What a Private Charter Actually Costs
Your client asks. You answer with a number that survives the real quote. That's the whole job of this page.
The ranges below are drawn from 2026 market data — six published pricing guides, per-tail rate cards, and two live repositioning boards, cross-checked against each other. Treat them as honest planning numbers, not quotes: every trip prices individually by aircraft, date, and routing.
A quote, itemized
Here is how a real trip's cost assembles. Illustrative, not a quote.
Miami to Nassau (NAS). Light jet, one way, 4 passengers.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Carrier flight cost, 2-hour minimum | $7,900 |
| Aircraft positioning | Included |
| Bahamas customs and handling | $850 |
| US facility taxes, 4 pax | $94 |
| All-in | $8,844 |
Every cost in a trip can be shown like this. Hidden fees are the industry habit. Itemized fees are the standard worth demanding.
1. How the price is built — the 60-second model
A charter is simple math with a few multipliers. The aircraft's hourly rate times the hours flown, with a two-hour minimum per day. A one-way also pays for the airplane's ride home: positioning adds 40 to 100% of the occupied leg. Fees add 20 to 40% on top — 7.5% federal excise tax plus $5.30 per passenger per segment on domestic trips, FBO handling, crew overnights, catering. International trips drop the excise tax and pick up per-passenger facility taxes, foreign handling, and permits. Peak dates add 20 to 50%. Round trips with one operator run 10 to 35% under two one-ways.
(hourly rate × occupied hours) + positioning + itemized fees = the quote
| Category | Typical hourly rate |
|---|---|
| Light jet | $3,500 – $7,000 |
| Midsize | $5,000 – $9,500 |
| Super-midsize | $6,500 – $13,000 |
| Heavy | $8,500 – $18,000 |
2. What popular trips cost — one way and round trip
All-in estimates — the number to give a client before the quote comes back.
| Route | Typical jet | One-way, all-in | Round trip, all-in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles → Las Vegas | Light | $5,500 – $8,500 | $9,000 – $13,000 |
| Miami → Nassau, Bahamas | VLJ / Light | $7,500 – $12,000 | $13,000 – $18,000 |
| Phoenix → Cabo | Light | $13,000 – $18,000 | $19,000 – $27,000 |
| Houston → Cancún | Light | $13,000 – $19,000 | $20,000 – $27,000 |
| Los Angeles → Cabo | Light | $14,000 – $19,000 | $21,000 – $29,000 |
| New York → Miami | Midsize | $14,000 – $18,000 * | $20,000 – $28,000 * |
| Miami → Aspen | Light | $17,000 – $22,000 | $25,000 – $34,000 |
| San Francisco → Cabo | Light | $18,000 – $25,000 | $27,000 – $36,000 |
| Phoenix → Costa Rica | Midsize | $32,000 – $44,000 | $48,000 – $78,000 † |
| New York → London | Heavy / ULR | $85,000 – $160,000 | $150,000 – $300,000 † |
* Published ranges are floors, not middles. The week we pulled live boards, in-season one-ways on the Florida–New York corridor were listing between $18,000 and $30,000 on midsize aircraft, most at $24,000 or above. Budget toward the top of any range for one-ways, peak dates, and trips booked inside a week.
Round trips assume one operator flies both legs with the aircraft and crew waiting at the destination — the usual structure for stays up to about three nights. Vegas and Nassau round trips are same-day. Mexico and Bahamas ranges include international handling, permits, and per-passenger taxes.
† Long-haul round trips price closer to two one-ways: on multi-day international trips like New York–London or Costa Rica, the aircraft usually repositions or flies home rather than holding on station, so the round-trip discount shrinks. Light jets need a fuel stop coast to coast, and the largest Gulfstreams and Globals cannot land at Aspen at all (wingspan limit).
3. Three things worth telling your client
- Quote high, deliver inside it. Give the top of the range for the season and the direction. A client who budgeted $18k and pays $16.5k is delighted. Reverse it and you are explaining an invoice.
- The empty-leg discount has a direction. Repositioning flights are 25 to 60% off only when the airplane flies against demand — out of the resort, south in August. With the demand, they list at full retail. Loose dates unlock them.
- Ask for it all-in, itemized. Every tax, positioning charge, handling fee, and broker fee should be a line on the quote. If a broker cannot show the lines, your client is paying for the ones they cannot see.
Your client, our sourcing — how you get paid
Send us origin, destination, dates, and passenger count. We source and vet the carrier through direct relationships and hand you back an all-in quote with every fee itemized, ready to forward. When your client books:
- Your first booking — you keep our entire fee.
- Every booking after — one third of the fee, for the life of the relationship.
- Paid within 7 days of the flight.
Estimates reflect 2026 US market data compiled from published operator and broker pricing plus live repositioning listings. Every trip prices individually by aircraft, date, and routing; treat ranges as planning numbers, not quotes. VeraJets is a Fort Lauderdale-based air charter brokerage operating under 14 CFR Part 295; we arrange flights on Part 135 certificated carriers and do not operate aircraft. Related reading: What a Private Jet Charter Actually Costs · Brief No. 03 — The Broker Fee You Never See.