FlyExclusive eliminates taxi time, membership, other fees

FlyExclusive is putting a renewed focus on jet card sales with a significant revamp of its Jet Club.

In its full-year 2025 financial results, it said active members, including its Jet Club members, increased to 1,203 from 1,076 year over year.

The Raleigh, North Carolina-based charter operator first launched its jet card in 2020, with its most recent revamp coming just 13 months ago.

It also offers fractional ownership and triple net leases for aircraft owners.

It has been on a growth trajectory, with flight hours increasing by 13.8% last year.

The Good

Its newest version of Jet Club eliminates the $1,000-per-month membership fee.

It also whacks the standard 12 minutes of taxi time charged by most jet cards.

Gone as well are the light-night and early-morning surcharges, which ranged up to $7,000.

It has also eliminated a major barrier for flyers based in the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

Surcharges for flights to and from Oregon and Washington that ranged up to $9,500 are gone.

Those surcharges were put in place to discourage refugees from Wheels Up after the Delta Air Lines-backed private jet company reduced its guaranteed rate service area in 2023, pulling back from regions it believed were money pits.

Wheels Up has since gone national again with its Signature program, launched last September.

Back to FlyExclusive. It has eliminated repositioning fees for flights outside the Continental U.S.

Another positive is that the peak-day callout drops from 10 days to 96 hours, the standard callout.

What’s more, funds no longer expire.

You can also now fly at fixed rates to Hawaii and Alaska.

Published hourly rates now include federal excise tax.

There are no fuel surcharges.

There is no longer a markup on catering.

With approval, you can also transfer your membership to your estate, a company, or family members.

The Same

You may ask, what’s not changing?

Jet Club maintains its daily access fee structure without daily or segment minimums that favor longer flights or flyers who make multiple flights in a single day.

It also continues to include de-icing and complimentary WiFi.

It has begun installing Starlink on its Challenger fleet.

The rate lock is for 24 months.

You can extend the rate lock by adding extra funds within that initial two-year period.

After that, you can continue to use funds at prevailing rates so long as there is activity during any 24 months.

FlyExclusive also continues to offer guaranteed availability up to 24 hours before departure with a surcharge, and keeps the standard callout at 96 hours.

There continues to be a maximum of 35 peak days.

Cabin seat guarantees continue as is, including eight seats for midsize jets.

You can also join for $100,000, one of the lowest entry points for a major program.

FlyExclusive calls the moves “a redesigned version of its flagship membership program, built to benefit members, deliver simpler pricing, greater flexibility, and more predictable costs for members.”

The company says, “The new program removes structural complexity across pricing and membership terms, while introducing a long-term model designed around how customers actually use private aviation and rewards members for longer flights.”

Chairman and CEO Jim Segrave says, “This is a cleaner, more durable version of Jet Club.”

The founder adds, “We’ve simplified the program, removed friction, and built something easier for our members to use and stay with over time.”

The Downsides

Of course, it is not all give, give, give.

Under the old program, international flights were charged repositioning to the nearest U.S. port, meaning flights to places like Nassau, Bahamas, or Toronto had minimal extra charges.

Now it’s a flat hour for flights outside the Continental U.S.

To get guaranteed availability on 35 high-demand dates, you need to put down $200,000 as part of a tier called Jet Card Plus.

Gone are Deal Days with savings of up to 10%.

Also gone are the two super-midsize jet options.

That means there is no longer a way to ensure a stand-up cabin.

Central America and northern South America are no longer in the fixed-rate service area.

Hawaii and Alaska fixed rates are on an as-available basis.

While there are no fuel surcharges, FlyExclusive now has the right to change pricing if it deems necessary, with 30 days’ notice or less if Force Majeure.

Jet Club Pricing

The hourly Jet Club rate, including 7.5% Federal Excise Tax, is now $5,650 for light jets, $6,400 for midsize jets, and $10,000 for super-midsize aircraft.

Those are up from the previous $4,000 for light jets, $4,500 for midsize jets, and then $6,250 or $9,000 for super-midsize jets, although those rates did not include the 7.5% government tax.

Daily access fees are $5,500, $5,700, and $12,500 for light, midsize, and super-midsize, respectively.

That’s down from $7,500 for light jets, $9,000 for midsize, and $10,000 or $12,500 for super-mids.

How does it net out?

When you take away taxi time and the membership fees, our analysis shows both savings and price increases.

Per Private Jet Card Comparisons’ QUICK COMPARE FLIGHT PRICING (which accounts for all the pricing factors) under the new program, a 45-minute light jet flight is $9,738 compared to $11,945 in the previous Jet Club.

A 90-minute flight would cost $13,975, compared to $ 15,530, while a 150-minute flight would cost $19,625, compared to $20,310.

However, a five-hour coast-to-coast flight is now $62,500 each way.

That’s up from the previous $47,338 for its standard super-midsize but a bit less than the $65,210 for its now-gone premium option.

Of course, if you are going or coming from Oregon or Washington, you no longer pay the $7,000 or $9,500 surcharge.

It’s still far from the highest at $104,000, which would guarantee a stand-up cabin.

However, it’s no longer quite in the same ballpark as guaranteed lead pricing, which starts at $46,397, which could include a Citation X.

No Games

Overall, FlyExclusive has stayed away from some of the games we see too often.

For example, despite eliminating taxi time charges, you are still only charged for the actual wheels-up-to-wheels-down flight time.

The contract also makes it fairly easy to pick out the key aspects of the fine print.