How PJReviews Compares Jet Cards: Methodology

How we compare

PJReviews compares jet card programs on their published terms. Every fact carries a source label and the date we read it, prices are compared only within an aircraft category, and the terms criteria follow the rubric below. Nothing is ranked overall, safety is never scored, and no provider can pay to change its data. These rules cover every page of our jet card guide and the jet card comparison.

Data last reviewed: September 25, 2026 Data version 2026.10 How we compare

How we select providers

A provider appears in the comparison when all of the following hold:

It sells a jet card, prepaid-hours, prepaid-funds or paid membership program to the public under its own brand, and the program was open to new buyers, or to renewals, on the review date. Each provider shows a dated sales status (open · limited · closed to new buyers · renewals only · unclear) with its source.
It publishes program terms. A provider that publishes some terms but not others is listed with "Not published" in those cells and is not scored on them. A provider that publishes no terms at all is listed with a "terms not published" marker and is not scored.
It operates, or arranges flights, in a region our readers search from. Our first release is weighted to the United States because that is where the search demand is; Canadian, UK and European programs follow on the same rules.
It is not under common ownership with PJReviews.com.

The first release was ordered by search interest and market presence. Regional and boutique programs are added on the same rules; anyone may propose one at support@pjreviews.com.

Inclusion in this comparison is never paid for, and no provider can pay to change its data or its position in these pages.

How we collect data

Every fact carries a source label and the date we read it:

Label	Meaning
Primary source	Read in the provider's program terms, rate card or FAQ, a regulator record or a securities filing
Provider-stated	Taken from the provider's own marketing pages, with no governing document found
Reported by [source], [date]	Reported by trade press or an analyst; shown with the source named and the date of the report
Estimate	A PJReviews calculation from labelled inputs; the formula and inputs are shown where it appears, and it takes the lowest label of its inputs
Not published	We did not find it in the provider's public materials (checked on the date shown). That says nothing about whether the provider offers it; ask the provider

Data is collected from primary documents first, then provider pages, then trade press. We record the source URL, the document's own date where it shows one, and the date we read it.

A fact whose document is older than twelve months is re-checked; if it cannot be re-confirmed it is withdrawn from the pages until it can. Where a term is unconfirmed, the page names the field ("Peak-day surcharge — not confirmed") and never the unconfirmed figure.

Providers may send corrections with documentation; we update the data, note the change in the update log on this page, and never remove accurate information at a provider's request.

How we normalise pricing

Published rate is a rate the provider itself publishes (primary source or provider-stated) for the named aircraft category on the as-of date, shown with whether the 7.5% US federal excise tax is included (26 U.S.C. §4261, cited on the cost page with its issue date). A rate that comes only from a trade article is shown separately as "Reported rate — [source], [date]" and is never used in sorting, filtering, budget bands, the calculator, criteria scores or the guided shortlist. Rates are never converted between currencies.
Effective hourly cost is an estimate that adds what the headline rate leaves out, using only terms the provider publishes: excise tax when excluded, published fuel surcharges, membership and initiation fees spread over the hours purchased, peak-day surcharges weighted by the share of peak travel the reader enters, daily-minimum effects for short legs, and taxi-time billing where the provider states it. Each addition is listed with its label. When a component is not published the result is shown as "at least $X (excludes: …)" and is never sorted against complete estimates. The calculator states what it leaves out (per-segment fees and cases the statute treats differently). Worked examples on the cost page are hypotheticals with every input visible.
Programs are compared within an aircraft category only.
Where pricing is dynamic or capped-dynamic, we show the published cap or range and label the row "variable"; no effective hourly cost is computed from a range.
A cheaper rate is never presented as "better". The cost page explains, with sources, what is commonly traded for a lower rate; nothing about fleet age is ever attached to a named program.

How comparisons are scored

There is no overall ranking and no single score. The comparison shows "Terms criteria (0–3)", one score per criterion, computed mechanically from the program's published terms so a reader can weight what matters to them. Scores describe terms, not the company, and they say nothing about safety or service quality.

A criterion is scored only when every input it needs is a primary-source or provider-stated fact; otherwise it shows "—", and the page shows "scored on n of 7". If a program meets the conditions of two bands, it receives the lower band. Every score cell shows the term text it was computed from, with that term's label and date.

There are no totals, averages, stars, bars or "overall" figures. Tables are never sorted or filtered by score; only the guided shortlist (below) orders programs, using the weights you choose.

Criterion	3	2	1	0
Pricing transparency	Rates, fees and surcharges published for every category sold	Rates published for every category sold; some fees or surcharges not published	Only "from" rates published, or rates published for fewer categories than the program sells	No rates found in the provider's public materials (checked on the date shown) — the one criterion where non-publication is itself the data point
Cost predictability	Rate locked for the term; no fuel surcharge and no escalator	Rate locked; every surcharge or escalator has a published cap	Rate locked but a surcharge or escalator is uncapped; or capped-dynamic pricing	Dynamic pricing with no published cap
Availability terms	Guaranteed in the terms with ≤10 h standard lead time and ≤20 peak days	Guaranteed in the terms with ≤24 h and ≤35 peak days	Guaranteed in the terms with longer lead times, more than 35 peak days, or stated conditions beyond peak days and lead time	"As available" or no guarantee in the terms
Cancellation flexibility	≤24 h standard and ≤72 h peak, no forfeiture beyond the daily minimum	≤48 h standard, no forfeiture beyond the daily minimum	Longer than 48 h standard, or any partial forfeiture	Non-refundable once booked
Commitment and exit	Funds valid 24 months or longer and refundable	Valid 24 months or longer, refundable less a stated fee	Valid 12 months or longer but under 24 months; or non-refundable; or valid under 12 months but refundable	Under 12 months and non-refundable
Coverage	Continent-wide primary area plus international flying on published terms	Continent-wide primary area	Multi-state or multi-country region	One metro area, or hub-based only
Program flexibility	Three or four of: interchange across categories, guest use, round-trip discount, pets	Two	One	The terms state that none of these is offered (not scored when the terms say nothing about any of the four)

Terms in the rubric: a "from" rate includes a rate given as a starting, "as low as", average or lowest rate. In pricing transparency, "fees and surcharges" means the initiation fee, the annual membership fee, the fuel surcharge and the peak-day surcharge. In cost predictability, a surcharge means the fuel surcharge, an escalator means any escalator or price-change clause in the terms, and an hourly rate that is not locked, including one linked to an index, counts as dynamic pricing.

"Guaranteed" always appears with its conditions (peak-day exclusions, lead-time conditions).

Safety, operator or broker status, certificates, audits, fleet age, reputation and financial condition are never scored.

Facts, opinion and the guided shortlist

Fact panels and tables come from the provider database and carry labels. "Editorial view" blocks are PJReviews' opinion on strengths, limitations and who a program suits; they are written from the labelled facts and checked against those facts before publication.

The comparison tool's Guided shortlist ("Programs whose published terms best match your answers") orders programs by the weights you choose and explains its reasoning from facts already shown; it shows no match score and never treats missing data as zero. Its wording:

"This shortlist is PJReviews' editorial guidance, calculated from the program terms shown and the weights you chose. It is not financial, legal or tax advice and not an endorsement of any provider. Terms change: confirm everything, including who operates your flights, with the provider before you buy."

Safety and operating standards

PJReviews has not audited or assessed the safety of any operator or program. Each provider page quotes, word for word and with the date, what the provider states about audit registrations, certificates and who operates its flights, and where a regulator record names the certificate holder we cite that record. When a provider states nothing, the page says so and that it says nothing either way.

These statements are never placed side by side, scored, filtered, counted or marked with a badge, seal or logo. A due-diligence guide, in preparation, will explain what each standard attests, in the standard owner's own words, and link to the auditors' own lookup tools.

Review cadence

Each page shows "Data last reviewed" with a date: the oldest review date among the providers the page covers. A page whose data is more than 45 days old carries a "review overdue" notice until it is refreshed.

We plan to review every provider record monthly. The update log on this page lists every change to provider data with the date and what changed.

What to confirm before purchasing

The current program agreement and rate card
Whether excise tax and fuel are included
The daily minimum and taxi-time rules
The peak-day calendar and surcharges for the year you are buying
Lead times and what "guaranteed" is conditional on
Cancellation terms on and off peak
Expiration date and refund rules for unused funds
Which company operates the flights and its certificate
What any audit registration the provider cites actually covers
Financial safeguards for prepaid funds
Substitution and upgrade rules
International handling charges
The provider's current ownership and financial condition (press, filings)

Commercial relationships

PJReviews.com does not sell jet cards, earns no commission from any program in this comparison, and accepts no payment for inclusion or placement in this comparison.

Providers with paid listings in the PJReviews directory receive no advantage in the comparison data.

Reported in the press and public records

Provider pages may carry a section "Reported in the press and public records": one source and one fact per item — "[Publication] reported on YYYY-MM-DD that …" or a quoted line from a court docket, securities filing, DOT order or attorney-general action, dated and linked; the provider's public response linked where one exists; items older than 24 months only with a stated reason.

Out: forum and Reddit material, review-site star ratings, BBB grades and complaint counts, anonymous testimony, any pattern or "theme" PJReviews writes, and all safety matters.

These items are never used in scores, the shortlist, picks, filters or sorts, and are never compared across providers.

Editorial standards

Original writing only; no text, tables or presentation copied from other comparison sites. Every factual claim sourced; estimates labelled; uncertainty stated. Balanced: every provider page lists limitations as well as strengths.

Plain language, with a glossary in preparation. No exaggerated marketing language. No provider or auditor logos. PJReviews lists and compares businesses; it does not vet, verify, certify or endorse them.

Corrections: support@pjreviews.com; material corrections are noted in the update log.

Authorship

Pages carry the byline "PJReviews.com" and "Data last reviewed" with a date. No human author or reviewer is named or implied.

Data update log

2026-10-04 — Magellan Jets: 25-hour hourly rates by card and aircraft category added from the provider's rate comparison page (2026-10-02); 50- and 100-hour rates withheld while the provider's pages give different figures
2026-10-04 — Sentient Jet: notice periods for SJ25 and SJ25+ cards added (48 hours on standard days, 120 hours on peak days; provider blog post dated 2026-09-28)
2026-10-04 — Nicholas Air: Wi-Fi installation statement withdrawn pending confirmation
2026-10-04 — flyExclusive: aircraft count on the operating certificate updated from the FAA Part 135 list file dated 2026-09-28
2026-10-04 — Clay Lacy: no longer counted as an active provider; its website says Solairus Aviation announced in August 2026 an agreement to acquire Clay Lacy's aircraft management and charter divisions, and it does not state the status of its Preferred membership
2026-10-04 — Paramount Business Jets: international coverage wording corrected to what the provider's pages state
2026-10-01 — first publication; provider records as checked and corrected since 2026-09-25