Group Charter vs Airline Tickets Cost Comparison

The truthful answer would be: sometimes the same price, most of the time the same price with better value, and most often significantly cheaper once you start taking into consideration all the hidden expenses.

In most cases of travel costs calculation, only the cost of the airline tickets is taken into consideration. Once it is done, there is an easy-to-read comparison between the charter offer and the price of airline tickets added together. What usually gets overlooked is everything else that goes beyond the price of a ticket: the additional bag fees, the cost of purchasing the seats which should go together so the whole group can travel at once, the itinerary which does not match the group departure time, the missed connection that one traveler will experience and the whole group will have to wait, and the loss of productivity while sitting next to two hundred other people for six hours.

Once all these aspects are included in the calculations, group charter becomes a much more favorable option.

Pricing of Group Charters

A charter flight is always charged as an entire aircraft rather than charging according to seats. The cost per person for twelve individuals on an ideal charter aircraft is therefore the total charter cost for the flight divided by twelve, and not twelve charges for individual tickets.

In case of smaller groups, where the aircraft category coincides with the passenger capacity, the price per person becomes competitive to the business class price on the same commercial route, especially in case of a connecting route or a route on a carrier lacking direct service.

In the case of bigger groups, with twenty-five to fifty passengers, using a turboprop aircraft or a regional jet, the cost per seat on the same charter aircraft during a two-hour sector becomes equal to premium economy or business class fare on a connecting route of the same commercial service.

The deciding factor is the passenger capacity versus aircraft capacity. A charter aircraft utilized properly creates economies per person that become distinctively different from an under-utilized or half-utilized charter aircraft.

What the Airline Ticket Cost Does Not Cover

Here is where the biggest surprises occur for travel managers and organizers of group events; until they go through the exercise, they don't appreciate the difference.

Baggage Allowance:

A commercial airline ticket for a group of twenty individuals all traveling on commercial flights with their own baggage has to pay for checked baggage on all tickets, except when they fly with some international full-service airlines. With a chartered flight, all the baggage is loaded into the hold at no extra cost within the payload limitation.

Seat Allocation:

If a group would like to have seats allocated in one block on a commercial flight, they would need to pay a seat allocation fee for all seats, except when flying with full-service international airlines. With a chartered flight, the whole aircraft is allocated to the group.

In-flight Catering:

In-flight catering costs for commercial airlines are additional or charged only with higher fare tickets. The catering can be arranged on a chartered flight according to the group's specification.

Schedule Matching:

Commercial flights leave when the airline company believes it necessary to leave. Charter planes leave according to the schedule dictated by the requirements of the party in question. The value of matching the schedules is hard to quantify, but it is often the key determinant for corporate groups with meetings beginning at pre-arranged times or vacationing parties with check-in windows that are inflexible with respect to the airline's schedule.

Ground Transfers:

A commercially traveling group lands according to the schedule provided by the airline company, at a commercial airport, and proceeds to organize ground transportation on its own, individually or in smaller parties. A charter group lands together, at a certain time and possibly at a general aviation airport closer to the destination, and leaves together.

The Corporate Group Travel Analysis

In terms of corporate travel, the pertinent comparison is not between costs of an airline ticket and those of charter travel. Rather, it is between the fully loaded cost of commercial group travel and the fully loaded cost of charter.

Fully Loaded Costs of Commercial Group Travel (fifteen senior executives traveling on a route with a connection) include: Business class tickets, baggage fees, transfers on the ground, meals, loss of productivity due to the trips, and the costs of managing fifteen different individual itineraries.

In contrast to that, chartering for the same group of people using a suitable aircraft size with a direct routing will be just one coordination point, one invoice, and a place where the group can work, brief, and debrief as a group.

Most often the business case for charter is made before even applying the productivity calculations to the process. If you add up the extra working time which the passengers have in the cabin, the calculations become even more obvious.

When Commercial Still Works for Groups

Group charter is not always the solution, and trying to pretend that it is not constructive. In some cases, such as the booking of very large groups above 100 passengers travelling on long-haul flights, a commercial group block booking through an airline group sales desk can really be a much better alternative than a charter for the same group. In the case when the charter routing is longer than the direct commercial routing, the advantage of the time disappears. For budget groups where it is essential to minimize the cost per seat without any value additions, commercial still works.

The decision is one worth doing as a proper comparison and not as a default. This means having a quote for the charter for the group size, route, and date compared to the commercial costs.

What Types of Groups Use Charter Most Often?

Corporate retreats and leadership events, whereby a leadership group of ten to twenty participants all travel together, and they understand the value of their working time spent in the cabin.

Sports teams that have many pieces of equipment, have coordinated times of arriving, and where their cohesiveness is such that commercial air travel would be more of a challenge than using the charter, regardless of cost.

Incentive and reward travel where the charter becomes an element of the experience provided to the group.

Religious travel and pilgrimages, whereby having a specific time of departure, same point of departure, and cohesiveness become just as important as the cost.

Groups traveling to events or conferences where there is an absolute need for the group to arrive at a certain time, and they need to all leave again together.

Why Choose Book My Jet for Group Charters

Group charter flights at Book My Jet are organized via a single inquiry by their Charter Specialists, who take your passenger number, flight path, dates, and other preferences into account. Specialists search for the right aircraft suitable for your group from more than 400 operators and 5,000 aircraft and give you options which are truly tailored to your group and are not just the closest aircraft which fit your requirements.

No membership fees. No need to coordinate different operator conversations. Only one specialist, one inquiry and one coordinated booking from aircraft selection through to on-day management.

Group travel planning is a task which pays off well when done correctly, through comparison and not assumptions. Assumption of commercial is always cheaper for the group and charter is always an expensive choice will prove wrong when the calculations are performed correctly. There is no other way to find out what works best in a specific case than to request both options and compare them objectively.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. At what passenger number does it become competitive for a charter flight to compete with commercial tickets?

It depends on the route and class of the aircraft, but generally if it is a group of ten passengers, or higher, on a sector where the prices are mid-to-high, the charter cost will be competitive with or lower than the corresponding cost of a commercial ticket when the total cost is considered.

2. Are baggage services, catering services and seat choices included in a charter flight?

Yes. In the charter, the plane is used exclusively for the group, and therefore the luggage is loaded in the cargo hold according to the weight limit. There is no separate allocation of seats, and catering services are provided according to the requirements of the group.

3. Is it possible to use the time convenient for the group instead of the airline's timetable?

Yes. The time of departure of a charter flight is determined by the requirement of the group and not according to an existing timetable of the airlines.

4. What are the steps in arranging for a group charter on Book My Jet?

One booking request for your group size, itinerary, and dates and any other needs will be sufficient. Charter Specialists will provide suitable aircraft options in a standardized comparison form. Once confirmed, all further organization of the flight becomes the responsibility of the specialists.

5. Is group charter only for large groups and corporations?

All groups with a minimum size of six or seven passengers and more have access to charter services provided by Book My Jet. Small groups usually find light jets and turboprops as good-value options, especially if compared with the total cost of commercial flights.