The Cost To Fly Private From New York To California Will Make You Pause

Do you have the average net worth of people who fly first class, or are you one step above that and able to charter a private jet? Say you wanted to book the cheapest, exclusive flight from New York to California on your own aircraft — that cost would start between $34,000 and $41,000 for an 8-seat Challenger. That price then goes up depending on how you want to sail the skies, including the hefty price tag that comes with landing a private jet.

There are several different companies that you can get estimates and book with, including Air Charter Advisors, which lists the starting price for a Super Midsize jet going one-way from $40,000, to a heavy jet with the same flight path that can seat between 12 and 14 passengers for anywhere from $50,000 to $60,000, and a Long Range Jet for 10 to 16 passengers starting at $75,000 and going up to $90,000. 

Clay Lacy lists pricing from New York City to Los Angeles as $56,000 for a light jet, $79,000 for a mid-sized one, and $102,000 for a large jet. No matter what size you book or how many people you plan to transport with you, prepare to pay tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to fly from the East Coast to the West Coast in your own private plane.

Owners of private planes, if they are not billionaires, have a lot of expenses in order to maintain their aircraft in tip-top shape. Plus, fuel costs are incredibly high when it comes to flying a private plane. Liberty Jet put a Gulfstream IV, manufactured between 1985 and 1993, in the price range of $1,595,000 and $3,950,000, with an operational budget of $1,668,667 for 200 hours of flying with a speed that brings the average gas cost to $19.12 per mile.

For those who do not have the net worth of someone that can own their own jet or are trying to save money on private flight, looking into hourly bookings is also an option, with places such as evoJet offering a Turboprop plane holding six to eight passengers costing approximately $1,200 to $1,800 per hour and a heavy jet somewhere between $5,000 to $8,000. These are all "ballpark" prices, and while they do account for aircraft, crew, and fuel expenses, they do not factor in positioning flight times or federal excise taxes, as well as overnight fees, all of which cost extra.