Rich parents spend millions on private jets for visiting day at summer camps

If you think spending $15,000 on your kid’s summer camp sounds crazy, you probably haven’t considered shelling out $30,000 to fly in for parents’ day.

Last weekend, there were approximately 35 day-long round trips made between private airports in the Hamptons and Westchester and corresponding landing strips in Maine that are situated near some of the poshest summer camps in the Northeast, according to FlightRadar24, a flight-tracking website.

The cost of chartering a round trip ranges from $30,000 on the low end to $45,000 on the high end, depending on the type of aircraft. 

That means that a handful of elite New York parents – who in some cases reportedly have been bribing summer camp officials to get their child a coveted bunkbed – collectively spent somewhere between $1 million and $1.5 million just to visit their kids for a day.

That number doesn’t include parents flying in from other tony locations like Boston or Miami – and doesn’t account for the children who went to camp in upstate New York, Pennsylvania or other popular summer destinations. 

Private jet charters have largely been down since the end of coronavirus. However, interest remains high among a certain set as evidenced by camp visiting day.

While campers are encouraged to “explore the unspoiled beauty of Maine” at camps like Tripp Lake Camp and Camp Laurel, their parents are able to quickly jet in and out without having to drive past too much scenery.