Gregg Brunson-Pitts gives eight tips for first-time charter users.
8 Questions To Ask Before Booking A Charter Flight
A seasoned broker lists essential queries.
- Definitely ask about safety ratings.
- How many hours has the crew flown on this type of aircraft?
- How much luggage are you bringing?
- If you are traveling with a family, will you be bringing strollers or pack-and-plays or things like that? If the type of aircraft that you are chartering does not match your luggage needs, that is a big problem.
- Do you expect to get an invoice post-trip?
- Does the quote include taxes? The Federal Excise Tax is 7.5 percent. Some brokers don’t include this in their quotes.
- Make sure that you are very clear about your expected departure time. If there is a mechanical situation and your plane is unable to fly, there might be costs associated with getting a replacement plane flown in. I would encourage somebody who is new to charter to have a discussion about how that situation will work. If you are a prolific charter customer, it might be that those costs are covered for you, but if you’re brand new, they probably won’t be.
- My biggest piece of advice is if somebody feels that their charter provider is not being fully transparent, it’s probably not a good thing. Get someone else.