Aviation
Hourly rates, jet cards, memberships and empty legs, each set against the prices the companies publish, and the questions to ask before you sign.
By Richard Jasinski·Updated 17 October 2026
Photo: Joerg Mangelsen / Pexels
Comparison
Five jet card programmes scored out of 100 on cost transparency, operations and contract flexibility, with break-even maths across four flying scenarios.
Photo: Chris / PexelsGuideNetJets, Flexjet, VistaJet, Wheels Up and Sentient on what each actually publishes: rates, minimums and notice periods, plus the break-even against charter.
Photo: Rama Febryan, PexelsGuideEight round-the-world private jet programmes compared: Four Seasons, TCS, A&K, Nat Geo, Smithsonian, Aman, Captain's Choice and Orbridge, with their fares.
Photo: Wikimedia CommonsRankingPS ranks first of 11 private terminal and fast-track products at 96 out of 100 in 2026; Heathrow Fast Track scores 83 at GBP 12.99 and Amex has no terminal.
For private aviation companies
Positions on the questions your buyers ask, limited per category. Partners are labelled Partner wherever they appear. Rankings are never for sale.
From about $2,300–$3,500 per hour for a turboprop, $3,500–$5,200 for a light jet, $4,700–$8,000 for a midsize, $6,000–$10,500 for a super-midsize, $8,000–$14,000 for a heavy jet and $11,000–$17,000 for an ultra-long-range jet, taken across four published 2026 rate sheets. Add 25–35% for fees and tax on a US domestic trip and more internationally, the hourly rate is typically only 65–75% of the final invoice.
Positioning, ferrying the aircraft to you, charged at the full hourly rate, which can be under $2,000 on a dense route and more than your own sector on a thin one. Landing and handling, roughly $150–$3,000 per sector domestically and $2,500–$5,000 at premium international FBOs. Crew overnights at $200–$600 per crew member per night. Fuel, at FBO retail of roughly $7.20–$8.00 a gallon rather than the $4 wholesale figure most guides quote. A sustainable-fuel pass-through on European departures, note that the 2% and 6% figures often cited are the ReFuelEU blending mandate for 2026 and 2030, not a surcharge rate. And 7.5% US federal excise tax on the full amount paid for domestic flights, plus a $5.30 per-passenger segment fee.
Annual private jet costs in 2026 range from approximately $200,000 at 25 flight hours per year on charter to over $4 million at 200 hours per year on whole ownership. Common reference points: 25 hours per year on charter runs $200,000-$280,000; 100 hours per year on a fractional 1/16 share runs $780,000-$1,050,000; 200 hours per year on a 1/8 fractional share runs $1.4-$1.9 million; whole ownership at 200 hours runs $3.2-$4.4 million for a midsize jet.
Fractional ownership typically becomes more economical than on-demand charter at approximately 75-100 flight hours per year for light and midsize aircraft. Below 75 hours, the fixed costs of a fractional share (acquisition capital, monthly management fees) dominate the math. Above 100 hours, the per-hour operating cost on a fractional share runs lower than charter for the same aircraft type, and the difference compounds. Larger aircraft categories cross over earlier, ultra-long-range fractional can become competitive with charter around 50-60 hours.
A private jet card is a prepaid block of flight hours, typically starting at 25 hours, at a fixed hourly rate with guaranteed availability and no asset ownership. Fractional ownership requires an upfront purchase of a share of an aircraft (typically a sixteenth, an eighth, or a quarter), which depreciates, plus a monthly management fee and an occupied hourly rate. Jet cards have no depreciation risk, no resale exposure, and no management fees, but the hourly rates run 15% to 35% higher than the equivalent fractional position over a five-year term. The break-even between the two falls around 75 to 100 flight hours per year.
For most travellers flying under 25 hours per year on routes that do not require guaranteed-availability windows, on-demand charter through a curated broker is meaningfully cheaper than any jet card or membership. The break-even is roughly 25 to 35 hours per year for light to mid-size aircraft, and around 35 to 50 hours per year for heavy and long-range aircraft, depending on route patterns and how much repositioning the operator can amortise across other flights. Below those thresholds, charter wins on cost; above them, the guarantees of a card or programme start to earn their premium.
It depends which of the five you ask, because three of them now tell you. Sentient publishes a full rate card: 183,100 US dollars for twenty-five hours, 7,324 an hour, with fuel surcharge and federal excise tax additional. Wheels Up states a minimum 200,000 US dollar pre-paid deposit for Signature membership. VistaJet publishes a charter reference from 11,000 US dollars an hour and a twenty-five to forty-nine hour band, but not the Program price. NetJets and Flexjet publish nothing at all and route you to a consultation. For those two, the figures that circulate come from third-party comparison services and brokers rather than the operators, and they disagree with each other, so treat them as an order of magnitude and insist on a written quote.
Treat European operator prices as close to final and US listings as a starting point: several US boards note prices exclude tax, and positioning minimums put a floor under short legs. Confirm the all-in figure, including handling and any repositioning stops, before paying.
Uncompromised Travel is edited and published by Richard Jasinski in Valencia, Spain. Rankings are scored against published criteria and are never for sale. How we work · Disclosure.