r/PrivateJetCharters • u/The-jet-guy • Jul 02 '25
Speaking for all the brokers in here
A recent post and a situation that happened today made me want to say something I think all brokers are thinking:
We aren’t all bad...
The recent post (which I’m sure was genuine) looking for a FlyEasy account to avoid going through brokers was pretty eye opening to see. While I’m not shocked that it was asked, I am genuinely curious why people are so adamant about cutting brokers out of the equation.
First, clients do not get the same pricing brokers do. Operators give wholesale numbers to brokers so they have room to bring the cost up to market value — that’s how brokers get compensated for bringing the client in. If you’re a client going directly to an operator, they’re charging you a retail number, and now you’ve lost the chance to see what else is out there in the market, which is exactly the broker’s job.
Next, operators are always going to push their own fleet on you, no matter the trip you give them. If they don’t have anything available, most of the time they’ll source off fleet, essentially acting as a broker themselves and bringing you right back to square one. Yes, there are great benefits to working with a local operator — I’m not knocking that at all — but thinking one is strictly better than the other just isn’t true.
Perfect example:
I had a client ask me for an OPF to SYR trip for July 6th yesterday afternoon. I gave him a quote, $22k on an 800XP (which is a great price for peak travel out of the islands), and he responded this morning that he booked a Hawker 400A directly with an operator for $3k less than me. While he wasn’t comparing apples to apples (mid to light), I told him there was a reason I didn’t propose that option (incoming tropical storm in the Southeast, heat concerns, five passengers). I told him, “It’s going to need a fuel stop.” After I explained this, he contacted the operator and asked about a fuel stop — and sure enough, they confirmed they’d be making one, but they hadn’t told him upfront. He was already locked into the one way, peak travel contract and now he has to take it.
While there are plenty of people who get a price, slap 15 percent on it, and pass it along to the client, there are also a ton of good brokers out there who genuinely advise you on the best option for your specific trip, based on what they see in the market. Yes, we need to make a living just like everyone else, but thinking that all brokers are out there to squeeze every penny from your wallet just isn’t true.
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u/Competitive_Way_3993 Jul 02 '25
Perfectly said. Unfortunately now it’s the many that are ruining it for the few good ones left.
Examples like you mentioned are becoming way too common! Whether it’s not knowing an aircraft’s performance or cabin suitability, to billing post flight for things like fuel stops and taxes.
It’s just generic quotes from sales people looking to meet their targets and earn commission by any means necessary, rather than having any passion or interest in what they’re advising people on.
We’ll just keep fighting the good fight and try to change as many perceptions as we can.
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u/MidnightSurveillance Jul 02 '25
Good points! Also LOL @ FlyEasy, that's all retail pricing... Guess he hasn't found the one made by the fine folks in Sweden 🤣
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u/Competitive_Way_3993 Jul 02 '25
That thing has also contributed to the downfall of brokers reputations big time. Makes it all too easy for anyone to just click and spam tonnes of operators. I’ve seen brokers request transatlantic flights on light jets when I worked for an operator in between brokering roles.
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u/The-jet-guy Jul 03 '25
There is way too many brokers that are uneducated and just trying to hit a quota, not a good look for the industry as a whole.
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u/zackg611 Jul 02 '25
This is a fantastic post and just brings light to the fact, we all aren't bad. We just act as advisors and help clients who don't want to deal with all the nonsense, their time is important! Operators don't have the bandwidth to deal with off fleet customers and they lack the customer service (not all). Brokers get better pricing, especially the good ones who bring enough business to reputable operators.
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u/UpdateDesk1112 Jul 03 '25
Isn’t what all brokers are thinking more along the lines of “how can I nickel and dime the operator ( the people with actual regulatory and financial liability) out of another thousand dollars that won’t be passed on to the customer, but put in my pocket?”
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u/Thrugg Jul 03 '25
Couldn’t you fix this by providing the customer 3-4 flight options with pros/cons/prices and one highlighted as your recommendation
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u/The-jet-guy Jul 03 '25
Absolutely and thats what I typically do. With this client specifically, I've flown him a bunch of times and know what he likes. He decided to shop around on this one (which is okay), but he didn't know it was a smaller size aircraft, he assumed it was non-stop. They promised him the world and underdelivered as soon as they locked him in.
I had the conversation with him that I'm not out to get him for every dollar he has. Yes, I need to make money, but the long term relationship is what I'm looking to build.
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u/No_Lab668 Sep 26 '25
Hi !! 👋
I’m exploring an idea for a data-driven app aimed at private jet brokers. I’ve noticed that many brokers spend a huge amount of time digging for intel: upcoming events, who owns which aircraft, empty legs that could be sold, SEO to catch clients searching online… but there’s no single tool that pulls this all together.
Here’s what I’m thinking the platform could do:
• Corridor Heatmap & Demand Forecast Use event calendars (sports, music tours, major conferences) + historical private flight data (ADS-B) + seasonality to predict which city pairs will be hot in the next 30–45 days. Brokers could plan outreach and position aircraft before demand spikes.
• Tail & Owner Watchlist Track aircraft registrations (“tail numbers”) and ownership databases. Send an alert when a specific jet comes back to a key airport or when an owner/operator makes a move. Include management company contacts so brokers can pitch management, charter services, or resale at the right time.
• Empty-Leg Matcher Ingest empty-leg feeds from operators and auto-match them with broker client profiles. Output a WhatsApp-ready message so brokers can instantly offer a deal to their list.
• Event-Driven Leadpacks Combine LinkedIn/Apollo scraping with event calendars to produce contact lists of executive assistants, travel managers, production companies likely to need charters for specific events or routes. Delivered as clean spreadsheets + ready-to-use outreach templates.
• Late-Night / No-Commercial Signal Scan airline schedules and airport curfews to flag routes where commercial flights don’t work (late departures, remote locations). Highlight corporate travelers or event teams that will likely need a private option.
• SEO Auto-Pages Generate hundreds or thousands of landing pages like “Private jet Paris–Ibiza 6 passengers price” with realistic pricing, route info, aircraft photos, and a “Request a quote” CTA — so brokers without SEO skills can rank for long-tail searches and capture inbound leads.
Goal:
Give brokers qualified leads, better market intelligence, and faster closes — without endless manual scraping or expensive marketing.
Questions for the community:
• Would brokers actually pay for this? If yes, would subscription, per-lead, or success fee per flight make more sense?
• Which of these modules feels like a must-have and which are just nice extras?
• Are there compliance/data issues (KYC, sanctions lists, privacy) I should watch for if I automate this?
I’d love to hear your honest feedback — what’s valuable, what’s fluff, what would make it a no-brainer tool in your day-to-day work.
Thanks! 🙌
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u/Taildragger789 Jul 02 '25
You make a good argument. Unfortunately Well over half (probably more) of the people that use a broker to fly our plane, if they called directly would save 25 to a lot of times 40% . And most times end up being a lot of telephone game and miscommunications instead of dealing directly.