Family Weekend Private Jet: How to Plan It Well
Family Weekend Private Jet: How to Plan It Well
A family weekend by private jet works best when you fly one way on an aircraft that is already moving, pick a destination within a short hop, and keep the plan loose. Chartering a whole jet for a two-night trip is the expensive route. Flying on an empty leg through a membership is the flexible one. This guide covers both, plus the practical parts: child seat rules, luggage, ground transport and where to go.
TL;DR
- A private jet saves a family the longest parts of a weekend trip: security lines, early arrival and connections. You arrive shortly before departure instead.
- Per-trip charter is priced by the flying hour. AFAR put the range at $5,000 to $15,000 per hour in 2024, so a round trip with a weekend wait adds up fast.
- Empty legs are one-way flights an aircraft has to make anyway. They suit spontaneous families who can fit the route and the date.
- Children under two may be held only if no seat is available, and children two and older must be seated and belted for takeoff and landing. A child seat is recommended.
- Bluebird members fly empty legs on our Learjet 60 jets with up to six guests per flight, for a flat annual fee.
Table of Contents
- Why a private jet suits a family weekend
- What a weekend trip really costs
- Choosing the right aircraft for the family
- Children on board: seats, belts and safety
- Planning a spontaneous weekend, step by step
- Where to go: easy U.S. weekends
- Our perspective
- Fly with Bluebird
- FAQ
- Sources
Why a private jet suits a family weekend
A weekend is short. A Friday-evening departure and a Sunday-evening return leave about 48 hours, and a commercial trip can burn a large share of them on the airport itself. Families with small children feel this most: strollers, snacks, a nap that lands in the wrong place.
Flying private changes the arithmetic. According to the Air Charter Journal, families can arrive shortly before a private flight and avoid TSA lines and long waits. You drive to a private terminal, park near the door, and board with your own group. Nobody else’s delay becomes yours.
There is also the matter of who is on the plane. It is only your family, so a toddler’s meltdown or a teenager’s playlist is a private matter. You can talk, play cards, or let the kids spread out. For more on how that time saving compounds, see our piece on how private aviation saves time for busy professionals.
What a weekend trip really costs
Most people searching for this are asking one question: can we afford it? The honest answer depends on how you buy the flight.
Traditional charter
With a standard charter you book the whole aircraft and pay by the flying hour. AFAR reported in September 2024 that charters run $5,000 to $15,000 per hour, with light jets at $6,000 to $8,000, midsize jets at $7,500 to $9,000 and super-midsize jets at $7,000 to $11,000. Price depends on aircraft size and distance.
A weekend makes this harder, because a round trip means the aircraft either waits for you or flies back empty and returns. Either way, you usually end up paying for both directions. If you want to see how those line items stack up, our private aviation cost breakdown examples walk through them, and our guide on custom charter quotes shows where surprises tend to appear.
Empty legs
An empty leg, also called a repositioning or ferry flight, happens when a jet has to fly without paying passengers: it dropped off a charter client and must return to base, or it is heading to its next pickup. Haute Black explains that an empty leg is schedule-dependent inventory, and that the trip has to fit the route, date, departure time and aircraft type on offer. It also notes that a spontaneous weekend is often the ideal empty-leg scenario.
That is the key for families. If you are happy to go when and where a jet is already going, you are not paying for a plane built around your calendar.
How membership changes the math
Bluebird sells an annual membership that gives unlimited access to the empty legs published on our platform. The plans, as published on our membership page:
| Plan | Price | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Base | $3,995 per year | Annual access to published empty legs |
| Plus | $9,995 per year | Higher booking priority |
| Skip-The-Line | $2,000 one-off | Optional per-flight upsell |
Members can bring up to six guests per flight, which covers most families. For the bigger picture of flying without paying charter rates, read how to fly private without charter cost.
Choosing the right aircraft for the family
For a weekend you rarely need a large cabin. What matters is that everyone can sit comfortably for one to three hours and that the luggage fits.
Cabin size changes how a short flight feels. One review of a midsize jet argues that a wider, taller cabin makes a two-to-four-hour sector easier because passengers can move, eat and relax without every seat being a compromise. That same review lists a flat-floor cabin about 72 inches high and 77 inches wide, a belted lavatory and roughly 100 cubic feet of baggage space for the Citation Latitude. It is a useful benchmark when you compare cabins, though it is a different aircraft from the one we fly.
When you compare options, check these four things:
- Seats versus your group. Count adults, kids and anyone needing a car seat.
- Baggage space. Strollers, ski bags and golf clubs are the usual surprises.
- Lavatory. A belted lavatory matters with young children.
- Connectivity. Teenagers will ask about Wi-Fi. Business Jet Traveler noted in 2024 that modern business-jet cabins may offer faster Wi-Fi, larger TVs, onboard entertainment servers and adjustable lighting and temperature. Ask what a specific aircraft has rather than assuming. Our guide to private jet Wi-Fi questions lists what to ask.
If you are weighing size classes, light jet versus midsize jet explains which fits which trip. Bluebird members fly operator-owned Learjet 60 jets.
Children on board: seats, belts and safety
This is the part to get right, and the rules are specific.
- Under two years old. FAA Advisory Circular 91-62A says child seats are recommended but not required. If no passenger seat is available for a child under two, only that child may be held by an adult.
- Two years and older. Under FAA guidance, federal regulations require the child to occupy a seat with a properly secured seatbelt during surface movement, takeoff and landing.
- Car seats that do not fit. The same guidance says that if a ticket has been purchased and an approved child restraint does not fit a seat, the operator must accommodate it in another seat in the same class of service.
- Loose items. For on-demand charter under Part 135, carry-on baggage must be secured in an approved rack, bin, compartment or restraint and may not block exits or aisles. Passengers generally need an approved seat or berth with a separate safety belt for taxi, takeoff and landing.
In practice: bring the child restraint your pediatrician or the manufacturer says is right for your child’s weight and height, and tell the operator before the flight so the seat can be placed properly. A held infant is allowed, but a secured seat is the safer choice, and your pediatrician is the right person to ask about your child.
Age limits for guests are a common question on our platform, and we cover them in how private jet age requirements affect empty leg members.
Planning a spontaneous weekend, step by step
Empty legs reward families who decide quickly. Here is a workable routine.
- Check live inventory early in the week. Routes change daily. Look at current empty legs for departures near you on Thursday through Saturday.
- Match the route, then the destination. Let the flight pick the region, then choose the town. A jet repositioning from Boston toward Washington suggests a mid-Atlantic weekend, not a beach in Florida.
- Confirm your headcount and ages. Share the number of adults and children, and whether anyone needs a car seat.
- Plan the return separately. Empty legs are one way. Many families fly out on an empty leg and return by another empty leg, a commercial flight or a charter, depending on what fits. Decide this before you commit.
- Book the ground. Order the car and any child seats before you leave, not at the destination.
- Pack to a hard limit. One soft bag per person fits and loads easily. Hard-shell cases, oversized strollers and ski bags need to be mentioned in advance.
Luggage that works on a small jet
Soft-sided bags pack better into a private jet’s baggage compartment than rigid suitcases. Take a lightweight, foldable stroller instead of a travel system. Put snacks, wipes, a change of clothes and any medicine in a small bag you keep at your seat, since the main baggage compartment is typically not reachable in flight. Everything stowed must be secured, as the Part 135 rule above requires.
Ground transportation
One of the quiet advantages of flying private is landing close to where you are going. You still need a way to get there. Families do well to pre-book a car with the right child seats rather than hope for them on arrival. The logic behind private ground transfers for families, with child seats, flight monitoring and a driver who waits, applies in any country, and it is what we suggest when you land at a smaller airport where taxis are scarce.
Where to go: easy U.S. weekends
Pick places with a small or coastal airport close to the destination. They are quicker to reach, and a short drive suits tired kids. Our note on the coastal airport advantage explains why those fields are convenient for private travelers.
Ideas that fit a one-hop weekend:
- Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. A family-friendly coastal destination reachable through Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport, with beaches, bike paths and calm water for small children.
- Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Beaches, ice cream and short drives. Good for a flight out of the Northeast.
- Naples, Florida. Warm water and resort pools, good for the cooler months.
- Jackson Hole area, Wyoming. Mountain trails and wildlife, aimed at families with older kids.
Once you know where you are heading, look for lodging that matches the family. A directory of family-friendly weekend stays with private hot tubs and in-room amenities helps narrow things down by price and location, and a pool or tub is often what tired parents want on Friday night.
Our perspective
A family weekend is a short, valuable thing, and most of what makes it stressful is not the destination. It is the logistics around it. That is why we built Bluebird around empty legs.
We own and operate our Learjet 60 fleet, and we publish live empty-leg inventory with no broker markups. Members pay one flat annual fee for unlimited access to those flights, so a Friday decision does not trigger a new quote. Our queue is transparent, and a concierge is there when plans change.
We think the best way for a busy family to use private aviation is a habit, not an occasion. When a flight is available, you look, decide and go. Up to six guests can join you on a flight, which fits most households.
The trade is flexibility. If you can follow the aircraft’s route, you get the privacy and the time back without paying for a whole charter.
Nick
Fly with Bluebird
If your family travels on short notice, a membership is built for exactly that. Base is $3,995 per year and Plus, with higher booking priority, is $9,995 per year. Both are on our membership page. When a specific flight matters and others may want it, the optional Skip-The-Line is $2,000 one-off, and how skipping the line works is explained on our blog.
You can browse what is flying now on our flights page, or start at bluebirdjets.com.
FAQ
Can we take a private jet for just a weekend?
Yes. You can charter a whole aircraft for the round trip, priced by the flying hour, or fly one way on an empty leg when a route suits you. Empty legs are cheaper but depend on the aircraft’s schedule, so your dates and airports need to be flexible.
Do young children need car seats on a private jet?
For children under two, the FAA recommends a child seat but does not require one, and an adult may hold the child only if no seat is available. Children two and older must sit in a seat with a secured belt for takeoff and landing. Tell the operator in advance if you are bringing a car seat.
How many family members can come on a Bluebird flight?
Members can bring up to six guests per flight. If your family is larger, a custom charter request, which is quoted separately, is the route to look at.
How much does a family private jet weekend cost?
Per-hour charter costs ranged from $5,000 to $15,000 in AFAR’s 2024 report, depending on aircraft size and distance. With a Bluebird membership, the cost of access is a flat annual fee of $3,995 for Base or $9,995 for Plus, and you fly the published empty legs.
Sources
- The Benefits of Flying Private for Family Travel, Air Charter Journal
- How Much Does It Cost to Book a Private Jet? AFAR
- Private Jet Empty Leg Flights: How to Find and Book Them, Haute Black
- Cessna Citation Latitude Review for Business
- The Cabin Is The Thing, Business Jet Traveler
- FAA AC 91-62A, Use of Child Seats in Aircraft
- FAA AC 120-87C, Use of Child Restraint Systems on Aircraft
- 14 CFR Part 135 Subpart B, eCFR
- Surrounding Areas, Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport
- Why ski families prefer private transfers
- Weekend Getaway Hot Tub, Hotel Hot Tubs