Most brokers price your trip with a hidden percentage baked in, and the bigger your bill, the bigger their cut. Our model is the opposite: a flat $500 fee, charged only when you book. Everything below is the real cost of getting you in the air. We negotiate it down. We don't add to it.
Hourly rates are how the operator prices the time the aircraft is yours, wheels up to wheels down, plus a few minutes of ground operations per leg. These are industry-typical ranges. Where your quote lands inside them depends on aircraft age, route, season, and how hard the operator wants the trip.
| Category | Passengers | Range (nm) | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turboprops | 6–19 | 700–1,900 | $2,000 – $4,350 |
| Very Light Jets | 4–6 | 700–1,400 | $2,750 – $3,500 |
| Light Jets | 5–9 | 1,100–1,900 | $2,900 – $3,500 |
| Super Light Jets | 6–9 | 1,700–1,900 | $4,000 – $4,300 |
| Midsize Jets | 7–9 | 1,300–3,000 | $4,300 – $4,750 |
| Super Midsize Jets | 9–10 | 2,400–4,000 | $5,100 – $6,500 |
| Large Jets | 12–16 | 3,600–6,000 | $7,200 – $9,500 |
| Ultra Long Range | 14–18 | 2,500–6,700 | $10,000 – $14,000 |
| VIP Airliners | 19–189 | 3,800–6,100 | $16,000 – $23,000 |
A charter price isn't one figure with a markup, it's a stack of real costs, taxes, and surcharges, each line of which we'll show you and explain. Here's the stack.
Hourly rate × wheels-up-to-wheels-down hours, plus a small allowance per segment for taxi and ramp time. Empty repositioning legs (the aircraft flying to you) count too.
Mandatory, non-negotiable, pass-through. 7.5% US Federal Excise Tax on domestic flights, plus per-passenger segment and international head taxes. UK and EU add their own.
Landing fees and ramp charges set by the airport and fixed-base operator. Range from a couple hundred dollars at quiet executive fields to thousands at peak-demand hubs.
When your trip keeps the crew at destination overnight, expect a per-diem covering hotel, meals, and transport, typically a few hundred dollars per crew member per night.
When jet fuel spikes, operators add a variable surcharge to cover the gap. We pass these through at cost, verified against published fuel indices, no broker markup added on top.
As-incurred items: de-icing in winter, premium catering, ground transport, in-flight wi-fi, hangar overnights. All billed at cost with zero hidden markup, as stated on the home page.
These are set by tax authorities, not by us, not by the operator. They appear on every quote, and the only thing we do with them is collect and remit. Rates current to the 2026 tax year and may be adjusted by authorities at any time.
| Tax or fee | Jurisdiction | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Excise Tax (FET) | US domestic flights | 7.5% |
| Domestic Segment Fee | US, per passenger per leg | $5.30 |
| International Head Tax | US, per passenger | $23.40 |
| Alaska / Hawaii Tax | Per passenger | $11.70 |
| Air Passenger Duty (Band C) | UK, per passenger, >5,500 mi | £1,141 |
| Solidarity Tax (Long-Haul) | France, per passenger | €2,100 |
| Aero-Taxi Tax (>1,500 km) | Italy, per passenger | €200 |
All-inclusive one-way pricing varies with season, aircraft availability, and fuel. These are typical 2026 ranges for the cabin classes most often flown on each corridor, to give you a directional number before you call. We pull live quotes for your exact dates.
| Route | Light Jet | Midsize | Large / Heavy |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York → Miami | $15k – $19k | $17k – $21k | $27k – $31k |
| New York → Los Angeles | n/a | $39k – $45k | $45k – $50k |
| Los Angeles → Las Vegas | $10k – $13k | $12k – $16k | $21k – $26k |
| Miami → Bahamas | $8k – $11k | $11k – $15k | $20k – $24k |
| London → Nice | €15k – €19k | €18k – €23k | €28k – €33k |
| London → Paris | €9.5k – €12k | €12k – €16k | €20k – €25k |
| New York → London | n/a | n/a | $90k – $110k |
| Dubai → London | n/a | €63k – €70k | €65k – €75k |
A common mission: four passengers, a three-day domestic round trip on a midsize jet. Here's how the math comes together, every line you'd see on the quote we send.
| Hourly rate (e.g. Citation Excel) | $4,300 / hr |
| Billable flight time (round trip + ground ops) | 7.4 hours |
| Direct flight cost | $31,820.00 |
| Crew overnight (2 nights, 2-person crew) | $1,500.00 |
| Landing & ramp fees | $1,000.00 |
| Subtotal | $34,320.00 |
| Federal Excise Tax (7.5%) | $2,574.00 |
| Segment fees ($5.30 × 4 pax × 2 legs) | $42.40 |
| The Jet Negotiator flat fee | $500.00 |
| All-in total | $37,436.40 |
Figures shown are indicative for illustration. Your actual quote will vary with aircraft selection, exact routing, fuel index at booking, FBO selection, and seasonal demand. We pull live competing quotes for your specific trip and show every line.
Most operators apply a daily flight minimum, usually around two hours for light and midsize jets, and a bit more for larger aircraft. It exists because keeping a fully-crewed aircraft on standby for a short hop isn't economically viable otherwise. If your trip falls under the minimum, you'll see the minimum applied. We always flag this in the quote so you understand exactly what you're paying for.
One flat $500 fee, charged when a flight is booked. That's it. No percentage of the flight cost, no operator kickback, no marketing rebate. The math is intentional: if our fee doesn't change when your bill changes, we have no reason to inflate your bill. Our only path to growing the business is making more clients save more money.
When jet fuel prices spike between an operator's base rate-setting and your flight date, operators add a variable surcharge to cover the gap. It's standard industry practice. We pass these through at exact operator cost, verified against published fuel indices. We add zero markup on the surcharge, same as we add zero markup on everything else.
The fixed costs, flight time, government taxes, crew, landing fees, are all locked in at quote. The genuinely variable items are de-icing (winter only, billed at operator cost), in-flight wi-fi on some aircraft, and changes you request mid-trip like new catering. All billed at cost with zero hidden markup. You'll never see "broker handling" or "service fee" line items, because they don't exist on our quotes.
For most domestic trips, two to four weeks gives us the cleanest pool of operators to negotiate against. Peak windows, holidays, major sporting events, fashion weeks, fill earlier and you'll want to book six to eight weeks ahead. Last-minute is always possible; the trade-off is fewer competing quotes and tighter availability, which weakens our negotiating position.
The US has the deepest charter market on earth, which means more aircraft competing and generally lower per-hour costs. Europe layers on higher passenger duties (UK APD, French solidarity tax) and tighter slots. Asia has fewer aircraft per route, so positioning fees matter more. The flat $500 fee structure doesn't change with geography, but the underlying flight cost will.
An empty leg is a positioning flight an operator has to fly anyway, moving an aircraft to its next paid trip. When your schedule is flexible and one happens to match your needs, savings can be substantial versus a fully-priced charter. We'll always check empty-leg availability against your dates before quoting a standard charter.
For nearly everyone who flies fewer than around 200 hours a year, yes, by a wide margin. Ownership brings crew salaries, hangarage, insurance, maintenance reserves, and depreciation that don't pause when the aircraft does. Charter lets you keep your capital working elsewhere and pick the right aircraft for each trip rather than over-flying or under-utilizing the one you bought.
Tell us where you're going and when. We'll pull live competing quotes, negotiate the rate down, and show you every line.
1 989 447 4351Flat $500 fee. Only charged once a flight is booked.