Where Does Your Jet Card Deposit Actually Go?

Your capital should be working for you — not sitting on account with your private jet charter broker.

Following my recent article about prepaid funds in private aviation, I received questions about how we handle client funds at TruNorth Jets.

The answer is simple: we don't ask our clients to give us their capital in advance.

TruNorth Jets is a non-membership-based private jet charter brokerage. There are no membership fees, no jet cards to fund, and no requirement to maintain a six-figure balance with us in anticipation of future travel.

When you have a trip, we source the appropriate aircraft, you select the option that works best for you, and payment is requested when the flight is booked. That's it.

Why Should Your Charter Broker Hold Your Money?

It's a question I've thought about considerably throughout my career.

I have spent decades in aviation, from flight training and aircraft sales to aircraft management, charter sales, and private jet brokerage. I've seen the industry through multiple economic cycles and watched numerous business models come and go.

One thing has remained constant: I have no business tying up my clients' capital simply because they may want to charter an airplane in the future.

If you're going to fly next week, let's arrange it now and collect payment once the aircraft is confirmed. If you're going to fly six months from now, why should I be holding your money today?

A client who flies privately may have hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual charter spend. Depending on the program, that client may be asked to deposit $100,000, $250,000, $500,000, or substantially more in advance.

That's real capital. And once you transfer it to someone else, you've given up control of it.

Your Money Should Remain Your Money

There is a reason I believe strongly in this model: when money remains in your account, you control it.

You know where it is. You know who has access to it. And you aren't dependent on the financial health of a charter company to get an unused balance returned.

Once significant funds are placed on account with another company, there are questions every customer should understand:

• Is the money segregated from the company's operating funds?
• Is it held in escrow?
• Can the company use it as working capital?
• Is the balance refundable?
• What happens if the company experiences financial difficulty?
• What happens if you simply decide you don't want to fly with that provider anymore?

These aren't questions most people think about when everything is going well. They become extremely important when it isn't.

Paying for a Flight Is Different From Funding a Company

There is an important distinction between prepaying for a specific contracted charter flight and depositing money with a company for unspecified future travel.

When a TruNorth Jets client books a flight, payment is due according to the terms of that specific charter. There is an airplane. There is an operator. There is an itinerary. There is a date. There is a contracted service being purchased.

We aren't asking clients to provide capital today so we can potentially arrange transportation for them months from now. I believe that distinction matters — it's the difference between buying a flight and financing a company.

A jet card or membership isn't the only way to fly privately on a regular basis. On-demand charter is the other path, and we've laid out the operational case for it — flexibility, right-sized aircraft per trip, no blackout dates — in detail in why on-demand charter beats jet cards. This piece is about a narrower question: once you've chosen a program, where does your money actually sit, and who controls it?

Experience Without the Membership

TruNorth Jets was built around a straightforward concept: provide clients with experienced, professional private jet charter management without requiring them to buy into a program.

Our value isn't derived from holding a client's money. Our value is our experience.

It's knowing which aircraft makes sense for the mission. It's understanding the charter market and operator network. It's knowing what questions to ask before recommending an aircraft. It's anticipating operational challenges before they become the client's problem. It's having someone personally manage the details from the initial request through the completion of the trip.

And when something inevitably changes — weather, maintenance, crew duty, passenger schedules, or any of the countless variables involved in private aviation — it's having an experienced charter professional advocating for you.

None of that requires us to hold hundreds of thousands of dollars of your money.

The Bottom Line: Your Money, Your Control

Some travelers may decide that a jet card or membership program works for them. There can be legitimate reasons for choosing those products, and customers should evaluate the economics, terms, and financial protections of each program carefully — starting with the questions above.

TruNorth Jets has chosen a different model.

No membership. No jet card. No large prepaid balance.

When you need an aircraft, we find it. When you book the flight, you pay for it. Until then, your capital stays where it belongs: with you.

Sarah Oberman is the Founder & CEO of TruNorth Jets, a non-membership-based private jet charter brokerage providing on-demand private jet charter and global aircraft access. With decades of professional aviation experience, Sarah personally advises clients on aircraft selection, charter sourcing, and complex private aviation travel.