The CEO of one of the largest jet card issuers recently talked to the Boston Globe, discussing his company, their customers and sharing some insights on their cards.
The company was founded in 1999 and has grown to serve over 5,000 jet card customers. The starting price for their 25 hour cards is about $125,000, although Andrew notes in the article that the average new customer spends about $140,000, which is more of a mid-size jet price level.
These customers come from various backgrounds. The Globe article says they are "hedge fund investors, professional sport team owners, real estate magnates, and entrepreneurs (venture capital, technology, biopharmaceutical). We have a good chunk of celebrities on television and in film, as well as authors and athletes." And in terms of their private jet flights "60 percent fly for business and 40 percent for pleasure."
For their customers based in Boston, the most popular destinations are Nantucket, New York City, and Palm Beach.
From the examples he gives, his customers use private jets for the same reasons as other people use them, namely to save time, for privacy and convenience. He gives the example of someone who "needs to be in three different destinations in a day". This is typical of why private planes are used so that you can fly exactly where you want to go, can land at a private airport near your destination and can take off straight after your meeting. There's no waiting for hours for a scheduled flight, no standing in long TSA security lines, so you can do 3 stops in a day and get back home to your own bed at the end of the day.