Flight Options' 7-seat Hawker 400XP starts at $107,500, Flexjet's 8-passenger Learjet 45 XR is about $410,000 and the 12-passenger Challenger 605, which comes with a flight attendant, is $1.06 million. Other costs for partial ownership include monthly aircraft management fees, hourly flight rates and fuel.

That means the cost for the Learjet 45 XR in addition to the $410,000 would include a $9,120 monthly management fee and about $3,700 for in-flight and fuel costs for each hour flown.

'Painless' Travel

For travelers looking for less commitment than partial ownership and jet access for one year, a jet card is a better choice, according to Mike Silvestro, CEO of Cleveland-based Flight Options, which has more than 1,300 customers. Flight Options, NetJets and Flexjet all offer jet cards. The purchase price for 25 flight hours ranges from $100,000 to about $300,000 depending on the type of jet, and jet-card users also have to pay hourly flight rates for fuel.

Customers who fly private generally only have to show identification at a check-in counter before boarding a plane. For international flights, they're required to go through customs. Planes that weigh more than 12,500 pounds must have names of passengers and crew members vetted, Jonathan Allen, a spokesman for the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, said in an e-mail. The Learjet 45 XR weighs about 14,000 pounds.

"The limo service drops you off and within 20 seconds, you're on the plane, and 45 seconds later you're heading down the taxiway, ready to take off" said Swan, the EZ Grills executive. The level of service and ease of travel with Flexjet's jet card "makes the whole experience of getting from point A to point B painless."

Superbowl Parties

Private aviation companies are offering perks to travelers to maintain existing customers and attract new ones. Flexjet, based in Dallas, provides a program that allows fractional owners to carry over unused hours. Flight Options offers a membership program that gives card users access to the new Phenom 300 jet, which can fly faster, farther and on less fuel than most planes in its class, and NetJets hosts parties at the Superbowl and Masters Golf Tournament.

NetJets was the first to launch a fractional ownership program in 1987, and now has about 285,000 flights a year to more than 170 countries, Hansell said. The majority of customers fly for business reasons, and there is a "sizable minority" who use the service for personal reasons, said Hansell, who declined to provide specific numbers.

Fractional owners at Flexjet include current and former CEOs, who fly private for corporate and leisure travel, said Fred Reid, Flexjet's president. For many, "business and pleasure kind of blend," he said.