You can seemingly purchase anything at Costco, from too many jars of pickles to new tires for their vehicles. Back in 2020, during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, members of the big box store Costco could purchase an annual membership for a private airplane company for around $17,500. Not only that, but by purchasing the annual membership to private airline Wheels Up, Costco members could have received up to $3,500 in Costco shopping credit.
Unfortunately, Costco does not offer Wheels Up subscriptions to its members anymore. The partnership fell apart after 2022, and now Wheels Up is its own company with its own subscription tiers. Note that the membership does not mean that use of the planes is free, as there is still a high hourly rate for the plane’s usage.
Wheels Up, the private jet provider that had partnered with Costco, is a global aircraft company that currently features over 1,500 private aircraft that members have access to. Wheels Up states that they have a “variety of cabin classes and dynamic pricing offered on all aircraft types.” That means that, during peak usage times, the price of using the aircraft can increase. Think about ordering an Uber or Lyft during rush hour and seeing the surge pricing increase; the same can happen with Wheels Up. There are a number of reasons why a person would choose to fly private, whether it’s because they want total isolation or don’t like going through TSA.
For the average person, chartering a flight on a private jet is something that will only be seen on TV and movies. However, there are a number of private jet charter organizations that offer hourly rates for the usage of private airplanes.
At Wheels Up, a Premium Light Jet, typically the Phenom 300 airplane, can cost passengers anywhere from $7,430 per hour up to $9,295 per hour, depending on your membership fund level and whether you choose a fixed hourly rate or dynamic pricing. The brand’s premium super-mid jet is the Challenger 300, which can have an hourly rate of anywhere between $8,727 and $13,495, depending on your membership.
Another example of a private jet charter organization is Clay Lacy, which advertises flights as short as Los Angeles to Las Vegas or as long as Los Angeles to Hong Kong.
For Clay Lacy, the most affordable flight that the private charter service offers is the Los Angeles to Las Vegas flight, which will run passengers about $11,000 for a one-way flight on a light jet. If you’re looking to take that flight in a large jet, it will run about $41,500. Clay Lacy doesn’t offer the light jets for international travel, although the Los Angeles to Honda Kong flight on the large jet costs over $300,000. If you opt to go for a commercial flight instead of hiring a private charter, you can save about $299,000.