Private Jet Cost: Rent, Buy, or Subscribe

Flying by private jet offers an elegant opportunity to travel in style. It’s an affluent investment that can ease the stress that comes with flying on a commercial plane and help you feel more satisfied with your service en route to your destination.

But what about private jet prices? What are the specific costs associated with buying, renting, or chartering a private jet? Flying by private jet may be more affordable than you think, you just have to weigh your options.

When you look at private jet rental cost (which is the same thing as private jet cost to charter) you’re going to be getting a private flight on the safest, most well maintained aircraft, operated by the most reliable air carrier at the best available price.

There are a variety of expenses that go into chartering a private jet. However, the outright cost of a private jet charter is substantially lower than the cost of buying a private jet for your personal usage. You only pay for a private jet when you fly; private plane costs are much larger when you consider the ongoing expenses of ownership, regardless of your usage. If you’re still wondering if it’s cheaper to rent a private jet, we’ll lay out some of the financials that come with flying on a private jet, and why you should always consider Stratos Jets for chartering your next flight.

Private Jet Prices: How Much to Rent a Private Jet?

The question of how much to rent a private jet can vary widely depending on passengers, cargo, destination, the potential repositioning of an aircraft to accommodate your requested routing and type of aircraft. There is no simple hourly rate for chartering a private flight. And the difference between chartered flights on heavy jets versus light jets is substantial.

For the best way to estimate the cost of your trip, use our Cost Calculator. The prices that you find there are not guaranteed prices, but they are the product of a complex algorithm which records all the data from air carriers who have flown or quoted those routes and made bids on Stratos Jet Charter flights. Using the Cost Calculator tool will give you a very good ballpark figure on what you can expect to pay on your flight.

Private Jet Price:  Buying a Private Jet

Another option, if you are a very frequent flier, is to purchase your own private jet and not worry about chartering a flight. While this may seem attractive, and a number of very high-profile celebrities have made news for their private jet usage, like Kylie Jenner and Taylor Swift, you really need to be using the jet very frequently to make this an appropriate decision.

Stratos can offset the ongoing costs of ownership by placing it into charter service and driving revenue to it.

What Does It Cost to Buy and Own a Private Plane?

Investopedia estimates the cost of buying and maintaining a private plane as being somewhere between $2 million to $100 million per year. Some of the costs that go into this are not things that you may immediately think of.

The rule of thumb they suggest is that, no matter the plane you buy, you can expect to be paying anywhere from $500,000 to $1,000,000 in operating costs per year. These costs include everything from electric and mechanical work to blown tires to cleaning and decorating and training the crew.

What Private Plane Costs Are Associated with Owning a Private Jet?

Some of the costs will include the hangar (known as hangarage) or the cost of storing your airplane somewhere when you’re not using it. There are also the salaries and benefits of the crew. And there is aircraft insurance, which is not inexpensive.

Regular inspections will be done of your aircraft, and aircraft inspectors do not want to see a single missing screw or item out of place, as such things could lead to disaster. The cost of preparing for these inspections is hefty, and the cost of cleaning up any problems that they have found is pricey.

The main takeaway is that, unless you are spending an awful lot on private air travel per year, then buying a private jet is much less economically reasonable than chartering a jet through a membership charter service.

Private Jet Cost: Subscribing to a Private Jet Membership

One of the things that you need to keep in mind when you’re looking for a new private jet charter service is that much of the private jet price is going to be wrapped up in expenses that are paid by the charter company. When you purchase a private plane on your own, everything about that plane, from maintenance to the cleaning to the fuel, will come out of your wallet. Those costs accrue whether you’re flying the jet or not.

The costs will also vary depending on the size of your charter aircraft, and the distance that you’re going to be traveling. There will be incidental costs, such as having catering aboard your luxury business jet, or a full time flight attendant on board during the flight. When you make the decision to charter a private plane versus buying a private plane, you should be aware of all the costs that go into both.

If you’re a Stratos Jet Charters member, you get flexible cancellations, no cost mechanical recoveries and guaranteed access at fixed rates — the ideal private jet rental cost structure. Pet fees and deicing are also covered.

Fly like an aircraft owner, without the headaches and expenses. Pay as you go. This is one of the perks and incentives to getting a Stratos membership. Learn more about that here.

What Does it Cost to Subscribe to a Private Jet Membership?

We estimate that if you use Stratos Jet Charters anywhere between 8-10 flights per year, then it is definitely in your best financial interests to get a Stratos membership.

There are many perks to membership, which include such things as guaranteed access, flexible cancelation policies, and putting yourself in a position where you can leverage all of the wonderful amenities that Stratos Jet Charters offers at a reasonable price.

Fuel Surcharges

Fuel, as we all know, is very expensive right now, and there are many jet charter services who will book a private jet for you and quote you a price, only for you to settle your bill at the end and find that there’s a fuel surcharge that could be in the many thousands of dollars.

That is not something that is going to happen with Stratos Jet Charters. We make it a hard-and-fast rule that there will never be fuel surcharges for any of our flights. The cost that we quote you before you book the flight is going to be the price that you pay at the end of the flight.

No surprises, no games. We don’t feel like it’s good business practice, or ethical, to quote you one price only to slap you with surcharges later. If you see another company’s private jet charter prices and they include surcharges, then look somewhere else. (We recommend looking at Stratos Jet Charters.)

Try the Stratos Jet Charter Private Jet Charter Cost Estimator

Stratos Jet Charter Cost Estimator is a complex algorithm that looks at all the historical data that we have collected from our charter air carriers.

When we are booking a flight from New York City to Miami, we record all of the bids that our air carriers make to us, record which ones we use and which ones we don’t, and we use that data to generate an estimated cost for flying from one destination to another. As we have been in this business and gathering this data for many years, our Cost Estimator is a very robust tool.

Choosing a private jet membership is a smart investment to consider. Learn more about our private jet memberships and quality service today.