Private Air Travel

[Lord of the Dance]

So I recently had a cool experience with private air travel - we chartered a Bombardier Challenger 605 to fly us down to Islamorada. We landed at the field in Marathon which is within about 30 minutes of our cottage. The flight from PA to the Keys took about two and a half hours, but the time saved in skipping check-in and security at the bigger airports made it about 6 hours faster overall, compared to a trip via commercial airline. One of the reasons for this major time disparity is because bigger planes don't fly into Marathon, so you must either fly into Miami or Key West and then drive about 2 hours, either south from Miami, or north from Key West. When you factor all these things together, it really makes a difference in overall trip time. Another bonus - you can travel with guns! They absolutely do check you out, but private firms make their own rules and these guys allowed me to bring along a firearm.

We used SkyQuest out of Cleveland because my cousin is a pilot for them and was able to hook us up. The photo of my dad shoving a bag into the cargo hold illustrates the size of this aircraft (he's about 5' 9"). The Challenger 605 is much larger than what was needed to make our roughly 1000 NM trip, but I wanted to become acquainted with it. She is capable of making international passages and I plan on utilizing said aircraft to the maximum reach of its range.

[Manny]

Very nice indeed. That's a bit of me.

That journey is something like a flight from the UK to Estonia in distance. What did that take? 3-4 hours?

What kind of money might such a charter cost?

[Lord of the Dance]

Very nice indeed. That's a bit of me.

That journey is something like a flight from the UK to Estonia in distance. What did that take? 3-4 hours?

What kind of money might such a charter cost?

Time en route Erie to Marathon was 2 hours 30 minutes, give or take. She'll make 480 knots (approx. 550 MPH / 885 KPH) at cruise. Believe it or not, the cost of these charters is more affordable than most people realize. The determining factors are availability and flexibility. For example, if you are willing to be flexible with your departure day / time, many charter firms will work to coordinate with other clients to arrange their flights in succession (so in other words, your plane is dropping people off when it arrives to pick you up, and then it picks up more people at your destination once it drops you off). This can save considerable money, but requires you to be more flexible with scheduling. We went this route and had to schedule about 3 weeks out. Cost was around $18K. I understand this isn't pocket change, but I feel like it's worth it, even if you only do it once for the unique experience.

There's gonna be two pilots on a plane of this size, but no FAs so you fix your own drink, haha. Even though there's a lav on board, our one pilot walked into the jet center to use the bathroom while the other pilot was in the cargo hold, so dad and I handed our bags up to him so he didn't have to keep hopping down. These guys were pretty chill. We didn't take any pets with us, but this particular firm also allows pets on board, assuming they're well behaved (looked to be some pretty hefty cleaning fees if any 'messes' are made).

[Markje]

Great looking plane-ride there LotD ,

I once researched this when the war started, to see if I could fly a private-charter to Sochi or somesuch.

Pricing on that was about $40k for max-20 people (which was the smallest I could find). So you pay for the whole plane, if you can get a travel-company of around 10 people, it will be equally expensive as a business-class flight on a regular charter. if you are able to get all seats filled, it will be only 1,4 times more then a regular seat per person, which is quite affordable.

I couldn't find one to fly me to Sochi though, so I abandoned the idea. (which was, what-if i need to be in Crimea within 24 hours cause something happened)

[rosco]

I'll see if I can link the web page but there's a site offering really competitive deals for seats on private jets. Basically you'll get someone paying full whack to fly from A to B and then if the B to A return flight matches your time of travel, you can buy heavily discounted fares.

The company basically just wants to cover the fuel having made the money on the initial booking. I did it many moons ago with some mates when we went skiing but it wasn't me who arranged the booking. It was really competitively priced, about £500 a seat sort of stuff.

[Manny]

She'll make 480 knots (approx. 550 MPH / 885 KPH) at cruise.

That's faster than I thought. But then again, it's not an old prop thing.

Cost was around $18K. I understand this isn't pocket change, but I feel like it's worth it, even if you only do it once for the unique experience.

Also, for others, if there are a few of you, it's more affordable. If there's half a dozen of you say, $3k each. A lot of people could manage that.

I once researched this when the war started, to see if I could fly a private-charter to Sochi or somesuch.

Pricing on that was about $40k for max-20 people (which was the smallest I could find). So you pay for the whole plane, if you can get a travel-company of around 10 people, it will be equally expensive as a business-class flight on a regular charter. if you are able to get all seats filled, it will be only 1,4 times more then a regular seat per person, which is quite affordable.

I couldn't find one to fly me to Sochi though, so I abandoned the idea. (which was, what-if i need to be in Crimea within 24 hours cause something happened)

I was just thinking that as I read your post. With no commercial flights going to directly to Russia from the EU/UK at the moment, there might be an opportunity for someone there to offer direct flights to Moscow or similar.

I'll see if I can link the web page but there's a site offering really competitive deals for seats on private jets. Basically you'll get someone paying full whack to fly from A to B and then if the B to A return flight matches your time of travel, you can buy heavily discounted fares.

The company basically just wants to cover the fuel having made the money on the initial booking. I did it many moons ago with some mates when we went skiing but it wasn't me who arranged the booking. It was really competitively priced, about £500 a seat sort of stuff.

IIRC, from his book, Virgin Airlines started not dissimilar to that. Branson had a flight cancelled, polled the other passengers, chartered a plane and split the cost. Then he thought, "I could make a few quid doing this..."

[Markje]

And other than the cost, it will also be nice to have a private security-check and passport control away from the riff-raff

[andrewfi]

And other than the cost, it will also be nice to have a private security-check and passport control away from the riff-raff

You can book that for yourself at many airports. I did it a few years ago. Cost was surprisingly low. Greeted off the plane and escorted to the vip arrivals separately to the other passengers.

Nice lounge, free drinks and snacks and the passport control was done in the lounge. Baggage was dropped off to the lounge as well.

Fair do's it was about 12 years ago, cost was €200 for two people in Tallinn and Riga. I doubt it is quite so inexpensive now.

[Wiz]

Another bonus - you can travel with guns! They absolutely do check you out, but private firms make their own rules and these guys allowed me to bring along a firearm.

Wonderful life style to have to curry a gun on your real life.

 

 

[B.B.]

...these guys allowed me to bring along a firearm.

I the cabin or in cargo?

B/B

[Lord of the Dance]

And other than the cost, it will also be nice to have a private security-check and passport control away from the riff-raff

Definitely worth it!

I'll see if I can link the web page but there's a site offering really competitive deals for seats on private jets. Basically you'll get someone paying full whack to fly from A to B and then if the B to A return flight matches your time of travel, you can buy heavily discounted fares.

The company basically just wants to cover the fuel having made the money on the initial booking. I did it many moons ago with some mates when we went skiing but it wasn't me who arranged the booking. It was really competitively priced, about £500 a seat sort of stuff.

Yeah, in this day of everything getting more expensive it would almost seem that (in relative terms, of course) private jet travel is getting cheaper as it catches on, especially aided by covid and the sh!tshow that most airlines have become of late. 

[Lord of the Dance]

Another bonus - you can travel with guns! They absolutely do check you out, but private firms make their own rules and these guys allowed me to bring along a firearm.

Wonderful life style to have to curry a gun on your real life.

 

 

It's just an itty-bitty one I carry in my purse next to my lipstick and tampons. If only I had big strong muscles like you Wiz.

()

[Lord of the Dance]

...these guys allowed me to bring along a firearm.

I the cabin or in cargo?

B/B

Technically all weapons are supposed to be inaccessible during flight, but what they were most concerned about was that the gun wasn't loaded in the airplane, so I showed them the empty clip and demonstrated that the chamber was empty (also had a chamber flag in the slide, which I think reassured them). The ammo was in my luggage in the cargo bay so they had no problem with the pistol being in the cabin. I understand that when I fly to Europe I'll not be able to carry a pistol, but down in FL it's not smart to be without one.

[AvHdB]

Another bonus - you can travel with guns! They absolutely do check you out, but private firms make their own rules and these guys allowed me to bring along a firearm.

Wonderful life style to have to curry a gun on your real life.

 

 

It's just an itty-bitty one I carry in my purse next to my lipstick and tampons. If only I had big strong muscles like you Wiz.

()

    

[yankee]

...these guys allowed me to bring along a firearm.

I the cabin or in cargo?

B/B

Technically all weapons are supposed to be inaccessible during flight, but what they were most concerned about was that the gun wasn't loaded in the airplane, so I showed them the empty clip and demonstrated that the chamber was empty (also had a chamber flag in the slide, which I think reassured them). The ammo was in my luggage in the cargo bay so they had no problem with the pistol being in the cabin. I understand that when I fly to Europe I'll not be able to carry a pistol, but down in FL it's not smart to be without one.

Where I live the population is about 80% Veteran.  I normally go for a 1 to 2 mile walk around Mid night.  I do not feel the need to carry.  plus I have my 65-pound dog with me.

[B.B.]

...these guys allowed me to bring along a firearm.

I the cabin or in cargo?

B/B

Technically all weapons are supposed to be inaccessible during flight, but what they were most concerned about was that the gun wasn't loaded in the airplane, so I showed them the empty clip and demonstrated that the chamber was empty (also had a chamber flag in the slide, which I think reassured them). The ammo was in my luggage in the cargo bay so they had no problem with the pistol being in the cabin. I understand that when I fly to Europe I'll not be able to carry a pistol, but down in FL it's not smart to be without one.

Where I live the population is about 80% Veteran.  I normally go for a 1 to 2 mile walk around Mid night.  I do not feel the need to carry.  plus I have my 65-pound dog with me.

I walk for an hour or so every evening late.  No issues.  I am a "big ugly" ofc, but I'm in a safe neighborhood.

B/B