Chartering a Jet With Your Black Card
One of the benefits of the Centurion card, the Platinum card also boasts this benefit, is the ability to get jets, yachts, and villas through American Express’ Private Luxury Escapes. So if you have a black card, or a platinum card for that matter, how do you actually charter the jet and how much does it cost?
I just recently went through the process with American Express, so I will share my details of the process, costs, etc… for my trip which was planning a bachelor party to Vegas, from Charlotte, for either 8-10 guys or 6 guys.
The first step is to call the American Express number on the back of your card and inquire about a jet. Someone will ask you a few general questions like dates of the trip, preferred time of departure, destination, any animals, are you leaving the country, etc. All fairly basic questions. They will then send your request out to their “preferred vendors” and then send back the vendor quotes to let you choose your option.
For my planned bachelor trip, I received back 3 quotes as followed.
Quote 1 - Gulfstream II (Heavy Jet) seating up to 13
- 4hrs 20 minutes flight from CLT to LAS
- 3hrs 40 minutes flight back to CLT from LAS
- Estimated cost $95,000 - $105,000 ($7,307 - $8,076 per seat)
- Price includes flight charges, crew expenses, airport fees and Federal Excise Tax. Estimates exclude segment fees, flight phone charges and special catering requests.
Quote 2 - Hawker 1000 Jet seats up to 9
- same flight time supposedly
- Estimated cost $52,592.56 ($5,843.61 per seat)
- Price includes flight charges, crew expenses, airport fees and Federal Excise Tax. Estimates exclude segment fees, flight phone charges and special catering requests.
Quote 3 - Hawker 400XP seats 6 (Light Jet)
- same flight time supposedly
- Estimated cost $40,524.71($6,754.11 per seat)
- Price includes flight charges, crew expenses, airport fees and Federal Excise Tax. Estimates exclude segment fees, flight phone charges and special catering requests.
After you choose the option your want, you call and confirm your flight then you are good to go. I asked the jet specialist if “I had to get a jet immediately, how soon could I get one” and she responded “3-5hrs”. I was pretty impressed by that time, obviously it depends on where you’re located and availibility, and how much of a baller you are. I would assume a much bigger client than myself, someone who spends millions a year, or is high profile, could get a jet much quicker.
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Comments
Gulfstreams are nice but that GII is just junk.. Wayyyy too old. 10 year old GIV-SP’s or or newer 450’s V’s, 500’s and 550’s are what gives Gulfstream it’s well deserved reputation. And don’t look to your friends at AMEX to get you into one of the latter in a cost effective manner. You’ll need to know what you’re doing to locate/charter/buy the right hardware, in fact the AMEX isn’t even accepted by many of the best charter/fractional/jetcard oprerators.. You’ll need VISA/MC or a good old fashioned cash wire transfer to get into the good stuff.
If you want to fly superficial junk and you want to pay full-blow for the privilege then call your AMEX concierge and let them put you together.. If you don’t want to feel embarassed as the golf cart/limo wheels you to the door of your flying used-honda then stay away from this “perk” ..
There is no secret handshake from the folks at AMEX that will get you on the “right” kind of aircraft and the right price.
I like the hawker 800 which we ecently flew to Florida and als fly to Cabo from Los Angeles.If it just myself and a couple riends we are fine in a citation 2 for the Cabo trip since it is only 2 hrs from los angeles.I love private jets a friend has been offering me the chance to buy in and he will keep them working and available for my needs.You can come up with an investment of say 250,000 and he will mange things from there.You can enjoy some great tax benefits because of the annual deprieciation and also fly at a resonable rate.
Okay.. Not trying to dump on your favorite plane and maybe I’m just a ‘plane snob’ but those are just too light and too old. I flew from Scottsdale to vegas in the Hawker once and then return on my GIV and the ride, safety, feel, comfort, everything is night and day difference. Then I recently flew on N509QS and that has me thinking I’m going to dump the IV.
These little planes are neat and all but they are too light for trips beyond an hour.. I don’t feel safe on them and don’t see that advantage over commercial unless you’re flying to hole in the wall airport. Even then the heavier Gulfstreams can slip into most fields worth visiting. My wife put it best: “Why pay $5000 an hour to squat in a little bathroom when you can go ballroom dancing in the Gulfstream lav for 10k”
On the longrange the only way to go is the heavier stuff.. I recently flew N127QS and N129QS.. Hard to go back to even a Gulfstream after that, but what a bill 100k to fly one way coast to coast.
Centurian card and private jets
been a member since ‘97
I consider flying a side-expense just to get us to the “party”. there are tons of private jet chartering companys, they do not own the aircrafts they just coordinate the “find/fly/feed” .
1. make sure they’re 135 carriers
2. I prefer an aircraft less than 18 yrs old
3. interiors redone in the last 4-5
4. be specific on the level of service you want
(you’ll more than likely have an attendant on hvys and
mediums
5. If your going out of country check on over-flight permits.. sure beats having heavily armed customs boarding an already snug environment. Cut the bull and write what you have onboard on your declaration form… If you trying to save a buck on tariff… plz fly commercial, I don’t want to be the guy in the Falcon behind you.
6. Jetports, have your admin check for the closest jetports
to your departure/destination locations, get the airport letter codes. I found knowing a little aviator language makes for easier “let’s all smile” travel
7. pick your aircraft size based of the number of passengers +2, if your traveling with kids 2-17 year old passenger count +4
8. shop a few charter company. you can negotiate prices
9. another expense that can add up real quick is aircraft repositioning charges, if your going to a popular destination, the plane is likely to have other clients and will come back to pick you up for your return, if your remote they will charge you a repositioning fee which means they drop you off and charge you flight time so they can have some paying jobs somewhere else, and charge you again to come pick you up.
9. ground transportation can also be handled by your charter company…….. pick your own hotel and restaurants!
hope this was of some value.
there are tons of little tidbits that are a quick learn and very valuable, on your 1st couple of flights. sit back relax/listen and learn.
mike 7/24/08
I’m not thinking your “friend” is looking after your wallet
after he’s filled his………
REAL Money 7/26/08
GIV I agree great aircraft
18 years old … typo 10 years old
Thanks John. As a quick sidebar for those who don’t know the difference between Part 91 and Part 135 .. The real charm for most reading this would be flying as an owner (Part 91) with the more stringent safety requirements imposed on Part 135 trips. My wife prefers Part 91 because it means not getting hasseled about standing, seatbelts, cellphones and safety checks; all while drinking cocktails with the crew on takeoff/landig and giving hearty slaps on the back in the cockpit as we smoke pipes and do barel rolls 500 feet over the water … I embelish for effect, but you can do all those things and more under Part 91 — not under 135
Repositioning and plane age are non-starters if you just grab a Marquis card on your favorite plane. Marquisjet is by far the best way to backfill time if you don’t own the plane, because you are basically flying as an owner on newer planes under Part 135 and 91. Also they don’t charge for ferrying and repositioning in most areas. The other co’s don’t have the fleet or the options IMO (would love to hear somebody else chime-in on this if I’m wrong).
Overflight permits are a must on Caribbean trips if you fly over Cuba and want to save hourly/fuel charges on the scenic route, going around via Hispanola or Cancun.
There ‘are’ dozens of little tips out there but John covered most of the bigger ones here. Homeland security overflight isn’t hard to obtain provided you are an honest, traceable citizen who flys frequently on private aircraft; that way you can skip the first port-of-entry requirments which frankly are a nuisance and do little to secure the Country.
Again, your black card will do little more than help chip/peel away the aluminum foil cap from your favorite Burgandy on these trips. To fly the ‘correct’ way you will need REAL Money (such as wireable cash) and lots of it. Haven’t found a worthy charter co that accepts AMEX yet although I’m all ears if you have.
Not withstanding the number of people in your party, are there any reasons to choose the 100k jet over the 40k jet?