Plans change, decisions are made, and you need to be there...NOW. The quickest and most efficient option is always by private jet charter. Here are the options when you are booking at the last minute.

Can You Get Better Private Jet Charter Deals At the Last Minute?

For most last minute travelers the situation is critical. There is a place they need to be and hardly enough time to make the journey happen. For many, last minute private jet charters come from this necessity; a situation has changed and you absolutely must get there, whether that’s for business, family or leisure reasons.

Last minute has other connotations. In the travel industry it can suggest getting an excellent deal. Can you get a better deal when booking a charter at the last minute? Usually no. The later you book the lesser the availability of aircraft, especially if you’re not flying from one of the larger private jet airports. Less aircraft invariably means less choice and ultimately, higher prices.

However, there are occasions when last-minute private jet charters also work to your financial advantage. If an empty plane has to return to base you can get a great deal if you are flying the same direction. If an airline or operator has had a cancellation they will look to minimize their losses with another charter. If the plane you need is sitting empty there’s a good chance of a better deal. How? Read on.

How to Plan a Last Minute Private Jet Deal

Remember when last minute vacations were heavily advertized. Book now, fly tomorrow and get the best deal. That was the idea anyway. Usually your choice involved the dregs of what was left, the vacations that nobody wanted.

It made sense. Operators could increase occupancy on flights and hotels by offering heavily discounted last minute deals. A win-win you might say, until you got there and saw the decrepit state of what you had booked.

Jet charters don’t work in the same way. To find the best last minute private jet charters you must maximize the choice you start with, rather than search for deals that nobody ever wanted. Book six months in advance and there could be 4000 aircraft wanting to take you from A to B.

Book six hours in advance and many of those aircraft are unavailable - they are already booked, and so are the pilots and crew. If there is only a handful of aircraft available for your time-frame then you can expect to pay higher prices. However, competition between aircraft can balance the scales towards your favor – the more choice you start with the greater the final deal.

More Choice – Top Tips

Choice isn’t just the number of aircraft available. It incorporates much more:

• An unrestricted choice of airlines and operators
• An unfiltered variety of aircraft, from turboprops all the way to heavy jets.
• Complete choice of where you fly from and to.
• Choosing the best airport FBO for your journey.

Having more choice always results in a better deal. That’s the same whether you are booking a year in advance or searching for a last minute private jet charter. So how do you achieve such choice? Here are the options?

Jet Brokers – Pros and Cons

Jet brokers are somewhat of an archaic piece of the air charter industry. The idea is that their connections can find you an aircraft at short notice. Some jet brokers are professional experts and could get you a good last minute deal. But no qualifications are required to do this job. Many jet brokers restrict you to certain operators, airlines and destinations.

You can read more about jet brokers on this page. They provide a middleman-style service and charge a percentage for doing so. You could be getting a good deal but you could also be paying more than double the going rate, especially if you are new to FAA Part 135 air charters.

Jet Cards – Pros and Cons

Jet cards have an enticing promise. Pre-purchase a specified number of flight hours and then you can fly anytime, anywhere. Except it doesn’t always work like that. Blackout days coincide with peak travel times, with anything from 10 to over 100 blackout days dependent on the jet card. On these days you are unable to fly, or must pay a surcharge.

All jet cards restrict you to a specific type of aircraft. Jet cards are also purchased per operator or airline, so there is no choice here either. Usually the operator uses predetermined airport FBOs although there shouldn’t be too many restrictions over where you fly from and to.

There’s an additional challenge in terms of last minute private jet charter: unavailability of aircraft. Jet card operators have a limited stock of aircraft. When they are fully booked you can’t use your jet card. So when the situation is critical and you absolutely must fly, there’s a good chance you'll be left stranded.

You can read everything you need to know about private jet cards here.

Direct Charter – Pro and Cons

The best way to get a last minute private jet charter is to book direct. This cuts out the broker’s percentage and removes choice restrictions presented by jet cards. But where do you start? If you’ve never chartered a plane and know nothing of Part 135 who do you contact?

Airvel is the world’s leading booking engine for private air charters. It works in a similar way to Expedia or Skyscanner. You search for flights, compare all the different options, then pick the deal that is best for you.

The Airvel marketplace brings together hundreds of airlines and operators, giving you access to over 4000 different aircraft. Of course that's the starting point - book at the last minute and you can't choose between 4000. However, by maximizing the choice you do get a better deal.

With Airvel You can fly to and from any airport in the US, as well as a number of international airports. Filter the search results on the number of passengers, so you get aircraft most suited to your flight. Then select what is best for you.

Airvel has revolutionized the industry because it offers unfiltered choice. You can fly anywhere, anytime, without having to pre-purchase. Just select what is best for you and fly.

Airvel also provides a private concierge service as standard. For last minute private jet charters you can have a concierge do all the searching around for you. Compare the results electronically, make your payment and fly.

Fly with Airvel and Get $500 Off Your First Flight

Take off with Airvel and we’ll take $500 off your first flight. So that last minute private jet charter just got even better.