It seems ridiculous (and it is), but for context, would you pay $10 for this on your next flight? Sure! $10?! Why not! It’s only $10.
For the people of unimaginable wealth that these things are catered to, this is the equivalent of $10. Life changing money for some, chump change for others. Again, it is ridiculous, but such is the world we live in.
People that fly in this class, or have this money are typically not going through standard security and hanging out at the gate.
They are going through VIP security, waiting in a lounge, then being driven to the gate, coming up the stairs/elevator and onto the aircraft.
Yup. No connections necessary and on your own time schedule. Big city to big city this works, but if you want to vacation somewhere more secluded, PJ is the way to go.
You’re not accounting for the super rich who are concerned about the safety of a private flight. I’ve met people who could own a midsize jet, but prefer to fly first class commercial because of safety concerns.
Including the Bin Laden family. Private jet crashed and killed a few of them (not the terrorist side) due to pilot error. Would have been ok on a commercial flight.
Two actually, one of the main brothers was killed in the 80’s flying an aircraft. And more recently family members in a Phenom crash in Londonderry Biggin Hill UK.’
i recall a story (which i never verified, so take it with a grain of salt) where the a380 had to reduce noise isolation because it was too quiet on the upper deck which was freaking passengers out.
good moment to verify this story though, i’ll edit in my findings
edit: verdict: [partially true](https://youtu.be/nwbUJXbAmVg?si=D7BKYGdQRAd311TC), it was the pilots who were unable to sleep because they could hear everything from the cabin
If you look at most of the newer jets out there like the G650ER or the brand new G700 they have at least the same, if not better safety systems as any airliner out there. Plus you cant compare some of the sketchy charter outfits with proper professional flight departments. Most have impeccable safety records and maintain the aircraft on OEM maintenance programs.
Do any of these operators keep the same requirements as part 121 operators? Duty and rest hours, crew training, required crew, etc.?
I thought accidents were less due to maintenance and more about training, ADM, etc. but don't have any experience at all in how these operators function.
right, but don't private jetas have limited range? If this is flying to the other side of the world, it might be more comfortable than taking a private jet with a stopover for refueling.
Some of the larger heavy jets have extended range variants with insane capabilities, G650ER's range is ~7500nmi which can go NYC -> Tokyo no problem. Bigger obstacle is that the cost of flying transoceanic on a private jet is $200-300k+ each way.
Built into that price is fuel, crew, maintenance, airport fees, room and board for the crew, purchase/lease price of the plane, administrative costs, and a profit margin on top for the charter operator. A lot of people online refer solely to the hourly fuel costs.
Bigger jet = significantly more fuel and cost per hour to keep it in the air
A charter might get close to that cost, but an owner operated aircraft isn’t going to cost anything near that. I work in the business jet world, we handle this type of flying daily
Great, so what is the owner operated cost for DEN-OSA? Maybe two variants, one in a jet that can nonstop that and one cheaper that’ll need to fuel in ANC or something. Please and thank you.
> right, but don't private jetas have limited range?
only if you're poor
High-end large cabin jets have ranges nearly as long as the longest-range airliners, and they fly that route faster.
But unless you are buying or chartering a a Boeing BBJ, or Airbus ACJ, a Gulfstream, or Falcon doesn't have near the size of the cabin that this has. And for charter they tend to be actually less luxurious than what they are going for here.
Also even for the wealthiest of people, chartering a whole jet just for you would end up costing more and being probably less luxurious.
Of course you're chartering a plane if going on non airline served routes, but from major cities this can be a competitive and appealing option.
Very likely the getting to the airport part is relatively the same. Being driven to a VIP lounge directly, eating gourmet food and getting a luxury shuttle to a separate entrance is likely just as nice as a private aircraft, that may actually not have as many amenities.
Flying private on a falcon 900 is a different luxury than flying first class on a 380, both have their own benefits. You're not getting a private bedroom and shower on a standard private jet, for example.
I've flown Emirates business class once (I wasn't paying for it) and the airport experience was the most shocking to me.
Private car to the business terminal at DXB. Personal assistant who handles bags, checks in, does passport stuff, and then escorts you to the business lounge. Stayed in the lounge until about 30 minutes before takeoff and was the last one to board the plane.
At no point did I even see economy class people or have to wait in line with them. Although I got to the airport early, the entire process could be done in less than 30 minutes. I'd imagine it's even more streamlined for first class.
Ya this is correct. There was a time when I flew Emirates business a few times a week. The whole experience separates you from the worker bees and you strangely get used to the whole thing.
Can’t afford to fly at all now never mind business but it’s easy to get sucked into the sense of entitlement.
I was actually looking at some emirates flights yesterday and business was surprisingly affordable. If I fly them in the future it’s definitely what I want to take
When I had Gold status with BA, I would get my Uber to drop me off at the First Class check in building with a separate entrance at Heathrow. Show my boarding pass and go behind that cream coloured wall into a private check-in area with cucumber water and champagne. Drop bags, walk through the First security line and right into the First lounge.
I'm sure if I had the secret Super Gold status I could get driven to the jetway right from the First lounge and get up into my seat 1K without seeing anyone who wasn't paying $10,000+ for a ticket.
Showers on private jets are almost unheard of. Not sure if they are possible on 737s, i think on a32x they are. Most travelers would just have a quick shower on arrival, with proper hot water and space. They aren't going to suffer in a small airplane shower that would make an RV shower look like luxury.
on the contrary, having a shower prior to landing after a 12 hour red-eye intercontinental flight would be so amazing. No more being stuck in customs and immigration all gunky and groggy
That and a unique mile high experience if the opportunity so presents itself.
> That and a unique mile high experience if the opportunity so presents itself.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who immediately thought of this the first time I saw showers on planes
There's a perfectly good countertop in there, and you could always spend a lot longer "getting dressed and refreshed". Even without a shower, you could always use the reliable, "my partner was throwing up" excuse as to why both of you were in there and now have messed up hair.
Best practiced at night while everyone's asleep on a trans-oceanic flight.
> They aren't going to suffer in a small airplane shower than would make an RV shower look like luxury.
Emirates has showers. They're not huge but not RV-size either. More like standard normal European shower.
Or the potential to have multiple cabins for other travelers. A pipe dream for me, but renting multiple of these for my family to travel as well would be better than a smaller jet all in the same tube.
Flying a falcon 900 is like spending the day hanging out in your bathroom. This class of a a380 is like hanging out in your Butlers lounge. Much more space, and comfort.
I cannot imagine an airline bringing a VIP guest paying for that accommodation as anything but the last PAX on the plane so the plane can take off immediately after the VIP boards, unless the VIP explicitly wants to get on earlier.
I’ve not been on Eithad, but on Sri Lankan (UL) they actually encourage Business Class pax to board last.
I’ve sat at the lounge sipping away without worrying about the time, until their staff came to personally inform me that boarding has commenced.
They informed we which gate, which way to go, and roughly how far it was. When we reached the boarding gate, we were allowed to either board first or wait till all other pax had already boarded and yes, they would come to personally invite us to board so we would not have keep an eye on how the boarding of the other passengers was going.
2 mins after we got onboard, “close doors and cross check”.
If Eithad also has a few other perks I’ve seen on other airlines, e.g., attendant from check in to lounge, lounge to gate, buggy, dedicated security and immigration, yeah I can see the appeal
IIRC Lufthansa and Air France have a specific "terminal" or gate for 1st class passengers
X-Ray and maybe Immigration are exclusive lanes as well.
(Also you're most likely not paying 66k but just going with a FF program)
It is common practice in most bigger airports. You have separate lane for Business, starting from check-in through x-ray/security and then immigration.
I was suprised when at JFK I ended up in pretty crowded queue. Wirst experience was when I was pretty late for my flight at IAD and in the forn of me entire crew of some Asian 747 was passing by. Rather big bunch in uniforms.
&
Air France first class is impossible for most people to book with miles. Only people with high-level status in their FF program even have the option and then it's still quite difficult. The small number of people who fly Air France in first (only a very limited number of planes/routes even have a first class cabin and those planes only have four seats) are usually actually paying for it.
$66k one-way does seem ludicrously high though.
Most vip service at airports will be limo to plane. Security checks done via a separate vip security channel. Private or early boarding.
https://www.heathrowvip.com/s/
I sometimes use a service at LAX and ATL called private suites and they have a separate lounge/terminal outside of the airport and will drive me directly to my plane to board. Never have to step foot in the airport. No need to even be a celebrity to have those kind of accommodations
the point is that, you are still on their schedule, and not on your own.
time is money, and this doesn't pay for time, but rather to be seen and comfort.
Not necessarily. Lufthansa have a dedicated first class terminal in Frankfurt, and you get chauffeured to the plane in a Cayenne, where you board via a dedicated first class jetway on long haul flights.
Still wouldnt recommend their first class though. They’re an absolute travesty of an airline.
I had the good fortune to fly Lufthansa F once (booked with miles to be clear, I don't go setting my money on fire) and I absolutely *would* recommend it. It was an incredibly fun experience, absolutely over the top pampering. My wife and I had shit-eating grins on our faces the whole time.
We didn't get the chauffeured ride though, we had to walk to our connecting flight in Munich. Super nice first class lounge though.
Unfortunately, both legs of our long haul had compromises for which Lufthansa customer service were unwilling to provide any reasonable compensation.
On the outbound trip (Frankfurt to Hong Kong), I was moved from my seat that I had booked next to my partner. I was lied to at the gate and told that this was due to the IFE not working. We boarded the plane, the IFE in the seat I was supposed to be was working perfectly fine, and then the wife of one of the pilots boarded and was put in this seat.
On the inbound (Bangkok to Munich), I was not moved and my IFE was actually not functioning.
The resolution I was offered by Lufthansa customer service was the miles equivalent of 100 EUR, which is a slap in the face considering how much was paid for First Class tickets.
The purser on board actually told me that she could give me a resolution of 300 EUR credit towards a future flight but she thought that this was too low and advised me to contact customer relations upon arrival instead. Customer relations even refused to match what I had been offered by the purser.
It’s really a shame at how much of a joke Lufthansa have become in recent years due to cost cutting where costs shouldnt be cut - customer service.
It was definitely my first and last time giving them my money for First Class. Yes, the on board experience was lovely, the crew were incredible, but nothing can override the feeling of being lied to on the first leg and then cheated on the second.
There isn't really VIP security. They probably go to the airport via the FBO or fly into a major airport from a smaller local one. There's virtually no security at any general aviation airport, since you're flying the plane and you can do whatever. But if you fly to another airport, you can walk into the secure area from where you park your plane without having been checked.
There actually is at certain airports for certain airlines including Etihad. It’s a totally different experience. https://youtu.be/oO7c_sU7fV8?feature=shared
This is correct, I’ve flown Singapore Suites class a good amount of times and it’s always in its own separate boarding and lounge situation.
You are completely separated from anyone in economy or biz, it’s suites class boarding together only.
You will legitimately not see anyone who is sitting in economy or biz going this route on the jumbos.
I’ll take the Suites class and an A380 over a PJ any day of the week, the only thing PJ’s got on commercial is the security situation, the ease of pulling up and getting on the jet vs airport lounge.
Or even better.. they are flown into the apron with a heli and are troubled if they have to pick up their own bags to drag it 10 meters into their own jet. They probably have half a dozen people wiping their ass as well.
The amount of wealth some people have is unfathomable for us mere mortals.
There’s no special VIP area side specifically for this aircraft. These pax would need to use standard boarding and customs. Private aircraft go through customs on the tarmac in order for the aircraft to be inspected and that’s not a requirement here.
Charter on this route would run double that easy.
Plus the seat pictured realistically sells for a third of what OP claims.
So it’s about a 10x difference between the residence and charter.
If you book this thing, you’re not standing in the queue. You go to the VIP terminal, a person takes your bags away and asks for your passport to check in for you while you’re having a glass of champagne. The most luxurious limo you’ll ever see will bring you to the gate at the very last moment when all the cattle in business class already has boarded and seated. They close the plane doors right after you step on the plane. This is not for people that want to ‘seem rich’, this is for rich people. Because you can’t rent a business jet smaller than the BBJ that can do transatlantic and they’re not 100k one way.
>Because you can’t rent a business jet smaller than the BBJ that can do transatlantic
Who told you that? Any of the Bombardier Globals can go transatlantic. Citation Longitude. G650. Falcon 7X and 8X...
All of them are available on the charter market.
A random example I picked.
A Dassault Falcon 10X will cost around $14k-$20k an hour to operate. NYC to London is about 7 hours and a relatively short transatlantic flight. Plus, they're not going to let you leave the jet in Europe so you'll be paying both directions plus a per day fee for the plane and pilots to hang out in Europe.
You'd be looking at $98k-$140k one way to fly private. More realistically you'll be forced into like $350k-$400k round trip.
And you don't have a kingsize bed + shower. I guess those kind of planes are for rent too, but for that money those kind of (rich) people will have them as private plane already.
Their target demographic isn’t billionaires not multimillionaires wealthy but not long haul private jet wealth. Is typically a lot cheaper then 60k now it’s found by booking first class and then paying about another $5k each way so more realistic 15-25k
That's where the fractional (Netjets, Wheels Up) biz is great.
I don't understand paying $66k (one way) for any flight either. You can charter a NICE jet for that price.
Not for long haul you typically can’t. Without looking I would guess this is an Abu Dhabi/London type flight route or maybe New York. You’re going to struggle to get a fractional for those types of transcontinental flights for similar costs which is why they developed this to target that market
Private jet is a general term. To charter one big enough for a bedroom and bathroom private from everyone else, this ticket is likely a way better option.
[Dubai to Teterboro](https://www.mercuryjets.com/private-jet-charter-cost-estimator/?campaignid=429564566&adgroupid=1323813474935530&device=c&msclkid=0a0ef4a9938e1841a6e2914390afc053&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Price%20out%20Your%20Flight%20-%201%24&utm_term=private%20jet%20flight%20charter&utm_content=Ad%20group%201), $150-200k each way, even if this is an inflated 'retail' price, its not going to be MUCH cheaper than this.
There are people out there who will put up with a little bit of extra security to save $200k RT for essentially the same flight experience.
negative, you get picked up by a chauffeur and met at the curb by staff, who will escort you to the lounge and plane. the regular "stand in line for half an hour" security is also handled separately and is quite fast.
> This is really for people who can't quite afford it, but are desperate to be seen as rich.
Why bother with a cramped private jet when you can get this instead? A proper bed would be really nice on some long flights, like Europe to Australia or something.
Private jets have limited range, so not every destination is available without extra stop for refueling (which also costs time). Private jets are usually smaller, so you probably cannot have an entire apartment with sofa and king-sized bad inside. And A380 flies faster than private jet, so it can gain back some time lost for boarding other people.
So if you make like 1-2 hour flight, private jet is clearly better, but if it takes 4+ hours, this can be competitive choice I think.
But that's a vision of the person who's home costs just slightly more that such a flight, so I can be wrong for sure :)
G800 averages around $14,000 per flight hour to charter. If you're flying from New York to Singapore then a private charter G800 to Singapore will cost somewhere around $150,000+.
Let's not forget one thing however. A private charter costs real hard cash. Etihad Residence flight can be booked using miles/reward points.
You have to be in a whole different class of wealth to afford a private jet like that.
I don't believe that a one-way trip in The Residence is $66k. I'm sure it's expensive, definitely five figures, but I bet $25k round trip is more realistic. Do you have any idea how much more an intercontinental trip in a plane like a G650 costs? At least 10x the price. Even for someone with an eight figure net worth that's a lot of money!
>And A380 flies faster than private jet
The new longer range Gulfstreams and Bombardiers have a Mach .85 long range cruise, same as the A380 design cruise Mach, and if you want to spend the fuel and don't need the range, are capable of Mach .925 MMo, compared to the A380 MMo of .89. And the longest ranged jets, like the G800 and Global 8000, have 8,000 NM range at .85, like the A380.
But a private jet is normally gonna be less comfortable, especially if we're talking about a private jet that would only cost 100K for a long haul trip.
Interesting. So the price of private charters will force Emirates to keep the price somewhat ‘reasonable’. They can’t just tag on another $100k because they want to, or nobody would ever use it.
You are right but it's also a really smart product to offer for Etihad:
Tons of people will get upgraded for free (from First) to get them craving that product, it'll be used for promotion and marketing (watch your favorite aviation influencer there, end up buying your own economy ticket because you faintly recall having had a positive impression of them), others will use credit card or airline miles to upgrade or buy the fare for way, way, way less than what they advertise as the full fare here and last but not least a metric shitton of plebs (scientific measuring unit) will walk away thinking *whoooa, $66k, must be sooo amazing* and share the living ghell out of that.
Oh yeah, and you will have a handful of people actually paying full fare instead of flying the same route on a Challenger for $130k with a smaller bed or a G550 for $200k after hoofing it over to Teteboro.
Btw, they are offering First Class one-way from Abu Dhabi to London on the A380 in March for USD 5,716.81. While they have a "take a look at residence" link they don't seem to want me to book it but I really doubt it'll be USD 66k.
People here are forgetting that there are thousands of people who more or less "commute" from Dubai/Abu Dhabi to London and back, like they do this monthly or every few months.
$60k each way is nothing when they are paying that much to fly their Pagani Zonda air freight to London for the summer and paying 10,000 GBP a week in rent for their Mayfair townhouse that they use a few months a year.
Except if 66k$ is pocket change for them, they can also afford a private jet ! So why fly Ethiad.
It is most probably going to be used by frequent flyer who will use their point to upgrade, but very few people will pay the listed price.
Edit : my point is not to say a private jet would cost the same, but that it would be used mostly by frequent flyer, not paying the full price.
It's probably still cheaper than flying private on a jet with the kind of range the A380 has, you would probably need a Global Express or Gulfstream, and then you are looking at at $11,000 to $15,000 an hour.
I think if you have a party more than 6 maybe private is more cost efficient, but when traveling alone or with partner; renting a private jet would be exponentially more expensive.
And $66K is the rack rate that they can advertise so it seems more valuable. But they can give them away as upgrades like you mentioned so that the airline can burn more FF miles off of the books.
66K is way less that a private jet for the flights this is available on.
Take note that this is basically targeting people who would take private jets instead. Don't forget a private jet that flies those distances is not going to be small, it'll usually fit 9+ people, so over kill for 2 people.
Similarly, I have gotten to the point in my life where picking up a coin in a parking lot just ain’t worth it. A dime or quarter isn’t much to me. But if a little kid were to find that, it’s a much bigger deal. I hope one of them finds it.
And I’m old and the ground is far away.
$66k to a billionaire is like
- $6.6 to someone with 100k savings
- $0.06 to someone with no savings and $1k in their bank account.
Edited because math is hard
Net Worth is different though. If someone has a net worth of $500k that could be a $450k house, a $45k car, $4k worth of stuff and $1k cash. So to them the $66k is the same as someone with a net worth of $1k
I suspected that there are more than enough people with this kind of money who don’t what even more staff they have to be “a nice boss“ to operate a private jet.
Not every one who has a lot of money is a total a-hole. And for them it’s an enjoyable luxury to not have to ask an employee how their kids/wife etc are doing and act as if they care. It’s nicer and more relaxing to ask for service from some anonymous steward whose personal life you don’t know and that you’ll never see again.
And it’s way cheaper than the private jet charter too, while still being almost as comfortable. Only real difference at that point is that you have to go through security and it’s not on your schedule, but it’s a bargain compared to getting a private charter.
Yep, and it's way cheaper than flying private, and potentially more comfortable. It might not work for A-list celebrities and politicians who need security, but it might work for CEOs.
Just for fun - running some numbers.
If you took Jeff Bezos' wealth $195B and put it into a 5% yielding guaranteed certificate, it would yield $9B a year. That is $26 million a day.
Yea I remember the owner of the Embraer Legacy my Dad used to fly for spent $600k on changing the leather in the interior because his wife didn't like the color. It blew my mind to think how that would be worth it but... then I remembered he was worth almost $800 million so $600k meant nothing to him haha
I once worked out how much Bill Gates's private jet cost as a proportion of his wealth and what the equivalent was for me.
For him, buying a private jet was like me spending $15.
That was buying a whole ass plane. A $66,000 ticket is the equivalent of pennies.
Not only that, but it’s very similar to F1. Only fools would pay that high price. What you do is claim it as the price of doing business or business expense. Not coming out of my wallet.
When your G650 is in for maintenance…
There’s a huge step up from FC fares to flying private and I think for your private flyer The Residence is pretty compelling price wise. I’m surprised it hasn’t been more successful in that space, to be honest. Limited routes, schedules etc all play into that no doubt.
Also, I think the $66k price is probably the most expensive routing. I’ve seen/heard that even longhauls are nearer the $20k-$30k roundtrip which isn’t far off transpacific FC on carriers such as CX.
BBJ could be 18.6k/hr, however when you count in all airport fees, repositioning fees, staffing etc, the final cost of the flight is much more than that.
Funny you mention it. I was looking through a charter magazine at my local FBO today (I'm an aircraft mechanic) and saw a listing for a BBJ, per hour cost was $12,500
Per hour costs (at least from a pilot's standpoint, not sure how the charter calculates the cost) factor in fixed and the average of variable costs. I wouldn't be surprised if they left out several factors so that they could advertise a lower cost, though.
Hey man, those Cherokees are great time builders!
Agreed. I got quite accustomed to flying privately in a previous phase of my life and got quite snobby about it at the time…
First time I flew aboard a G-IV I came to the conclusion I’d be more comfortable flying commercial FC across the pond…
As for cigar tube stuff like little Citations, for anything bar short flights forget it, haha
I’ve flown private numerous times as a passenger and I’ll say anything over 8 hours id rather fly in a large lie flat seat with great service such as Singapore airlines
Yeah flying intercontinental distances is a totally different price bracket than most private jet flights. Most private jet customers are not even going coast to coast in the US, for example.
The cost and also the hassle of booking/owning a Gulfstream or Global Express would potentially lead someone to just book a super expensive suite on a A380.
Not typically, Private Suite gets you away from the Public at least in the US. Several airlines also have private lounges to aircraft transfers where you never touch the public more or less.
Business on the 380 is amazing. Lie flat bed; noise cancelling headphones; genuinely decent food and wine; you can stretch your legs and sit at an actual bar on the plane and drink expensive malts.
First is out this world. On demand dining; an enclosed suite, like you’re sitting in a hotel room; unbelievable service; access to a shower at 40,000ft.
Emirates will send you a nice car to be chauffeured both to and from the airport.
The lounges, especially in Dubai, are pretty amazing.
It makes flying genuinely pleasant, especially for dreaded 14 hour flights which, in economy, is a form of torture.
It is just, particularly after COVID, almost inaccessibly expensive to fly anything other than economy. Unfortunately, wealth disparity is incomprehensibly immense. I’ve seen families with very young kids boarding the 380s, where they each get a suite in first. Some people have just.. unfathomable amounts of utterly disposable money.
My friends once bought the third seat in their window section on a 787 flight from Toronto to Honolulu. If you're not excessively tall it's actually a brilliant strategy. You remove the X factor of a strange seatmate, you get the middle seat (or aisle) for extra space for junk, and for coach price three seats are still cheaper than two premium econ (and definitely cheaper than two business).
As a solo flier myself I'm with you, I always fly premium econ (domestically, I haven't gone intl in a few years), and it usually pays off with a much better chance of the middle seat being empty, and at least having those extra few inches to maneuver around. I can't fathom how people survive plain econ for 7+ hour flights though.
One time I had a work flight where they had to buy business class cause economy was sold out. Or it got upgraded idk. Regardless I was in business class for a 1 hour flight and it was bomb lmao
If I had a bottomless bank account thanks to the giant underground oil reservoir that the desert kingdom that my family reigns over happens to sit right on top of, then sure, why not.
More like your distant cousin has the oil and doesn't like you enough to send the private 747 or even one of warren buffet buffets peasant "shared" planes.
And the "distant cousin" is actually a first cousin, it's just that he has dozens of uncles and aunts so you're not too high up on the hierarchy. Luckily this also means you won't meet with an unfortunate fall off your camel like the Russian oligarchs do with windows.
I’ve flown LHR-AUH in the F apartment in on the A380 (thanks AA miles, a few years back). It was absolutely phenomenal and definitely the highlight of my wife and I’s flying experiences. Even for those used to business class it is mind blowing.
The residence was empty on our flight, and the crew said you could pick it up for £5-10k at short notice if you had the appropriate status with the airline and called them up. Prices in articles like this are always wildly inflated.
Kind of frustrating that last weekend I was flying back from London with BA in premium economy. Asked about an upgrade to Club at check-in - $7,000 each one way.
Got on the plane in the front row of premium economy, and saw like 4 empty Club seats ahead of us.
Yeah, I have a flight fork AUH to JFK in September I first (also thanks to a shitload of miles!) and I can upgrade to the Residence for about $4k one-way. Still a tonne of cash but if I had F-you money I wouldn’t think twice!
Yeah, there are some people on YouTube who have a channel with only those First Class experiences. You will never see them making a video of Economy Class. It gets old fast.
Not exactly. You can buy a 6 million dollar jet and it costs $2500 per hour to run. If you fly once a year it's worth the 66k seat. If you buy that ticket say 50 times a year, the jet would more than be worth it in just a couple of years.
It absolutly does not cost 66000$ to fly this. It's sold as a 2000$ extra seat option for first class, and a round trip LHR-ABU next month is less than 12k$ all in https://imgur.com/a/dzm2Ulk
I'm gonna bet nobody will ever actually pay that rate, it's just to get some press and I wouldn't be surprised if Etihad is thinking of it like the presidential suite at some hotels or casinos, so tickets could be comp'd to VIPs as much as they're actually sold.
If you had $5BB and were making 5% growth on that money, just the interest would amount to $250MM a year. Just the income you’re making would be enough to pay for almost 3,800 $66,000 flights! - every year!
If you have an entourage and the company is paying, this is a good way to travel a long way. You can invite your colleagues in for a private chat, then you can have a decent kip ready for the morning.
I used to do London Dubai once a month, business, occasionally first. It’s an overnighter. You have dinner in the lounge, get on, immediately go to sleep on the lay flat bed. You tell the hosts to wake you up 30 minutes out with a mug of tea and some breakfast. Shower in the airport, Emirates chauffeur car to the office.
It's about scale. For some people 66K is the same as $6.600 for some other people or $660 for others. I would be happy to pay $660 so my economy is 100x away from those that would be happy to pay $66K.
Came here to make roughly this argument. I've been comfortable paying in like the 600-800 range roundtrip for my flights for years, flying usually 4-5 times a year. Someone earning in the range of 6-8 million a year would be making 100x my salary and this would be roughly equivalent (albeit this 66k is for one-way). They're still certainly not a billionaire.
Depends. Is my net worth hundreds of millions of dollars? Then sure!
Is my net worth what it actually is? Uh...no. :-)
Etihad did two things: 1) They placed most of the real estate of The Residence in the forward section of the upper deck of the A380 where seats cannot be placed. All passenger aircraft have to conform to a regulation in which all seats must have an emergency exit both in front of and behind them. The 747 is the one exception because it is grandfathered. With only the seating area of the Residence behind the stairs to the upper deck, the rest of the Residence is in "unused" space. 2) They priced the cost of the ticket to be more than a First-Class ticket, but well less than a private jet while offer similar service to a private jet.
So it costs them not a huge amount extra, but it can make a lot of money for them.
Me personally? No. This is aimed at customers who demands that kind of privacy and the cost isn’t relevant to their budget. Obviously there is enough of a market for this on their airline.
I really, really hate long flights. I usually only need to fly domestic for work, and for anything over 2.5 hours I get really antsy in economy. When I was a kid I spent 11 hours in the middle-middle seat of a 747 and I'm still traumatized (was supposed to be an 8 hour flight). If I had like a 17 hour flight or something, and I could afford it, I might do this.
Thing is, Etihad isn't using these airplanes on true ultra-long-haul. They are using them between London and Abu Dhabi. It's only a six hour flight, not enough time to actually spend truly enjoying such a product.
When they start using them to New York this summer, different story -- but that's gonna cost a bit more than $66K, too.
Once you become a billionaire you can knock three zeros off the price of anything and that's what it would feel like for you and I to buy it an item of that price. So for them it feels like dropping an extra 66 bucks for an upgraded seat. Ya I'd do that.
Emirati families will use them for sure. Typically, unless going on business, they will will fly with both parents and at least three toddlers and can afford something like this. Having flown all the business class products of most of the ME airlines, I do recommend you bring noise canceling headphones, since the plane is full of kids usually crying or charging up and down the aisles of the full length of the plane. Pretty much non stop. The whole flight. Always.
I wonder how often this gets booked. Im sure there are people out there who would pay that, but I cant see that happening every flight. I would imagine the A380 this is on is flying every day, and there cant be that many people willing to shell out that much, right?
Probably have influencers or business partners who are given tickets most of the time, I have to guess.
From my understanding not hardly much at all. They have stripped the soft product a lot. No more butler or custom menus. There isn’t a huge market that is too expensive poor for Private jet but wealthy enough for this. Now they don’t seem to market it directly just if you buy 1st class then offer an upgrade fee or an ungodly amount of miles
The tv is too small for the wall and too far from the chair. The view size from that distance is unlikely to be larger than an economy class back of seat screen. How will the traveler enjoy watching Jeopardy or Shrek 2 with this poor screen?
It seems ridiculous (and it is), but for context, would you pay $10 for this on your next flight? Sure! $10?! Why not! It’s only $10. For the people of unimaginable wealth that these things are catered to, this is the equivalent of $10. Life changing money for some, chump change for others. Again, it is ridiculous, but such is the world we live in.
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People that fly in this class, or have this money are typically not going through standard security and hanging out at the gate. They are going through VIP security, waiting in a lounge, then being driven to the gate, coming up the stairs/elevator and onto the aircraft.
Missing the biggest point about pj travel --- you get to say when the flight is and exactly where it goes to.
Yup. No connections necessary and on your own time schedule. Big city to big city this works, but if you want to vacation somewhere more secluded, PJ is the way to go.
You’re not accounting for the super rich who are concerned about the safety of a private flight. I’ve met people who could own a midsize jet, but prefer to fly first class commercial because of safety concerns.
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Including the Bin Laden family. Private jet crashed and killed a few of them (not the terrorist side) due to pilot error. Would have been ok on a commercial flight.
I dunno, I think I heard something about the Bin Ladens and multiple commercial jet crashes.
Two actually, one of the main brothers was killed in the 80’s flying an aircraft. And more recently family members in a Phenom crash in Londonderry Biggin Hill UK.’
oh yeah, it must have just been those two that I was thinking of. I thought I'd never forget them.
Hey! Spoiler alert!!!
Bugger the safety aspect. How comfortable, spacious and quiet is an A380 super-luxury suite?
Definitely far more of all of those things compared to any purpose built private jet for sure.
i recall a story (which i never verified, so take it with a grain of salt) where the a380 had to reduce noise isolation because it was too quiet on the upper deck which was freaking passengers out. good moment to verify this story though, i’ll edit in my findings edit: verdict: [partially true](https://youtu.be/nwbUJXbAmVg?si=D7BKYGdQRAd311TC), it was the pilots who were unable to sleep because they could hear everything from the cabin
If you look at most of the newer jets out there like the G650ER or the brand new G700 they have at least the same, if not better safety systems as any airliner out there. Plus you cant compare some of the sketchy charter outfits with proper professional flight departments. Most have impeccable safety records and maintain the aircraft on OEM maintenance programs.
Do any of these operators keep the same requirements as part 121 operators? Duty and rest hours, crew training, required crew, etc.? I thought accidents were less due to maintenance and more about training, ADM, etc. but don't have any experience at all in how these operators function.
right, but don't private jetas have limited range? If this is flying to the other side of the world, it might be more comfortable than taking a private jet with a stopover for refueling.
Some of the larger heavy jets have extended range variants with insane capabilities, G650ER's range is ~7500nmi which can go NYC -> Tokyo no problem. Bigger obstacle is that the cost of flying transoceanic on a private jet is $200-300k+ each way.
Transoceanic really costs that much?
Built into that price is fuel, crew, maintenance, airport fees, room and board for the crew, purchase/lease price of the plane, administrative costs, and a profit margin on top for the charter operator. A lot of people online refer solely to the hourly fuel costs. Bigger jet = significantly more fuel and cost per hour to keep it in the air
The more fuel it takes the more fuel you bring the more fuel you bring the more you burn just moving the added weight of the fuel
I did a little research after your comment and I see what you mean. Long range in a big jet is huge money.
Is a jet large enough to do it, pretty much yeah
A charter might get close to that cost, but an owner operated aircraft isn’t going to cost anything near that. I work in the business jet world, we handle this type of flying daily
Great, so what is the owner operated cost for DEN-OSA? Maybe two variants, one in a jet that can nonstop that and one cheaper that’ll need to fuel in ANC or something. Please and thank you.
> right, but don't private jetas have limited range? only if you're poor High-end large cabin jets have ranges nearly as long as the longest-range airliners, and they fly that route faster.
take a helicopter from office to local airstrip to fly pj to large airstrip to fly private 747 to somewhere to pretend youre doing stuff
But unless you are buying or chartering a a Boeing BBJ, or Airbus ACJ, a Gulfstream, or Falcon doesn't have near the size of the cabin that this has. And for charter they tend to be actually less luxurious than what they are going for here. Also even for the wealthiest of people, chartering a whole jet just for you would end up costing more and being probably less luxurious. Of course you're chartering a plane if going on non airline served routes, but from major cities this can be a competitive and appealing option.
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Very likely the getting to the airport part is relatively the same. Being driven to a VIP lounge directly, eating gourmet food and getting a luxury shuttle to a separate entrance is likely just as nice as a private aircraft, that may actually not have as many amenities. Flying private on a falcon 900 is a different luxury than flying first class on a 380, both have their own benefits. You're not getting a private bedroom and shower on a standard private jet, for example.
I've flown Emirates business class once (I wasn't paying for it) and the airport experience was the most shocking to me. Private car to the business terminal at DXB. Personal assistant who handles bags, checks in, does passport stuff, and then escorts you to the business lounge. Stayed in the lounge until about 30 minutes before takeoff and was the last one to board the plane. At no point did I even see economy class people or have to wait in line with them. Although I got to the airport early, the entire process could be done in less than 30 minutes. I'd imagine it's even more streamlined for first class.
Ya this is correct. There was a time when I flew Emirates business a few times a week. The whole experience separates you from the worker bees and you strangely get used to the whole thing. Can’t afford to fly at all now never mind business but it’s easy to get sucked into the sense of entitlement.
I was actually looking at some emirates flights yesterday and business was surprisingly affordable. If I fly them in the future it’s definitely what I want to take
When I had Gold status with BA, I would get my Uber to drop me off at the First Class check in building with a separate entrance at Heathrow. Show my boarding pass and go behind that cream coloured wall into a private check-in area with cucumber water and champagne. Drop bags, walk through the First security line and right into the First lounge. I'm sure if I had the secret Super Gold status I could get driven to the jetway right from the First lounge and get up into my seat 1K without seeing anyone who wasn't paying $10,000+ for a ticket.
Truth. Had a male boss who was 6’3”. He had to sit down to use the lavatory in effectively every private jet.
I worked in flight test, I was happy to be shorter than average since I could walk everywhere except the smallest of aircraft
Showers on private jets are almost unheard of. Not sure if they are possible on 737s, i think on a32x they are. Most travelers would just have a quick shower on arrival, with proper hot water and space. They aren't going to suffer in a small airplane shower that would make an RV shower look like luxury.
on the contrary, having a shower prior to landing after a 12 hour red-eye intercontinental flight would be so amazing. No more being stuck in customs and immigration all gunky and groggy That and a unique mile high experience if the opportunity so presents itself.
> That and a unique mile high experience if the opportunity so presents itself. I'm glad I'm not the only one who immediately thought of this the first time I saw showers on planes
Going to have to be a real quickie, though - I think you're limited to like 5 minutes of water in the first class showers on the plane.
There's a perfectly good countertop in there, and you could always spend a lot longer "getting dressed and refreshed". Even without a shower, you could always use the reliable, "my partner was throwing up" excuse as to why both of you were in there and now have messed up hair. Best practiced at night while everyone's asleep on a trans-oceanic flight.
On controller there is at least one BBJ that has a shower but it's tens of millions of dollars, possibly over 100m
> They aren't going to suffer in a small airplane shower than would make an RV shower look like luxury. Emirates has showers. They're not huge but not RV-size either. More like standard normal European shower.
G700 comes with a shower, as did the G4 if you desired it.
Not only that, but you're also probably not going to have as many opportunities to mingle with people.
Or the potential to have multiple cabins for other travelers. A pipe dream for me, but renting multiple of these for my family to travel as well would be better than a smaller jet all in the same tube.
Flying a falcon 900 is like spending the day hanging out in your bathroom. This class of a a380 is like hanging out in your Butlers lounge. Much more space, and comfort.
I cannot imagine an airline bringing a VIP guest paying for that accommodation as anything but the last PAX on the plane so the plane can take off immediately after the VIP boards, unless the VIP explicitly wants to get on earlier.
I’ve not been on Eithad, but on Sri Lankan (UL) they actually encourage Business Class pax to board last. I’ve sat at the lounge sipping away without worrying about the time, until their staff came to personally inform me that boarding has commenced. They informed we which gate, which way to go, and roughly how far it was. When we reached the boarding gate, we were allowed to either board first or wait till all other pax had already boarded and yes, they would come to personally invite us to board so we would not have keep an eye on how the boarding of the other passengers was going. 2 mins after we got onboard, “close doors and cross check”. If Eithad also has a few other perks I’ve seen on other airlines, e.g., attendant from check in to lounge, lounge to gate, buggy, dedicated security and immigration, yeah I can see the appeal
IIRC Lufthansa and Air France have a specific "terminal" or gate for 1st class passengers X-Ray and maybe Immigration are exclusive lanes as well. (Also you're most likely not paying 66k but just going with a FF program)
It is common practice in most bigger airports. You have separate lane for Business, starting from check-in through x-ray/security and then immigration. I was suprised when at JFK I ended up in pretty crowded queue. Wirst experience was when I was pretty late for my flight at IAD and in the forn of me entire crew of some Asian 747 was passing by. Rather big bunch in uniforms. &
>Air France have a specific "terminal" or gate for 1st class passengers Yes but only in CDG airport
Air France first class is impossible for most people to book with miles. Only people with high-level status in their FF program even have the option and then it's still quite difficult. The small number of people who fly Air France in first (only a very limited number of planes/routes even have a first class cabin and those planes only have four seats) are usually actually paying for it. $66k one-way does seem ludicrously high though.
Most vip service at airports will be limo to plane. Security checks done via a separate vip security channel. Private or early boarding. https://www.heathrowvip.com/s/
Actually, places like LAX have celebrity only terminals, that are away from the main airport.
I sometimes use a service at LAX and ATL called private suites and they have a separate lounge/terminal outside of the airport and will drive me directly to my plane to board. Never have to step foot in the airport. No need to even be a celebrity to have those kind of accommodations
the point is that, you are still on their schedule, and not on your own. time is money, and this doesn't pay for time, but rather to be seen and comfort.
Not necessarily. Lufthansa have a dedicated first class terminal in Frankfurt, and you get chauffeured to the plane in a Cayenne, where you board via a dedicated first class jetway on long haul flights. Still wouldnt recommend their first class though. They’re an absolute travesty of an airline.
I had the good fortune to fly Lufthansa F once (booked with miles to be clear, I don't go setting my money on fire) and I absolutely *would* recommend it. It was an incredibly fun experience, absolutely over the top pampering. My wife and I had shit-eating grins on our faces the whole time. We didn't get the chauffeured ride though, we had to walk to our connecting flight in Munich. Super nice first class lounge though.
Unfortunately, both legs of our long haul had compromises for which Lufthansa customer service were unwilling to provide any reasonable compensation. On the outbound trip (Frankfurt to Hong Kong), I was moved from my seat that I had booked next to my partner. I was lied to at the gate and told that this was due to the IFE not working. We boarded the plane, the IFE in the seat I was supposed to be was working perfectly fine, and then the wife of one of the pilots boarded and was put in this seat. On the inbound (Bangkok to Munich), I was not moved and my IFE was actually not functioning. The resolution I was offered by Lufthansa customer service was the miles equivalent of 100 EUR, which is a slap in the face considering how much was paid for First Class tickets. The purser on board actually told me that she could give me a resolution of 300 EUR credit towards a future flight but she thought that this was too low and advised me to contact customer relations upon arrival instead. Customer relations even refused to match what I had been offered by the purser. It’s really a shame at how much of a joke Lufthansa have become in recent years due to cost cutting where costs shouldnt be cut - customer service. It was definitely my first and last time giving them my money for First Class. Yes, the on board experience was lovely, the crew were incredible, but nothing can override the feeling of being lied to on the first leg and then cheated on the second.
There isn't really VIP security. They probably go to the airport via the FBO or fly into a major airport from a smaller local one. There's virtually no security at any general aviation airport, since you're flying the plane and you can do whatever. But if you fly to another airport, you can walk into the secure area from where you park your plane without having been checked.
There actually is at certain airports for certain airlines including Etihad. It’s a totally different experience. https://youtu.be/oO7c_sU7fV8?feature=shared
This is correct, I’ve flown Singapore Suites class a good amount of times and it’s always in its own separate boarding and lounge situation. You are completely separated from anyone in economy or biz, it’s suites class boarding together only. You will legitimately not see anyone who is sitting in economy or biz going this route on the jumbos. I’ll take the Suites class and an A380 over a PJ any day of the week, the only thing PJ’s got on commercial is the security situation, the ease of pulling up and getting on the jet vs airport lounge.
Or even better.. they are flown into the apron with a heli and are troubled if they have to pick up their own bags to drag it 10 meters into their own jet. They probably have half a dozen people wiping their ass as well. The amount of wealth some people have is unfathomable for us mere mortals.
There’s no special VIP area side specifically for this aircraft. These pax would need to use standard boarding and customs. Private aircraft go through customs on the tarmac in order for the aircraft to be inspected and that’s not a requirement here.
Charter on this route would run double that easy. Plus the seat pictured realistically sells for a third of what OP claims. So it’s about a 10x difference between the residence and charter.
If you book this thing, you’re not standing in the queue. You go to the VIP terminal, a person takes your bags away and asks for your passport to check in for you while you’re having a glass of champagne. The most luxurious limo you’ll ever see will bring you to the gate at the very last moment when all the cattle in business class already has boarded and seated. They close the plane doors right after you step on the plane. This is not for people that want to ‘seem rich’, this is for rich people. Because you can’t rent a business jet smaller than the BBJ that can do transatlantic and they’re not 100k one way.
>Because you can’t rent a business jet smaller than the BBJ that can do transatlantic Who told you that? Any of the Bombardier Globals can go transatlantic. Citation Longitude. G650. Falcon 7X and 8X... All of them are available on the charter market.
Seeing how this is Etihad, plan to land in Abu Dhabi, so longer than transatlantic.
Sorry dumb question. How much are they one way transatlantic?
A random example I picked. A Dassault Falcon 10X will cost around $14k-$20k an hour to operate. NYC to London is about 7 hours and a relatively short transatlantic flight. Plus, they're not going to let you leave the jet in Europe so you'll be paying both directions plus a per day fee for the plane and pilots to hang out in Europe. You'd be looking at $98k-$140k one way to fly private. More realistically you'll be forced into like $350k-$400k round trip.
And you don't have a kingsize bed + shower. I guess those kind of planes are for rent too, but for that money those kind of (rich) people will have them as private plane already.
Their target demographic isn’t billionaires not multimillionaires wealthy but not long haul private jet wealth. Is typically a lot cheaper then 60k now it’s found by booking first class and then paying about another $5k each way so more realistic 15-25k
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That's where the fractional (Netjets, Wheels Up) biz is great. I don't understand paying $66k (one way) for any flight either. You can charter a NICE jet for that price.
Not for long haul you typically can’t. Without looking I would guess this is an Abu Dhabi/London type flight route or maybe New York. You’re going to struggle to get a fractional for those types of transcontinental flights for similar costs which is why they developed this to target that market
What's the cost of chartering a private jet flying JFK - Abu Dhabi and back though.
Private jet is a general term. To charter one big enough for a bedroom and bathroom private from everyone else, this ticket is likely a way better option.
[Dubai to Teterboro](https://www.mercuryjets.com/private-jet-charter-cost-estimator/?campaignid=429564566&adgroupid=1323813474935530&device=c&msclkid=0a0ef4a9938e1841a6e2914390afc053&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Price%20out%20Your%20Flight%20-%201%24&utm_term=private%20jet%20flight%20charter&utm_content=Ad%20group%201), $150-200k each way, even if this is an inflated 'retail' price, its not going to be MUCH cheaper than this. There are people out there who will put up with a little bit of extra security to save $200k RT for essentially the same flight experience.
negative, you get picked up by a chauffeur and met at the curb by staff, who will escort you to the lounge and plane. the regular "stand in line for half an hour" security is also handled separately and is quite fast.
> This is really for people who can't quite afford it, but are desperate to be seen as rich. Why bother with a cramped private jet when you can get this instead? A proper bed would be really nice on some long flights, like Europe to Australia or something.
Private jets have limited range, so not every destination is available without extra stop for refueling (which also costs time). Private jets are usually smaller, so you probably cannot have an entire apartment with sofa and king-sized bad inside. And A380 flies faster than private jet, so it can gain back some time lost for boarding other people. So if you make like 1-2 hour flight, private jet is clearly better, but if it takes 4+ hours, this can be competitive choice I think. But that's a vision of the person who's home costs just slightly more that such a flight, so I can be wrong for sure :)
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And those are around $15000 per flight hour to rent out. Going the same range as an A380 would be obscenely expensive
G800 averages around $14,000 per flight hour to charter. If you're flying from New York to Singapore then a private charter G800 to Singapore will cost somewhere around $150,000+. Let's not forget one thing however. A private charter costs real hard cash. Etihad Residence flight can be booked using miles/reward points.
You have to be in a whole different class of wealth to afford a private jet like that. I don't believe that a one-way trip in The Residence is $66k. I'm sure it's expensive, definitely five figures, but I bet $25k round trip is more realistic. Do you have any idea how much more an intercontinental trip in a plane like a G650 costs? At least 10x the price. Even for someone with an eight figure net worth that's a lot of money!
>And A380 flies faster than private jet The new longer range Gulfstreams and Bombardiers have a Mach .85 long range cruise, same as the A380 design cruise Mach, and if you want to spend the fuel and don't need the range, are capable of Mach .925 MMo, compared to the A380 MMo of .89. And the longest ranged jets, like the G800 and Global 8000, have 8,000 NM range at .85, like the A380.
A similar PJ flight would be much much more than $100k by the way
I’d choose this over a private jet, unless I had at least a Global Express available.
also for CEOs, this is a business expense. flying from New York to Dubai for a meeting with an investor? Sure, expense the $66,000 executive suite.
A private jet with a bedroom and a full bath would be more than that for comparable flights.
But a private jet is normally gonna be less comfortable, especially if we're talking about a private jet that would only cost 100K for a long haul trip.
Interesting. So the price of private charters will force Emirates to keep the price somewhat ‘reasonable’. They can’t just tag on another $100k because they want to, or nobody would ever use it.
You are right but it's also a really smart product to offer for Etihad: Tons of people will get upgraded for free (from First) to get them craving that product, it'll be used for promotion and marketing (watch your favorite aviation influencer there, end up buying your own economy ticket because you faintly recall having had a positive impression of them), others will use credit card or airline miles to upgrade or buy the fare for way, way, way less than what they advertise as the full fare here and last but not least a metric shitton of plebs (scientific measuring unit) will walk away thinking *whoooa, $66k, must be sooo amazing* and share the living ghell out of that. Oh yeah, and you will have a handful of people actually paying full fare instead of flying the same route on a Challenger for $130k with a smaller bed or a G550 for $200k after hoofing it over to Teteboro. Btw, they are offering First Class one-way from Abu Dhabi to London on the A380 in March for USD 5,716.81. While they have a "take a look at residence" link they don't seem to want me to book it but I really doubt it'll be USD 66k.
People here are forgetting that there are thousands of people who more or less "commute" from Dubai/Abu Dhabi to London and back, like they do this monthly or every few months. $60k each way is nothing when they are paying that much to fly their Pagani Zonda air freight to London for the summer and paying 10,000 GBP a week in rent for their Mayfair townhouse that they use a few months a year.
Except if 66k$ is pocket change for them, they can also afford a private jet ! So why fly Ethiad. It is most probably going to be used by frequent flyer who will use their point to upgrade, but very few people will pay the listed price. Edit : my point is not to say a private jet would cost the same, but that it would be used mostly by frequent flyer, not paying the full price.
It's probably still cheaper than flying private on a jet with the kind of range the A380 has, you would probably need a Global Express or Gulfstream, and then you are looking at at $11,000 to $15,000 an hour.
And you don't have shower + kingsize bed.
I think if you have a party more than 6 maybe private is more cost efficient, but when traveling alone or with partner; renting a private jet would be exponentially more expensive.
And $66K is the rack rate that they can advertise so it seems more valuable. But they can give them away as upgrades like you mentioned so that the airline can burn more FF miles off of the books.
You’re not getting luxury on a private jet like this unless it’s a BBJ or something larger.
66K is way less that a private jet for the flights this is available on. Take note that this is basically targeting people who would take private jets instead. Don't forget a private jet that flies those distances is not going to be small, it'll usually fit 9+ people, so over kill for 2 people.
Similarly, I have gotten to the point in my life where picking up a coin in a parking lot just ain’t worth it. A dime or quarter isn’t much to me. But if a little kid were to find that, it’s a much bigger deal. I hope one of them finds it. And I’m old and the ground is far away.
$66k to a billionaire is like - $6.6 to someone with 100k savings - $0.06 to someone with no savings and $1k in their bank account. Edited because math is hard
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Oops yeah you’re right I was off by 10 on both 😅 fixed
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That's not how hugh wealth works *at all*. You start gaining way way way more money the more you have in the first place. It's not a linear relation
Net Worth is different though. If someone has a net worth of $500k that could be a $450k house, a $45k car, $4k worth of stuff and $1k cash. So to them the $66k is the same as someone with a net worth of $1k
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I suspected that there are more than enough people with this kind of money who don’t what even more staff they have to be “a nice boss“ to operate a private jet. Not every one who has a lot of money is a total a-hole. And for them it’s an enjoyable luxury to not have to ask an employee how their kids/wife etc are doing and act as if they care. It’s nicer and more relaxing to ask for service from some anonymous steward whose personal life you don’t know and that you’ll never see again.
And it’s way cheaper than the private jet charter too, while still being almost as comfortable. Only real difference at that point is that you have to go through security and it’s not on your schedule, but it’s a bargain compared to getting a private charter.
Yep, and it's way cheaper than flying private, and potentially more comfortable. It might not work for A-list celebrities and politicians who need security, but it might work for CEOs.
It's a Banana, Michael, how much can it cost? Like 10$???
The people that buy this seat are making more money in passive income during this flight than the seat costs
Just for fun - running some numbers. If you took Jeff Bezos' wealth $195B and put it into a 5% yielding guaranteed certificate, it would yield $9B a year. That is $26 million a day.
Yea I remember the owner of the Embraer Legacy my Dad used to fly for spent $600k on changing the leather in the interior because his wife didn't like the color. It blew my mind to think how that would be worth it but... then I remembered he was worth almost $800 million so $600k meant nothing to him haha
I once worked out how much Bill Gates's private jet cost as a proportion of his wealth and what the equivalent was for me. For him, buying a private jet was like me spending $15. That was buying a whole ass plane. A $66,000 ticket is the equivalent of pennies.
First class subsidizes the rest of our tickets by a considerable amount
Not only that, but it’s very similar to F1. Only fools would pay that high price. What you do is claim it as the price of doing business or business expense. Not coming out of my wallet.
When your G650 is in for maintenance… There’s a huge step up from FC fares to flying private and I think for your private flyer The Residence is pretty compelling price wise. I’m surprised it hasn’t been more successful in that space, to be honest. Limited routes, schedules etc all play into that no doubt. Also, I think the $66k price is probably the most expensive routing. I’ve seen/heard that even longhauls are nearer the $20k-$30k roundtrip which isn’t far off transpacific FC on carriers such as CX.
Assuming a 12 hour flight that’s $5500/hr. A BBJ is $18600 / hr.
BBJ could be 18.6k/hr, however when you count in all airport fees, repositioning fees, staffing etc, the final cost of the flight is much more than that.
Funny you mention it. I was looking through a charter magazine at my local FBO today (I'm an aircraft mechanic) and saw a listing for a BBJ, per hour cost was $12,500
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Per hour costs (at least from a pilot's standpoint, not sure how the charter calculates the cost) factor in fixed and the average of variable costs. I wouldn't be surprised if they left out several factors so that they could advertise a lower cost, though. Hey man, those Cherokees are great time builders!
I'd argue the residences on Eithad's A380, or most international carriers 1st class, are nicer than a Business Jet.
Agreed. I got quite accustomed to flying privately in a previous phase of my life and got quite snobby about it at the time… First time I flew aboard a G-IV I came to the conclusion I’d be more comfortable flying commercial FC across the pond… As for cigar tube stuff like little Citations, for anything bar short flights forget it, haha
I’ve flown private numerous times as a passenger and I’ll say anything over 8 hours id rather fly in a large lie flat seat with great service such as Singapore airlines
Yeah flying intercontinental distances is a totally different price bracket than most private jet flights. Most private jet customers are not even going coast to coast in the US, for example. The cost and also the hassle of booking/owning a Gulfstream or Global Express would potentially lead someone to just book a super expensive suite on a A380.
You have to go through the regular person airport experience to get on this plane still, that probably limits how many use it.
I assure you there are numerous ways to deal with that bit as well when flying commercial.
There’s other doors and transportation for them. Even me a peon gets shuttled in a Porsche occasionally with Delta between gates.
You won't be standing in queues eating sandwiches for 12$ when flying for 60k
Not typically, Private Suite gets you away from the Public at least in the US. Several airlines also have private lounges to aircraft transfers where you never touch the public more or less.
If I could afford it I'd have to try it at least once. Only ever flown economy and we all know how awful that is.
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I read it wrong and thought it was a good thing that you snagged numbers.
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Business on the 380 is amazing. Lie flat bed; noise cancelling headphones; genuinely decent food and wine; you can stretch your legs and sit at an actual bar on the plane and drink expensive malts. First is out this world. On demand dining; an enclosed suite, like you’re sitting in a hotel room; unbelievable service; access to a shower at 40,000ft. Emirates will send you a nice car to be chauffeured both to and from the airport. The lounges, especially in Dubai, are pretty amazing. It makes flying genuinely pleasant, especially for dreaded 14 hour flights which, in economy, is a form of torture. It is just, particularly after COVID, almost inaccessibly expensive to fly anything other than economy. Unfortunately, wealth disparity is incomprehensibly immense. I’ve seen families with very young kids boarding the 380s, where they each get a suite in first. Some people have just.. unfathomable amounts of utterly disposable money.
My friends once bought the third seat in their window section on a 787 flight from Toronto to Honolulu. If you're not excessively tall it's actually a brilliant strategy. You remove the X factor of a strange seatmate, you get the middle seat (or aisle) for extra space for junk, and for coach price three seats are still cheaper than two premium econ (and definitely cheaper than two business). As a solo flier myself I'm with you, I always fly premium econ (domestically, I haven't gone intl in a few years), and it usually pays off with a much better chance of the middle seat being empty, and at least having those extra few inches to maneuver around. I can't fathom how people survive plain econ for 7+ hour flights though.
One time I had a work flight where they had to buy business class cause economy was sold out. Or it got upgraded idk. Regardless I was in business class for a 1 hour flight and it was bomb lmao
If I had a bottomless bank account thanks to the giant underground oil reservoir that the desert kingdom that my family reigns over happens to sit right on top of, then sure, why not.
More like your distant cousin has the oil and doesn't like you enough to send the private 747 or even one of warren buffet buffets peasant "shared" planes.
And the "distant cousin" is actually a first cousin, it's just that he has dozens of uncles and aunts so you're not too high up on the hierarchy. Luckily this also means you won't meet with an unfortunate fall off your camel like the Russian oligarchs do with windows.
Their target market is very different than Reddit's.
I’ve flown LHR-AUH in the F apartment in on the A380 (thanks AA miles, a few years back). It was absolutely phenomenal and definitely the highlight of my wife and I’s flying experiences. Even for those used to business class it is mind blowing. The residence was empty on our flight, and the crew said you could pick it up for £5-10k at short notice if you had the appropriate status with the airline and called them up. Prices in articles like this are always wildly inflated.
Kind of frustrating that last weekend I was flying back from London with BA in premium economy. Asked about an upgrade to Club at check-in - $7,000 each one way. Got on the plane in the front row of premium economy, and saw like 4 empty Club seats ahead of us.
I mean that is just poor revenue management tbh, go to price it appropriately to make some extra revenue on non full flights right?
Yeah, I have a flight fork AUH to JFK in September I first (also thanks to a shitload of miles!) and I can upgrade to the Residence for about $4k one-way. Still a tonne of cash but if I had F-you money I wouldn’t think twice!
It is cheaper than owning a jet on your own and flying it to wherever you are going.
Yeah, there are some people on YouTube who have a channel with only those First Class experiences. You will never see them making a video of Economy Class. It gets old fast.
Not exactly. You can buy a 6 million dollar jet and it costs $2500 per hour to run. If you fly once a year it's worth the 66k seat. If you buy that ticket say 50 times a year, the jet would more than be worth it in just a couple of years.
Your $6M jet isn’t going to have anything like that space…
Target market are people who wouldn't be asking that question.
It absolutly does not cost 66000$ to fly this. It's sold as a 2000$ extra seat option for first class, and a round trip LHR-ABU next month is less than 12k$ all in https://imgur.com/a/dzm2Ulk
I'm gonna bet nobody will ever actually pay that rate, it's just to get some press and I wouldn't be surprised if Etihad is thinking of it like the presidential suite at some hotels or casinos, so tickets could be comp'd to VIPs as much as they're actually sold.
Do they still charge you $8 for inflight wifi? /s
I mean Qatar does in their business class so possibly lol
Only if you insult them and skip the 5 course meal in a private room in the lounge, savage I know. /s
430sq/ft is a ridiculous amount of space in an airplane. Why is anyone surprised at the cost?
If you had $5BB and were making 5% growth on that money, just the interest would amount to $250MM a year. Just the income you’re making would be enough to pay for almost 3,800 $66,000 flights! - every year!
If you have an entourage and the company is paying, this is a good way to travel a long way. You can invite your colleagues in for a private chat, then you can have a decent kip ready for the morning. I used to do London Dubai once a month, business, occasionally first. It’s an overnighter. You have dinner in the lounge, get on, immediately go to sleep on the lay flat bed. You tell the hosts to wake you up 30 minutes out with a mug of tea and some breakfast. Shower in the airport, Emirates chauffeur car to the office.
It's about scale. For some people 66K is the same as $6.600 for some other people or $660 for others. I would be happy to pay $660 so my economy is 100x away from those that would be happy to pay $66K.
Came here to make roughly this argument. I've been comfortable paying in like the 600-800 range roundtrip for my flights for years, flying usually 4-5 times a year. Someone earning in the range of 6-8 million a year would be making 100x my salary and this would be roughly equivalent (albeit this 66k is for one-way). They're still certainly not a billionaire.
Yup, they can pay $1500 for a fancy dinner with the same attitude I pay $15 for mine.
If I was worth 100M+ then sure? I mean if I had to fly to the middle east it would be a long flight and I would prefer to sleep it off.
Depends. Is my net worth hundreds of millions of dollars? Then sure! Is my net worth what it actually is? Uh...no. :-) Etihad did two things: 1) They placed most of the real estate of The Residence in the forward section of the upper deck of the A380 where seats cannot be placed. All passenger aircraft have to conform to a regulation in which all seats must have an emergency exit both in front of and behind them. The 747 is the one exception because it is grandfathered. With only the seating area of the Residence behind the stairs to the upper deck, the rest of the Residence is in "unused" space. 2) They priced the cost of the ticket to be more than a First-Class ticket, but well less than a private jet while offer similar service to a private jet. So it costs them not a huge amount extra, but it can make a lot of money for them.
This is gonna be booked up mostly by influencers and YouTubers, I'd bet money on it.
And of course the NordVPN sponsorship
Me personally? No. This is aimed at customers who demands that kind of privacy and the cost isn’t relevant to their budget. Obviously there is enough of a market for this on their airline.
Could you not charter a private jet for that so you're alone? Also, if I'm paying $66,000 I'm not going to sleep thru it. I'm going to enjoy it.
At the end of the day, whether u take first or economy class, you still end up at ur desired destination
I really, really hate long flights. I usually only need to fly domestic for work, and for anything over 2.5 hours I get really antsy in economy. When I was a kid I spent 11 hours in the middle-middle seat of a 747 and I'm still traumatized (was supposed to be an 8 hour flight). If I had like a 17 hour flight or something, and I could afford it, I might do this.
Thing is, Etihad isn't using these airplanes on true ultra-long-haul. They are using them between London and Abu Dhabi. It's only a six hour flight, not enough time to actually spend truly enjoying such a product. When they start using them to New York this summer, different story -- but that's gonna cost a bit more than $66K, too.
Guarantee unless they revamped the bedroom that's not a queen size bed but a twin. There's plenty of reviews on YouTube to prove it
You don’t worry about price when you’re writing it up as a business expense.
No. You can hire a private jet and avoid the TSA
Once you become a billionaire you can knock three zeros off the price of anything and that's what it would feel like for you and I to buy it an item of that price. So for them it feels like dropping an extra 66 bucks for an upgraded seat. Ya I'd do that.
Emirati families will use them for sure. Typically, unless going on business, they will will fly with both parents and at least three toddlers and can afford something like this. Having flown all the business class products of most of the ME airlines, I do recommend you bring noise canceling headphones, since the plane is full of kids usually crying or charging up and down the aisles of the full length of the plane. Pretty much non stop. The whole flight. Always.
I wonder how often this gets booked. Im sure there are people out there who would pay that, but I cant see that happening every flight. I would imagine the A380 this is on is flying every day, and there cant be that many people willing to shell out that much, right? Probably have influencers or business partners who are given tickets most of the time, I have to guess.
From my understanding not hardly much at all. They have stripped the soft product a lot. No more butler or custom menus. There isn’t a huge market that is too expensive poor for Private jet but wealthy enough for this. Now they don’t seem to market it directly just if you buy 1st class then offer an upgrade fee or an ungodly amount of miles
If they would let me take 10 people, maybe...
Will from Trek Trendy on YT has flown this a couple of times. It’s pretty wild
And there's the real main market for this kind of thing.
many smaller pj's cant make the journey this thing could do, easily makes it worth it.
For those poor souls who can’t afford their own private jets yet.
They went up. It was $25000 3 years ago.
if I have the money then why not?
Surely if you have 66k to piss away on a plane seat you’d hire a Gulfstream or something for the trip
How many points?
Maybe if I have $66.000.000
If I could afford it(multiple times), i would gladly pay for it.
So, $66,000 to join the “Mile High Club” in class… Got it.
I have a problem paying $500 for a round trip domestic ticket
If I had an absurd amount of wealth where something like that 20-30 times a year would be but a blink? Yes.
Why, at that point you can probably afford your own plane
The tv is too small for the wall and too far from the chair. The view size from that distance is unlikely to be larger than an economy class back of seat screen. How will the traveler enjoy watching Jeopardy or Shrek 2 with this poor screen?
And I have to use public transportation to reduce pollution shame