Services
Private jet for families
In short
What is it like to fly privately with children?
Simpler than an airport, mainly because of what does not happen: no check-in queue, no security line with a pushchair, no gate announcement. You arrive at a private terminal shortly before departure, the luggage goes from the car to the aircraft, and the departure time is the one that suits the family rather than the airline. What needs planning is the detail — seats for small children, the dog, the luggage and the car at the other end — and all of it is best settled in the first request.
01How it works
Arranging private jet for families
Infants and car seats
Every passenger, including a baby, is counted on the manifest and needs a travel document. Under European rules an infant under two can usually travel on a parent’s lap with a loop belt; aircraft registered in some other countries follow different rules. If you want to use your own child seat, tell us the make and model: it must be a type approved for use in aircraft and fit the seat it will be fixed to, which the operator confirms in advance. Older children use the aircraft seats like everyone else.
Pets travel with you
Many operators carry dogs and cats in the cabin, without a crate, so the family dog comes along rather than going into kennels or a hold. It depends on the operator and the aircraft, and the destination country’s import rules apply whatever you fly on — the United Kingdom is the strictest in Europe. Our page on flying with pets covers what to send.
Luggage, pushchairs and the rest
Private aircraft have no weight allowance per person; the limit is the volume of the hold and, on long legs, total weight against range. A family of five going away for two weeks with a pushchair and a travel cot needs a bigger hold than five business travellers with one bag each, and that can mean moving up from a light jet to a midsize. Soft bags pack into a small hold far better than large hard cases. Tell us roughly what you are bringing and the broker sizes the aircraft to it.
Catering, timing and the car at the other end
Catering is ordered through the operator for each flight, so children’s meals, allergies and a particular brand of milk are simply part of the order; the cost appears in the quotation. The departure time is yours to set within the airports’ opening hours, which makes it possible to fly at nap time or after school. At the destination the private terminal can arrange a car to meet the aircraft, and at many airports the car can drive to the aircraft steps.
Documents
Passports are checked at private terminals exactly as at airline terminals, and the passenger details are sent to the authorities before an international flight. When a child travels with only one parent, or with grandparents, a signed consent letter from the absent parent is strongly advised and some countries ask for it. It is worth checking passport expiry dates before booking: several destinations require six months of validity.
02Constraints
Worth knowing before you ask
Infants and children each count as a passenger and need their own travel document.
Your own child seat must be an aviation-approved type the operator accepts.
Pet policies vary by operator; import rules depend on the destination.
Hold volume, not a per-person allowance, limits luggage.
03The aircraft
Aircraft typically used
Drawn to one scale from real airframe dimensions. Which one suits your trip depends on the leg and the load rather than the passenger count alone.
Light jets
6–8 pax · 52 ft span
Midsize jets
7–9 pax · 56 ft span
Super-midsize jets
8–10 pax · 69 ft span
Heavy jets
10–14 pax · 64 ft span
04Your part
What to send with the request
Every service has two or three details that change the answer entirely. Including them in the first message turns one exchange into a quote instead of four.
- Who is travelling
- Adults, children with their ages, and any infants under two. Ages decide the seating and, for infants, how they travel.
- Luggage and equipment
- Roughly how many bags, and anything bulky: a pushchair, a travel cot, skis, golf bags. This is what most often changes the aircraft.
- Pets, catering and the car
- The animal’s species and size, any dietary needs or allergies, and whether you want a car arranged at either end.
05Before you pay
What we commit to on every booking
We have no completed flights to point at yet, and we are not going to invent any. What we can do is put the terms in writing before you ask for them.
What we commit to
Nothing is charged before the aircraft is confirmed.
You receive the operating carrier’s legal name, its AOC number and the aircraft registration in writing before any invoice or wallet address is issued. If those three things are not in front of you, you have not been asked to pay yet.
One commission, inside the price you were quoted.
Our margin is already in the number you agreed to. There is no second invoice, no booking fee added at the end, and no separate charge for arranging the flight. If the total moves after you have accepted it, the reason is a change you asked for.
No surcharge on any payment method, including cryptocurrency.
Card, bank transfer, USDT, Bitcoin and cash settle at the same price. We do not price crypto as a premium service, and we do not discount it to move you onto a rail that is harder to reverse.
If the operator cancels, you choose the remedy — not us.
Aircraft go technical and operators occasionally fail. When that happens before departure you are offered a replacement aircraft on equivalent terms or a full refund, and the choice between them is yours. We do not get to decide that a substitute was good enough.
These form part of our terms of business. If any of them changes, the change is dated there rather than made quietly here.
06Get aircraft options
Tell us the trip
Route, date and how many people is enough to start. Anything specific to this service — an animal, an equipment list, a medical report — can follow in the same thread.
Questions
- Can I fly with my pet?
- Usually, and in the cabin with you — but it depends on the aircraft and the operator. Many charter operators accept dogs and cats in the cabin without a crate; some limit size, species or number, and a few do not carry animals at all. The destination country’s import rules apply regardless of aircraft: the UK, for example, requires an approved route and documentation. Tell us the species, size and destination when you send the request, and we only offer operators who accept them.
- How much luggage can I take?
- Baggage is limited by volume, not by piece count — around 50 cubic feet on a light jet and 115 on a heavy jet. Skis, golf bags and oversized cases are fine but must be declared when you request the quote, because they can change which aircraft works. Weight matters on long legs: a full cabin plus heavy baggage can shorten range enough to add a fuel stop.
- How early do I need to arrive at the airport?
- Fifteen minutes before departure at a private terminal, and often less. There is no check-in desk and no security queue. On international departures passport control happens at the FBO, usually in under five minutes. At many airports your car can drive to the aircraft steps.
- How much does it cost to charter a private jet?
- There is no fixed price. As indicative starting points, light jets from about $3,200 per flight hour, super-midsize jets from about $6,000 per flight hour, heavy jets from about $8,000 per flight hour and ultra-long-range aircraft from about $11,500 per flight hour, plus positioning and ground handling at both ends. Each route page shows an indicative starting price for that trip. Those figures are starting prices, not quotes: the price of your flight is calculated individually and depends on aircraft availability, where the aircraft is positioned, the date, the operating company and airport charges.