Whether you’re traveling on business or celebrating a special occasion, flying on a private jet is the ultimate in luxury travel.
My family recently took a private flight from Seattle to Las Vegas with private aviation experts, Cirrus Aviation Services. They are based in Las Vegas, so most flights depart or arrive at Harry Reid International Airport.
Private jet charters through Cirrus Aviation let you access private jets for your personal aviation needs without the hassle of booking flight schools to obtain your own private pilot license or maintaining your own aircraft.
Like many private jet service providers, Cirrus Aviation offers empty leg flights as a great way to take a private flight for a lower cost than chartering a standard private jet flight.
Cirrus Aviation Services
Cirrus Aviation Services is Nevada’s largest private jet charter company. They have over 15 years of experience in private aviation services, and are one of the top 10 private jet charter companies in the United States.
This family-run business offers a range of private jet services and aircraft management services. They’re suitable for everyone from private aircraft owners to people who want to experience their first flight on board a private jet.
Cirrus Aviation Services takes care of every aspect of your flight, from organizing the professional pilot to flight planning and maintaining the aircraft to the highest standards. They also have long term relationships with businesses in various locations, which allows them to coordinate hotels, dining, entertainment, and more to make your charter flight extra special.
The Fleet
Cirrus Aviation Services owns and manages a fleet of private jets from its base at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. They also have a presence in other markets, including Los Angeles and New York.
They provide management services to private jet owners, maintain their aircraft in top condition, and also offer charter jet services.
The current fleet ranges from a Very Light Jet, such as the six-seat HondaJet Elite, to larger jets, such as the Super Light Lear 45XR, which seats 9 passengers.
At the top of the range, they also offer Ultra Long Range jets like the Gulfstream G550 that can accommodate 14 passengers. On a full fuel tank, this luxurious aircraft can cover a maximum range of 6,750 nautical miles on a 13-hour flight.
What Is An Empty Leg Flight?
An empty leg flight is one of the services offered by Cirrus Aviation Services.
This is an excellent way of cutting the cost of private jet flights by paying to take the return trip after another client. For example, if an owner has flown from Las Vegas to Seattle but wants to get their aircraft back to Las Vegas, you can charter a flight onboard that jet at a reduced cost.
You can sign up for alerts from Cirrus Aviation so they will let you know when an empty leg becomes available and the cost of the charter flight.
Significant financial savings can be made by booking empty leg flights compared to standard charter flights. Our flight on board the HondaJet Elite cost a total of $5,000 including tax and all fees.
Of course, that’s still expensive, but if we had booked this as a standard charter aircraft, the price point would have been closer to $15,000.
Booking A Flight Through Cirrus Aviation
Booking your private charter flight through Cirrus Aviation is really simple.
Once you have signed your contract through Docusign, you pay your fee via wire transfer or credit card. They then send you a manifest document that you have to complete with the name, gender, and date of birth of each passenger. If any passengers have a TSA redress number, you’ll need to let Cirrus Aviation know this.
You also have to send over the weight of each passenger and how much luggage you’ll be taking, as they need this information to calculate the fuel requirements.
All of this information must be sent no later than 72 hours before the flight or immediately if you’re booking at short notice. Cirrus Aviation staff are on hand to answer any queries you have throughout the booking process, but it’s all pretty straightforward.
Risk Of Cancellation
One important thing to remember is that empty leg flights can get canceled at any time if the aircraft owner decides their jet is no longer available.
We originally booked our flight as a round trip, but whoever booked the original flight to Seattle must have changed their plans. As a result, the return leg of our flight was no longer available.
We were given the option of chartering another jet for around $15,000, but we opted to make other plans for our return flight.
This shows that if you’re booking an empty leg flight, it’s essential to have a contingency plan for what you’ll do if your flight gets canceled. It can be a hassle to arrange flights at short notice, but that’s a risk you have to accept in return for saving so much on a private jet flight.
Checking In For A Private Flight
When you’re flying on a private jet, you don’t check in at the regular check-in desk or go through the standard security channels as when flying with major airlines.
If you’re flying out of Seattle with Cirrus Aviation Services, you’ll go straight to the Signature Elite Terminal. This is the private terminal next to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the main airport in Seattle.
This building isn’t as impressive as you might expect, but the awesome thing is that if you’re running late, the flight will wait for you. Obviously, you don’t want to keep everyone waiting on purpose, but we were running around 30-40 minutes late for our planned takeoff time, and it wasn’t a problem.
The Signature Elite Terminal has its own parking lot, so you can provide your license plate number in advance, and they will reserve a parking spot for you. Then you can just walk straight into the terminal with your luggage, and they’ll take it to load onto the aircraft.
The terminal has restrooms, a light coffee station, and some snacks if you have to wait for your flight. Compared to the stress of getting the family to the airport for a commercial flight, this was much more relaxing and really helped cut down on our total travel times.
Our Flight With Cirrus Aviation Services
We flew from Seattle to Las Vegas onboard a HondaJet Elite jet. This jet has six passenger seats, although one is a belted lavatory, and there was enough space for all our luggage in the small hold and inside the cabin.
No screening or ID checks were necessary, so we simply boarded the plane and waited no more than 10 minutes before we were in the air.
Inside the cabin, the luxurious leather seats had USB power ports, WiFi, and enough space for passengers to relax with a film, play video games, or catch up with some work.
One of the joys of a private jet flight is that you can choose your favorite in-flight indulgences. We were provided with some light snacks and drinks for our short flight and also brought along a chilled bottle of wine in a hydro flask.
If you’re booking one of the larger aircraft, you could indulge in a custom-prepared meal by one of the top restaurants in your city or even your favorite fast food.
Our hour-long flight was very comfortable, and the noise level was surprisingly low. You can read more about the flight in my full review of a private flight on the HondaJet Elite.
Landing In Las Vegas
We arrived at Las Vegas International Airport after a smooth flight and landed at the private terminal a little way off from the part of the airport used by commercial airlines. It’s much bigger and nicer than the private terminal at Seatac Airport, probably because Las Vegas is a much bigger tourist destination.
Cirrus Aviation is based at the Atlantic Aviation executive terminal at Harry Reid International Airport (previously known as McCarran International Airport), just a few minutes from the Las Vegas Strip.
As well as being Nevada’s biggest private jet charter operator, Cirrus Aviation takes pride in the quality of their service and connections. They have a partnership with local concierge service VegasGiant, who can arrange hotels, concert tickets, tables at the best restaurants, or anything else you need.
The private terminal has a lot of private waiting rooms and phone booths where you could make a call in privacy or get some work done in peace. There are also some comfortable lounge spots, so if you needed to wait for your flight, spending time in the Las Vegas terminal would be more pleasant than in Seattle’s terminal.
We noticed staff members circulating, answering questions, and generally helping passengers. They quickly brought out our luggage and helped us load it into the Uber we had booked. It was much quicker and easier than going through arrivals at a commercial airport, and we were soon on our way.
Is A Private Jet Flight With Cirrus Aviation Worth It?
Overall, our full experience was positive, from booking the flight and arriving at the private terminal in Seattle to boarding the flight and leaving the airport in Las Vegas. The flight was smooth and enjoyable, and the flexible flight time was certainly a bonus when traveling with a young family.
There’s no escaping the fact that private jet flights are expensive, even if you book an empty leg flight. However, our $5000 flight for four people from Seattle to Las Vegas was much cheaper than booking a standard charter flight, which would have cost us around $15,000.
Cirrus Aviation offers a high-quality, luxurious service that makes flying by private charter simple. They bring a personal touch to luxury travel, and flying with Cirrus Aviation is an excellent alternative to commercial flights for business travel, vacations, or special occasions.
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