How much do empty leg flights cost?

What empty legs cost today, by cabin

The table is read from the live board each time this page is requested, so it is never last month's snapshot. Only legs whose operator published a price count toward a median. Where UpLeg estimated the price instead, that leg is left out, and a cabin appears only once it has enough listed legs for a fair median. Every figure is a total for the whole aircraft, not a seat.

A median is the middle leg, not the cheapest one: half the listed legs in that cabin ask less than the figure and half ask more. That makes it a fair picture of a typical leg and a poor guide to any single one. On any given day the spread is wide. A short hop on a light jet posted for tomorrow can sit far under its cabin's median, and a coast-to-coast heavy jet leg far above it.

What moves the price

Five things decide where a leg lands against its cabin's median. None of them is a secret, and the first two do most of the work.

• Cabin class. A turboprop or a light jet costs less per hour to fly than a midsize or a heavy jet, and the leg's price follows. The cabin classes guide explains what each class is and what it is for.
• Distance and block time. Fuel, crew hours and engine time all scale with the hours in the air, so a three-hour leg asks more than a one-hour leg on the same aircraft.
• How close to departure. An unsold leg flies empty, so the operator has every reason to sell it before it does, and a listing can be repriced as the date approaches. The board re-reads every operator's listings every half hour, so a change shows up quickly.
• Whether the operator published a price or UpLeg estimated one. Many legs are listed without a price. Those get an estimated total from UpLeg's model, marked as an estimate, built from the cabin, the route and what that operator's own listed legs have cost. An estimate can be off in either direction, which is why the final price is confirmed with the operator before you agree.
• Demand on the route that week. A leg into a city with a big event that weekend has more people asking about it than the same leg in a quiet week, and the operator has less reason to move on price.

Estimated total versus the final price

Every price on the board is shown as an estimated total: a range around the operator's published price where there is one, and around UpLeg's own estimate where there is not. The range is there because a published figure is a starting point, not a contract. The total for your date, your passenger count and your airports is confirmed with the operator after you request.

That confirmation comes to you as one final price for the whole aircraft, fees and taxes included, before you agree to anything. Nothing is added after you say yes. If the final price is not what you hoped, you say no and that is the end of it; asking costs nothing. The FAQ covers the other questions people ask at this point.

How an empty leg compares with a charter

The comparison that matters is with a charter of the same aircraft, because that is the alternative. A charter is priced by the hour. The rates below are the typical 2026 US retail hourly rates by cabin, aircraft only, researched by UpLeg from public rate cards.

A charter total is the hours your trip takes multiplied by the rate, plus crew, positioning, fees and taxes, quoted as one total. Two hours on a midsize jet is about $9,800 for the aircraft alone, and the quote turns that into one number by adding the rest.

Set an empty leg against that and the saving is plain. The same midsize jet repositioning on the same route can list at up to 75% below its retail charter price, because the operator's alternative is flying it empty. The charter cost guide works through the hourly maths on three real routes.

Who pays what

You pay for the flight once, to the operator or to UpLeg, as your quote says. The quote states one total and names who it is payable to; you never pay both for the same flight, and you pay nothing until you have agreed to that total. UpLeg is compensated for arranging the booking, and that compensation is included in the total you agree to, never added afterwards; we confirm it on request.

Asking costs nothing. There is no deposit to request a leg, no membership and no card on file. If the operator cannot confirm the leg, or the final price is not for you, nothing is owed.

Where the numbers come from

The medians above are the same read as the Empty Leg Index, UpLeg's live page of US empty leg data: how many legs are posted right now, the busiest routes and airports, and the median operator-listed price by cabin. Both are recomputed from the board on every visit, and both leave UpLeg's estimates out of every median price, so a modelled number can never pass as an operator's.

If you cite a figure from this page or from the Index, cite it with the timestamp shown next to it. The board changes every half hour, and a median quoted without its date is a number nobody can check.

Ways to pay less

The price of a leg is the operator's; which leg you choose is yours. Four habits find the cheaper ones.

• Let the dates move. The cheapest legs are the ones flying on the aircraft's schedule, not yours. A trip that can slide by a day or two has several legs to choose from where a fixed date has one.
• Widen the airports. A city has more than one airport private jets use, and a leg from the one across town can cost a fraction of a leg from the one you had in mind. Every major US city has its own page listing legs from all of its airports, departing and arriving.
• Set a free flight alert for your route and dates. It emails you when a matching leg posts, which is often the moment a good price is there to be had.
• Ask for one that is not listed. A specialized inquiry gives us the route, how far you would travel to a nearby airport, your dates and the most you would pay, and we look for a leg that never went on anyone's website. If none fits, we quote a charter for the same trip, so you still have a number.

For what an empty leg is in the first place, and why it can be priced this way at all, start with what an empty leg flight is.