The group-deals craze comes to private jets

Have you ever wanted to fly on a private jet, but the mere thought is enough to cause your wallet to panic?

A new service called Social Flights aims to help people avoid standard commercial flights and their long security lines, crying babies and cramped aisles.

To do this, Social Flights taps into your social networks like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook and allows you to organise flights on private jets with a group of your friends. This can cost as little as $400 a person, depending on the luxuriousness of the plane, the number of passengers and the destination. People can also hop on a flight with strangers that has unfilled seats; these jaunts can cost as little as $150 each way.

“The social Web is all about people organising around a similar interest,” said Jay Deragon, the chief executive of Social Flights. “We took these social networks, some game theory and standard business components and we came up with the idea for Social Flights.” Deragon said the game theory came into play when the site tried to find the most practical timing and pricing for a group of travelers, and to match up travelers and flights accordingly.

Social Flights, which is based in Smyrna, US started a test version of its site in February and says it now has 1,000 members using the service on a regular basis. Deragon said people could use Social Flights to rent anything from a small private jet for six people, like a King Air, to a Boeing 737, which can carry 140 people.

“Let’s say you hire a Lear 45 plane, which is a very fast eight-passenger jet. A round-trip seat could cost $900 a person,” Deragon said. He said the same trip in first class on a commercial airliner would most likely be $1,400 a person.

Deragon said a group of people living in the Northeast wanted to attend a football game in Mississippi recently but couldn’t find flights to fit their budget or timing. He said the friends got together and organised a flight that day for about $400 a person.

But organising flights isn’t as simple as logging on to Expedia and selecting the date, time and destination. In some instances, travelers need to request a destination and wait for a Social Flights representative to contact them with pricing and availability. There is also a flying option called “Empty Legs”, which aims to put passengers on planes that are returning empty from a previous destination.

©2011 The New York
Times News Service