This page is written by the people who sell the flights, so it is better to start on the uncomfortable side: there are plenty of cases where flying private solves nothing, and they are worth recognising before you pay.
The four cases where it does
1. When there is no alternative. Tortuguero has no road. Drake Bay has no reliable road: the one that exists gets difficult in the green season. Corn Island is 182.4 nautical miles from Managua over water.
At these destinations the flight competes with nothing: it is the access.
2. When the chain of connections punishes. If getting there means three transfers with timetables that do not line up, private does not save you kilometres: it saves you days lost between links.
That is the case with ferry islands, with lodges on a last-boat schedule, and with circuits the scheduled network does not cover in the order you need.
3. With a group and baggage. The whole aircraft is quoted, so from four people the per-seat sum changes. We show a "from" price per route; the final fare depends on the date, the group and the baggage, and is confirmed in writing before booking. With boards or dive gear, more so.
4. And when the schedule is the product. A dive interval that does not fit the scheduled flight. A meeting that starts at an hour. An intercontinental that does not wait.
It is the least obvious case and one of the most frequent: what you are buying is not speed, it is the right to set the departure time.
The three cases where it does not
1. Alone or as a couple to a well-connected destination. San José to Tamarindo is 97.1 nautical miles and there are scheduled options. Where scheduled service exists to a destination, its frequencies and times are set by the airline, not by us. The sum does not work and we will say so.
2. Very short legs with transfers at both ends. A fifteen-minute flight between airfields with half an hour of driving before and after saves no real time. It spends it elsewhere, and adds one more point where something can slip.
3. And when the problem is not transport. San José to La Fortuna is 36.1 nautical miles, but what decides that trip is the volcano's weather window. No aircraft fixes that.
It is worth identifying these cases before spending: if the bottleneck is a permit, a tide or a cloud, the aeroplane does not move it.
The question that orders the decision
It is not "how much does it cost?". It is "what problem am I trying to solve?".
- Access → private usually wins on its own.
- Time → depends on the whole chain, not the air leg.
- Comfort → legitimate, but worth knowing that is what you are paying for.
- Price → almost never wins, except in a group against a poor alternative.
What we do when the answer is no
Say so before quoting.
It is not generosity: it is arithmetic. A client who flies once, convinced, and finds it did not help does not come back. One we told did not need it does — and usually when they genuinely do. The specific aircraft is assigned on confirmation, based on passenger count, baggage and the destination field.
Frequently asked questions
When does private win without argument?
When there is no alternative: destinations with no road, restrictive runways, or long legs over water.
And if there is an alternative but an awkward one?
Then it depends on the whole chain. Private saves days lost between links, not kilometres.
From how many people does it pay?
From four, because the whole aircraft is quoted. We show a "from" price per route; the final fare depends on the date, the group and the baggage, and is confirmed in writing before booking.
When does it not pay?
Alone or as a couple to a well-connected destination, on very short legs with transfers at both ends, and when the problem is not transport.
What question should I ask myself?
What problem am I solving: access, time, comfort or price. Each has a different answer.
Will you tell me if it does not suit me?
Yes, before quoting. A client who flies without needing to does not come back.
Enquire
The specific aircraft is assigned on confirmation, based on passenger count, baggage and the destination field.