Ms. Broder booked a jet charter this March from New Jersey to Las Vegas for her client Steven Michaels, an entrepreneur from Cherry Hill, N.J., and seven of his friends. The trip was in celebration of several of the men turning 50, and the group wanted an extravagant getaway. First-class tickets worked out to close to $2,000 a person round trip, while chartering an eight-seat Citation III jet was $3,500 each. When presented with both options, Mr. Michaels said that going private was a no-brainer. “The journey was like paying for a high-end tour or excursion and ended up being one of the most fun parts of the trip,” he said.
A single-entity charter is one in which an individual or company charters a plane and bears the entire cost of the flight, so that the passengers do not pay their own airfare. There is no minimum passenger requirement, since the cost is per flight, not per person. Single-entity charters are typically used for business purposes -- for example, travel to meetings and conferences, incentive travel or VIP leisure travel.
Like scheduled airline service, private jets also have weight limits with regard to the amount of luggage that can be stowed during a trip. Items such as skis and golf clubs are allowed as long as they conform to the dimensions and weight limits of the aircraft. These weight limits vary by aircraft type. Ask your charter sales representative if you have concerns about excess baggage or special items to be included in your luggage.
