If you’re looking for the party, just turn your gaze up towards the sky. Sure many of those private jets criss-crossing the country are filled with business travelers looking to forgo the indignity of a cramped middle seat on a JetBlue flight, where blue potato chips constitute a meal, but those Gulfstreams and Cessnas are also filled with luxury leisure travelers.

And trust us, they’re bringing new meaning to the saying, half the fun of a trip is getting there.

There are endless stories of excess in the air. Take the New York hedge fund manager, as reported in a recent article in Forbes, who took a Gulfstream IV to Las Vegas and shelled out $5,000 for catering from New York Japanese fusion hotspot Nobu for the roundtrip flight. JetOne, a luxury charter broker, offers to provide a massage therapist on flights. And charter broker Blue Star Jets, according to the New York Post, even extended what many parents would consider the greatest in-flight luxury of all: onboard nanny services for its trips to the Superbowl.

Traveling via private jet simply to avoid the nightmares of commercial airlines travel and airport navigation is an obvious benefit, but there are many more perks in these private cabins that extend beyond additional legroom.

Fresh water for your dog? Check. An onboard DVD library stocked with your favorite movies? Sure thing. In-air yoga? That can be arranged too. Talon Air, a charter service with a fleet that includes Gulfstream, Hawker and Beechjet aircraft, can even set up in-flight spa services like facials and pedicures.

Beyond over the top services, the simple comfort of flying privately can well surpass a commercial flight. Most planes have leather seats, satellite radio and on-demand movies. The new Bombardier Challenger 300 will have a wireless cabin management system that will integrate iPods.

Of course, the most requested private flying perk comes in where commercial carriers have left the biggest void in recent years: food. Julie Stone, a spokeswoman for Delta AirElite says that all of the company’s flight attendants are required to be able to prepare fresh food, and often create five-course meals served on fine china. Gourmet dining at 30,000 feet has become so common that trained chefs are now getting flight attendant training. After all, private plane cabins aren’t large enough for an extra crew member who can’t do double duty as a flight attendant.

But beyond the champagne, caviar and in-flight neck massages, private jet companies are navigating this increasingly competitive field by fulfilling just about any customer request. Many charter companies are turning flights into destinations of their own. For a recent trip to South Africa, Jets.com provided a safari themed plane, complete with animal print sheets on the bed and a basket with safari hats, South African wines, books on the history of South Africa and short language tutorials on Afrikaans and Zulu.

The high-level service often extends to the tarmac. Sentient Jet, for instance orchestrated a surprise birthday getaway for a woman that involved an elaborate limo pick up. The driver pretended to get lost and her husband then picked a staged argument with him. In the heat of the verbal tussle, the limo driver pulled into the airport, ostensibly to get directions. Instead, the couple found themselves on the tarmac with a plane waiting for them, complete with packed suitcases that Sentient had delivered earlier in the day onboard.

Jean Kelly, the senior vice president of product delivery at fractional jet provider CitationShares, has done everything from arrange for Disney characters to meet an Orlando-bound plane, to sending an Elvis impersonator to greet a couple arriving in Las Vegas to renew their wedding vows. Of course Elvis picked the couple up in a decidedly less grand (but appropriately Vegas) mode of transport than the one from which they had just disembarked. Says Kelly, “He met them in a tacky limo.”