Discovery Empty Legs the cheapest and most comfortable way to travel

As outlined on a previous note, an empty leg is a flight that occurs when a private jet is repositioning; that is, when it flies empty to start its next booked flight or to return to its base airport. Since this opportunity only presents itself when a customer books a one-way private charter flight, empty legs are only available on short notice. This limited period reduces the probability of finding another customer willing to pay the usual charter prices because it is very difficult to fulfill all his/her requirements (such as the type of aircraft, the specific route, departure date and time). For these reasons, empty legs are offered with discounts of up to 75% of standard jet charter prices. There are, however, other details you should know.

First, empty leg flights are usually available at a specific discounted price, according to criteria established by private operator. Most of the time, companies are willing to negotiate, offering 35% to 75% off the usual charter prices. Sometimes you can find exceptionally low prices, which are close to those offered by commercial airlines on certain routes. Second, an empty leg or empty sector is a one-way flight only. So, the customer will need to make different travel arrangements for his/her return flight. Many of our customers usually combine an empty leg flight with a commercial airline return flight.

Moreover, empty leg customers should be prepared to be flexible since empty leg flights are subject to change and even cancellation. The original customer practically owns the booked charter flight and he or she can delay the departure time or make late changes to the itinerary forcing the empty leg customer to fit their plans around them. Sometimes the empty leg customer has a degree of choice, particularly if the repositioning flight takes place the day before the original flight. In such cases, he or she may be able to select the departure time. This, however, does not happen on a regular basis.

To sum up, empty legs are not recommended if you require fixed departure times or guaranteed flights. If you can adjust your travel plans so they can match an empty leg flight opportunity, contact us; South American Jets have access to the best empty leg offers in Latin America and the Caribbean. This way you will enjoy the comfort of private jet flights and save money.