NetJets cost: what the published Card, Lease and Share prices cover

NetJets lists the 25-hour Card from $215,000, with 275 days of annual access, or up to 320 at a higher price, and bookings on as little as 48 hours' notice. One set price includes all standard fees, no positioning (ferry) fees and fuel up to the contract's per-gallon level. The Card creates no interest in an aircraft, nothing accrues monthly, and nothing is recoverable once the contract ends.

Card hours are flown within 24 months, and hours left at the contract end date terminate. New Card owners currently cannot travel on the Peak Period Days NetJets designates.

Taxable domestic Card flying generally carries the 7.5 percent federal excise tax, subject to exemptions, while qualifying fractional program flights carry a fuel surtax instead. International treatment depends on the itinerary. We therefore compare the Card with the Lease and the Share after tax, on the dates and cabins the client actually flies.

The Lease comes with 355 or 365 days of annual access, depending on the option, and carries no acquisition fee. No capital goes into an aircraft interest. It covers a select number of aircraft, which means the cabin the client needs determines whether the Lease is an option at all.

The Share's starting figure covers the operating charges and leaves out the capital investment. That capital depends on the aircraft and the size of the interest, so NetJets quotes it rather than listing it, and the Share's cost cannot be read from the starting figure alone.

The Share and the Lease both carry a 36-month minimum, while the proposal prices the first year. Contract escalation terms set how the fixed charge and hourly rate change each year, including the formula, any applicable cap, and how variable fuel rates and other adjustments apply.

Renewal provisions determine the next commitment, including notice requirements and what happens if no election is made. Those terms affect the options available when the initial period ends.

The first is the share’s purchase price less net exit proceeds. That difference is part of the total ownership cost, alongside operating and other costs. Liquidity, which NetJets describes as a feature of the Share, means there is a buyer at exit, and the valuation method, the deductions and the payment timing in the agreement set the amount.

The second is unused allocation, which spreads fixed charges and any capital consumed over fewer hours flown. Any opportunity cost is a separate modeling assumption, not a second payment for the same hours. NetJets rolls unused Share and Lease hours into the following year, which allows later use without providing a refund for a quiet year. Card hours left at the contract end date terminate.

The third is choosing an aircraft category for an exceptional trip. Sizing the primary aircraft to the longest trip of the year applies that aircraft's capital, fixed charge and hourly rate to every routine trip for the whole term. Interchange and supplemental lift can allow the primary category to suit routine travel.

The fourth is flying purchased outside the program. Trips that the program cannot cover because of aircraft category, booking notice or travel date add to the overall cost when bought elsewhere.

NetJets does not publish an aircraft-by-aircraft share-price or occupied-hourly-rate schedule. Its approximately $360,000 annual starting figure for 50 hours totals approximately $1,080,000 over three years if unchanged. That arithmetic covers only the published annual component: it excludes the aircraft investment and exit proceeds, financing, cost of capital, escalation and any taxes or additional charges outside the starting figure. It is not a three-year quote or a complete ownership budget.

In a separate hypothetical example, a $1,000,000 share purchase and $700,000 in net sale proceeds after three years consume $300,000 of capital. Assumed annual fixed charges of $120,000 and flight charges of $4,000 an hour at 50 hours a year add $960,000 over the term. Those components total $1,260,000, or $8,400 per hour across 150 flown hours.

None of those illustrative assumptions is a NetJets quote, an estimate for a particular aircraft or a resale forecast. Net proceeds are after transaction charges and before loan repayment. Rates stay constant; financing, cost of capital, taxes and additional charges are excluded. The proposal and repurchase provisions supply the inputs for an actual comparison.