US Jet A hits a six-month high as jet-card rates ease

US Jet A retail prices climbed again in September, while published jet-card hourly rates moved the other way for a second straight quarter. For charter desks, that split matters: fuel is still putting pressure on trip cost, even as some prepaid products look cheaper on the rate card.

According to figures reported via NBAA’s 7 October daily digest (AIN citing iFlightPlanner), US Jet A averaged $8.39 a gallon in September — up 4.9% from August and the highest monthly average in six months. Digests tied the move in part to ongoing Middle East conflict effects on pricing into the US market.

For brokers and operators, the practical read is straightforward: fuel remains a live line item on quotes, and September’s step-up is large enough to move trip totals on long legs and on aircraft that burn hard.

Separately, Private Jet Card Comparisons reported that hourly jet-card rates fell for a second consecutive quarter across categories, reaching their lowest level since 2023. That is a buyer-side signal, not a claim that on-demand charter has become cheaper overnight — card programs and ad-hoc charter price on different rails — but it is useful context when a client asks why a card brochure and a same-day trip quote do not move together.

The same NBAA daily also flagged several near-term industry items:

• NBAA-BACE Newsmakers Luncheon (19 Oct): Jared Isaacman and former shuttle commander Charles Precourt are billed for an invite-only fireside on the future of aviation and aerospace.
• Advanced air mobility on the show floor: NBAA says attendees can see electric, hybrid, and hydrogen aircraft concepts tied to on-demand transport.
• FAA weather reporting: the agency is advancing an online public webform so pilots can report AWOS outages and bad data (AVweb).
• Cleveland Burke Lakefront (BKL): after hearings on possible closure, a session was set to surface airport supporters’ views (local TV reporting via the digest).
• Heritage note: Walt Disney’s Grumman Gulfstream I (“The Mouse”), on loan to Palm Springs Air Museum since 2022, is now on public display during museum hours (WDW News Today via the digest).

Fuel and prepaid rates are not one story. September’s Jet A print raises the bar for all-in trip math; the jet-card rate slide may change how some clients budget access products. Keep fuel assumptions dated on every comparison, and treat digest headlines as leads to verify against the operator reply — not as a substitute for it.

This brief is an original rewrite of facts reported in the NBAA Daily email of 7 October 2026 and the outlets it cites (AIN / iFlightPlanner, Private Jet Card Comparisons, NBAA, AVweb, WEWS, WDW News Today). It is not a verbatim reproduction of those publications.

A separate Avi-Go report put the September US Jet A average at US$8.49 a gallon. That print uses a different source and methodology from the NBAA daily’s AIN / iFlightPlanner figure of $8.39 a gallon, described there as a six-month peak and a 4.9% rise from August. The two averages should not be read as one series.