By: James Wynbrandt; Business Jet Traveler
Discounts and expanded offerings can make jet cards worth considering. Here’s what’s available and how to pick a winner.
Growth could literally be in the cards for the bizav industry. Sentient Jet, which claims 4,000 jet card customers, reports 35 percent sales growth for 2014, while card purchases at Delta Private Jets set records last year and card hours flown in NetJets’ Marquis program saw double-digit growth.
One reason may be that offerings have expanded to include more niche products and service options. In place of yesterday’s use-it-or-lose-it flight-hour policies, most card programs now simply put an expiration date on guaranteed rates; you’ll retain untapped time on hour-based cards, but likely pay more for using it. And while fractional-fleet operators formerly dominated the business with cards that provided access to a single model, you can now buy cards from charter brokers that offer a choice of models within a category. Also, NetJets offers a card that lets you split 25 hours between two aircraft models.
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