Private Charter: Make Flying Fun Again
Ever since I was invited to fly to Vegas for a Nevada/Utah golf trip via a private jet, I’ve been intrigued by the idea of private jet travel. Yes, it is expensive, but there are many advantages.
The Advantages
You don’t have to arrive at the airport 2+ hours ahead of time, you can just drive up to the hangar about 30 minutes before departure and park your car free.
Your luggage it taken immediately and put on the plane while you grab some snacks.
You are greeted by the pilots who are very professional and friendly.
During the flight you can move around as much as you want, enjoy the refreshments and pretty much do anything you would do in your living room.
If it is an international flight, you don’t have to go through the main airport customs, they come to you - scan your passport and you are on your way.
The same coming back. If you have someone picking you up, they can park their car nearby and watch the plane taxi to the hangar where you are parked. By the time you are off the plane your luggage is already in the car.
Group / Family Travel
Recently I stumbled upon a site called Chartright that offers charter flights for groups from Calgary and many other cities. Just for fun I thought I’d see what they offer and the costs. They have an easy to use calculator for your flight, you just type in where you are leaving from and where you are headed, give your name and email and you get a list of options based on different planes.
I was surprised that in Calgary you can fly from the International Airport on the northeast or Springbank Airport on the westside or Okotoks or De Winton on the southside. I also noticed you could fly into local airports at your destination, rather than being tied into the hub airports, which could mean you can eliminate one or more stopovers.
At first, I thought the prices were high, but then I realize it was for a round trip and if you can fill up the plane your costs are probably competitive with a first class fare on a traditional airline, without all the hassles.
For example, you could book a May flight from Calgary to Winnipeg on Beechcraft King that accommodates 8 passengers was $45,500CAD or $5,700/person return, or a Bombardier Challenger 604 jet is $56,200CAD, but allows for 12 passengers or $4,700/person return.
I also found some great deals if you join their Jet Club where they send you alerts for empty legs. For example, there was a Calgary to Palm Springs plane for 10 people that was $24,100 or about $2,400/person. A Calgary to Vancouver flight was $11,200CAD for 10 passengers and another one for $9,500CAD for 10 people. This could be fun as a last minute adventure for you and your 9 best friends.
You can get a quick estimate and then start planning your adventure from there. You might want to sign up for the blog/news section so you can get more information.
Make Flying Fun Again
Anyone who has flown much lately knows isn’t much fun anymore. I had an airline cancel my flight the day before we were to fly, resulting in having to pay for a night at an Airbnb that we couldn’t use, and I am still waiting for them to reimburse me 3 months later.
Another time I had to pay for checked luggage when my credit card privileges meant it should have been free, but one leg of our flight was on an affiliate airline that didn’t honour the privilege.
Seems like every day you hear stories of lost luggage, damaged claims and sitting on the tarmac for hours. Not to mention you can’t easily get up and walk around during the flight.
Contrast that with my private jet flight where everyone was very friendly and professional from the beginning to the end of the flight.
Chartright has dozens of different planes, flying to almost all destinations in North America.
Last Word
So, if you have a group of people all flying to the same destination at the same time, you should at least consider the option of chartering a plane and make flying fun again.