WhyPrivate

Sorry for the suspense Nicooliio and flyertalkrocks, but it is not jettly.
I will post as soon as I'm allowed.. unfortunately, I agreed to keep my lips sealed as a trial member for now but have been assured the product will be public very soon. It's very simple and straightforward.

msm2, those Hawker 1000s are a bit larger than the 60 so it doesn't sound like a horrible trade off to me.
In Victors defense, a grounded airplane "issue" could have happened to anyone. Did they charge you extra? Did the elaborate on the "issue"?


Whenever the plane I contracted becomes unavailable I require the following or I will cancel the flight:

1. details - what exactly happened and why did it impact my flight?
2. if no upgrade is given - I request a credit towards a future flight. I don't think it's too much to ask in this case as you were put into a much older airplane.

msm2

^ They did not mention anything other then the Lear was not available anymore and the only option is a 1000. They already had my money and flight was in a few hours so not much to do. Which again if the plane was in solid condition, I wouldn't have minded but it was far from pristine. The Lear that I was originally quoted, I have flown on it before, had new interior, wifi etc....so was just a bit of a disappointment to be "upgraded" to such an old unkept aircraft.

WhyPrivate

"They already had my money"

This is what you need to avoid. Make sure next time you can follow these steps - get quote - sign contract - confirm everything all good - pay. I think Victor and Jetsmarter take your payment pretty much the instantaneously, which takes the control from you and gives it to them. If you used most other brokers, they wouldn't have you money yet and your contract wouldn't mean anything if they couldn't provide the specific plane you booked.

Nicoolio

I've also noticed when I've checked Stratajet quite a few of their quotes the cancellation penalty is 100% after payment - which is required at the time of booking - and these were for flights several weeks and months out.

WhyPrivate

Call me a dinosaur, but I insist on keeping the cash in my pocket as long as I can. msm2 got stuck on a classic airplane when he paid for a new one and I've been duped by a dishonest broker in the past.

If an operator has certain terms, what's fair is fair.. but a broker pushing 100% cancellation when that may not be the actual operator terms is nonsense.

I did a flight three of four years back with a broker "air charter" that I had to cancel and foolishly signed a contract that had very strict terms when I knew I may had an upcoming procedure.

I called to cancel more than a week prior to the flight date due to a change in schedule for the upcoming surgery and they tried to hold me to 100%.

As I was waiting on hold (or so they thought) I overheard their conversation with the manager on duty about "how much do you think he will pay? we don't owe the operator anything" .... then a slimy sounding voice said this exactly: "f*ck this guy, he has the money, don't give him a thing" after a moment, a woman handling my flight who was nothing but polite to me while quoting and booking the trip came back on the phone to say "i'm sorry but the operator is not able to budge, I will try my best to get you a flight credit on your next flight". When telling her that I overheard the entire conversation I could hear her mouth drop the floor. I repeated word for work "f*uck this guy?" "is that how you talk about your customers?" and again was followed with silence. "please have the funds back in my account by close of business tomorrow" i said, and hung up the phone, infuriated.

Surprisingly, the money was back in my account the next day. Soon followed with apology voicemails and emails which I did not respond to.

Moral of the story, only sign up for the operator's terms because realistically I signed a document which said they could keep all of the money.. and they would have if they remembered to press the mute button on their phone.

flyertalkrocks

Unbelievable. I can't believe that the provider of such a high-end premium service would treat a customer that way. This is making me rethink flying private at all. The whole idea for me is to simplify things, not expose myself to new ripoffs that I need to protect against.

msm2

To be fair if you want the full luxury experience, sign up for DPJ, XOJet, NetJets, Sentient Jet etc. Those are all turn key fixed hourly rate programs on their owned or managed fleet....but you are paying for that service. If you want to deal with the charter market and save some money, you easily can deal with situations like this...there are way more shady brokers out there then good ones but at end of the day you will quickly learn and know what to look for when booking trips.

Nicoolio

XOJET has a mix of fixed and dynamic pricing, fyi.

PrivatFlyer

I've just joined this forum after googling the title of this thread. I've not used FlyVictor yet but interested to hear more. For me, I've always steered towards the "human" brokers and, whilst it's true that there are good brokers and bad brokers, overall my experience has been positive - at least with my current supplier. I would have assumed that the apps are cheaper than the traditional brokers?

flyertalkrocks

FWIW I'm leaning toward a jet card to benefit from what should be consistently better aircraft, service, availability, and dependability.

PrivatFlyer

I'm not sure about jet cards - I've been pitched them before but I don't understand why I would give someone else my money to hold? Also these companies sell at a fixed rate but buy from the market at a variable rate, meaning they have to build in enough "slack" to ensure they're not overly exposed. It does depend on your flying habits though I guess.

flyertalkrocks

Aren't they selling usage of their own aircraft? Or maybe they're selling usage of aircraft they've sold fractionally? Still trying to put the pieces together.

WhyPrivate

For jet card programs, only the very expensive ones will guarantee aircraft type. (Netjets, Flexjet etc.) Most others will give you a minimum safety rating but only give you a vague representation of what you're getting (ex: light jet / midsize jet) I'd hate for you to pay top dollar for a light jet and end up with a tired Learjet 35 that smells bad, rather than a brand new CJ4 that smells new.

There are a lot of jet cards programs out there. Private Jet Card Comparisons seems to be the only reliable resource (other than ones own research) for putting them side by side.

If you're just getting your feet wet in the private flight arena, I would suggest you stay away from a jet card initially and try some sort of charter program first. Get an idea of how much you'll actually use the airplanes, what types you like, and see which plan best suits your needs before making a big financial commitment. Almost all of the time, once you're signed up the funds are non refundable.

Already know what type of planes you like? For me, charter is a better option. Just tell your representative what your preferences are for each trip and that's what you'll get.

I fly a good amount, and appreciate the several options presented to me on each individual trip. For my requirements, a fixed hourly rate just makes no sense. I save a lot and use a different operator for almost every trip.

flyertalkrocks

Choosing a great company once and then dealing with them every time is what draws me to jet cards. The more research I do the more I read about how shady the charter industry can be and that is something I don't want to deal with.

Kagehitokiri

which top owners/operators require card for charter?

which own/operator largest fleets?