Most people price a private flight in their head the obvious way: hours in the air multiplied by an hourly rate. That gives you the biggest line on the quote, and often a figure well short of the total. The difference usually comes from three lines that have nothing to do with your time on board: repositioning, daily minimums and crew overnights.
Repositioning: paying for the aircraft to reach you
Charter aircraft have home bases. If the best aircraft for your trip sits at your departure airport, it can simply leave with you. If it is based an hour away, it has to fly to you empty first, and that time is billed at the same hourly rate as your flight. Operators call this positioning, repositioning or ferry time.
Positioning can apply at both ends. After dropping you off, the aircraft has to get home, or on to its next job. On a round trip it brings you back to where it collected you, so the cost is usually limited to the legs to and from its base. On a one-way trip, someone has to pay for the flight home.
One-way trips and the empty flight home
This is where quotes diverge most. Some operators price a one-way trip as if the aircraft will fly home empty at your expense, which can nearly double the price. Others expect to find a passenger for the return, or to sell it as an empty leg, and price only the hours you fly. Busy routes, such as New York to South Florida in winter, make the second approach more common in the busy direction.
Ways to reduce positioning
- Be flexible on the airport. In the New York area, Teterboro, Westchester and Morristown all host charter aircraft. The right one can save an hour of positioning.
- Ask where the aircraft is based. A quote should say whether positioning is included, and how much.
- Consider empty legs. If your dates can move, an aircraft already repositioning along your route can be far cheaper, usually 25–75% off.
Daily minimums: paying for the day, not just the flight
An aircraft assigned to your trip cannot easily be sold to anyone else that day. Many operators protect themselves with a daily minimum: a minimum number of flight hours billed for each day, often one to two hours.
The effect on short trips is immediate. Van Nuys to Las Vegas takes about 50 minutes. With a two-hour minimum you are billed for two hours on each day you fly, more than double the flight time. A same-day round trip with 1.7 hours in the air may be topped up to two.
On multi-day trips, some operators also apply the minimum on days the aircraft waits for you without flying. A four-night stay can then add several billed hours for days when the aircraft never leaves the ramp. Not every operator does this, and those that do often relax it on short stays, which is exactly why it needs to appear on the quote rather than on the invoice.
Crew overnights
When your trip keeps the crew away from base overnight, the operator pays for their hotel and meals and passes the cost on. Most light and midsize jets fly with two pilots; many large-cabin jets add a flight attendant. Expect a charge per night, commonly in the high hundreds to low thousands of dollars depending on the aircraft and the destination. Ski towns and resort islands in peak season sit at the top of that range.
Crews also work under legal duty and rest limits. A very long day, such as an early departure, a wait of several hours and a late return, may not fit inside one crew’s duty day. The operator will then plan an overnight, a second crew or a different schedule, and each has a cost.
Wait there, or fly home and back?
For trips of several days, the operator, or your advisor, should compare two plans: keep the aircraft and crew at your destination, or send the aircraft home and bring it back for the return. Which is cheaper depends mostly on the length of the flight.
| Extras only | Short trip: VNY–LAS, light jet, 4 nights | Long trip: HPN–ASE, midsize jet, 3 nights |
|---|---|---|
| Flight time each way | About 50 min | About 4h 30m |
| Plan A: the aircraft waits | Minimums on 3 waiting days and both flying days, plus 4 crew nights: about $40,000 | Minimums on 2 waiting days, plus 3 crew nights: about $26,000 |
| Plan B: it flies home and back | Two extra empty legs of about 50 min, plus small top-ups: about $10,000 | Two extra empty legs of about 4h 30m: about $52,000 |
| Usually cheaper | Fly home and back | Wait at the destination |
The pattern holds well beyond these two routes. When the flight is short, sending the aircraft home is often cheaper than paying it to wait. When the flight is long, waiting usually wins. Either way, the decision belongs on the quote, where you can see it, rather than in a line that appears afterwards.
What to ask before you book
- Where is the aircraft based, and is positioning included in the price?
- For a one-way trip, does the price include the flight home?
- What is the daily minimum, and does it apply on days we do not fly?
- How are crew overnights charged, and how many are included?
- For a longer stay, has the cost of sending the aircraft home been compared?
Every quote we send answers these in writing, line by line, before anything is signed. If a plan with the aircraft flying home is cheaper, we show both.
To see the effect on your own trip, try the itemized estimator. It models positioning, minimums and overnights with a low and a high case, so you can tell which line is doing the damage before you ask for real numbers.