Prices for hourly jet cards dipped by 8.5 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2023 but are still up by 21.4 percent over pre-pandemic levels, according to Private Jet Card Comparisons (PJCC). At the same time, the percentage of subscribers negotiating free flight hours increased by 39 percent, while those who received extra flight credits increased by 67 percent. In addition, PJCC reported, “There was also a big increase in subscribers who negotiated rate lock extensions.”
PJCC based its data on North American jet card and membership programs with guaranteed availability and fixed or capped hourly rates.
Jet card hourly rates averaged $10,754 per hour in the last quarter of 2023, a 2.7 percent dip from the previous quarter. The rates were still 21.4 percent more than pre-Covid levels in the fourth quarter of 2019. Large jet hourly rates dropped the least in the fourth quarter at $15,339, down 4.8 percent year-over-year, and up by 17.7 percent from pre-Covid levels in the fourth quarter of 2019. At the same time, though, ultra-long-range aircraft dropped the most among the jets at 9.2 percent. Even so, hourly rate cards for this category were 11.4 percent above pre-pandemic levels.
Light jet hourly rates averaged $7,918 in the fourth quarter, down 6.4 percent from the prior year but up by 31.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019. Midsize jet hourly rates came in at $9,168 at the end of 2024, a 6.5 percent decline, and super-midsize jet hourly rates were off 7 percent year-over-year at $11,793. Turboprop rates, meanwhile, plunged by 17.7 percent, even while up by 31.6 percent over 2019.
"Not only have hourly rates come down, daily minimums, which impact shorter flights, have returned to pre-Covid levels, and subscribers are telling us they are having much more success negotiating additional free hours and flight credits, further reducing costs," said PJCC president and editor-in-chief Doug Gollan.
However, Gollan cautioned that members need to be more flexible to take advantage of lower prices. “The number of peak days, which often carry surcharges, longer lead time for booking and canceling, and the ability for the provider to change the departure time are down, but still more than double the pre-Covid levels of 2019,” he said.