How Flying Private Turned a Six-Hour Drive into a 45-Minute Adventure

How Flying Private Turned a Six-Hour Drive into a 45-Minute Adventure | FlyRoving

Curiosity Sparked -“How a Last-Minute Private Jet Ride Saved Me Six Hours on the Road”

Okay, if you took a look at my About Us page and watched the one-minute video, you will notice one thing: I am 23 years old. At the time, I wasn’t able to invest in the housing market when I was 12 years old, and I didn’t jump into the crypto industry, as I was too fascinated by airplanes and flight school. When I was working as a jet broker about two years ago, my job was quite simple: Cold call daily and see if I could pick up leads regarding selling or acquiring aircraft. As I started to get accustomed to the nature of private aviation, I noticed one very important thing that aircraft owners always benefit from: time-saving travel.

The Opportunity I Didn’t Expect - “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”

One day, my best friend of eight years asked me if I could shoot engagement photos in Dallas, about a month before the engagement. As a Houstonian, that meant I would need to drive nearly four hours and thirty minutes, which didn’t sound bad, but because the winter freeze was upon us, that drive was going to take closer to six hours.

The day before I was supposed to depart, I was busy at work, cold-calling until I came across an owner in Houston who personally flew three of his corporate jets, a Citation II private jet, Citation Bravo, and a Citation Encore, and wanted to acquire an Embraer Phenom 300. As the discovery questions started being asked, I asked him what the common routes were that he flies, to which he said, “Houston to Dallas, Dallas to Kilgore, and Kilgore to Houston, every single week.” As an opportunist, the words “Houston to Dallas” rang inside my head, which prompted my next question, “When is your next trip to Dallas from Houston?” He said, “Tomorrow, departing at 3PM from KDWH private jet terminal (David Wayne Hooks Airport).”

“May I join you?”, and he said, “Sure thing!”

You have no idea how stoked I was when I heard that... my first-ever private jet experience, and the best part is that it wasn't just for fun, but to save myself the time and frustration of driving six hours.

The Trip Begins

As I rushed over to the terminal, Joe, let's say that was his name, greeted me at the front door as if I had known the man for a couple of years. Greeting the staff over at Gill Aviation, a Fixed Base Operator at KDWH, we walked over to the airplane. I was excited to climb aboard.

Within five minutes of boarding the aircraft, we were cleared for takeoff and airborne. Five minutes. If I had done this trip on a commercial airliner, I would’ve had to drive 45 minutes to KIAH, 45 minutes waiting in the terminal, another 15 minutes taxiing, and then finally, we would have taken off.

As we were climbing to FL280, or in layman's terms, 28,000 feet, I noticed that staying above the clouds surprisingly made it warmer, because the sun’s rays reflected off the clouds, warming the air around us.

Unfortunately, even though I wanted to jet set in the Citation II, we eventually had to land. The Citation stopped over in the KRBD private jet arrival (Dallas Executive), and the linemen were kind enough to assist us and our bags. While Joe had his car waiting at the FBO, my own rental service was waiting for me, my best friend.

For me, that first trip was the moment I realized that in luxury air travel, the greatest benefit isn’t just comfort — it’s time-saving travel and convenience.

Why Time Matters in Private Aviation

To sum it up, that six-hour drive turned into a 45-minute private jet charter flight, and saved me close to five hours of my life, showing me the true value of time-saving travel. If I had decided to fly commercial, the amount of time it would’ve taken me to arrive, go through TSA, wait on the taxi-way, fly over to the destination, get off the aircraft, and walk to my ride would’ve taken me at least 3 and a half hours.

Flying Private with FlyRoving

To all the readers who are business owners, have generational wealth, or maybe some disposable income on the side, I would highly recommend one private jet charter trip, either by yourself or with your family. I can promise you that your trip will certainly be worth every penny.

If you’re curious to charter a private jet for your own private jet experience, reach out to FlyRoving private jet booking — from aircraft selection to landing, we make seamless private travel simple.