However you fly, you’ll want to experience maximum comfort, flexibility, and reliability at the minimum effort. Flying private continues to increasingly become more and more competitive whilst commercial flights are pushing their premium options to offer even more benefits, but how do the two compare? We break down the main points to see who comes out on top!

Convenience

One of the biggest benefits of flying private is the convenience. Regardless of when you want to go or at what time, you are able to fly from your nearest airport with fairly short notice! Commercial travel is a little trickier. Sure, you can book online relatively easily, and flight paths continue to increase. But finding that perfect first class seat can sometimes be impossible and you’ll often find yourself sacrificing something in order to get to your destination.

Verdict: Private jet. There is no competition here, being able to book flights to and from any airport you like is much better than the conventional way of booking flights. What makes this even better is the fact that Luxwing includes private chauffeur’s either side. To get you to and from your destination with minimum effort from you.

Baggage

Commercial baggage allowance differs from airline to airline, British Airways, for example, allows you to carry 32kg baggage for first class passengers, whereas Emirates gives you a 50kg limit. Not bad, but compared to private travel it’s fairly poor! Take a look at our new Citation X for example, it can hold nearly 350kg of baggage in its 82 cubic ft hold alone! Making it perfect for sporting trips or long holidays, where you’re not planning on packing light!

Verdict: Private jet. Once again, there’s little contest here. 350kg is an enormous amount of space set to fulfil the needs of even the most extravagant packer.

Seating & Amenities

Private aviation offers the luxury of having the entire cabin to yourself. You know all the other passengers, and so can do what you want in that space, but commercial first class seats have been getting bigger and better every year. Etihad airways, for example, have an “apartment experience” seat which includes an armchair, bed and even a shower! This, however, will cost you around $30,000 each way, and although you’ll get your own TV and a range of complementary add-ons, private flights are far more customisable to your needs such as personalised food orders.

Verdict: Draw. Is it really worth paying such a high price for an individual cabin when you could have the entire plane? We’re not sure. The service is great throughout most first class services, but at the end of the day, they are just trying to imitate the private experience, so why not go the whole hog?

Flexibility

Club lounges are great, we’ve even done a post on the best in the world, but we’ve always thought that it still seems like unnecessary hanging around. Wouldn’t it be better to have your car pull you straight up to the plane and then jump right aboard and be in the air within 30 minutes? We’d like to think so. And what makes flying private even better is the fact that you can schedule and adjust flights at very late notice.

Verdict: Private jet. Sure the services that commercial airlines provide are great, but at the end of the day, they are just there to keep you entertained before your flight takes off! We prefer skipping all that hassle completely.

Cost

We’ve already mentioned at Etihad offer one-way seats at $30,000, but realistically most of the best first class seats come in below $10,000 for long haul flights, each way, per person. Chartered Flights are dropping year on year, but will still cost a few thousand dollars per hour depending on your choice of plane. But, before you start booking your next first class trip, think about this – Traveling with a few friends could easily spread this cost to be below that of commercial airlines first class seats! And if cost is the biggest issue to you we’d recommend checking out our Empty Leg seats where we offer discounts up to 70% on last minute routes which we are yet to sell!

Verdict: Commercial flights. Private aviation is still more expensive than most first class seats when we look at it on paper, but using some of our tips discussed above can bring the price down to be very competitive! Make sure you contact us before booking your next trip to see what we can offer you.

Overall verdict: If you’re looking for the cheapest possible way to travel in luxury then perhaps commercial flights are the way to go, but private aviation is becoming more and more competitive and if you weigh up the benefits, we’re positive that private aviation has a lot more to offer than commercial travel. You can save time, fly closer to your destination, take more baggage and change details of your flights at no extra cost. Give Luxwing a call today to see what else we can offer you before making your mind up as to whether commercial travel is your best option.

Give Luxwing a call today to see what else we can offer you before making your mind up as to whether commercial travel is your best option.

It’s been less than 4 months since we last introduced a new jet into our fleet, and today we’re doing it again! This time we’re introducing a real game changer, as it is the fastest civilian aircraft in the world. Of course, we are talking about the Citation X!

The Citation X is the ultimate jet when it comes to private aviation. It is perfect for long range flights with the ability to travel up to 5,956km on a single tank yet still holds up to 10 passengers! What’s even better is that thanks to two turbofan engines, it is able to do this at top speeds of up to 1,127km/h, making it the fastest civilian aircraft in the world! To put that into perspective, the Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet can only reach a maximum speed of 988km/h! This makes it the perfect plane for business meetings, where speed is everything or holidays where you want to spend as much time at your destination and less time traveling. Pair this with the fact that Luxwing will get you in the air within half an hour of arriving at the airport and you’ll get to your destination faster than ever before!

The jet is 22m long with a wingspan of 19.4m, offering a whopping 72ft of storage in the hold of the plane! This gives you plenty of room for even the most extravagant of golf or ski trips! For example, you can easily fit, 6 large suitcases, 6 hand luggage sized backpacks AND 6 pairs of skis in the huge baggage compartment alone!

If you’re interested in experiencing speeds like you never have before, in unparalleled comfort and with quality service only be provided by Luxwing, give us a call or contact us through our website. We’ll help plan each and every aspect of your trip including private transfers to and from your destination and home. Contact us now to find out more about our new jet and book one of its first flights with Luxwing!