On-demand charter
How a charter actually gets arranged
Ad-hoc charter means the aircraft is sourced for your specific trip rather than drawn from a fleet or a card balance. Here is exactly what happens between your request and the aircraft door closing.
The process
Six steps, and who is responsible at each one
- 1. You send the leg
- Where from, where to, when, how many people and — the one everybody forgets — what baggage. Ski bags, golf clubs and film equipment change the aircraft more often than passenger count does.
- 2. We source against it
- We approach operators with suitable aircraft near your departure point. Aircraft already positioned near you are cheaper to fly than aircraft that have to be brought in, which is why the same request can come back at very different prices.
- 3. You get options
- Normally two or three, each naming the operator, the aircraft type, the year, the cabin layout and the all-in price broken into its parts. Not a single take-it-or-leave-it figure.
- 4. We check the operator
- Air carrier certificate and insurance confirmed for the specific operator flying you, before you are asked to pay. On request we send you the certificate itself rather than an assurance that we looked.
- 5. You confirm and we contract
- The charter agreement is between you and the operator; we arrange it. You get the operator's cancellation schedule and its terms before payment, not after.
- 6. Details before departure
- Tail number, crew, FBO, catering, ground transport and any customs notification confirmed ahead of the day, with a point of contact who is a person rather than a queue.
The quote
What the price covers
Charter quotes vary wildly in what they fold in. Ours is built the same way every time, and the exclusions are stated rather than discovered.
In the quoted price
- Aircraft, flight crew and fuel for your legs
- Positioning of the aircraft to and from your departure point
- Landing, handling and ramp fees at both ends
- Standard catering appropriate to the galley on board
- Applicable air transportation taxes and segment fees
- Our service fee, shown as its own line
Not in it, and why
- Ground transport, unless you ask us to arrange it and it is quoted
- De-icing, which is charged at cost on the day and cannot be quoted in advance
- Extended crew overnights caused by a schedule change you make
- Additional catering or specific wines requested after the quote is issued
- Customs overtime charges at fields that levy them outside published hours
Charter, jet cards and fractional shares
Three different products get sold under the same heading, and the differences are financial rather than aeronautical.
- On-demand charter is what we arrange. You pay for one trip, priced when you book it. Nothing is paid in advance, and there is no balance to lose.
- Jet cards take a large deposit up front against future flying at a fixed hourly rate. The rate buys certainty; the deposit is money you have handed to a company whose balance sheet you have not seen. Card providers have failed, and their customers have become unsecured creditors.
- Fractional ownership is buying a share of a specific aircraft, with monthly management fees and a multi-year commitment. It is an asset purchase with a travel product attached.
We do not sell cards or shares, and we do not hold client funds against future flying. If you fly enough hours that a card genuinely makes sense, we will tell you that too — but we would rather you compared it against a real charter quote than against a brochure rate.
What to ask any charter broker
These are the questions that separate a broker from a lead generator. Ask us, and ask whoever else you are speaking to.
- Who is the operator, and can I see their air carrier certificate? A broker who will not name the operator before payment is not in a position to answer for the flight.
- Is the quoted price all-in, and what specifically is excluded?
- Does your fee change depending on which operator I pick? If it does, the recommendation is not neutral.
- What is the cancellation schedule, and when does it step?
- What happens if the aircraft goes technical on the morning of the flight, and who pays for the alternative?
Our answers are on the private jet FAQ, and our fees are published on the fees and charges page.
