I honestly don't think the growth is in the wealthy. I know wealthy people and they really haven't changed their habits much.
The people i know who use this sort of thing - booking flights on private jets - are all in their mid-30s and not even remotely wealthy, they don't own their homes, etc. They are just well paid engineers or engineer couples. I can't get my head around it.
I think the best analogy is the growth in status { vehicles, watches, ... }, which also has not been driven by the wealthy, but rather status differentiation between the relatively-affluent-but-still-w2 and the next tier down.
A private jet is super expensive for an engineer, even a senior level on in the valley?
Maybe if you do it for a once a year fancy vacation - within four or five hours (or less).
If you're doing that you're probably also spending at least $600 a night elsewhere maybe a lot more. That could easily be a 30k+ vacation which is what, like 10% of a higher end non owner tech salary? I guess if you don't have a lot of other monthly expenses that's not super unreasonable.
Well, yes. I am old and have made decent money. Getting together with a bunch of friends to collectively spend $15k a head just for the flight to do a destination trip is insane to me. I asked, "Why not just fly business class or first?" but "this isn't that much more expensive and is way better."
Well, sure, I've flown on private planes because while I am not wealthy, I know lots of dotcom lottery winners. It's a great experience if you're not footing it. No meaningful security, you arrive, park, and walk out to the plane, then when you land, Enterprise (or whoever) has a car 50 feet away ready to go. Super nice but insane if you aren't at the "I don't even need to think about it" point in terms of retirement savings.
It's vaguely the upper-income silicon valley millennial cohort doing this. I know a few. I can't be alone in that, I don't know _that many_ people in that age range.
There are new virtual airlines that operate on top of services like NetJets for their aircraft and on-board personnel, and some of them are a lot less expensive than $15k.
Yes, more expensive than a first class ticket for the same route, but not all that much more expensive — maybe 2x or 3x the cost.
I don't know to what degree it's true but you wonder if there's a bit of an attitude along the lines of "I'll never afford a house in California so I might as well fly private and drive a Porsche instead."
you could replace “the last two years” by “the last fourty years” really. The process is just accerating a bit every year (as expected because of the compound interests).
I mean the enormous tax cuts on the wealthy since the Reagan era, tax savings which end up invested and paying dividends later on. Focusing on the Fed's policy is a mistake (and actually the one reason why the Fed had to inject so much money to get a stimulus comes from the fact that the richest people control much more wealth than they should/used to, and this is caused by the enormous fiscal gifts the wealthy have been given in the past 40 years).
That's only one key variable -- look also at what commercial flying has become (horrible): unruly passengers, mask mandates, flight attendants more authoritative (and understandably defensive) -- not to mention that people basically wear pajamas and sweat pants when they travel anymore.
I'm glad to see the new options becoming available. They might be much more expensive, but they'll be worth it to many (including myself).
I gotta ask, what’s the problem with wearing comfortable clothes on an airplane? The idea of wearing a suit or even business casual on a commercial flight seems laughable to me.
Personally, I feel that there is no need for clothes that are more comfortable than normal on an airplane. I typically wear jeans and collared shirts in my daily life, and I don't need to wear different things just because I am spending a few hours in an airplane chair. And I am 6' 5" so probably less comfortable than most on an airplane (though I am only barely overweight so maybe more comfortable than average in that respect?).
So, what is the problem? It is a minor problem, but here are my thoughts.
In an airport I am surrounded by people who "dress down" for reasons that do not make sense to me. It is undesirable to be surrounded by people who's behavior you don't understand--again, in a minor way. And I would say I would rather be around people who are dressed nicer, so invertign that we get: it is a minor "problem" to be around people that are dressed down.
I guess I just don’t understand why seeing people make different choices than you is undesirable to you. Moreover, I specifically don’t understand how it doesn’t make sense to you that people want to dress as comfortably as they can for what is likely one of the least comfortable common situation to be in.
Not the parent, but I feel the same way so I'll chime in. It's basically just something that stands out and looks "off" so it's (very, very slightly) uncomfortable. I'm not going to do or say anything differently, it's just something my brain processes as weird. I feel the same way seeing people dressed that way anytime they're out in public, not just for air travel.
So you are uncomfortable because of your own admitted lack of understanding. And instead of opening your mind even slightly, you'd prefer everyone play by your limited understanding of the game. Got it...
I pretty much always wear business casual (which I find quite comfortable) on a plane. I don't know. I certainly wouldn't call someone out for wearing sweats or whatever (though I wish people wouldn't wear sandals). But business casual feels appropriate to me for the most part. Who knows? Maybe it gets me better treatment.
"Boating shoes" (e.g. Sperry's) were my goto when I went into an office. Though normally for travel I wear more of a walking shoe (or just trail shoes if I can be more casual). Allbirds are sort of a hipster fave and they are pretty comfortable. (For the plane I usually wear some very lightweight/compact shoe and have my walking shoe in my carry-on.)
But if you're talking a dressier leather shoe, they're generally not as comfortable--at least at the price levels I'm willing to pay. I do have a couple pairs with rubber soles. But I mostly don't need that dressy for travel any longer; business casual has slid a bit towards the casual side.
The mask mandate applies to commercial aircraft. The "public" private jet operators (Wheels Up, NetJets, etc.) have their own rules (generally: if you're on a shared flight you have to wear a mask, if it's just one travel party then they're optional). If it's your own private jet, you can obviously do as you please.
The people i know who use this sort of thing - booking flights on private jets - are all in their mid-30s and not even remotely wealthy, they don't own their homes, etc. They are just well paid engineers or engineer couples. I can't get my head around it.
I think the best analogy is the growth in status { vehicles, watches, ... }, which also has not been driven by the wealthy, but rather status differentiation between the relatively-affluent-but-still-w2 and the next tier down.