It’s always a smart idea to charter a private jet early, especially if you want to travel during fall or winter. In a broad sense, around 75% of privately chartered flights are booked within two weeks of departure but in some cases, clients want their aircraft ready just hours after putting in the request.
When it comes to the holiday seasons, booking your private jet so late is definitely not an advisable strategy. It’s much better for you to give us plenty of notice whenever possible.
Why Are Fall and Winter Special?
The main reasons why it’s harder to book flights at a short notice in fall and winter is because it’s a holiday season, and there are blackout dates.
First and foremost, a lot of people traditionally holiday in these months. This means that more private jets are being chartered. A slimmer supply coupled with increased demand means there are fewer aircraft available.
Each customer has very specific needs when it comes to the size and range of the aircraft, or the onboard features required. So, when other flyers begin to charter aircraft according to their preferences, the choice of what’s available starts narrowing down and it may become harder to find a plane that ticks all the boxes on the list of your requirements.
Another risk related to booking flights at a short notice is that business-savvy owners can charge more in such situations.
Additionally, when you don’t hire your jet in advance you’ll also need to consider the blackout dates. If you’re using a fixed rate jet card, you won’t be able to travel on certain dates such as Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.
Using a broker gives you a better shot of securing a flight on blackout dates. But your chances will vastly increase if you provide a decent amount of notice. You’ll definitely have more options at your fingertips which means that you’ll secure your aircraft at a more competitive price.
How Much Notice Should I Give when Chartering a Private Jet?
In general, the more notice you provide, the better. Keep in mind, however, that many jet owners may not know their exact schedule too far in advance. Therefore, we advise our customers to try to provide 1-3 months of notice when requesting a private jet.
For the fall and winter months, we’d err towards the upper end of that scale when possible. If you’re running out of time but you need a private jet at short notice for the fall or winter, don’t worry. Your options may be more limited, but there’s almost always something our experts can do to help. Give us a call on +1-877-727-2538.
