As anyone who has stepped foot into an airport this year can tell you, taking a commercial flight has been nothing less than turbulent. Flight delays reached new highs and ticket prices on many routes were up. Planes are more crowded and flight attendants, after years of concessions that have cut their salaries are, well, often a bit surly. But given their working conditions, we can’t say we blame them. All of these airline snafus of course, have the staff at Helium Report thinking about the other travel options out there, namely private jets.

We won’t pretend that flying privately is in the same price realm as say, a JetBlue flight, but in exchange for that premium, travelers get on-time departures, expedited flight check-in, and personalized service (think champagne and a meal that doesn’t include animal crackers as a food group).

Fractional shares of jets start at several hundred thousand dollars from providers like NetJets, Flexjet, CitationShares, and Flight Options, while fractional and charter jet cards offer a lower point of entry of around $100,000 for 20 to 25 hour blocks of flight time. Charter card provider Delta AirElite offers one of the lowest points of entry with a ten hour card for $43,900. But of course, the greatest benefit is avoiding the quagmire that is commercial flying. Not convinced? Here’s a look at the high points, or rather low points, from this year in the skies.

MAXJet goes under, cancels Christmas

We were wooed by all those business class-only airlines that have sprung up in recent years combining spacious cabins, select service and private lounges. They’ve made their mark by serving lucrative international routes to London and Paris on planes made up entirely of business class seats and went head to head with big players by frequently undercutting the highest walk up fares by thousands of dollars.

But just when we were sold on a concept that seemed to bring back some civility to commercial flying, we had the rug pulled out from under us. And on Christmas Eve, to boot. MAXJet, an all business class airline, called it quits and effectively stranded passengers in London, Los Angeles, New York and Las Vegas at the height of the holiday season. While the airline was working to make bookings on other airlines there was an ominous sign that some passengers could be stuck for awhile. The airline had secured a number of hotel rooms in the cities it served until early January.

Grab a seat at the gate, your flight is delayed

Flight delays reached new highs this year with nearly 24 percent of all domestic flights delayed according to statistics compiled by the Department of Transportation. The worst offenders? Flights out of New York area airports. One flight from New York’s JFK to Philadelphia was late 93 percent of the time. Amtrak never looked so appealing. Of course it could always be worse. Some 2.1 percent of flights were canceled outright.

And good luck getting your luggage

Ok, so this wasn’t the worst year ever for lost luggage, but tell that to those folks standing at the luggage carousel, hoping that their bag made that tight ten minute connection. It wasn’t the worst year, but it wasn’t the best either, with 5.36 luggage snafus per 1,000 travelers. The award for the biggest luggage blunder goes to Atlantic Southeast Airlines. The cargo door on this Delta operator sprung open shortly after take-off on a flight from Chicago to Atlanta and two bags were lost.

Who needs Cancun with these tarmac views?

A snow storm in February socked New York’s JFK airport and JetBlue took a direct hit. The airline, beloved by passengers for its in flight video-on-demand, suddenly became the punching bag for fed up travelers. Vacationers bound for Cancun found themselves gazing at a snowy tarmac for nine hours instead of white sandy beaches. JetBlue CEO David Neeleman issued a giant mea culpa in the form of a full page advertisement in the New York Times, but he eventually gave up the chief executive reigns. The delays even spurred calls for the formation of a Passengers’ Bill of Rights which would put a limit on just how long an airline can hold fliers on a tarmac.

Life in the slow lane

The Registered Traveler program seemed to promise everything that a frequent business traveler, or any traveler for that matter, could want: a fast pass through airport security lines without cutting corners on safety. Companies sprung up to build the technology that would aid the cause. The largest, Verified Identity Pass, which operates under the brand Clear serves 13 airports, but the programs, largely due to the Transportation Security Administration have been reigned in. While program members can still effectively jump to the head of the line they still have to partially disrobe (ok, remove their shoes) because the TSA has not approved the shoe scanner that would allow travelers to electronically prove that they are not wearing explosive-ladened loafers. The TSA has simply said the technology “does not work”. Registered Traveler companies disagree. Another sticking point? Biometric cards loaded with a traveler’s finger prints and eye scans. Travelers still need to show a separate ID to screeners effectively being carded not once, but twice.