Too poor to own an aircraft? Don't worry, a new app will let you hire a private jet

JetMe is a new app for iOS (Android coming soon) that wants to be like Uber or Airbnb, except instead of letting you book a ride or a place to stay, it lets you book a private jet.

I know what you’re thinking -- why book a private jet when you can just use your own aircraft -- but believe it or not, there are some people who don’t have their own planes (because they prefer to travel by yacht, for example). For those people, JetMe might be the perfect solution.

In all seriousness, there are benefits to booking a private jet, including avoiding other people, and the hassle of getting to the gate, and the cost of private jet flights are often on par with business class airline tickets.

The free app lets travelers search for, book, and pay for private jet flights (the full price is shown in the app) and there are no membership fees, costs for facilities, managers, brokerage and handling companies, and non-automated order processing costs to worry about.

Private jets often immediately return to their point of origin in order to avoid expensive airport parking fees, and JetMe aims to take advantage of these low load or "empty leg" flights, something it describes as a "win-win for travelers and jet owners".

At the moment, JetMe only allows you to book flights from the San Francisco Bay Area to Greater Los Angeles Area, but more cities will be added shortly.

"You don’t have to be a rock star to fly like one," says Yuriy Romanyukha, CEO, JetMe. "When the idea for JetMe struck, the other founders and I sealed ourselves in our apartment and worked tirelessly, the whole time envisioning how we could deliver affordable luxury air travel experiences better than any service out there so far. Twelve hours later, the sun was coming up, and we had our prototype. Now we’re open for business, with plans to expand across the United States and beyond, including back to our native Ukraine, JetMe’s birthplace".

If you can’t afford to hire a private jet by yourself, there are options for sharing the flight with other passengers and saving up to 50 percent of the cost.

iPhone owners can grab the app now. Android and web versions will be available shortly.