The private aviation industry is changing in a way that most people outside it haven’t noticed yet. Jet card programs are no longer just selling flight hours. They’re becoming full-service lifestyle concierges. The shift is subtle but significant, and Magellan Jets just made the most ambitious move yet.
The company launched Magellan Jets Journeys in early 2026, a program that extends far beyond booking flights. Think curated wine tours in Chile, behind-the-scenes access to The Masters, or a sommelier-designed experience in Paris. The flight is just the beginning. Everything else, the reservations, the access, the experiences you can’t buy your way into, that’s now part of the package.
What Makes This Different
This isn’t a simple partnership with a travel agency. Magellan Jets has brought experts directly onto their team. In January 2025, they hired Claude Harmon III as head of golf. Harmon is one of the most respected instructors in golf, whose clients have included Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson. In October, they added Jesse Rodriguez, the former head sommelier at The French Laundry, as their resident sommelier.
These aren’t consulting arrangements. Rodriguez designs private vineyard tours that aren’t available to the public. Harmon provides access to golf events where most people stand outside the ropes. The company has also partnered with Premier Golf and travel designer Curated by Czerlonka to handle the logistics of complex, multi-destination trips.
The Access Question
Access is the currency that matters most to high-net-worth travelers. Anyone with enough money can book a table at a Michelin-starred restaurant or buy tickets to a major sporting event. But walking the course at Augusta during Masters week? Touring a Burgundy vineyard that doesn’t accept visitors? That requires relationships.
Magellan Jets is betting that their clients value these experiences more than incremental improvements in cabin comfort or flight speed. CEO Joshua Hebert described the shift as moving from transportation to memory-making. That’s not marketing language. It reflects a real change in what private aviation clients expect.
Why This Is Happening Now
The timing isn’t accidental. Industry research indicates that nearly half of high-net-worth travelers now prioritize hyper-personalized experiences over other luxury purchases. For context, this demographic used to focus primarily on acquiring assets. Now they’re spending on experiences that can’t be replicated.
The pandemic accelerated this shift. People who spent months unable to travel emerged with different priorities. They want trips that matter. They want experiences their friends can’t duplicate. And they’re willing to pay for someone else to handle every detail.
Private jet card subscribers are particularly well-suited for this model. They’re already accustomed to paying a premium for convenience and flexibility. Extending that approach to the entire travel experience is a natural progression.
What It Means for Jet Card Buyers
If you’re evaluating jet card programs, this changes the calculation. The traditional metrics still matter. Guaranteed availability, peak day surcharges, interchange fees, fleet access. But now you need to ask what happens after you land.
Some programs will stick to their core competency and just fly you places. Others will try to become your primary lifestyle concierge. Neither approach is wrong, but you should know which model you’re buying into.
Magellan Jets is sweetening the offer for new buyers. Through the end of February 2026, they’re offering a first-flight satisfaction guarantee for new jet card purchasers. If you’re not satisfied after your first flight, they’ll make it right. That’s a meaningful commitment in an industry where switching costs are high.
The Industry Ripple Effect
Other operators are watching this closely. If Magellan Jets Journeys succeeds, expect competitors to follow. NetJets, Flexjet, and Wheels Up all have the resources to build similar programs. The question is whether they want to.
Building a lifestyle concierge service requires a different skill set than running an aviation company. You need relationships with venues, event organizers, and service providers. You need staff who understand luxury hospitality, not just aviation operations. And you need to deliver consistently, because a single disappointing experience undermines everything.
The risk is spreading too thin. Airlines tried this years ago with lifestyle magazines and shopping portals. Most of those initiatives quietly disappeared. But the difference here is scale. A jet card program has hundreds or thousands of clients, not millions. Personalization actually works at that volume.
What Comes Next
The evolution of private aviation from transportation to lifestyle service mirrors what happened in luxury hotels a decade ago. Properties stopped competing on thread count and started offering experiences. The winners were the ones who understood that their guests wanted stories, not amenities.
Private jet companies are arriving at the same conclusion. The aircraft, the cabin, the catering, those are table stakes. What differentiates programs now is everything that happens around the flight. For clients who fly 50 or 100 hours a year, that shift matters. The question for buyers is which operator understands their specific passions well enough to unlock experiences they couldn’t arrange themselves.