Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
Do you remember about a year ago when Delta flaunted, and all the major press picked up on, the amazing chance for Delta top elites as well as some first class booked passengers would have the unbelievable chance to fly Delta Privet Jets (DPJ) jets for only a small upcharge? It sounds beyond unbelievable.
Those like me, who have never ever even set food on a PVT jet, were salivating over the opportunity. Oh sure the price, even a “modest” $300-800 upcharge, was something “most” flyers would never consider vs simply keeping the normal Delta first class seat they were already in.
But here is the thing, I have never ever been offered a shot at this amazing ride. I know of no one, other than the “first” couple who Delta PR splashed, who has had a chance to take one of these rides. Have you ever been offered the chance for this upgrade?
I even started a thread on FlyerTalk to see if any of the hundreds of thousands of members had ever even heard of ANYONE ever having been offered a chance at one of these amazing upgrades. Guess what, it seems this upgrade is as common as catching a secretive “Jack-A-lop“!
But now Delta is again flaunting a coming upgrade to the DPJ fleet, that is, 4G Gogo wifi. Well I can tell you if DPJ Gogo is as painfully slow as the all but worthless normal Delta Gogo it is about time!
I wanted to know if this “amazing” DPJ service for elites was still an active program. So I reached out to Delta and was told:
“We can confirm that Delta Private Jets continues to have the ability to support the private upgrade opportunities to select passengers in specific markets when availability permits. Although we don’t have more details to share at this time, the DPJ team is working to develop additional opportunities to provide customers with exceptional service and a unique travel experience.” – Brian Kruse, a Delta representative
Well it seems the program is still going but in reality the opportunities as well as the availability since the program launch has been REALLY limited. I further asked if Delta could provide examples of ANYONE else who has taken this ride and was simply referred to the quote above again.
Maybe the feeling of FlyerTalk member “OnTheSlopes” can best sum up this program:
“And who’s surprised? Not this guy.
Nope, never had an offer – but never in my life ever expected this was more than a PR stunt and doubt they’d pick me for an offer anyway.”
Again, I would love to try it one day. I would love for any reader to share their experience of trying it. Now I get that a tiny jet, possibly shared with others, is not all “that” amazing but that is not the point. The point is Delta has flaunted this as a possible elite perk and upgrade – I would very much like to try this at least once in my life. You? – René
Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Never heard of anyone getting it.
I have been meaning to write you and ask this very question. Recently I got an email from Jet Smarter, which was advertised I believe on your blog site, that Delta Private Jets had joined Jet Smarter. These people do have a program that works. I get text messages almost daily about offers from my area to fly FREE on private Jets. The annual membership is about 14,000, but you get unlimited free one way flights to lots of destinations. MAYBE Delta should use there “open Seat” software to offer some of these seats to Delta Elites!
I sat next to a D360 member a few weeks ago. He’s never been offered either.
BTW, there is NOTHING better than flying in a private jet! NOTHING!!!
I’ve been a Delta Diamond for past three years (mostly from flying) and Delta has hasn’t ever offered to this or anything special to me. I pay for first/business class about 1/3 of the time, but my hunch is I still don’t spend enough for them to offer my anything more than upgrades.
Hey René,
First, you’re blog is awesome and I read it everyday as I’m a delta air warrior myself (135 flights last year) and utilize it for the information provided and keeping is all in the loop.
I never got the DPJ from delta myself personally but, I am a member of JetSmarter (Tony mentioned above the company) and have been for about 18 months. Super amazing company for PJs. Delta is one of the management companies tied to the network along with other management companies.
DPJ service is one of the top of the management companies I can confirm as I’ve flown with them many times just recently Boston to New York on a citation XLS. Super amazing pilots as usual and expected from the Delta family.
To be honest, I’m going to maybe lose my diamond status because of JetSmarters program
Let’s connect, I’ll get you on a PJ as I’m on that frequently as well as Delta.
Definitely worth the investment with the flying you enjoy doing.
Disclaimer: im not an employee of jetsmarter, just a loyal loving member and would love to speak with anyone about the program
Have a great weekend everyone and safe travels!!
Cheers!
@Kurt – I may just take you up on that offer one day. BTW, I am sure you are aware with the DPJ card you get free Delta Diamond status and can spend the funds on Delta or DPJ fights.
@Rene – whenever we can connect or plan (somewhat LOL), for sure.
I’m aware of the DPJ card and privileges that come with it 🙂
Let’s connect soon, I can bring you up to speed on JS and how that works as well.
k
Never had an offer. Maybe they meant the plane designed to be private jet and you get to fly with 48 other people in the CRJ200. I understand some are coming out of storage.
Wonder what the upgrade chances are for a silver on diamond heavy routes are, and it they still serve “peanutspretzelcookies” … 😉
My wife and I were just picked up in a Porsche…. Does that count?
@Jeff – Only if they strapped jets to the side of it and took off in the air (and landed at another airport). 😉
There amount of potential customers (aka who they would extend the offer to) has to be extremely limited. They’re not going to put just anyone up in a private jet- you have to be in the top 1% of customers. Doesn’t surprise me that loads of people aren’t coming out of the woodwork saying they’ve been offered this service.
Oh, sure? I get it now…how such things could happen. One would be very lucky to be offered a flight on a private jet anyway.