Jet Cards

Are Jet Card Deposits Safe If a Provider Fails in 2026?

The answer depends on how the account is structured, and that is a contract question

A jet cardA prepaid block of flight hours on a set aircraft category, bought at a fixed or capped hourly rate. No aircraft ownership is involved. deposit is usually not protected by default. The balance is prepaid for flying the provider has not yet delivered, so unless the contract places the money with an independent party, you would most likely be an unsecured creditor if the provider failed.

The answer turns on how the account is structured. The OneFlight suspension in September 2026 shows what that looks like in practice, and the questions in the wiring section below are the ones to put to a provider in writing before you send money.

Short Answer: Where Your Balance Sits

Your balance sits wherever the provider holds it until a flight is flown. The contract names that place, and the place decides what happens to the money if the provider fails. Two questions do most of the work: which account holds the money, and who can move it out of that account.

A separate account is not the same as a protected one. Private Jet Card Comparisons (PJCC), in a 2 March 2025 article by Doug Gollan, reports that in the setups its author knows, the provider “can move funds in and out and between accounts as they see fit,” with no customer signature. An escrow account works differently, because releasing its funds requires a signature.

Our answer for a buyer: treat the balance as unprotected until the contract states, in writing, where the money is held, who can move it, and who can reach it if the provider fails. Jet & Beyond is independent buyer research: we do not sell jet cards or broker flights.

What Happened at OneFlight

OneFlight International, a Colorado charter broker, confirmed a suspension of flights in September 2026. The sequence below uses the sources reviewed for this page.

• 16 September 2026: OneFlight International confirmed it was suspending flights. Its website notice said the pause would last “for the next 30 days, or until further notice” (AeroTime).
• 30 days from 16 September 2026 is 16 October 2026. The notice also says “until further notice,” so it sets no firm end date.
• PJCC estimated that more than $150 million in prepaid customer funds was potentially at risk, based on OneFlight’s sales volume. AeroTime notes that this figure describes prepaid flying that could be at risk, and it is not a count of confirmed customer losses. Other reporting on this site cites about $300 million in customer balances. The estimates differ, and none is confirmed.
• OneFlight’s CEO, Ferren Rajput, told PJCC that OneFlight does not keep customer deposits in escrow, as reported by AeroTime.

Three points are not published in the sources reviewed: whether OneFlight has filed for bankruptcy, any recovery rate for OneFlight cardholders, and the outcome of any lawsuit. These are open questions. None has a settled outcome in the sources reviewed.

The escrow statement bears directly on structure: by the CEO’s account, OneFlight does not hold deposits in escrow, which is the structure described in the next section.

Three Ways a Balance Can Be Held

Three structures for holding a prepaid balance come up in the sources reviewed. The table sets out who can move the money in each, what a buyer can verify, and what each structure does not do.

On these facts, an operating account lets the provider use the money for overhead. The provider can use the money for overhead, and commingled customers rank as general unsecured creditors. A separate account is good practice, according to PJCC, but it does not reliably protect prepaid funds.

The escrow structure in our review adds an independent holder, a release condition, and balance statements. Each of those is a term a buyer can ask for in writing. Those features describe how the money is held. They do not show what a buyer would recover after a failure.

What the Law Gives You

The United States Bankruptcy Code gives priority to some deposits. Under 11 U.S.C. 507(a)(7), priority goes to allowed unsecured claims of individuals, up to a per-person cap, for deposits made before the case began in connection with services for personal, family or household use that were not provided. The cap rose from $3,350 to $3,800 effective 1 April 2025, according to the Judicial Conference notice of 30 January 2025, as noted on the Cornell Legal Information Institute (LII) page.

Two limits matter for a buyer. A company that buys a card for business use is not an individual buying for personal, family or household use. Claims above the cap are general unsecured claims. Whether a given buyer qualifies is a legal question for a lawyer, and this page is research, not legal advice.

Take a hypothetical $150,000 deposit made by an individual for personal use. If the claim is allowed, the first $3,800 could carry priority. The other $146,200 ($150,000 minus $3,800) would be a general unsecured claim.

The rules on deposits for public charters are in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). 14 CFR 380.34 sets security and depository rules for public charters under Part 380. It says an FDIC-insured designated bank, meaning one insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), holds participant payments. The bank pays the air carrier no earlier than 60 days before departure, and it releases funds to the operator only 2 banking days after the charter is completed.

We did not find in the sources reviewed that this rule is written for jet card deposits, so do not assume it protects a jet card holder. A jet card is a different product, and buyers should not assume the same protection applies.

Questions to Ask Before You Wire

Get each answer in the contract or in writing from the provider before you send money. These seven questions follow from the structures and the law above.

1. Which account holds my deposit: a general operating account, a separate account, or a third-party escrow account?
2. Can the provider move my money between accounts, and does releasing it require my signature?
3. Is the balance held by an independent depository, and is it paid out only after a completed flight?
4. Will I receive independent balance statements, and how often?
5. Can the provider use my deposit for overhead?
6. If the provider fails, can its creditors reach my funds?
7. If I leave with unused money, is there a restocking fee, and how large is it?

Financial stability is a separate question. In a subscriber survey that PJCC reports, 44.8% said financial stability is important but hard to verify, because most companies are privately held. The sources reviewed do not publish a method for checking it, so the structure questions above are the controls a buyer can ask about directly.

Question 6 ties the contract to the bankruptcy rules in the previous section. A question the provider cannot answer in writing stays open, so count it as a gap in the contract. You can also look at our compare jet cards guide.

Limiting Your Exposure

Deposit size is one term a buyer can set. One program covered on this site sells tiers of $150,000, $300,000 and $500,000, and it refunds unused funds less a 15% restocking fee. Typical flight deposits at other programs come in $50,000, $100,000 or $250,000 increments, according to another review on this site.

If the 15% fee applies to the full unused amount, the arithmetic runs as follows. On a $500,000 tier, the fee is $75,000 (15% of $500,000), and $425,000 would be refunded. On a $150,000 tier, the fee is $22,500, and $127,500 would be refunded. Ask any provider for its refund terms in writing.

Staged funding means you fund the smallest block first and add to it only after the contract’s answers are in writing. The OneFlight notice ran for 30 days or until further notice, so the pause has no firm end date. A smaller first block limits how much is exposed at one time.

Compare the prepaid balance with a pay-per-trip quote for the same flight before you commit. You can also read our jet card versus charter versus fractional breakdown and our guide on how to charter a private jet.

This page is less useful if you are weighing a card for business use. The individual priority rule in the law section may not reach your claim, so the contract questions carry most of the weight for that purchase.

A contract that places the balance with an independent depository, requires a signature to release funds, and sends you independent balance statements would change the answer for that contract. So would a written statement that the deposit is held in escrow, which OneFlight’s CEO has said is not its practice.

Before you wire money into a jet card, ask the provider for written answers to the seven questions above.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are jet card deposits insured by the FDIC?

The sources reviewed do not show that jet card deposits are FDIC-insured. The FDIC-insured bank named in 14 CFR 380.34 holds payments for public charters under Part 380, and we did not find that the rule is written for jet card deposits. Ask the provider in writing where the money is held.

Can I get my jet card deposit back if the provider fails?

The sources reviewed do not say how much a buyer would recover after a failure, and no recovery rate for OneFlight cardholders is published. Under 11 U.S.C. 507(a)(7), an individual's qualifying deposit can carry priority up to $3,800, and the rest of a larger claim is a general unsecured claim. Whether you qualify is a legal question for a lawyer.

Is my jet card money safe with OneFlight?

The sources reviewed do not show that it is safe. OneFlight confirmed a flight suspension on 16 September 2026, and its CEO told PJCC that deposits are not kept in escrow. Estimates of funds at risk run from more than $150 million to about $300 million, and none is confirmed.

Does a separate account protect prepaid jet card funds?

Not reliably, according to PJCC. It reports that separate accounts are good practice but do not reliably protect prepaid funds, and that in the setups its author knows, the provider can move money between accounts with no customer signature.

What is the difference between an operating account and escrow?

An operating account can be used for the provider's overhead, and customers with commingled funds rank as general unsecured creditors in a formal proceeding. The escrow structure described in our OneFlight review uses an independent depository, releases funds only on a completed flight, and sends the member independent balance statements. Escrow describes how the money is held, and on its own it does not set what a buyer recovers after a failure.

Is there a fee to get unused jet card money back?

It depends on the program. One program covered on this site refunds unused funds less a 15% restocking fee, so on a $300,000 unused tier the fee would be $45,000 and $255,000 would come back. Ask any provider for its refund terms in writing.

We update this guide as aircraft, program, and route pricing changes. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we'll check it.