Charter, jet card, fractional or buy a jet?The options explained.

What does it mean to charter a private jet?

Chartering means booking a charter flight: you pay for a specific trip with the whole aircraft and its crew. The FAA calls it an “on-demand” operation: the time and place of departure and arrival are negotiated with the customer (14 CFR 110.2). Because payment is involved, the operator must hold an FAA certificate and operations specifications (14 CFR 119.5), and flies under Part 135 rules (14 CFR 135.1), which include, for example, limits on crew flight time and rest.

You buy nothing but the trip. You choose the aircraft for the route — a turboprop may be enough for Monterrey–Houston; for a family with skis headed to Vail, a midsize or super-midsize gives more room — and next time you choose another. Which aircraft suits each route is in private jet types; what moves the price of each trip is in how much a private flight from Mexico costs.

What is a jet card?

A jet card is a commercial contract: you prepay a balance or a block of hours, and in exchange the provider offers terms fixed in advance, such as aircraft categories, minimum booking notice or blackout dates. The FAA has no category called “jet card.” What matters is who operates each flight: if a third party carries you for payment, it’s an on-demand operation and must be performed by a certificate holder, the same as a charter.

Before signing one, it’s worth reading the contract for who operates each flight, what happens to unused balance, which dates are excluded and how repositioning is charged. It tends to make sense for someone who flies often, with little advance notice, and prefers predictable terms to quoting each trip.

How does fractional ownership work?

Fractional ownership is defined in FAA regulation (14 CFR 91.1001). A fractional program has a single program manager, two or more aircraft, multi-year agreements and an exchange of aircraft among owners: if yours is in use, you fly on another aircraft in the program. The minimum share is 1/16 of an aircraft (1/32 for helicopters). Flights are operated under Part 91, Subpart K, with management specifications issued by the FAA to the program manager.

The tax treatment is different too: in the United States, flights on a fractional program don’t pay the § 4261 passenger tax when their fuel pays an additional tax (26 U.S.C. §§ 4043 and 4261(j); current law fixes that rule through September 30, 2028). In practice, you own part of an aircraft, with a multi-year commitment. It tends to fit someone who flies many hours a year, year after year.

What if I buy my own aircraft?

With your own aircraft, you fly under Part 91, the general operating rules. For jets, Subpart F (14 CFR 91.501) lists, among others, flights for the owner’s and guests’ personal transportation without charge, and three arrangements with limited charges: time sharing, interchange and joint ownership. What it doesn’t allow is charging just anyone to carry them: that requires an operating certificate (14 CFR 119.5).

The owner can also hire aircraft management. U.S. tax law describes it as flight scheduling and planning, insurance, maintenance, hangar and fuel, hiring and training pilots, and compliance with safety standards; what the owner pays for those services and for flying their own aircraft does not trigger the passenger tax (26 U.S.C. § 4261(e)(5); IRS Publication 510). If the managed aircraft is chartered to third parties, those flights are already charter and are operated under the certificate of whoever operates them.

Buying gives full control of the aircraft, the cabin and the schedule, in exchange for capital, fixed costs and decisions on maintenance, crew and insurance. If the aircraft would carry a Mexican registration or be based in Mexico, AFAC’s rules come into play; this guide does not cover them.

Sources: eCFR 14 CFR 91.501, 91.1001, 110.2, 119.5 and 135.1; 26 U.S.C. §§ 4043 and 4261; IRS Publication 510. Our own summary.

Which one is right for you?

The underlying question is how many hours you fly, with how much advance notice and on which routes. If you travel a few times a year — ski season in Vail, Easter, a weekend in Houston or Dallas — and each trip is different, charter lets you pick the right aircraft every time without committing capital. A jet card makes more sense when the hours are many and predictable; fractional and outright ownership, when flying is part of the routine and the horizon is years. Whichever the option, who operates the flight and under which rule is the first thing to know.

Frequent destinations from Mexico: private flights to Vail (in Spanish), to Aspen (in Spanish), to Houston (in Spanish) and to Dallas (in Spanish).

Why does Vision Air only do charter?

Because we’re air charter brokers, not operators or aircraft sellers. Our job is one thing: for each trip, choose among preferred operators, certificated under FAA Part 135, the aircraft that best resolves your route, your group, your luggage and the mountain airport you’re headed to. We don’t sell aircraft, fractions or jet cards, so we have no aircraft of our own to fill: the recommendation is whatever suits the trip. The other options are legitimate and work well for many families; this guide exists so you can compare with clear information.

Data verified September 22, 2026 against the current text of 14 CFR §§ 91.501, 91.1001, 110.2, 119.5, 135.1 and 135.267 (eCFR), 26 U.S.C. §§ 4043 and 4261, and IRS Publication 510.

Vision Air Charter is an air charter broker — not an airline or a direct air carrier. All flights are operated by carriers certificated under FAA Part 135 or its local equivalent. This page is informational; it is not legal or tax advice.