Fly me to the ... West Coast
February 1, 2022 3:18 PM   Subscribe

Looking for some basic information on chartering a private jet.

My nephew is getting married in Los Angeles in June. This is the only wedding of a grandchild that my parents will ever have the chance to attend, and they are very close to him.

My dad is 91 and my mom is 85 and not in great shape. Flying commercially would be very difficult for many reasons. We live near Cleveland, OH.

Have you ever chartered a private jet? I know you can use services like NetJets, Flex Jets, Wheels Up and Sky Quest but my understanding is that you would buy a block of flight hours. We're looking for a one-time round-trip charter.

Are there brokers who help arrange such trips? How do we find a reputable one?

Looking for input from people with personal or professional experience arranging private jet charters. Thank you!
posted by Kangaroo to Travel & Transportation (13 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
XO
posted by aramaic at 3:44 PM on February 1, 2022


...argh, my thumb hit the Post button too soon. I meant to add, you'll need what's called a "midsize" jet (like a Citation X) for this flight, and it'll cost on the order of $40K to charter the plane. If they can find enough other people who want to fly the same route at the same time, it'll be circa $5K per seat (this size jet runs around 8 seats for the most part).
posted by aramaic at 3:54 PM on February 1, 2022 [3 favorites]


Chartering a small prop plane can be slower (both in terms of air speed and possibly needing to do hops) and less comfortable but cheaper. Private jets cater to a certain level of extreme wealth but there's some small operators with Cesnas or the like who just love to fly and look for whoever will pay their gas and operations costs plus a little profit. It's been a while since I've done it but it was about $4K for a 3.5 hour roundtrip flight for 5.
posted by Candleman at 4:08 PM on February 1, 2022 [5 favorites]


You're not specific about the "difficulties" with flying commercial, so forgive me if this is totally off the mark, but:

When it comes to travelling commercially, money solves a lot of problems. You could have private car service to the airport, airport porters to move them in wheelchairs, expedited security (TSA Pre-Check or something similar), priority boarding, and first-class seating, and it would be far, far less expensive than chartering a private aircraft. You can even FedEx your luggage overnight, door to door, so you don't have to deal with it.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 4:58 PM on February 1, 2022 [33 favorites]


(Just a side-remark, while small planes are exceptionally useful and vastly cheaper for shorter flights, the distance from Cleveland to LA is circa 2000 miles by air, so a Cessna 206 will need to land to refuel three times [maybe four depending on weather] and take about thirteen hours of flying time without considering landing/takeoff and refueling. If you can't swing the $40K charter, consider what NotMyselfRightNow said above. First class and wheelchairs etc. can make a huge difference.)
posted by aramaic at 5:18 PM on February 1, 2022 [8 favorites]


I have some reservations whether there is enough money you can throw at commercial flying to reduce the risk. Even very rich people are still at the mercy of airline and airport and security staff who doooooo nooooooot give a fuuuuuuuck and will absolutely clock that nobody involved is lawyers-on-call rich and potentially try to kill them for fun. My family's experiences with this were very bad, and you are right that this is such a vulnerable situation that it's probably not viable.

I have made air charter arrangements, for parties of ~8, and the $40K price tag sounds right for several years ago. And obviously you can do a lot with enough money, but I suspect a charter company would expect at least one if not two people flying with them to assist, but it sounds like you're bracing yourself to charter a whole plane anyway. You can start with a google search in the area, and just start sending in inquiries. Half of them won't respond, at least a handful will, and at that point I recommend getting on the phone with them and talking through your timeframes and scenarios.

I would absolutely not put fragile seniors in an unpressurized Cessna for 14+ hours. I did 7 hours as a 14-year-old and I'm pretty sure my dad - who was really excited to do this - regretted doing that to me for the rest of his life.

Most of the people I've known in this situation have chosen to rent an RV instead. In fact, if you have something approaching air charter money you could probably rent a literal bus - like a tour bus - with a pair of drivers. This way they have access to a toilet 100% of the time, beds and couches for their leisure, a fridge and kitchen, and in all but the emptiest stretches of open road you're still closer to an equipped medical facility than the time it takes to emergency-land. No security. No exposure to strangers whatsoever. Normal oxygen and air pressure situation the whole way, aside from a few mountain crossings at higher elevations. A number of family members would be able to travel with them and take care of anything they need. It'll take two days driving straight through, but it will be the gentlest option. When the time comes to move my mom out here, that's how we'll do it.

It will be exhausting and you will need to give them a couple days' recuperation time before the wedding, but you would also need to do that if they flew.
posted by Lyn Never at 5:35 PM on February 1, 2022 [52 favorites]


If you do a tour bus, you absolutely must make t-shirts, a la White Snake tour merch or similar!
posted by cyndigo at 5:57 PM on February 1, 2022 [7 favorites]


I know someone who (sort of) solved this problem for her grandparents by having two ceremonies, one in their city. But to answer your question, a friend of mine recently used Evo Jets for a one-time flight.
posted by pinochiette at 6:05 PM on February 1, 2022 [2 favorites]


My partner got married and had a similar situation (too many familes, east coast / west coast, and people who simply could not travel. )

The solution was to deemphasize the wedding proper, and have multiple parties in multiple dates and cities.

Although tiring for the newlyweds, this solution had some non-obvious advantages. Examples: Family A in city B got to throw a big bash at their house, which were known for doing and would not have happened if they had to be in city C. Family Z had never been to city B, and though they had already been to the 'actual' wedding, had a blast traveling to city B and partying a second time. Etc.

To sweeten the deal, put the $40k in an envelope for the newlyweds and explain "You are going to come to Cleveland for party 2. There may be additional parties."
posted by soylent00FF00 at 6:08 PM on February 1, 2022 [9 favorites]


If your parents have mobility issues, the stairs are steep but they make special chairs that can be lifted into the aircraft. You can hire a medical crew to do this, it's expensive.

Otherwise the experience is not stressful, at least for smaller airports. You arrive at a separate facility, park in the parking lot, check in, get on board.

I am thinking LA will be more stressful than either the jet or the RV. "Long distance ground ambulance" might be an alternative.
posted by credulous at 7:54 PM on February 1, 2022


Your best bet is one of the FBOs at your local large general aviation airport. They will each work with several good local charter companies.

Beware that the cheapest jets may be too small for your parents to fly in comfortably if they have mobility issues, particularly accessing the head.

A KingAir might be a nice solution. Spacious pressurized cabin, half the cost. As a turboprop, it’s slower and will require one stop to refuel, though.

I do love the RV option! Avoids having to make it in and out of hotels etc. Figure $10k for rental, fuel and driver.
posted by MattD at 2:01 AM on February 2, 2022 [2 favorites]


there's some small operators with Cesnas or the like who just love to fly and look for whoever will pay their gas and operations costs plus a little profit.

Be extremely cautious about this, because anyone who offers to fly you somewhere for "gas money" is almost certainly not licensed to operate an air charter like you're looking for. The FAA has very strict rules about who is allowed to "hold out" (i.e. get paid) and under what circumstances, and those people have spent a lot of money getting those certificates and want to recoup those costs.
posted by backseatpilot at 4:55 AM on February 2, 2022 [5 favorites]


I can’t answer your question directly, but for your information gathering: LAX does have a new “private terminal” that serves all commercial flights, and would eliminate many of the airport and boarding difficulties your parents might experience on the Los Angeles end of the trip. Looks like it would cost roughly $10,000 for two-people round-trip.
posted by CtrlAltDelete at 8:51 AM on February 2, 2022


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