Frequently Asked Questions

FlightLink is a private, invitation-only community of members accessing powerful aviation technology, services and benefits to improve both private and commercial air travel, at lower cost. Central to FlightLink is the world’s first ‘vetted air pooling’ platform, which allows members to self-coordinate shared private flights in compliance with aviation regulations.

FlightLink was originally created by our founder and a group of aircraft owners as an informal 'message board' where private flyers could self-coordinate shared private flights. 

This group recognized the grave underutilization of valuable seats on their private flights and sought to save money, enjoy camaraderie, and reduce environmental impact. 

Recognizing the potential for FlightLink to revolutionize aviation they infused capital to develop the cutting-edge technology and expanded services FlightLink members enjoy today.

Yes. As a commercial flyer, you now have access to a private aviation solution for a fraction of the cost. Having the ability to jump on a private flight for a reasonable price saves considerable time and hassle.

Membership benefits expand beyond air pooling to allow you to fly better and cheaper, whether private or commercial. 

Yes. FlightLink allows you to offset costs on your flights regardless of how you fly private. Own an aircraft or fly with programs like NetJets, Sentient, FlexJet, or WheelsUp? Share your flights and save.

Want to preserve your valuable hours or cycles on your plane? Join flights hosted by other members. Tired of paying for all the deadheading? Sell your empty legs to our exclusive group qualified members.

Membership benefits expand beyond air pooling to allow you to fly better and cheaper, whether private or commercial. 

Our members are protective of their privacy and the core essence of private aviation. To ensure the highest level of enjoyment & safety, all prospective members undergo a thorough vetting process. Most new members are referred by a current member, so we rely heavily on their input when evaluating new candidates. We reserve the right to deny any applicant for any reason other than reasons based on race, gender, or religion.

Much like Amazon Prime for aviation, members pay a modest subscription fee to access powerful benefits and cost-savings.

All flight bookings - seats on 'air pools,' on-demand charters, commercial tickets - are purchased a-la-carte at discounted rates.

Members typically recoup a multiple of the subscription fee through the savings on a single transaction. 

Yes. All approved members are offered a 30-day, no-risk free trial to ensure membership is of value to you. During your free trial, you will have full access to our suite of technology & will be assigned a dedicated aviation concierge.

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We pride ourselves on bringing together the largest network of business & community leaders in the cities we serve.

FlightLink members are aircraft owners, members of the leading fractional & jet card programs, charter customers and even commercial flyers interested in accessing a smarter way to fly private.

Our members share flights using their personal aircraft and/or their preferred aviation programs such as NetJets, Sentient Jet, Flex Jet, Wheels Up, Jet Linx, etc. 

FlightLink is released on a city-by-city basis to ensure frequent flights on routes of interest to our members. 

We are currently accepting membership applications in the Houston, Dallas and Austin metropolitan markets for flights to and from these areas. 

We will subsequently expand to Phase 2 markets which include cities in Colorado, California, Arizona, Illinois, Georgia, Florida and the Northeast.

Our proprietary 'vetted air pooling' technology allows members to self-coordinate shared private flights with fellow members in compliance with aviation regulations.

If you currently fly private using an owned aircraft, charter or major aviation program such as NetJets, Sentient Jet, FlexJet, WheelsUp, JetLinx, etc. you can leverage FlightLink to offset your costs.

If you primarily fly commercial, you can enjoy the benefits of private aviation at a fraction of the cost by joining a flight hosted by a fellow member.

The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) recently established a new 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 295, offering an important advancement in private flight cost sharing.

Historically, a single individual or company had been required to contract for the operation of a charter airplane and bear the entire expense with virtually no ability to offset costs ("single entity charter").  

The new rule specifies that individuals are permitted to "self-aggregate" to form a single entity and distribute the costs of their charter flights between individual participating parties.

FlightLink's air pooling module operates as a self-aggregration platform whereby members interact directly - by and amongst themselves - to coordinate shared Part 135 charter flights. FlightLink does not, in any way, assume an active role in assembling groups of fliers or otherwise participate in the aggregation process.

 

As an "open aircraft source" platform, FlightLink allows private flyers to share flights using safe, reputable Part 135, FAA-certified private aviation solutions.

They can elect to use an owned aircraft or a major jet card, fractional or charter operator that has been thoroughly vetted by the FAA and safety auditing firms.

Prior to your flight, we can provide information from independent safety auditing firms (Wyvern, ARG/US, IS-BAO, etc.) related to the safety of the operator, pilots and aircraft being shared.

Air pools are hosted by members that own, lease or charter an aircraft or are members of the major fractional, jet card or membership-based private aviation programs. 

FlightLink is the first and only "open source" air pooling platform meaning that shared flights are available from multiple sources of private aviation. 

This results in significant numbers of relevant flights to places you like to go.  

 

Yes. As a participant in any major fractional (NetJets, FlexJet, etc.), jet card (Sentient, JetLinx, etc.) or membership-based (Wheels Up, etc.) program, you have the right to select your guest passengers without any restrictions. 

FlightLink is simply a mechanism whereby you can take advantage of your excess seat capacity to offset costs and connect with like-minded members. 

Members of these programs use FlightLink to leverage their investment to fly more, spend less and often upgrade to larger, faster, more comfortable aircraft.

Yes. If you'd like to host an air pool but don't have access to a plane, we can help.

As a member, you can use FlightLink to access wholesale rates for on-demand charters. We will handle the charter booking, while you propose the flight as an 'air pool' to offset your costs. 

This is no risk to proposing an air pool because you don't need to commit to the charter until after the group to has been formed.

FlightLink has created a proprietary pricing model allowing members to price their seats in three ways: 

1. “Price Per Seat”: the hosting passenger can set a price per seat for each guest passenger. This typically occurs when a host passenger is taking a trip regardless and wants to offset a portion of their costs. 
2. “Split Evenly”: costs are divided pro-rata based on the number of occupied seats. For example, if a flight costs $15,000 and there are 3 groups of 2 people, each group would be responsible for $5,000 (or $2,500/person). 
3. “Recoup Set Amount”: the hosting passenger can request for guest passengers to cover a set amount of the flight. For example, if a host is willing to pay for $10,000 of a $15,000 flight then the guest passengers will be responsible to pay for the balance. If there are 5 guests, then everyone will pay $1k each. Like “Split Evenly” pricing, each guest pays less as more members join the flight. 

Additionally, by serving as the payment intermediary, we relieve the potentially uncomfortable process of collecting funds from friends or acquaintances.

With traditional private aviation, you pay for the entire aircraft, regardless of how many passengers you have. With FlightLink, you can offset costs by sharing your flights with like-minded members to save thousands.

As an example, if your group is 2 people and the flight is $10,000, your cost with traditional private aviation is $5,000/person. If you share the flight with 4 FlightLink members, the effective cost drops to $1,667/person (~70% savings).

 

We thoughtfully launch FlightLink on a city-by-city basis with a focus on popular routes specific the geographic areas we serve. 

This allows us to establish a "critical mass" of members with common route patterns to ensure a vibrant marketplace of flights of interest to our local members.

We are current focused on growing our membership in Houston, Dallas and Austin with core routes to The Rocky Mountains, California, Florida, Mexico, Inter-Texas, Vegas, Arizona, Chicago & New York.

Additionally, FlightLink is quite powerful as it relates to sharing flights from our home cities to sports & entertainment events such as The Masters, NFL & college football games, theatrical events, etc. 

For each trip, the hosting passenger determines if pets are allowed on his/her aircraft. Pets are usually allowed but it depends on the preferences of the host. In the past, we’ve facilitated several matches with pets making travel significantly easier for the guest.

FlightLink offers private aircraft charter without the hassle & uncertainty of booking yourself or the up-front investment required by traditional options, such as jet cards & fractionals. Most traditional charter programs require large annual investments and exorbitant hourly flight rates. FlightLink provides an even wider array of aircraft options at dramatically lower costs than these other charter options.

Yes. Our platform gives members the opportunity to charter on an “ad-hoc” basis without having to vet safety, evaluate aircraft or solicit price quotes. Similar to our concierge commercial service, simply tell us when & where you want to go, we will take care of the rest.

Moreover, FlightLink members can “post” the excess capacity on their ad-hoc charters to split costs with fellow members. 

FlightLink does not own or operate aircraft. Instead, we partner with the best of breed operators to offer the most appropriate aircraft suited for the mission at the lowest available price. This strategy gives our members access to the largest “virtual” fleet in the U.S. at the simple click of a button.

Your safety is our number one priority. Each of our operator partners has been rigorously evaluated for safety. In our evaluation process, we call upon research & information from the Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation and renowned third party safety & compliance auditing firms such as ARG/US, Wyvern and IS-BAO.

FlightLink members are interested in the most convenient & cost-effective means of getting to their desired locations. This often involves weighing the convenience of private vs. the lower cost of commercial. 

FlightLink is the first service to offer a “one-stop-shop” allowing members to simply & easily compare all options – shared private, exclusive private charter and commercial – to make the most informed air travel decision. 

As it relates specifically to commercial, our proprietary technology, plus insider access to wholesale & consolidated fares means that members enjoy significant discounts and eliminate the hassle of excessive online & telephonic “shopping” to find the best deal. 

Yes. We have the capabilities to book whichever type of seat you prefer. Sometimes we can even provide an upgrade for a similar price to your chosen seat class.

Two reasons: time and money. Through our wholesale & consolidator fare access, we generally offer considerable financial savings for members. Perhaps more importantly, we save you the time & hassle of web searching and airline hold times. In summary, we relieve you of the headache of commercial airlines while offering unprecedented prices.

Through our vast aviation industry relationships, we have insider access to wholesale & consolidated ticket prices. Additionally, our expert team offers decades of experience deploying a variety of proven & proprietary "travel hacks" to obtain off-market pricing. 

Unfortunately, there is no way to completely avoid airline schedule changes, delays & cancellations. In the event of a schedule change – whether directed by the airline or driven by you –we take care of everything. We also provide confirmation numbers & e-tickets, so you have complete control over your flight to the extent you wish to deal directly with the airlines.

Yes. Our team & partners are located across the globe and stand at the ready to help.

Yes. In an era of increasing credit card & loyalty program complexity, we are your expert advisor to ensure optimal utilization of your points & miles. 

An empty leg, also known as a deadhead, is the repositioning portion of a booked private flight. The empty aircraft needs to get into a new position for its next passenger flight, or to return to its home base.

Rather than having an aircraft fly empty to a destination, owners & operators often attempt to offset that cost by discounting the trip. Travelers can pay a discounted rate and still experience flying private. Empty leg flights can be discounted 25% or more depending on the aircraft and routing.

 

FlightLink has preferred access to the empty legs offered by both aircraft owners and operators. We then curate this list of discounted empty legs based on your preferences and present them in easily digestable manner.

The key to the "empty leg problem" is the combination access and relevance. By partnering with forward thinking operators and vetted aircraft owners, we have the ability to fill otherwise empty flights for a fraction of the cost. 

Yes. Upon request, the FlightLink team will search for empty leg opportunities. Although finding a deadhead on your own is possible, finding one that matches your desired itinerary is almost impossible without industry knowledge, access to databases, and visibility across the entire charter market.

Additionally, most charter brokers and operators are not incentivized to offer pure empty leg pricing because it reduces their fees. The entire industry is confusing, which allows "insiders" to charge hidden fees & markups.

FlightLink has taken a completely different approach. By paying a modest membership fee, you gain acces to industry experts working for you, not against you. We are incentivized to deliver an exceptional service, the lowest pricing possible, and genuine advice to help guide you through the aviation world. 

Roughly 40% of all praivate flights are operated empty. Since a portion of these legs are not relevent (i.e. the flight back after dropping off someone for the Super Bowl), we curate your feed based on your flight preferences and present as many relevent empty leg opportunities as possible.