What will your
charter cost?

Charter pricing depends on the aircraft category and the distance flown. Light jets typically run $3,000 to $4,500 per flight hour, midsize jets $5,000 to $7,000, super midsize $6,500 to $8,500, heavy jets $9,000 to $12,000, and ultra-long-range aircraft $12,000 to $18,000. Our calculator applies the full trip structure - flight time, positioning fees, federal excise tax, and typical airport handling - to produce a realistic one-way or round-trip range for your specific route.

Most charter operators and brokers hide pricing behind a contact form because quotes are genuinely variable - they depend on aircraft location, crew duty, and availability at the moment of booking. But an estimated range is entirely possible using current market rates, and hiding it serves the broker more than the buyer. We publish estimates because transparent pricing is a competitive advantage, not a liability.

A standard charter quote includes the aircraft, crew, fuel, standard catering, domestic federal excise tax (FET, 7.5% in the US), and typical landing and handling fees. Not included by default: de-icing (winter, weather-dependent), overnight or crew duty fees, international customs and permits, premium catering, and ground transportation. Our calculator bakes the standard inclusions into the estimate.

An empty leg is a repositioning flight - the aircraft needs to move from A to B without passengers to prepare for its next booked trip. Operators sell these at 30 to 70 percent below the normal on-demand rate to recover some of the cost. Empty legs are time and route-specific, so you need flexibility, but on a route with active inventory they are the single best value in private aviation.

On a per-seat basis, rarely. On a per-aircraft basis with a full group, often. A midsize jet from New York to Miami with six passengers splits to roughly $2,500 per person - comparable to two business class tickets with none of the time cost. For groups of four or more on short-to-medium-haul routes, the math gets competitive fast, especially once empty legs enter the picture.

Actual quotes typically land within ±10 to 15 percent of our estimated range. The variation comes from aircraft availability, repositioning distance, airport fees at your specific FBOs, and seasonal demand. Our ranges are calibrated against current-quarter rates across the 4,000+ operators connected to our platform.

A Part 135 operator holds the FAA certificate and physically conducts the flight - crew, maintenance, dispatch, and safety compliance all sit under their certificate. A broker arranges the flight between the customer and the operator, and is required by 14 CFR Part 295 to disclose that role before a customer pays. Reserve Jets is a charter broker with vertically integrated in-house Part 135 operator capabilities, meaning we both source from the broader marketplace and operate our own fleet for full control when it matters.

Our estimates are free and require no signup. For live, bookable quotes tied to specific available aircraft, we send a secure sign-in link to your email. One click signs you in to your dashboard - no password to create, no pressure, no commitment. We built it that way because everyone hates squeeze pages, including us.