Guides

How to Charter a Private Jet: The Full Process

How to charter a private jet from first quote to wheels-up

To charter a private jet you define the trip, collect all-in quotes, verify who actually operates the aircraft, sign a charter agreement, and pay before departure. The whole process can run in a few hours. The step that decides whether you have a good trip or an expensive problem is verification — and it is the step first-timers skip.

Step 1: Define the trip before you ask for a price

A charter quote is only as accurate as the brief behind it. Give every broker the same six facts, or you will be comparing quotes for different trips.

• Departure and arrival airports, not cities. Most metro areas have three or four options.
• Exact dates and time windows, including how much flexibility you have.
• Passenger count, final. Not “about six.”
• Luggage by type and dimension — cases, skis, golf bags, strollers.
• Pets, species, weight, and crate size.
• Anything time-critical on either end.

Two of those — passenger count and luggage — drive aircraft selection more than route does. A six-passenger light jet with six passengers and six large suitcases is often not a legal load.

Step 2: Collect quotes you can actually compare

Ask every source for an all-in price, not an hourly rate. The hourly rate is the number brokers compete on, and it excludes most of what you will pay.

A complete quote includes the base rate, the 7.5% federal domestic excise tax, per-segment fees, landing and ramp fees, positioning legs, overnight crew costs, catering, and de-icing in winter. Those items commonly add 15–25% to the base calculation. Our private jet charter cost breakdown walks a real sample trip line by line.

Quotes normally arrive within minutes to a few hours. Booking one to two weeks out gives the widest aircraft choice, though same-day charter is routinely possible when an aircraft is already nearby.

Step 3: Verify the operator — the step that matters most

Verifying the operator is the highest-stakes thing a first-time charterer gets wrong, because brokers do not own aircraft. A broker sells you a trip and then buys the flight from a certificated operator. You need to know which operator, before you pay.

Ask three questions and expect immediate answers: which company holds the operating certificate for this flight, what is the tail number, and what is their certificate number. A legitimate broker answers all three without hesitation. Refusal or vagueness is the single clearest warning sign in charter.

Check the FAA Part 135 certificate yourself

Commercial charter in the United States is flown under 14 CFR Part 135, the FAA’s operating rules for on-demand air carriers. Part 135 imposes pilot training and checking requirements, an approved maintenance program, duty and rest limits, and continuous FAA surveillance. Part 91, the private-flight rule, imposes none of that and forbids flying for compensation.

Flights sold commercially but operated under Part 91 are called illegal or “grey” charter. The FAA publishes a searchable list of certificated Part 135 operators and aircraft, updated weekly and searchable by company name or tail number. Check both. An operator can hold a valid certificate while the specific aircraft is not authorized for charter.

Understand what ARGUS and Wyvern ratings do and do not mean

Third-party safety audits sit on top of the FAA certificate, not instead of it. Two programs dominate US charter.

ARGUS International rates operators Gold, Platinum, and Platinum Elite. Gold is a records-based review of operator history, pilot records, aircraft records, and accident/incident history. Platinum adds an on-site audit plus a functioning safety management system and a workable emergency response plan. The gap between the tiers is the difference between reading the paperwork and walking the hangar floor.

WYVERN runs a parallel ladder: Registered, Wingman Certified, and Wingman PRO. Wingman requires an on-site audit by an accredited safety auditor covering training records, maintenance procedures, and crew qualifications. Wingman PRO adds quarterly monitoring and coaching rather than a single annual snapshot.

A third standard, IS-BAO from the International Business Aviation Council, certifies the safety management system itself and is used worldwide.

Here is the part brokers rarely explain. These ratings certify the operator’s systems, not your flight. They do not verify that the specific crew assigned to your trip is current on that tail number, that the aircraft has no open deferred maintenance item, or that today’s schedule keeps the crew inside duty limits. A Platinum operator having a bad day is still having a bad day. Treat the rating as a floor that filters out the worst quartile, then ask the flight-specific questions: crew experience on type, and whether this is the crew’s first or fifth leg of the duty period.

Step 4: Read the charter agreement for three clauses

The charter agreement is short, and three clauses carry nearly all of your financial exposure.

Cancellation by you. Charter cancellation is a sliding scale, typically full price inside 24–48 hours, a partial percentage within a week, and a smaller fee beyond that. Confirm where the cliffs sit.

Cancellation by the operator. Look for whether the operator is merely permitted to refund you, or is obliged to source a replacement aircraft at the original price. Those are very different promises.

Aircraft substitution. Most agreements allow the operator to substitute a similar aircraft. Ask what “similar” means in writing — category, or a specific list.

What a weather cancellation actually costs you

A weather cancellation does not cost you the charter price. It costs you the price difference on the replacement, and that gap is where people get hurt.

Under a standard charter agreement, weather sits under force majeure. The operator cancels without penalty and refunds your money in full. That sounds like complete protection, and it is not, because the refund is the end of the operator’s obligation.

Work the numbers. A New York–Miami round trip on a midsize jet quotes around $28,000. Thunderstorms close the departure field, the operator cancels, and $28,000 comes back. You still need to be in Miami tomorrow.

Same-day replacement charter does not price like a planned one. No aircraft is pre-positioned, so you now pay two empty positioning legs, at short-notice rates. A realistic re-quote lands between $40,000 and $48,000. Your true cost of the cancellation is that $12,000–$20,000 delta, plus any non-refundable hotel and ground transport.

Two things reduce that exposure and both are decided before you book. First, prefer an agreement where the operator must offer a replacement aircraft at the contracted rate, not just a refund. Second, build the buffer into your own plan — flying the evening before a hard commitment costs one hotel night and removes the entire scenario.

Mechanical cancellations behave differently. Operators generally treat an aircraft-on-ground event as their obligation to recover, because it is inside their control. Ask explicitly whether recovery is at the original price.

Luggage: the constraint people underestimate

Luggage, not seats, is what most often forces a category upgrade. Business jet baggage compartments are small, oddly shaped, and in many light jets not accessible in flight.

Rough planning figures by category:

Declare sports equipment by dimension, not by count. Skis, snowboards, golf bags, bicycles, and hard-sided musical instruments have length limits that vary by aircraft door and compartment shape, not by weight. A Phenom 300 and a Hawker 800XP will accept different ski bags despite similar published volume — see our aircraft guide for per-type detail.

The related failure mode is weight. Every extra pound of passenger and bag comes out of fuel. On a leg near the aircraft’s range limit, an over-declared load turns a nonstop into a fuel stop.

Flying with pets

Most charter operators allow pets, which is one of the genuine advantages of charter over airlines — pets usually travel in the cabin, uncrated, at the owner’s feet.

That said, permission is per-operator and per-aircraft, and it must be arranged at booking. Pets affect the cleaning turnaround between charters, so some operators charge a cleaning fee of $250–$500, and a few owners exclude pets from their aircraft entirely. Brokers cannot override an owner’s rule.

For international travel the paperwork, not the operator, is the constraint. Destination countries set their own import requirements, and returning to the United States means meeting CDC dog import rules, which require a completed import form and, depending on origin country, rabies documentation. Charter does not exempt you from any of it. Build in several weeks for vaccination timing and paperwork.

Insurance and liability: who is actually covered

The operator’s insurance covers you, and the federal minimums are far lower than most passengers assume.

Under 14 CFR Part 205, a US air taxi operator must carry passenger liability of at least $75,000 per passenger, with a per-occurrence total of $75,000 times 75% of the installed passenger seats. Commuter operators carry a $300,000 per-passenger minimum. Those are legal floors, not market practice.

Real charter operators typically carry a combined single limit between $50 million and $300 million, scaled to aircraft size. That number is the one to ask for, and any credible operator will send a certificate of insurance on request. If you are chartering for a company, ask to be named as an additional insured on the certificate.

Three points that catch people out:

• The broker is not the insurer. Your coverage flows from the operator’s policy, which is another reason to identify the operator before paying.
• Grey charter is effectively uninsured. A Part 91 flight sold as commercial charter breaches the policy’s own terms, so the insurer can decline the claim.
• Personal travel insurance often excludes charter. Many policies cover only scheduled licensed carriers. Read the definition of “aircraft” in your policy, and buy a rider if it excludes non-scheduled flights.

Broker, direct operator, or jet card?

Choose a broker for a first charter or an unusual route, because market access is worth the margin. Move to a direct operator relationship once you fly the same route repeatedly. Move to a jet card once you pass roughly 25 hours a year and want guaranteed availability. Our jet card comparison covers the programs in detail.

Trip day

Arrive at the FBOFixed Base Operator — the private terminal you depart from, separate from the commercial airport building. Handles fuel, ground transport, crew and passenger services. 15–30 minutes before departure for a domestic flight, and longer for international. Confirm the FBO address rather than the airport name — large fields have several, and the wrong one costs you 20 minutes.

You show photo ID to the crew or FBO staff. Passports are needed for international legs, along with a customs manifest the operator files in advance.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I verify a private jet charter operator is legitimate?

Ask which company holds the operating certificate for your flight, get the tail number, then check both against the FAA's public list of certificated Part 135The FAA regulation governing on-demand commercial charter. Any operator selling you a seat or an aircraft must hold a Part 135 certificate. operators and aircraft, which is searchable by company name or registration number and updated weekly. Confirming the operator alone is not enough — the specific aircraft must also be authorized for charter on that certificate. Then look for a third-party safety audit such as ARGUS Platinum or WYVERN Wingman, which require on-site audits rather than a document review.

What happens if my private jet charter is cancelled for weather?

The operator cancels under the force majeure clause and refunds your charter price in full, but owes you nothing beyond that. Your real cost is the replacement flight, which on short notice typically prices 40–70% higher because two empty positioning legs must be paid for. Downstream costs such as non-refundable hotels are yours. Negotiate an agreement that obliges the operator to source a replacement aircraft at the contracted rate rather than simply refund.

Can you bring pets on a chartered private jet?

Yes, most charter operators allow pets in the cabin, uncrated, but it must be arranged when you book. Some operators charge a $250–$500 cleaning fee and some aircraft owners prohibit pets outright, which a broker cannot override. International trips require destination-country import paperwork, and returning to the US requires meeting CDC dog import rules including a completed import form.

How much luggage can you take on a private jet?

Far less than passengers expect — a light jet holds roughly 40–70 cubic feet, which is four to six soft bags. Baggage compartments are shaped around the airframe, so declare sports equipment by dimension rather than count. Weight matters as much as volume, because every extra pound reduces fuel and can turn a nonstop leg into a fuel stop.

How far in advance should you book a private jet charter?

One to two weeks ahead gives the best combination of aircraft choice and price. Same-day charter is routinely possible when an aircraft is already positioned nearby, but you lose negotiating room and pay for any repositioning. Peak periods such as Thanksgiving, major sporting events, and ski holidays should be booked four to six weeks out.

Verify the operator before you send money, and read the operator-cancellation clause before you sign. Those two habits prevent almost every expensive charter problem. When you are ready to price a specific route, start with our charter cost guide, then compare aircraft categories in our private jet types guide.

We update this guide as aircraft, program, and route pricing changes. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we'll check it.