Do Not Do Business With JA Air Charter

On June 29, 2012, we signed a contract with JA Air Charter (Sugar Grove, IL). The contract was for travel on a light jet from Chicago, IL to East Hampton, NY departing August 17, 2012 and returning August 20, 2012. The contract included our credit card which would be authorized as a deposit for the trip. On August 10th, 2012 they sent us a flight itinerary that included names of passengers, departure times, FBO information and pilot’s names. At that time we were told that everything was fine and the trip was as scheduled. On the afternoon of August 15, 2012 (36 hours before departure) they called us saying that they were unable to do our trip “because we now have another trip that we’re going to do instead.” So we were left without an aircraft a day and a half before departure without any other options but to fend for ourselves. We were able at the last minute to find another jet, but we had to pay several thousand dollars more. They neither offered to get us another aircraft nor (even worse) offered us an apology. We have never heard back from them! The only thing that we were happy about is that although we gave them our credit card to secure the jet, they requested an upfront wire. We refused to send it. We probably would have lost all of our money. Do not do business with JA Air Charter and do not send them a wire. Because even if you have a signed contract it means NOTHING!

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2 Responses to “Do Not Do Business With JA Air Charter”

  1. Dan says:

    Maybe if you sent them the wire, they would have done the trip? It’s a bit risky for operators to do a trip based on a credit card. Many have been burned by fraudsters.

  2. jetoptions says:

    Sending the wire had nothing to do with it. They got another trip (which was maybe more profitable) and they decided to do that trip instead of ours even though they had a signed contract with us. Many operators may have been burned by fraudsters but we have an excellent reputation. Plus, we had previously done business with them and we paid as agreed.