What a charter costs

What a charter actually costs

The headline rate is not the number you will pay. Here is the whole of it, in the order it appears on a quotation.

The charter fee

Buys the yacht and its professional crew, for your exclusive use within the agreed cruising area. Under a MYBA contract that is all it buys. Everything below is separate.

Paid in two parts: half on signature, half about a month before you board.

The APA — usually 25–35% of the fee

The Advance Provisioning Allowance is not a fee. It is an advance you place with the yacht against the running costs of your own week: fuel for the yacht and the tender, food and drink aboard, berthing and harbour dues, port and agency fees, communications.

The captain spends it on your behalf, gives you a running account during the week, and reconciles it at the end. Anything unspent comes back to you. If it runs low the captain will ask you to top it up before it runs out, not after.

Where I would push back on the usual advice: the APA percentage is a starting figure, not a forecast. A week of long passages between islands burns fuel; a week anchored off one bay does not. Ask what the boat actually used last season rather than accepting the standard 30%.

VAT

Set by the operator, not by us. It depends on where you embark, the yacht's flag and where you cruise — Italy, France, Spain, Croatia, Greece and Malta all treat it differently, and the difference is real money on a six-figure charter. We report the operator's stated treatment; we do not determine it and we will not guess at it.

The security deposit

Refundable. Held against damage and unpaid onboard spending, returned after disembarkation.

Delivery and redelivery

Charged when you want to start or finish somewhere the yacht is not. Often zero. Ask before you fall in love with an itinerary.

The crew gratuity

Customary, discretionary, and typically 5–15% of the charter fee. We mention it here rather than at disembarkation because being told about it on the last morning is how a good week ends badly.

What is never included

Anything ashore. Restaurants, bars, spa, shopping, excursions, taxis. Flights and hotels either side. Travel and cancellation insurance, which we strongly recommend and do not sell.

What we charge you

Nothing. We are paid a commission by the yacht's central agent out of the charter fee. Where no retail broker is involved the central agent keeps that share — so using us does not raise your price. If that ever changed for a particular booking we would tell you in writing before you committed to anything.