Last month, private jet charter firm The Early Air Way rolled out its new Jet Hedging program. The objective is to enhance the private jet travel experience for subscribers of jet card and fractional ownership programs. Jet Hedging was developed by company founder Alex Early when he discovered that the most frequent of private fliers who have pre-paid jet cards did not realize they could benefit from on-demand private jet charter.

The program allows jet-card holders to submit their upcoming flight schedules to The Early Air Way for a complimentary analysis. The firm returns a cost comparison for each flight on a cardholder’s schedule. It compares the price to making the trip on a plane from its wholesale-based variable program versus the cost to use its fixed price program.

Early results from the program are good, as the company reports that about 90 percent of the time it provides passengers with a better price due to its unique method of aircraft procurement. Using Jet Hedging, customers can save more than 50 percent on the same type of aircraft on many trips and can reap even more savings if an empty-leg flight is involved.

“Card holders generally assume that using their fractional ownership program will always be the most economical way to fly private, and that’s just not the case,” noted Jeff Early, a company spokesman. “The reality is that forking over a lump sum of money upfront for a jet card membership does not guarantee advantageous rates over individually-purchased charters.”

The possible savings with the Jet Hedging program are due to the company passing along wholesale market inventory directly to consumers, as opposed to the fixed-price system that air passengers may be accustomed to. The program cannot guarantee savings 100 percent of the time, but in such cases the company advises the passenger accordingly. “Roughly 10 percent of the time, particularly for very short trips on large aircraft, the customers’ card programs may be more economical, and our specialists will advise using pre-paid hours in those instances,” Early explained. “Customers are amazed at how much they can save on the majority of their trips, however, and that’s what the Jet Hedging program is here to show them.”