In a move similar to Blockbuster Video’s “No More Late Fees” initiative, private jet provider NetJets will announce today that ferry fees will be eliminated for its fractional ownership customers.

As Joe Sharkey observes in the New York Times, this is something of a shot-heard-round-the-world in the private jet world. Ferry fees apply whenever the company bills the flyer for the cost of delivering the plane to the origin of the flight, and/or returning it later from the trip’s destination to the plane’s home base. Traditionally, ferry fees include a variety of cost components (plane, crew, fuel, insurance, landing fees) and are calculated based on a percentage of the owner’s occupied hourly fee -- the variable cost of actually being on the aircraft in flight.

Like late-DVD fees, ferry fees are widely loathed by customers, who see the additional charges as contradictory to the all-inclusive notion of fractional ownership. Further, there is some skepticism about the true cost and actual need for the company to reposition the plane.

Nearly all fractional programs waive ferry fees for domestic flights. Again, this is a central appeal of fractional ownership: you pay per-trip charges (the occupied hourly fee) only for the time you’re on-board.

Yet overseas trips bring cost and complexity that require ferry fees to keep the business model intact. Over time, various fractional companies have offered certain ferry fee waivers outside the continental U.S.

FlightOptions and Flexjet offer travel to the Bahamas and parts of Canada and Mexico without ferry fees. Flexjet owners may buy into a special program to allow ferry-free travel to a secondary service area including all of Mexico and the Caribbean. And for those who purchase a share of parent company Bombardier’s Challenger aircraft, fees for Hawaii and Europe are waived.

FlightOptions offers a similar primary service area, and charges only fuel fees for positioning flights (instead of the typical broader cost including crew, aircraft and other expenses). CitationShares remains focused on the lower 48, but includes all of Mexico and the Caribbean in its primary service area.

Other promotional programs have offered waivers if owners are helpful with extra advance notice, or can be flexible in their arrival and departure windows. While these can provide substantial savings, they run contrary to the brochure pitch: “it’s just like owning your own plane.” For this reason, Marquis Jet and NetJets have tended to avoid these types of programs.

Internationally, NetJets has had a more complicated picture, thanks to its massive fleet and unprecedented reach. The market leader offers service in North America, Europe and the Middle East. Though the European expansion has held back earnings for years, it has grown rapidly in the last eighteen months. This impressive growth in fleet and infrastructure affords unparalleled efficiency for international flights. More to the point, it finally allows the company to end the unloved ferry fees. Sort of.

Like Blockbuster’s “No More Late Fees” initiative, NetJets has affixed a few asterisks to its dramatic claim.

For light jets, NetJets waives ferry fees to Mexico and the Caribbean. Mid-size jet owners receive ferry-free access to Central America. Still larger aircraft (“super-mids” like the Hawker 4000 and Citation X) can journey to Hawaii without the offending fees. The same is true for all heavy jet owners traveling to Europe, Central Europe, the Mediterranean and Russia.

Though many parts of the program are in line with competitive offerings, the heavy jet benefits are compelling for those in the market for large international jet travel.

A final comment on the comparison to Blockbuster Video’s late fee elimination: for the video company, the gesture was a defensive move against NetFlix. For NetJets however, the waiver of fees on intercontinental heavy jet flight is all offense -- a chance to flex its overseas strength in a way no other can match.

Does that make NetJets the obvious choice for you? Not necessarily, and perhaps not at all. Your individual travel profile will dictate which alternative is best (fractional, jet card, charter), and which company offers the best fit.

As with all programs, it’s important to scrutinize the small print and the actual numbers of any proposal. Though fractional programs may not explicitly charge for certain costs, your bottom line will naturally reflect the underlying cost of the service.

To best understand the choices, download the free Helium Report Decision Guide to Private Jet Travel. The guide defines the various alternatives and will help you identify the best one for your travel profile. It includes a discussion of fees and hidden costs, and ends with a list of key due diligence questions to pose as you consider a private jet provider.

Note to Readers: Halogen Guides is the new name of Helium Report.