Sharing a private jet with people you know is straightforward: one person charters the aircraft, and the group divides the cost. Sharing a flight with people you have never met is a different thing altogether. It is possible, but it is a separate product, sold by particular companies under particular rules, and it works differently from a private charter in ways that matter.
Why a broker cannot simply sell your spare seats
When you charter an aircraft, you hire the whole thing. The charterer decides who travels, and the price does not depend on how many seats are filled. It is tempting to think that empty seats could be sold to strangers to bring the cost down. In the United States, offering individual seats on an aircraft to the general public is treated as public air transportation, and it brings rules about who may sell those seats, what they must disclose and how passengers’ money is protected.
A charter broker arranging a private charter for a group is not in that business. That is why we arrange whole-aircraft charters and do not sell single seats on your flight to the public, and why a group that wants strangers on board needs to look at a different kind of service.
The main ways seats are sold
Public charters
Under the Department of Transportation’s public charter rules, in 14 CFR Part 380, a charter operator can sell individual seats to the public on flights operated by a certificated air carrier. These services come with filing and consumer-protection requirements, including disclosures about who operates the flight and how passengers’ payments are protected. Several per-seat services that feel like private flying are run this way.
Scheduled per-seat flights
Some carriers fly published schedules with smaller aircraft and sell tickets seat by seat, much like a small airline. You buy a seat on a route at a set time, and the operator fills the rest of the aircraft.
Seat programmes on repositioning flights
Occasionally, seats on empty legs or regular repositioning flights are offered individually. When seats are sold to the public, the same principle applies: the seller needs the authority to do it.
People you already know
Friends of friends, colleagues or another family you travel with are not “the public” buying seats; they are part of your group, sharing a charter you arranged together. That is the shared-charter model this site is built around.
| Option | Who you fly with | What you control | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private charter, shared with your group | People you choose | Time, route, aircraft, passengers | Agreeing the split and dropouts |
| Public charter seat | Other paying passengers | Which flight you buy | Schedule changes, refund terms |
| Scheduled per-seat flight | Other paying passengers | Which flight you buy | Limited routes, baggage limits |
| Seat on a repositioning flight | Other passengers, if any | Very little | Fixed timing; can be cancelled |
What to check before buying a seat
- Who operates the flight. The seller should name the air carrier with operational control and its certificate. In the US, that means a Part 135 or Part 121 carrier.
- How your money is protected. Ask what happens to your payment if the flight is cancelled, and whether funds are held in escrow or otherwise protected.
- The cancellation and delay terms. With a shared flight, the schedule belongs to the operator, not to you.
- Baggage allowances. Per-seat services are usually stricter than a private charter, especially for golf bags, skis and pets.
- The airports. Many per-seat services use private terminals, but not always the ones nearest you.
The Department of Transportation’s aviation consumer protection pages are a good place to read more about passenger rights on public charters.
Strangers or friends: which is better?
A seat on a per-seat service can be the cheapest way to fly privately for one or two people, on routes where such services exist and at times that suit you. A shared charter usually wins as soon as you have a group: you choose the time, the airports, the aircraft and the people, and with five or six travellers the share per person can come close to a premium seat elsewhere.
There is also the matter of certainty. A seat on a per-seat service has a fixed price, but the flight runs to its operator’s schedule, and you travel when it does. A shared charter’s price is fixed once the agreement is signed, and the aircraft waits for your group rather than the other way round. For a family holiday or a long-planned weekend, that difference is often worth more than the saving.
It also changes the experience. On a shared charter, the cabin is yours: your music, your conversation, your schedule. On a per-seat flight, you are fellow passengers, which may suit a solo traveller perfectly well and a family rather less.
How we can help
We arrange whole-aircraft charters for groups and help them split the cost fairly. We do not sell seats to the public. If you are travelling alone or as a couple and want to know whether a per-seat service is a realistic alternative on your route, ask in the notes of a quote request and we will tell you honestly, alongside what a small charter would cost.
The simplest way to share a jet is still with people you already like travelling with.
Thinking of gathering a group instead? Start with the splitter to see what each share would be, then request a quote.