If you travel frequently, even a couple of times a year, George’s story will be very familiar.
A busy self-made entrepreneur with a young family, George needs to travel for his business and put faith in the airlines as flying by private jet felt a little out of reach.
Like all of us, George was up at 4AM to catch the first flight to Sydney.
Trading the good morning cuddles from his kids for the lonely drive to the airport.
Knowing he would miss school drop offs for queuing with random travellers piling into the same plane.
His plan of attack once on the ground in Sydney was precise and had little margin for error.
Only while enroute to be sent an SMS by his airline that the flight to Sydney was cancelled.
That’s it, no “here’s what we’ll do to fix things”, just a recommendation to call the offshore call centre.
George’s day is now destroyed, meetings need to be pushed where possible and and then there’s the hassle and stress rebooking onto a later flight.
This is how the airlines treat their customers.
The very lifeblood that keeps them in the air, are their largest inconvenience.
A product that revolves around you, a company that adores its card holders.
George could book a four seat light jet, with as little as a few hours notice and know exactly what the cost was going to be via the fixed occupied hourly pricing.
He could now arrive into a private lounge 15 minutes prior to departure. No security, no queues, no hassles. Compared to the chaotic airport lounges, the Fixed Base Operator’s lounge was eerily quiet.
A safe, clean, and reliable jet paired with healthy gourmet catering meant George could hit the ground running, meet those prospects, and close more deals.
And the best part?
George could now get those good morning cuddles, leave his home in Brighton at 7AM for a 7:20AM wheels up out of Moorabbin and arrive at his first meeting in Sydney’s CBD by 9:15AM.
It gets better.
By the end of his busy day, George’s jet will be ready to fly him home in time for dinner.
Imagine having a travel platform that works to your schedule, not someone else’s.
Paying by Amex and Crypto, all of George’s flights are 100% carbon offset as part of his hourly rate.
Time is money, can you afford to be left behind by the airlines?
A neat, comfortable and super cost effective modern twin engine jet, for what it lacks in size it definitely makes up for in design.
When Cessna went to the drawing board back in 2002 they had a clear focus on the Mustang being that smaller family SUV.
One that could take the family to smaller airports but not restrict everyone to one piece of hand luggage each.
One of the design breakthroughs wasn’t in the cabin itself.
Found in the rear luggage compartment, Cessna specifically designed a 191cm long, rectangular tube dubbed the ‘Ski Tube’.
Connected to to the larger luggage hold, this ski tube allows passengers to take their skis, snowboards, golf clubs and even surfboards with them.
So we put the ski tube to the test. Rhys – one of our card holder’s favourite pilots sent us this video.
So this brings us back to Victoria. For those who don’t know, Victoria is part of our ACCESS by Airly program.
We transformed her A to B with the assistance of the ski tube.
Victoria would fly by private jet from Sydney to Cooma (then VIP chauffeur to the ski slopes) and was able to bring her skis saving money and plenty of hassles at the other end.
In 2019 we recognised that as a growing business, we needed to be environmentally responsible. We spent a lot of the year researching carbon offset programs, and were largely disappointed at the low number of Australian businesses addressing this, as well as the lack of suitable domestic carbon reduction programs that brought additional environmental & social benefits.
This year we committed to becoming a carbon positive organisation, we have calculated our ACCESS by Airly carbon footprint and are actively reducing our operational emissions via improved utilisation of assets, environmentally-friendly catering accessories and championing the importation of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF).
We have committed to offsetting our unavoidable or remaining emission through Carbon Positive Australia (CPOZ). CPOZ is a registered Australian charity, that has been restoring degraded land and sequestering carbon through biodiverse native tree planting for the last 21 years.
Carbon Positive Australia met all the criteria that we needed: an Australian organisation, Australian restoration projects, auditable, simple & transparent reporting where over 95% of the funds are directed towards project execution rather than administrative expenses.
We’re proudly an Australian business, and we’re even more proud to say that as from March onwards we offset 100% of our ACCESS by Airly program.
Warren Buffet once famously said “Price is what you pay – value is what you get.”
Let’s apply this to Victoria’s travel options from Sydney to Thredbo, for herself and her two children, and compare ACCESS by Airly to both commercial and charter options from a value perspective.
ACCESS by Airly:
ACCESS by Airly: $9,950 annual fee (assume 10 flights per year): $995 amortised
Flight from Sydney Airport to Snowy Mountains (Cooma) Airport: $2,716 (whole aircraft)
Ground transfers from Rose Bay to Sydney Airport, and Cooma to Thredbo: $250
Total: $3,991 (including ACCESS annual fee)
Door to door trip time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Via commercial air travel, Victoria could choose to fly to Canberra:
Flight from Sydney Airport to Canberra: Between $208 and $450 per person ($624 – $1,350) economy, or $760 business class ($2,280)
Ground transfers from Rose Bay to Sydney Airport and Canberra to Thredbo: $800 (3 hours)
Total: Between $1,800 (economy) – $3,080 (business)
Door to door trip time: 5 hours
And a charter flight estimate:
Sydney to Snowy Mountains (Cooma) Airport in a Cessna Mustang: $6,835
Ground transfers from Rose Bay to Sydney Airport, and Cooma to Thredbo: $350
Total: $7,185
Door to door trip time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Overall, ACCESS by Airly’s value is compelling in terms of the time to price ratio, while the journey experience is without rival.
When planning a trip, do you find yourself sticking to major centres because they are the only locations reasonably serviced by the airlines?
Or if you want to explore the smaller regions, would you concede to driving hours on end each way?
This scenario was very real for our ACCESS by Airly card holder, Victoria.
Seeking to explore the alpine regions on weekends with her children, Victoria had to weigh up how to get there as the airlines provided very few options from Sydney.
Victoria could fly to Canberra spending at least two hours at the airport / in the air and then a further three hours driving to Thredbo. Alternatively, Victoria had the option of ‘just’ driving for five hours to avoid the multi-modal hassle.
But a near miss driving in poor weather at night led Victoria to researching travel via private jet, thanks to ACCESS by Airly.
Flying private opens the door to new opportunities and destinations.
We flew Victoria and her daughter from Sydney to Cooma, and had a chauffeur ready when the jet arrived to safely drive them up to Thredbo. The whole trip took just over one and half hours from their front door to arriving at their alpine hotel.
For card holders like Victoria, we open the door to 100+ airports, around 70 more than the commercial airlines.
Let’s say you need to visit a client in Bendigo, and also have a property you wish to view in Newcastle. Forget commercial, as at a minimum your planning will have you on the road and catching connecting flights over several days before you get back home.
With ACCESS by Airly, we connect those dots for you, at a palatable price point compared to charter.
The dark dots indicate airports serviced by the commercial airlines. ACCESS by Airly covers said dots as well as all of the gold dots as well.
And not only will we connect those dots, we’ll have you home in time for dinner.
Like any parent, we always want the best for our children. We want to keep them safe, we want them to experience as much as possible.
And for Victoria, she would make the most of every Winter by driving her daughter to the snowfields several times during the snow season.
But with school and a busy personal schedule during the week, Victoria would leave late Friday driving five hours in low light and bad weather to ensure that come Saturday morning they could maximise their time on the slopes.
The long drives took its toll, so Victoria sought to find a way to maximise the time spent on the slopes without the dangers of driving at night for long hours.
Victoria explored the option of flying by private jet to save time, and make for a stress-free trip. However, paying over $15,000 for a weekend away just didn’t make sense.
Thankfully, via social media, Victoria came across ACCESS by Airly.
Through the program, Victoria could now fly from Sydney to Cooma in 35 minutes and jump on the waiting Mercedes van to whisk her and the family to Thredbo.
ACCESS by Airly reduced the travel time from 5 hours to just 90 minutes.
The process to book was simple, the experience was seamless and the price point was also far more palatable: under $3,000 each way.
ACCESS has had a profound impact on Victoria and her family’s life.
Simple and seamless A to B at a far more reasonable price point gave Victoria her life back and alleviated her stress when it came to travel.
Back in June of 2021, in the midst of some pretty horrid market conditions we launched the first twenty five ACCESS cards in a stealth fashion.
We kept marketing to a minimum so those who followed us on our journey could be the first to experience the new offering.
The card program was the first of its kind in Australia, many have conceptualised and tried, but never managed to get the product operational.
In February we managed to effectively sell our initial release out, and prepare to launch the next 15 cards.
Fast forward to this morning, we had our card holder and her family arrive to some special treats and a nice chilled bottle of bubbly to celebrate our 100th demand hour.
An incredible way to start their long weekend in Tasmania.
We always knew ACCESS would be impactful – either by making private more affordable, easier to consume or understand. But it’s had a far greater impact than we first thought.
We are giving our card holders their lives back.
Appreciating how much time we have given back to card holders based in Regional Victoria who can now be on location at their farm in Central Queensland within 2 hours where it used to take a full day of road and commercial travel.
Or getting a father back to his children in time for dinner after a day on the ‘road’. Where in the past he used to spend several days travelling to achieve the same outcome.
We aren’t about transactions, we’re about people: our card holders.
Because when you have a true understanding of what impact you have on people, it makes all of our pain and hard work in building this product worth it.
We are so proud, so grateful and so excited for what’s to come.
A private jet card enables holders to book from a designated type of aircraft at an agreed hourly rate. Generally obtained by pre-purchasing hours on a specific jet, the card is aimed at those in the market to purchase their own aircraft, but save on the maintenance and ongoing expenses.
Where did the concept originate?
The first private jet card originated in Boston in 1997, by a broker named Sentient. The card was developed in response to the growing popularity in fractional ownership programs championed by aviation powerhouse NetJets.
Both products were designed to provide a cleaner and simpler solution without the complexities of owning a private aircraft. For the term ‘jet card’ took on the meaning of bulk on-demand charter hours.
Providers have doubled in the past ten years
As expected with the industry, if a concept works it will be replicated and tinkered by many and for the jet card, this was the case.
As of 2018 there is believed to be over 250 providers providing a myriad of options including dynamic based, milage based, capped rate and even jets by the seat.
What factors to consider when purchasing a private jet card
If you’re in the market for a jet card do your research, because in some cases, it is difficult to void a contract and claw back pre-paid funds.
Establish the upfront costs involved, including any maintenance, fuel and sign on fees?
Ensure the expectations of the operator are clear, what is the availability policy, what if an aircraft isn’t available etc?
What, if any, additional fees are payable and how are they charged?
How long are your pre-paid hours valid, what happens to funds at the end of the contract period?
Do you even need a private jet card?
And herein begs the question, do you even need just a product? Especially in Australia.
At Airly our mission is, and always has been, to make flying private easier to understand that is accessible to more people at a more palatable price point.
But if you’re looking for a program that is similar to a jet card without the upfront cost and restrictive conditions – ACCESS may be the best solution.
Once a card holder, you can book from a streamlined fleet of four seat jets at an all-inclusive rate of $3,995 per occupied hour. You won’t pay for empty positioning fees or overnights. Fixed Base of Operations (FBO aka lounges) and gourmet catering are included where available.
You can learn more about our Australian-first program here.
Interstate border restrictions are crumbling on the East Coast.
And there’s a growing number of travellers who don’t want to wear masks or be forced into isolation after a commercial flight is declared an exposure site.
This is why private aviation is the natural alternative.
But in the past deciding who to book with, what jet to select, confusing pricing options and inconsistent experience can really defeat the purpose of the ‘stress-free’ promise.
We’ve doubled our card holders in the last month, have seen a 500% jump in inbound interest and we are adding more value outside of the flying program.
Three reasons ACCESS will be the talk of the summer.
1. Palatable price point
After the annual membership fee, you only pay for the time you’re physically in the jet. This could be half the cost when compared to chartering with another broker.
Whether you’re flying one way, overnight or staying for five weeks it does not impact the fixed, all-inclusive, occupied hourly rate of $3,995 for the four seat Citation Mustang jet.
The way you book ACCESS flights is unmatched. You can utilise our app, WhatsApp, SMS or email.
Then there’s the experience. A streamlined fleet of jets that look and feel the same, the in-flight meals (included in hourly rate) available to/from major airports is clean and wholesome and caters to all dietary restrictions.
Finally, being able to plan your annual travel budget couldn’t be easier. The only variable you need to consider is the flight duration.
3. Additional value
Our card holders join ACCESS for the flying, but stay for the added value.
We’ve secured member-only rates for the best five star hotels in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Members can also receive discounts on our premium Sydney chauffeur as well.
ACCESS members will soon be able to take their card overseas – but more on that at a later date.
We have a huge vision for this program far beyond what you see today, so get in early and enjoy the offering at todays price point.
To maintain sound availability over the summer we will be capping our memberships so if you’re interested in joining the program please reach out via the link below, or apply via the app.
We’re pleased to inform you that the latest version of the Airly app is now available.
Less bugs, more features and better experience.
Let’s explore some of the new features.
ACCESS at your fingertips
We’ve added in all the functionality and features of the newly-launched and popular program, ACCESS.
You can request an ACCESS membership, book and manage ACCESS flights as well as manage prepaid hours.
Enhanced SHARED features
A flow on benefit from the ACCESS program is the reduction in seat prices along SHARED routes.
It’s also now easier to share your itinerary with others and we created preferred departure time selections (only available to SHARED members) to help group members together for the purpose of flight activation.
Improved charter flow
The development team have improved user experience, flow and visuals on the charter-specific sections as well.
To enjoy the new features please update your app or click here to be taken to the appropriate app store.
