Book a Private Charter Flight

Everything an agent needs to know about private jet charter

Travelling by private plane is a very rewarding investment for company sizes, VIPs and extreme rich people. However, many - perhaps most - tour operators believe that this type of transport has nothing to do with them. According to stakeholders in the charter airline sector, getting to know charter contracts can be beneficial, as can a great customer experience for very demanding customers.

It'?s difficult to charter when it comes to comfort. When you book a charter plane, there are no concerns about flight plans. In view of the relatively high costs for such private transports, the fee can be particularly high. Simply ask Sheila Walker, Brentwood, California, Travelology Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, who is associated with Luxe Travel Management of Irvine, California.

She says as such that she has customers who apply for a private charter trip. She recently charters a Challenger 604 deluxe aircraft for a round trip between Hawaii and Bora Bora Bora for four grown-ups. Walker confirms that there are many important distinctions between making a reservation for a flight on a passenger aircraft or cruiser and making a reservation for a private plane.

First, many analysts believe that charter reservations should be made through a tour operator through a real estate agency, not through an airline. Brokers have direct contact with tens of millions of aircraft and can better meet the customer's needs, including onboard dining and other convenience services.

When you work directly with a charter business, you need to have a certain amount of knowledge and be able to ask the right question. The Early Air Way Chairman Alex Early, located at Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles, is a eight-year experienced brokers. About 50 per cent of his reservations concern luxurious recreational jets, but hardly 1 per cent of these sold come from tour operators, he says.

Often an agent who calls his estate agent just asks for the quote. "That'?s no way to buy a charter," he said. Early says most operatives only know the customer wants a private plane. You do not take the trouble to correctly train the customer, which means asking him or her a question about the money or the kind of service he or she will like.

A sightseeing flight between Los Angeles and Las Vegas with a Gulfstream 450, for example, can be purchased for 20,000 dollars, while a Phenom 100 costs only 4,300 dollars. You can book a sightseeing flight over land with an eight-passenger CitationX SuperMid for about $50,000 or a 13-passenger Gulfstream GIV Heavy for about $70,000.

Earliest also points out that there are a number of ways in which charges or surcharges apply to chartering planes. Thus, for example, his business arranges the required airplane with an airplane operating agency, takes charge of all related activities and hands over a fixed charge of 5 per cent for the company's service to the agency.

Like any charter brokers, The Early Air Way does not own or manage its own charter fleets. Instead, it has privileged air traffic to 4,000 planes around the globe. Regardless of the origin of the airplane, The Early Air Way makes sure that the airplane complies with all government security and service standards and that its crew is all seasoned and licensed.

Two external security inspectors are commissioned by The Early Air Way to evaluate the individual aircrafts. It is also important to note that instead of private departures from the primary terminals at Los Angeles International or Phoenix Sky Harbor airports, charter travellers should be checked in at a Fixed Base Operator (FBO), which is basically a small, private one.

However, the question of the fee payable to an agency for a flight booked with a brokers is certainly very different from the typically set fee. The charter business often includes agency fees in the total customer fee, according to Jordan Goldberg, Charter sales manager for Victor, another London-based charter flight brokers with new office locations in New York City and Santa Barbara, California.

According to Goldberg, a broker's fee is not calculated from brokerage charges or payable by the airline operating authority, but the amount of the fee results from calls between the real estate agency and the real estate agency, which is then added to the amount presented to the customer. It is also possible to contact an air charter carrier directly, book a flight and then determine the offer fare for the customer, although not advised for an agents new to charter accounting.

By working with many airline carriers, brokerage firms are usually able to bargain for the best deal - if a tour agency chooses to go alone, it would not gain any advantage from a wholesaler rebate. In addition, this procedure would imply that the Agency is acquainted with the type of aeroplanes available to the provider, including inter alia related engineering detail such as security assessments.

Goldberg warns that while the best way to book a customer on a charter ed jets is through a brokers, it is still much different from almost all other itineraries. Agencies with the right customer base have nothing to loose by being better informed about the fundamentals of the charter aircraft world.