One of the pleasures of retirement is finally getting to do some of the things you have dreamed of doing but couldn’t before. Once work is behind you, the kids are gone, the house is paid off and you’re healthy, you can probably afford to indulge yourself. If you’ve amassed a comfortable seven-figure nest egg — as many Retirement Report readers have — some of your bucket list dreams may not be out of reach.
Suppose you’re a car enthusiast and want to live out a James Bond fantasy. For around $1,200 a day, you can go from zero to 60 in 3.1 seconds in a Lamborghini Huracan EVO Spyder.
Maybe you‘re a dedicated foodie. Dinner for two at Tokyo’s Ginza Kitafuku, reputed to be the most expensive restaurant in the world, could set you back about $4,000.
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Or maybe you want to channel your inner Hemingway, Start with a suite at the storied Georges V hotel in Paris for about $5,000 a night and then continue to Nairobi where you go on safari in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro for $10,000 to $15,000 a person, not including the fancy khaki outfit.
And how would you get there? Private jet, of course. The penultimate billionaire’s perk, private jet travel, is expensive. But it’s not as costly as you might think, especially if you have a few friends who want to go with you.
Three couples, for instance, can book a private flight from New York to Miami for about $3,500 a person; Los Angeles to Lake Tahoe for about $1,500.
Charles Lindbergh once said, “The airplane is the closest thing to real magic that we have.” Update to 2025, and the magic of flight now is reserved for the fanciest first-class cabins and private jets. Certainly not back in economy class.
“Air travel has gotten to be the worst part of travel these days, so people take it into their own hands,” says Stacy Hart, a travel agent who books high-end travel. “If people are booking a $300,000 vacation, it is not about the money but the experience.”
Most people who book private planes do so for trips of 10 hours or less, without stops, Hart said. Some people will save up and, instead of taking three trips in a year, will take one to use a private jet.
Various companies in the U.S. offer bookings for private jet travel, from four-seaters to 30-seaters, where friends and family can pool their resources for a more luxurious travel experience. Some offer memberships for frequent travelers, while others offer to sell one seat left on a semi-private plane.
What does private jet travel cost?
It depends on the destination and the type of airplane. Most private flights are based on hours and the number of passengers. While a turboprop might cost $5,000-$7,000 per hour for a four- or six-seater, a light jet that seats six to eight will run closer to $6,000-$8,000 per hour.
Mid-size jets carrying eight to 12 passengers will run $7,000-$11,000 per hour and a large cab jet seating 10-19 passengers will run closer to $12,000-$15,000 per hour.
Where can one go on a private jet? The trip can be a three-hour hop to the closest islands or a 10-hour trip to extravagance. The Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, for example, offers a two-week private jet itinerary for $148,000 per person, flying to Egypt, Greece, Tanzania, Rwanda, Zambia, and South Africa. Guests stay in luxury Four Seasons properties along the way.
What is private jet card membership and how does it work?
A common way to access private jet service is through private jet card membership. You pay a fee upfront — typically in the range of $100,000 to $200,000, according to Private Jet Card Comparisons, a site that compares different programs.
“A jet card refers to a debit card–style program that typically enables you to prepay for private jet flights at a fixed hourly rate with guaranteed availability,” Private Jet Card Comparisons explains on its site.
There are dozens of companies that sell private jet cards, including Airshare, Airstream Jets Inc., Alliance, Charter Flight Group and Flexjet.
Taking a private jet for shorter trips
Private flights are also available for shorter excursions or extreme adventures. For Susanna Nesmith of Miami, chartering a bush plane in Alaska allowed her to take her elderly mom on a glacier excursion. “Mom wanted to see a glacier, to see it and feel it and touch it,” Nesmith said. She found a pilot who often flew National Geographic photographers and hitched a ride for $700. Worth every penny, she said.
Louis Lavelle, of New York City, likes to get away from civilization and has done so on private Alaskan flights and in Idaho. He took a Sierra Club backpacking trip in 2016 to Alaska. “To describe this as remote is doing it a disservice,” he says.
“I flew (commercial) into Kotzebue, Alaska over on the west coast and from there, we caught a bush plane and flew to the Noatak Preserve. The trip was fantastic. You get on this four-seater with propellers, and you are going for about an hour over a completely roadless territory and flying at about 1,000 feet, close enough to see caribou and bear. You could see rivers peeking through the landscape.”
The plane dropped the group on a dirt strip, then returned 12 days later to provide their ride back to civilization. “It is something most people can do, and you can really get something out of it even if you are not a hardcore adventurer,” Lavelle says. (Today, that trip for two to three people would cost about $2,600, according to the National Park Service.)
Cut costs by using a semi-private jet
A growing number of companies offer travelers the ability to find a single seat on a flight, the way one would book a commercial flight. These seats start from as little as $249 one way. Here are some companies specializing in semi-private flights:
Aero: This semi-private, luxury airline has its hub in Los Angeles and offers one-way flights to Aspen starting at $1,950, and to Napa for $725. Prices include one checked bag and one carry-on aboard aircraft that seat up to 16 passengers.
Blade: A helicopter and semi-private flight service, Blade operates flights between Monaco and Nice, France; Vancouver and Victoria, Canada; New York City and East Hampton, and New York City and Atlantic City. A 6-seat midweek flight from New York City to Palm Beach will cost $20,000 to $23,000 for the plane. A helicopter trip to the Hamptons will go for just over $1,000 for one person.
JSX: JSX offers one-way fares starting at $249 on 30-seat Embraer E135 planes, which includes up to two checked bags, snacks and drinks on board, and free Wi-Fi. It connects several California hubs, as well as Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas and Miami, to popular vacation spots such as Cabo San Lucas, the Napa Valley and Colorado ski areas. “JSX is open to the public and a great option for families, solo travelers, business and anyone who values their time,” says spokesperson Jordon Robinson.
Surf Air: This jet service includes scheduled semi-private flights and on-demand jet service. The semi-private scheduled flights operate from Truckee, San Carlos, Santa Barbara and Hawthorne in California. Memberships aren’t required, but for $295 per month you can lock in rates during peak travel times. Booking a jet from San Jose to Truckee, Calif., will cost you $2,543 round trip.
Tradewind Aviation: The Oxford, Conn.–based company operates on-demand and scheduled flights throughout the United States and Caribbean. Scheduled service includes 8-person regularly scheduled flights to Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard from Westchester County in New York. A round trip on Memorial Day weekend will cost about $1,800.
Note: This item first appeared in Kiplinger Retirement Report, our popular monthly periodical that covers key concerns of affluent older Americans who are retired or preparing for retirement. Subscribe for retirement advice that’s right on the money.
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