there taxi time charged?
How is taxi time charged?
Is it included in the daily minimum?
Daily and segment minimums are what you are charged, even if your flight is shorter.
Is taxi time charged in addition to minimums?
Does the provider include FET in the hourly rate?
Are there fuel charges?
What about membership and daily fees?
We used Private Jet Card Comparisons’ QUICK COMPARE FLIGHT PRICING, which accounts for all these factors.
It also includes a turboprop speed penalty to compare jet and turboprop solutions using jet flying time.
For membership fees, we estimated annual usage of 25 flight hours.
We also looked at solutions that can accommodate at least six passengers.
We also included only guaranteed availability solutions.
Then, we looked at entry-level jet card solutions for this exercise, excluding fractional ownership and leases.
A significant factor in who is least expensive is daily and/or segment minimums.
That’s why the most cost-effective solution for short-flyers is a company generally perceived as being more expensive.
NetJets doesn’t have daily or segment minimums for a number of its light and midsize fleets, including its light jet entry.
That’s why the NetJets Phenom 300 jet card costs $6,020 for a 30-minute flight, plus 12 minutes of taxi time and all mentioned inclusions.
Of course, its jet cards have 90 restricted days.
READ: These Jet Cards have the fewest peak days in 2025
Or, as we say, every rose has its thorns.
Also, some of the low-cost private jet programs are regional.
| Flight Provider | Jet Card/Aircraft Type | Notes | 30-minute/200-mile all-in flight cost* |
| NetJets | 275 Card/Phenom 300 | 25 hours; 90 blackout dates | $6,020 |
| Dreamline Aviation | Great Circle Regional/Turboprop | $100,000 Within 75 miles of VNY and OAK | $6,671 |
| OneFlight International | BAJ Silver Card/King Air 100 | 25 hours | $6,804 |
| Northern Jet | Private Advantage/Light Jet | 25 hours; Eastern and Central Time Zones | $7,471 |
| Nicholas Air | Blue Card – 30 hours/Phenom 100 | Six seats included a belted lav | $7,322 |
| NetJets | 320 Card/Phenom 300 | 25 hours; 45 blackout dates, 45 peak days | $7,840 |
| Jets.com | Category Card/Light Jet | 20 hours | $7,980 |
| PlaneSense | Cobalt Card/PC-12 | 25 hours; 10 blackout dates; 89 peak days | $7,892 |
| Wheels Up | Membership/King Air 350 | $200,000; East of the Mississippi except for Eastern Texas and select airports in Missouri, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Higher cost at $100,000 | $8,116 |
| FlyUSA | Freedom Card/Turboprop | $100,000 | $8,243 |
| Manifest Travel Club | Elite/Light Jet | Pay-as-you-go | $8,485 |
| Jettly | Jet Card/King Air C90 | Only category guaranteed | $8,740 |
| Sentient Jet | SJ25/Light Jet | 25 hours | $9,340 |
| Fly Alliance | Jet Card/Turboprop | 25 hours | $9,366 |
| Jet Linx | Jet Card/Light Jet | $150,000 | $9,954 |
| FlyExclusive | Jet Club/Light Jet | $100,000 | $10,050 |
Source: Private Jet Card Comparisons *QUICK COMPARE FLIGHT PRICING (Column AF) Includes FET, daily minimums, taxi time, and membership fees as applicable, amortized by 25 hours of annual flight time. It also includes a turboprop speed penalty to compare jet and turboprop solutions using jet flying time.
A couple of additional options for short hops are not included.
Tradewind Aviation has a Pilatus PC-12 jet card on an as-available basis.
It is valid for flights within 300 nautical miles of Westchester County Airport, Palm Beach International Airport, and San Juan International Airport.
Jet AI has a regional HondaJet program covering select Western states.
However, it agreed to sell its flight provider business to FlyExclusive, with the deal expected to close imminently.
Moreover, some of the biggest private jet operators offer many solutions.
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