Two Jet Card Trends Are Flying In Opposite Directions

22.05.2024 - 18:33 / forbes.com

Two trends from jet card sellers are taking shape, and they are headed in opposite directions. For the jet card providers, the strategies focus on two words: growth and profits. However, figuring out the best way to achieve both goals in the same sentence is taking these companies to different places.

Over the past year, Airshare, Jet Linx, and, most recently, Jet AI have expanded regional membership programs to become national.

Conversely, Wheels Up and Premier Private Jets have gone from national programs to regional ones. Ventura Air Services, a New York-based operator, recently launched its first jet card on a regional basis.

In all cases, these private jet flight providers offer jet cards or memberships with guaranteed availability and contracted capped or fixed hourly rates.

These guarantees apply within what is referred to as a primary service area, which varies by providers.

The challenge with offering the guarantees on rate and availability together is that some flights can cost more to fulfill than the customer is paying.

When all is said and done, the goal for most providers is the revenue from the total group of guaranteed jet card customers is more than the cost of fulfilling those flights.

Of course, the reason for offering the guarantees is that's what customers want.

According to Private Jet Card Comparisons, private jet fliers say they want the pricing and availability guarantees by an 8-to-1 margin over dynamic pricing. The latter means pricing out flights trip-by-trip.

Some providers have given up on guaranteed pricing with guaranteed availability.

Vista Global's XO dumped its Elite Access guaranteed pricing program as demand for private jet travel hit record levels in 2021 and 2022, moving to dynamic pricing. To its credit, it allowed members to run through their balances at contracted rates. Its sister VistaJet still offers guaranteed pricing on super midsize and large cabin jets, but not on light jets, and only regionally on midsize aircraft.

When demand peaked, some providers raised pricing mid-contract, using force majeure clauses due to the Covid pandemic or other allowances in the agreements.

Providers also added dozens of peak days, sometimes with hefty surcharges and even blackouts during holiday periods when you could still fly, just not at your contracted rates.

Others simply refunded the monies to clients, told them to find another provider, and suspended their programs.

Jet card sellers using the broker model—where they source aircraft from third-party operators—say during that period they were regularly losing money on many flights as operators were able to charge virtually any price they wanted.

Jets.com, a broker with a national program, bought an operator in 2021