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Private Flight Cost Index

Light jet

Estimated effective cost

$15,900–$22,000

per round trip, on a jet card

Estimated effective cost per round trip for four access models.

Charter
Jet card
Fractional
Ownership
Step 1 of 3

Type a code or a city. Anything off the list still works.

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Illustrative model output for the profile shown, September 2026. Ranges cover round-trip billable time, repositioning, and the fixed costs each model carries. Assumptions are published with the index.

Tell us how you travel. Wing & Vale helps you compare charter, jet cards, memberships, fractional ownership, aircraft ownership, management, and true route economics around your actual flight profile.

Compare Ways to Fly Private See how we model cost

Do Not Start With the Jet. Start With the Mission.

Your routes, passengers, schedule, annual hours, and service expectations determine which private aviation model makes sense. Every Wing & Vale answer runs through the same four steps, in the same order.

  1. Define the Mission

    Home airport, recurring destinations, passengers, annual hours, baggage, seasonality, peak dates, notice period, domestic against international, and the aircraft and service you expect.

  2. Choose the Access Model

    Charter, membership, jet card, fractional, lease, whole ownership. The mission decides which of the six is even worth pricing.

  3. Compare Providers and Economics

    Real effective cost, availability, aircraft access, fees, policies, safety, contract structure, and counterparty exposure, side by side.

  4. Take Action

    Request charter quotes, compare jet cards, request a fractional or ownership analysis, or speak with a specialist who already has your profile.

Start where your decision already is.

Most people arrive leaning one way. Each door leads to one action, and none of them ask you to fill in a form before they tell you something useful.

Fly

You need lift for a specific set of trips, and you want to stop overpaying for them.

Charter and group charter, route economics, jet cards, memberships.

Commitment Per trip to 12 months

Get Live Charter Options

Buy

You are close to buying an aircraft and want the model and the deal checked before you sign.

Acquisition and sales, new against pre-owned, model comparisons, acquisition checklist.

Time to close 6 to 18 months

Request Aircraft Purchase Options

Own

You already have an aircraft, or you are about to, and the running economics decide whether it works.

Ownership economics, aircraft management, insurance, compliance.

Planning horizon 5 to 10 years

Explore Aircraft Ownership

Compare the Entire Private Aviation Market

Six ways to get access to an aircraft, read against the one number that separates them: how many hours you actually fly in a year.

  1. On-Demand Charter

    Occasional trips, no commitment

    Under 25 hours

  2. Memberships

    Repeat short-haul routes at capped rates

    10 to 50 hours

  3. Jet Cards

    Predictable access at a fixed hourly rate

    25 to 100 hours

  4. Fractional Ownership

    Guaranteed access on peak days

    50 to 200 hours

  5. Aircraft Leasing

    A dedicated aircraft without buying it

    100 to 200 hours

  6. Whole Ownership

    High, stable use and full control

    200 hours and up

Bands are typical fits, not rules. A single long international leg or a run of peak dates can move any of them, which is what the profile is for.

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Six routes we get asked about most

Pick one and it loads into the profile at the top of the page, so the cost panel re-prices for that origin before you have answered anything else.

See route economics

  • ATL MIA

    Block time
    1h 45m
    Typical aircraft
    Light jet
    Round trip, estimate
    $14,000–$19,000

  • TEB ACK

    Block time
    1h 00m
    Typical aircraft
    Light jet
    Round trip, estimate
    $9,500–$12,800

  • DAL ASE

    Block time
    2h 15m
    Typical aircraft
    Midsize jet
    Round trip, estimate
    $24,000–$31,500

  • VNY LAS

    Block time
    1h 00m
    Typical aircraft
    Light jet
    Round trip, estimate
    $9,300–$12,500

  • OPF NAS

    Block time
    1h 00m
    Typical aircraft
    Light jet
    Round trip, estimate
    $9,800–$13,200

  • MDW APF

    Block time
    2h 45m
    Typical aircraft
    Midsize jet
    Round trip, estimate
    $28,800–$37,800

Ranges are illustrative model output for a round trip in the category shown, September 2026.

Know the Real Cost Before You Commit.

Headline hourly rates rarely tell the whole story. Wing & Vale models what the trip actually costs once everything that gets added to it is added.

  • Occupied hours
  • Daily and trip minimums
  • Peak-date surcharges
  • Repositioning legs
  • Taxes and segment fees
  • Annual commitment
  • Ownership overhead

Private Flight Cost Index, sample route: Atlanta to Miami

Data as of September 2026

Access model Aircraft Estimated effective cost Best for
On-demand charter Light jet $14,000–$19,000 per round trip, estimate Infrequent flexible travel
Jet card Light jet $16,000–$22,000 per round trip at 25 hours, estimate Predictable access
Fractional Light jet $1.1M–$1.6M share plus monthly fees, estimate Frequent repeat use
Whole ownership Mission-fit aircraft $3,500–$5,500 per occupied hour all-in, estimate High stable utilization

Swipe the table to read every column.

Illustrative model output as of September 2026. Assumptions and methodology are published with the index. The ticks beside each model show how long it binds you, from a single trip to a decade.

Explore the Private Flight Cost Index

What we publish about our own work.

There are no testimonials on this page and no provider logos. Independence is a set of documents you can open and check, so these are the eight we keep.

Data as of September 2026

  • Scoring methodology

    Every ranking publishes the weights behind it, so you can disagree with them.

  • Data update dates

    Each table carries the date its inputs were last refreshed. Nothing is undated.

  • Provider-source documentation

    Where a provider figure came from, and when we collected it.

  • Affiliate and lead disclosures

    Named on the page carrying the link, not buried in a policy nobody opens.

  • Correction policy

    What we fix, how quickly, and how the change is recorded on the page.

  • Independence policy

    No provider pays for a ranking position, a recommendation, or a place in a table.

  • Safety-source methodology

    Which third-party safety audits we read, and what those audits do not cover.

  • Expert review

    Who checked the aviation content, what they checked, and when they checked it.

Read our methodology

For the people deciding on someone else’s behalf.

We run the same models for institutions that we publish here, on your routes and your aircraft, and we send the assumptions with the answer.

Request a Private Aviation Analysis

  • Family offices

    A recommendation a principal can question, with the workings attached.

  • Wealth advisers

    Aviation spend modelled next to the rest of the balance sheet.

  • Corporate travel teams

    Policy, cost per trip, and provider risk in one comparison.

  • Flight departments

    Ownership economics and management terms, benchmarked against the market.

What is the smartest way for me to fly private?

That is the question this whole site exists to answer. Three answers from you is enough to start, and you can change any of them later.

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