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Your first charter, step by step.

Chartering a jet is easier than buying a used car and higher-stakes than booking a hotel. Treat it accordingly. The process below is how experienced flyers do it. Total time investment for a first trip: about two hours, most of it reading quotes properly.

Step 1: Define the mission before talking to anyone

Route, dates, flexibility, passenger count, luggage (be honest here: golf bags and car seats are where cabins run out), pets, and any medical needs. Then get an independent price anchor. The Route Estimator gives you the market center for your city pair by class, so the first quote you receive lands on a calibrated ear.

Step 2: Issue a brief, not a form submission

Quote forms exist to capture your phone number; briefs exist to get you comparable quotes. Use the RFP builder. It structures your mission and explicitly requests the things first-timers forget: operator certificate, safety rating, total all-in price, cancellation terms, and positioning assumptions. Send it to 2 or 3 brokers. Identical briefs are the only way quotes become comparable.

Step 3: Read the quotes like an auditor

• All-in or itemized? US domestic quotes must include 7.5% FET and segment fees to be comparable. A quote that says plus taxes and fees can hide 20% or more.
• What aircraft, what year, what operator? A light jet is not an answer. Tail-number-level detail is normal to request on booking.
• Safety rating: ARGUS Gold, Gold+, or Platinum; Wyvern Registered or Wingman; or an IS-BAO stage. A broker who volunteers these is a broker to keep.
• Cancellation ladder: typically 10 to 100% by notice period, and peak dates are often non-refundable inside 72 hours. Know before you wire.
• Where does the aircraft start? A tail positioned at your departure field is a cheaper, more reliable trip than one ferrying in from 400 nm away.

Step 4: Book like a professional

Charter agreements are short; read all of it. Wire against an invoice naming the operator, the tail number (or an equivalent-class substitute defined in writing), the all-in price, and the cancellation schedule. Card payments sometimes carry a 3 to 4% surcharge but add dispute protection a wire never will. On a first booking with an unknown broker, that fee can be cheap insurance.

Step 5: The day itself

• Arrive at the FBO, the private terminal, 15 to 20 minutes before departure. Not two hours. That is the entire product.
• Bring passports for international trips and government ID domestically; the crew handles the rest.
• Luggage limits are physical, not policy. If it does not fit the baggage bay, it does not fly, which is where Step 1 honesty pays.
• Weather calls belong to the captain, full stop. A crew that delays for weather is doing its job.
• Tipping crew is appreciated, never required; $50 to $100 per crew member for exceptional service is typical among regulars.

The one-page version

Anchor your price independently. Issue identical RFPs to 2 or 3 brokers. Normalize quotes to all-in. Verify operator and safety rating. Read the cancellation ladder. Wire against a complete invoice. Show up 15 minutes early. Do that, and your first charter runs like your fiftieth.