Finding Free Air Charter Memberships

There are many "free" programs that benefit the client, like "no membership fees to join" or "no maintainance fees" and "no aircraft acquisition fee," which in most cases, is tied to the administrative costs of doing the paperwork involved in air chartering. Other benefits include no monthly aircraft management fees and no long-term contract commitments. In addition, most air charters offer different levels of this free membership. The Gold or Silver level have particular privileges and deposit costs. Know that some memberships are better than others. You may think you have just joined an exclusive club, only to find out it really didn’t save you any time or money. Asking questions before you join anything is always advised and don’t stop until you understand the programs offered. Be sure to ask about membership cancellation policies and what costs may be attached if you withdraw.

Instant Information To Make A Chartered Choice

Most air charter flight services on the Internet have instant quotes. This service gives the traveler instant information on what is available for hire, what a charter would cost per flight hour and aircraft and schedule availability. With a membership to their service, travelers get more detailed flight planning. One charter service has found a way to go one step further by giving you more than one price for any flight. They will show you which air charter is offering the best price per flight hour by name. In a list, you can see where the best deals are and make your own choice. They don't make a commission so they have the freedom to show you all the information they have. Remember these companies are not air charters themselves, but give access to air charter deals for a price, which saves you the headache and legwork of doing the research.

Understanding (FET) Federal Excise Tax

You may have heard of the federal excise tax, but did you know that it affects air charter travel, too? While the rate changes from time to time, the current tax rate is 7.5 percent. The federal excise tax is the way the United States pays for all the government services that aviation users take advantage of, including air traffic control, weather services and the use of federal airports. Some air charters services included this tax in their hourly or flight rate, while others don't. Given the cost of the flight, this tax can add a fair amount to the total. If there is any question on whether this tax is included, make sure to ask.

Air Charter Rewards Programs

In addition to luring new air charter clients with great benefits, some companies are offering a rewards program with cash back. For instance, a Silver membership at $150,000 will get you $500 cash back. With the Gold membership level you can receive up to $2,000 back for spending $300,000. There are even larger air charter services offering rewards through major credit cards. Every time you use your credit card, you earn rewards toward flying. This has been a regular standard for the major airlines, but it's something new to air charter companies. Others have extended their rewards programs to many different categories such as flight time rewards, on-board rewards -- which are discounts on catering or phones or flight attendants -- and rewards for dining, retail shops and hotels.

Why Air Charter Memberships Prove To Be A Better Choice By The Numbers

With higher security and longer lines at airports, the attraction of charter services is even greater than ever before. Even without the great membership benefits offered, the airline industry themselves are providing incentive to fly a charter jet to your next destination. U.S. carriers flew 642 million passengers last year while reporting more flight delays, mishandled baggage and consumer complaints than the previous year. The Transportation Department's Annual Air Travel Consumer Report showed that 19 commercial airlines boarded 642 million people in 2005, which is 23 million more than the previous year. The agency received 8,735 complaints about airline service, up 17.2 percent from 2004. Complaints ranged from flight cancellations or delays, incomplete or incorrect information about fares, discrimination and customer service and lost or mishandled bags. The airlines recorded an on-time arrival rate of 77 percent in 2005, down from 78 percent. Most flight delays were caused by weather. Instead of getting better, things are getting worse. This only adds up to one thing, a terrible travel experience by the consumer. It makes you ask why anyone would want to fly standard commercial?

What Is A Charter Jet Membership?

A charter jet membership can mean many things, but for preferential charter services, it usually includes a "SkyCard" type program allowing members to choose a level of financial commitment to attain a set of extra services. The more substantial your investment, the more services become available to you. What does this sort of tier charter jet membership offer the customer? A chance to start small and grow the service levels as your needs grow. At first, you may only need a basic charter jet membership; as your needs grow and you increase your investment in order to gain access to more services, plus gaining free upgrades and free flight crews.

Charter Jet Memberships Benefits

Charter services offer a vast range of aircraft including heavy jets for international travel and smaller turbo-prop planes for short trips. For many business and luxury travelers, fractional ownership isn't a worthwhile investment when compared to a jet charter membership. When comparing charter services to fractional ownership programs, carefully investigate the required investment for fractional ownership and compare it to the minimum investment for a skycard program. A basic skycard memberships requires a mere $50,000. On the other hand, one fractional ownership company offers a "perk" of being able to fly in 14 other jets in addition to the small-cabin Hawker jet you become a fractional owner of an approximate $400,000 investment. Jet charter services stand out in sharp contrast while offering access to as many as four thousand aircraft available all over the globe without a major upfront investment. The differences speak for themselves.

Private Jet Companies are a Resource When You Need a Charter Plane

A private aircraft charter company is an important resource when you are in the market to either buy or charter a private plane. With their entire focus on private aircraft, a private jet charter company has the expertise you need to help you make the optimal private aircraft choice. They can educate you on the benefits and advantages of each type of plane available such as turbo props, helicopters, light jets, medium jets, super medium jets, heavy jets and jumbo jets.

A private jet charter company can arrange for whatever type of trip you want to take, be it business, luxury or a combination of both using the best aircraft at the lowest possible costs. They can provide you the optimal airplane for each and every trip, one trip in a light jet for you family vacation, next a jumbo to take your entire board of directors to the annual meeting. Add-ons such as car service, catering or entertainment onboard are also in their area of specialties. They can arrange for one-way or roundtrip flights at any airport anywhere in the world. The benefits of private jets are many, including eliminating the traditional annoyances at airports, lines at the ticket counter, security checks and the gate when you fly private from 10 times as many airports as commercial. You have control of the departure time, the airports you leave and arrive at and who you fly with. Your privacy and security is always a top priority for you and so it is for your charter company.

Additional Benefits In Air Charter

Additional membership benefits available through private jet charter companies keep expanding. With a variety of companies competing for your air charter dollar, the competition to offer greater deals is fierce. Most companies offer a benefit card of some kind. One particular company offers an unlimited number of jet charter hours, simultaneous charter flight arrangements, 24-hour personalized jet service and simplified payment transactions. As another attracting point, companies are promoting their partnership with Wyvern, a safety auditing, consulting and information service to reassure their commitment to safety.

What Is A Charter Jet Membership?

Charter jet membership programs offer flexibility and don't tie you to a single aircraft, which for flyers needing different flight plans is the most valuable feature. As personal or business needs change, so will your aircraft preferences. When comparing charter jet membership programs, it is beneficial to avoid companies that charge annual membership fees for the service. You should pay for the services you wish to use without paying extra for the "privilege" of using a particular company. The preferred charter services offer membership programs without any kind of annual fee.

Understanding Air Charter Jet Memberships

As with many other types of club memberships, air charters avail certain privileges to their members that otherwise they couldn’t have access to. There are different fees for different levels of membership among the different charter companies, which means a certain preset amount of monies are deposited into an escrow account in the client's name. As trips and amenities are used, the account is drawn on to pay for them and memberships provide privileges like choice of aircraft and other services. Additionally, memberships would be a logical choice for frequent charter flyers.

Charter Jet Memberships Benefits

Charter jet pricing varies from company to company, but one thing they all have in common is what they are not: costs resulting from fractional ownership in a particular aircraft or a group of planes between you and other owners. Jet charter companies make available thousands of planes for your use, rather than a particular aircraft or two. The concept that sets the entire charter jet industry apart from ownership of any kind is that luxury jets, executive charters, and other types of services should all be available at any time you need them, and at any level of service. Some fractional ownership programs obligate customers for substantial investments over time for as little as 50 hours of flight time per year on a single plane with only a small handful of other aircraft options and no dependable upgrade options.