Bandon Dunes via Private Jet

Travelling by private jet can cut your journey time to and from Bandon Dunes by as much as 25 hours.

You might think that using a private jet was never in your budget, but the following may be the very best example of why normal people with normal jobs and normal incomes should really think about doing this.

Most golfers dream of visiting the mecca of Bandon Dunes. The appeal of its rugged location and natural golf experience is irresistible.  Most people plan for a short visit, usually 2 or 3 days at most, packing in as much golf as possible and sharing rooms with their buddies.

Whether you choose to drive or fly, getting to Bandon Dunes is an unpleasant experience for anyone, but particularly for those north of the border.  Leaving Vancouver, you can expect to drive somewhere between 10 and 14 hours to cover the 900kms, and that doesn’t include customs time.  So if you are thinking about going for a short break, and want to take your car, expect to spend nearly 30 hours driving back and forth.  Whilst this might make sense if you are planning on playing some golf on the down and back, it sure sounds like purgatory to me.

If you choose to fly, recent changes to flight schedules, as well as the post 9/11 airport experience mean you can expect to spend a good 8 hours each way. Although most fly via Portland or Eugene your fastest flying route is actually down to San Francisco and back to North Bend.  And since this includes a connection, you also risk losing your clubs, a disaster on a short visit.  The San Francisco routing will take about 7.5 hours, not including airport waiting time on the way out.

So if you were planning a long weekend of Bandon golf,  there goes your Friday afternoon golf and probably much of your Sunday as well.  But if you take a private jet from Vancouver, you can expect to leave your house and be at the golf course within about 2 hours.  There is no waiting or checking in at the private terminal at either end, and you only stop for customs clearance on the way down.  In fact, the return journey is even shorter as no customs stop is needed.

This allows you some new flexibility in how much golf you play or how many nights you stay.  And if losing a day of work simply isn’t in your vocabulary, you could fly early Saturday morning and fly back Sunday night and still play 36 holes – with only one night of accommodation.  So in this example you have saved at least one night and 8 hours of earning time.  Also, you have probably had dinner with your spouse or partner on Friday night and earned a myriad of additional honours.

You can expect to pay about $1550 per person all in for a flight lasting less than 2 hours and a holdover of less than 2 nights.  This is barely the cost of two economy airline seats.  And there are no baggage charges for your golf clubs.

The other great joy of private jets? Other than the luxurious leather, unlimited snacks and beverages, and the extraordinary feeling of how air travel really should be, is the sight of your own car on the tarmac as you touch down on Sunday night, knowing you will be inside of it no more than a few minutes after you land.

Jenahura can arrange all of the flight and ground arrangements from virtually any originating city within 1000kms of Bandon Dunes.

Here is an example of a 3 day, 2 night package to Bandon:

3 rounds of golf $660
2 nights sharing (Lily Pond rooms) $365
Share of Ground transport to/from local airport $95
Optional Saturday pm replay rate is $110

Flights.
12 Seat Challenger (our favourite plane) is $1695/person
8 Seat Lear $1575 per person

Total Cost per person is
CAD $2815 (Challenger)
CAD $2695 (Lear)

Isn’t economics fun?  I invite you to comment below on how this conversation goes down with your non-golfing partner.