Getting there is more than half the fun when you travel in the comfort of a private airplane or jet! Lap-of-luxury flying is every bit as elegantly cozy and conveniently appointed as the homes, offices and hotels our wildly successful executives, their families and friends enjoy.

Whether commuting around California, tripping off to old Mexico, or dropping in for a day in New York, you can play and work on board thanks to your satellite phone and fax, wall-mounted plasma screens and stereo/video systems programmed with your favorite music, movies and games. All the time, you’ll be munching on gourmet snacks and entrées along with your favorite beverage.

Such easy, comfortable travel makes far-ranging investments attractive, especially with ownership tax advantages. Bob Jepson, chairman and CEO of Jepson Associates, often combines business with wine country pleasures at his Jepson Vineyards in Ukiah. Privately, he flies to northern California in less than five hours from the southeastern United States. He fi gures ownership boils down to the cost of pilots, maintenance and fuel.

A local inn owner echoes Bob’s observations, “Our Stockton headquarters staff is small. Using our plane, we concentrate our efforts wherever we’re needed, even stocking properties from our local warehouse by taking out our plane’s seats. That feature let us help Santa Cruz recover after the earthquake. We’re in the air 10 minutes after we close the cabin door. Landing, we taxi to parking and leave.”

Stockton’s private aircraft owners often do good deeds with their aircraft, such as bringing Janet Leigh to receive her honorary doctoral degree at UOP, speakers to the Business Leadership Summit, and rescuing a war casualty.

If you want a virtual look at private air travel, check out “One Day, Two Trips” at www.GetHomeOnTime.com. On the same day a commercial airline traveler watches the sun rise while retying his shoes at security, the business jet traveler sleeps in, breakfasts with family, and arrives in time to open the New York office door for the commercial traveler. At day’s end the private aircraft traveler, already at home, throws a baseball to his son while the commercial traveler waits for another flight. Guess who’s smiling.

So, you’d like to own a plane? Cessna Aircraft Company has the world’s largest fleet of private jets (5,100). Its Citation X can be yours for $21 million. Too much? Eclipse Aviation has a smaller plane for $2,150,000. Furnishings and equipment can bring it to $2,436,825. Whether your favorite color is Wildcat Yellow, Sable or something in between, choosing makes you feel like a kid with a new box of crayons. Lush carpets, wood paneling, swivel seats in butter-like leathers, and granite counter options let you customize your plane with 5-star hotel amenities. You’ll feel like the star.

Many private planes cruise at 41,000-51,000 feet, higher than weather and other air traffic. You’ll feel glamorously superior as you travel close to the speed of sound, depending on the model you pick.

Not ready to purchase? A popular alternative is buying time on planes through companies like Net Jets, DayJet Corporation, and Linear Air. Net Jets has 750 planes of 15 types, and books 390,000 flights annually. Give four hours notice, and you’ll be singing Peter, Paul and Mary’s “Leaving on a Jet Plane.” You might run into Tiger Woods or Warren Buffett.

So, are people successful first and, therefore, able to enjoy the luxury of private flight; or because of private flight, do they achieve more remarkably? Perhaps Anne Morrow Lindbergh knew: “Travelers are always discoverers, especially those who travel by air.”

Intrigued? Call Atlantic Aviation (209) 982-1622; or search “private airplanes” on the Internet for manufacturers, partnerships, and charters.