Private flights

[bulldogcountry1]

I’ve had some “friends of friends” group up with others the last few years to get private flights to Omaha. I’ve also heard some stories of people filling seats on private flights for pretty cheap.

Has anyone ever flown privately for a cost comparable to commercial? What website did you use? Do you have to be flexible to come and go whenever something is available?

 

[Duke Humphrey]

It will never be cost comparable if just evaluating dollars spent. However, if you factor time, flexibility, and comfort, it might get close. Driving has always been the way for me due to the unkown schedule and limited amount of flights available. I know some folks who flew to KC this trip and said it was easy.

 

[dorndawg]

I’ve had some “friends of friends” group up with others the last few years to get private flights to Omaha. I’ve also heard some stories of people filling seats on private flights for pretty cheap.

Has anyone ever flown privately for a cost comparable to commercial? What website did you use? Do you have to be flexible to come and go whenever something is available?

Generally speaking, it's extremely difficult to fly privately for anywhere near the cost of commercial. These are rough numbers but a King Air 200 (6 passengers, twin engine turboprop) will run around 2500 per hour of flight time. Of course, the advantage is it can pick you up at relatively small airports and take you straight there on your own schedule. A Jet will be substantially pricier. If you're in Mississippi you can get a quote on a jet from these folks https://jacksonaircharter.net/charter-service/

There are empty leg flights out there that save you a little. They're super random. It's a fun website to check out in any event: https://www.flyvictor.com/en-us/flights/#/

 

[fishwater99]

It's not cheap. Trust me.

 

[Dawgbite]

Last year I needed to pick up a vehicle in Fayetteville Arkansas and didn’t want to drive up there and drive straight back plus it would take two people. My brother in law who is a pilot volunteered to fly me if I’d rent a plane and bought the fuel. I could fly me and the Mrs first class to Hawaii cheaper than it was going to cost and the pilot was free. Private air travel ain’t cheap.

 

[jethreauxdawg]

I think one of the rebs who posts here, jung?, works for a private air company. Hopefully he’ll chime in and break this all down for us.

 

[dorndawg]

Last year I needed to pick up a vehicle in Fayetteville Arkansas and didn’t want to drive up there and drive straight back plus it would take two people. My brother in law who is a pilot volunteered to fly me if I’d rent a plane and bought the fuel. I could fly me and the Mrs first class to Hawaii cheaper than it was going to cost and the pilot was free. Private air travel ain’t cheap.

The pilot is oftentimes a very low part of the cost. FBO's (air charter services) routinely use young/lower-hour pilots trying to accumulate hours in order to get a job with airlines, and pay them peanuts.

 

[Barkman Turner Overdrive]

Hopefully he’ll chime in and break this all down for us.

Or engie.

 

[JungRebel]

Someone here hit it right already, it's very expensive but very convenient. Is it possible to pool resources with close friends in your town to make it comparable to commercial? Almost assuredly not. Is it worth it? Depends on the situation. It's about a 2 1/2 flight from STF to OMA. Compare that to whatever time anyone here spent driving or flying to Omaha round trip and you tell me what it is worth. If you're interested give a jet card membership company a call and talk to the sales team. It is almost always a better deal than doing a charter.

 

[coach66]

Just like a boat, you just need a friend with

A jet willing to share if everyone helps cover cost. In this scenario you are very close to commercial.

 

[johnson86-1]

Someone here hit it right already, it's very expensive but very convenient. Is it possible to pool resources with close friends in your town to make it comparable to commercial? Almost assuredly not. Is it worth it? Depends on the situation. It's about a 2 1/2 flight from STF to OMA. Compare that to whatever time anyone here spent driving or flying to Omaha round trip and you tell me what it is worth. If you're interested give a jet card membership company a call and talk to the sales team. It is almost always a better deal than doing a charter.

Yup. Can't justify it on hard costs. But if you have to drive an hour and a half to get to the airport, get their an hour before your flight to park, check bags, go through security, etc., then take flight with a layover, then drive an hour and a half to get to your final destination, you've got to be flying a long way before you save time. And even further before you save enough time to be worth the money. That type of scenario applies to a decent geographic area of Mississippi and a lot of places they might want to fly to that are 8 hours away by car (or 12 hours away). Pooling together on a flight for those people might make sense.