What people ask before they request their first empty leg. If your question is not here, email [email protected] and a person will answer it.
An empty leg is a private jet flight that has to happen anyway, with nobody on board, because the aircraft is repositioning after one charter or before the next. Operators sell that flight for the whole aircraft at a fraction of the charter price, on the aircraft's own route and dates. When an operator flies a customer from A to B, the aircraft usually has to fly back empty or reposition for its next job, and the operator would rather sell that flight than fly it empty. Every leg on the UpLeg board at flyupleg.com/flights is one of those flights, flown by an FAA-certificated Part 135 operator.
An empty cabin earns the operator nothing, so the leg is priced to move, and listed empty legs run up to 75% below retail charter pricing for the same aircraft. It is significantly cheaper because the flight was going to happen anyway: the operator is recovering fuel and crew time, not pricing a trip from scratch. The trade-off is that the route and the departure window are set by the jet’s schedule, not yours.
Yes. Same aircraft, same crew, same operator, flying under the same FAA Part 135 certificate. According to 14 CFR Part 135, the certificate holder is responsible for operational control of every flight it operates, whoever arranged it, so an empty leg is flown to the same rules as the charter that created it. Only the price and the flexibility differ.
Not on an empty leg. Every listing is a specific route on a specific day or a flexible departure window, set by the aircraft’s schedule. If nothing fits, set a free flight alert and we email you the moment a matching leg posts.
It varies. Some legs post weeks ahead, many appear within days of departure, and a leg can disappear just as quickly when the operator’s plans change. Alerts are the reliable way to catch a route you care about.
On UpLeg, at flyupleg.com. For a trip you have in mind, start with Trip Finder at flyupleg.com/trip-finder: give it your route, your dates and the seats you need, and it checks every empty leg on the board and shows the exact matches and the legs that come close, from a nearby airport or a day or two off. To browse instead, the board at flyupleg.com/flights gathers the empty legs published by FAA-certificated Part 135 operators and is updated every half hour, and each US city and major route has its own page at flyupleg.com/empty-legs. A free alert emails you when a leg posts on your route.
Put the trip into Trip Finder at flyupleg.com/trip-finder. An empty leg flies on the aircraft’s own route and dates, so a trip often has no exact match; Trip Finder also shows the legs that come close, from an airport within the distance you set (up to 150 miles) or a day or two either side of your dates, each with what differs marked. Sort them by best match, lowest price or soonest, tick the ones you like and send them together, a request for each. If none works out, UpLeg asks the operators around both ends for a leg that was never published.
You give Trip Finder the route, your dates, the seats and how far you would travel to a nearby airport, at flyupleg.com/trip-finder. It shows every leg on the board that fits exactly and the legs that come close, from a nearby airport or a day or two off. Send the ones you like together, a request for each. If none works out we search beyond the board for another empty leg. Asking costs nothing.
Pick a flight, add your name, email and mobile number, and click Request. No account is needed. You get a booking reference straight away and add passenger details on the status page. We take the request to the operator, confirm availability and your exact total, you agree to a short set of terms with us, and we introduce you to the operator to book and pay.
Once, after you agree to the total, and your quote says to whom: the operator directly under its own agreement, or UpLeg, which then pays the operator. Never both for the same flight. UpLeg never takes a card on file, and nothing is owed until the operator has confirmed and you have said yes.
No. A request asks the operator to hold and confirm the leg. It becomes a booking when the operator confirms availability and price. Until then nothing is owed.
Yes. Before your booking is finalized we tell you the name of the operating carrier, the FAA-certificated Part 135 operator that flies you, together with its cancellation policy. According to 14 CFR Part 295, an air charter broker must disclose the carrier in operational control of the aircraft, and UpLeg does that before you pay. Listings do not show the operator until then.
No. To request a leg you give your name, your email and a US mobile number, and the booking link comes to that email. An account is optional: your email address is the whole account, signed in with a one-time link or code and no password, and with one your details are filled in for you and your bookings are in one place.
No. Browsing the board, requesting a leg, asking us to find one and asking for a charter quote are all free, with no deposit and no card on file. Money changes hands once, after you have agreed to a final total and the operator has confirmed.
Because the exact total is not known until the operator confirms. Where the operator published a price, the range sits around it; where they did not, we estimate from the aircraft type, the route and what similar legs have listed for, and mark it as an estimate. Either way you see the exact total before you agree to anything.
No. Empty leg prices move until the operator confirms. When you request a flight we confirm the exact total with the operator and send it to you before you agree to anything.
Start from the median. The Empty Leg Index at flyupleg.com/empty-leg-index shows the median operator-listed price for each cabin class across every leg on the board right now, and any one leg lands above or below its cabin’s median on the aircraft and the distance. Every listing shows an estimated total, and the exact total is confirmed with you before you agree.
Empty legs depend on the primary charter that creates them, so an operator can change or cancel one before departure. If that happens we tell you as soon as we know and help you look for an alternative. Whatever you paid the operator is refunded under the operator’s own terms, which we recommend confirming before you pay, and anything you paid UpLeg is refunded in full.
Before the operator confirms, yes, at no cost, because nothing has been paid. After confirmation the operator’s cancellation policy applies.
Yes. Put the trip into Trip Finder at flyupleg.com/trip-finder: it shows every leg on the board that fits it or comes close, from a nearby airport or a day or two off. Send the ones you like together, a request for each. We also ask the operators of jets already flying past your route whether they would stop, which is their decision and changes the price, and the operators around both ends for a leg that was never published. If nothing on the board comes close, set an alert and we email you when a leg on your route is listed.
UpLeg is UpLeg LLC, a California company and an air charter broker under 14 CFR Part 295. We arrange flights; we do not operate aircraft. Every flight we arrange is flown by an FAA-certificated Part 135 operator, and you are told which operator before you pay. You get one final price before you agree, and nothing is paid to ask. It is run by its founder, Ali Merchant, a private pilot and corporate aviation advisor, and every request is read by a person.
Every flight on the board departs from or arrives in the United States; we never list a flight between two foreign airports. Every flight we arrange is operated by an on-demand air carrier the FAA has certificated under 14 CFR Part 135.
Every flight is flown by an on-demand air carrier the FAA has certificated under 14 CFR Part 135. We build our operator list from the FAA’s own list of Part 135 certificate holders and the aircraft on each certificate, and when an operator confirms your flight we look up the aircraft’s tail number on that list and in the FAA aircraft registry before you are introduced. A certificate is the legal floor, not a safety rating; the full process is at flyupleg.com/how-we-vet-operators.
No. A jet card is prepaid private jet charter: a block of hours or dollars bought in advance and drawn down at fixed hourly rates. A membership is a subscription that unlocks access or pricing. UpLeg sells neither; there is no deposit to ask, no card on file and nothing to join. Browse, request, fly.
An air charter broker is a company that arranges flights on aircraft it does not operate, under 14 CFR Part 295. UpLeg is an air charter broker: every flight it arranges is flown by a Part 135 operator that is named before you pay and that holds operational control of the flight. The operator is responsible for the aircraft, the crew and the insurance. Both rules, 14 CFR Part 295 for brokers and 14 CFR Part 135 for operators, are published in full on eCFR (ecfr.gov), and how we check each operator before you are introduced is at flyupleg.com/how-we-vet-operators.
Yes. Tell us the trip at flyupleg.com/charter, one-way or round trip, and we come back with one quoted total for the whole aircraft from an FAA-certificated Part 135 operator. Nothing is owed for asking.
Yes, as a charter. Empty legs are one-way by nature, because each one is a jet repositioning in one direction, so a round trip is quoted as a charter at flyupleg.com/charter: one total for the whole aircraft, both ways, on your dates. Now and then two empty legs line up for an out-and-back; ask and we will check.
Yes. Every major route has its own page in both directions, with the live legs, the distance, the typical flight time and today’s price range, for example flyupleg.com/empty-legs/los-angeles-to-las-vegas. Cities have their own pages at flyupleg.com/empty-legs, and the flights board lets you search any pair of airports.
Measured over the 60 days to September 15, 2026, the airports with the most empty legs on the UpLeg board were Harry Reid International in Las Vegas (LAS), Teterboro (TEB) for New York, Van Nuys (VNY) for Los Angeles, Miami-Opa Locka Executive (OPF), William P. Hobby (HOU) in Houston, McClellan-Palomar (CLD) near San Diego, Dallas Love Field (DAL), Austin Bergstrom International (AUS), Oakland International (OAK) for San Francisco, Scottsdale (SCF), Centennial (APA) for Denver, San Francisco International (SFO), Washington Dulles International (IAD), Nashville International (BNA), Boise Air Terminal (BOI), Aspen-Pitkin County (ASE), San Antonio International (SAT), Naples Municipal (APF), Boeing Field (BFI) in Seattle and Chicago Executive (PWK). The business aviation fields around the big markets have pages as well: Westchester County (HPN), Republic (FRG) and Morristown Municipal (MMU) for New York, Fort Lauderdale Executive (FXE), Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International (FLL), Palm Beach International (PBI) and Boca Raton (BCT) in South Florida, John Wayne Orange County (SNA) and Hollywood Burbank (BUR) for Los Angeles, Chicago Midway International (MDW), and the resort fields at Jackson Hole (JAC), Friedman Memorial (SUN) in Sun Valley, Eagle County Regional (EGE) for Vail, Nantucket Memorial (ACK) and Santa Barbara Municipal (SBA). Each of these airports has its own page, for example flyupleg.com/empty-legs/airports/teb, listing the live legs at that field in both directions.
More than sixty US metros do, at flyupleg.com/empty-legs, chosen in September 2026 from the cities carrying live legs plus the charter markets people search for. The five with the most live legs when the pages were chosen were New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami and Houston. The rest run from Boston, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and Pittsburgh through Palm Beach, Naples, Fort Myers, Sarasota, Tampa, Orlando and Panama City Beach, Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville and New Orleans, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Oklahoma City and Kansas City, Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis and Grand Rapids, Denver, Aspen, Vail, Telluride, Jackson Hole, Sun Valley, Bozeman and Salt Lake City, Scottsdale and Phoenix, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Palm Springs, San Francisco, Napa and Lake Tahoe, to Seattle and Honolulu, with Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, The Hamptons and Hilton Head for the summer. Each page lists the live legs in and out of that metro, and every pair of metros with a leg between them has a route page in both directions, for example flyupleg.com/empty-legs/new-york-to-miami.
Email [email protected] with your empty legs, or a link to wherever you already publish them. There is no portal to maintain.
The board is live and free to browse. Nothing is owed until an operator confirms your request.
The routes with the most legs posted at the moment. Every row opens the route page.
| What UpLeg is | An air charter broker under 14 CFR Part 295, the Department of Transportation (DOT) rules for brokers; UpLeg LLC, a California company |
|---|---|
| Who flies you | FAA-certificated Part 135 operators, named before you pay |
| What the board lists | Empty legs on flights that depart from or arrive in the United States, updated every 30 minutes |
| How many are live | Counted on the board and in the Empty Leg Index at the moment each page loads |
| What is quoted by hand | Empty legs that were never published, and full charters, one-way or round trip |
| Prices | The operator-listed price, or an estimated total marked as an estimate; one final price before you agree |
| What UpLeg does not sell | Memberships, jet cards, seats on a shared flight |
| Contact | [email protected] |
Two things are essential to check before you agree to any private flight, whoever arranges it: the name of the operator and its cancellation policy. UpLeg sends both with the final price. This is important because the operator, not the broker, flies the aircraft, and its own terms govern the refund of anything you paid it if a leg is withdrawn.
As of
These terms mean the same thing on every UpLeg page and in every quote. On the board, listed means that the operator published the price itself, and estimated means that UpLeg computed the range and marked it as an estimate. Part 135 refers to the FAA rules an operator flies under, and Part 295 refers to the Department of Transportation rules UpLeg works under as an air charter broker. This is important because the operator, not UpLeg, flies the aircraft and holds operational control of every flight.
Terms as of
How an empty leg, a private jet charter and a jet card differ in what you buy, what you pay and who sets the route and dates.
| Aspect | Empty leg | Private jet charter | Jet card |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you buy | The whole aircraft on a flight it was making anyway | The whole aircraft for a trip built around you | Prepaid hours or dollars, drawn down per flight |
| Price | Up to 75% under retail charter; one final price before you book | Retail, quoted per trip; one final price before you book | Fixed hourly rates, paid in advance |
| Route and dates | Set by the aircraft's schedule | Yours | Yours, with the program's notice period |
| Commitment to ask | None: no deposit, no card on file | None: a quote is free | A prepaid balance, often on a term |
| Who flies you | An FAA-certificated Part 135 operator, named before you pay | An FAA-certificated Part 135 operator, named before you pay | The program's own or partner operators |
| Can it change | Yes: the operator can withdraw the leg if its schedule changes | Rarely: the trip is yours once confirmed | Rarely |
| Best for | Flexible dates on a common route, one direction | Fixed dates, round trips, groups, unusual routes | Frequent flyers who want a fixed rate |
| On UpLeg | The live board at flyupleg.com/flights | A free quote at flyupleg.com/charter | Not offered |
The six cabin classes on the board's cabin filter, by the trip each one typically flies and who it suits. Every empty leg and charter on UpLeg is listed under one of them.
| Cabin class | Typical trip | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Turboprop | Up to about 2 hours | A few people on a short hop, small airports |
| Light jet | 2 to 3 hours | A small group inside a region |
| Midsize | 3 to 4 hours | A group that wants room to work or eat |
| Super midsize | 4 to 5 hours, coast to coast | A full team, a stand-up cabin |
| Heavy | 5 to 7 hours | A larger group, overnight flights |
| Ultra long range | 8 hours and more | Intercontinental trips without a stop |