Charter Pricing and Economics

Boat prices vary according to season, type of boat, location, and age of boat. High season prices (Summer in the Mediterranean, Xmas and Spring Break in the Caribbean) are often double the off-season prices. Chartering in mid season or “shoulder” times, such as September in the Med, often give you the best value – great weather, fewer crowds and lower prices. If you’re not forced by school breaks or work schedules to holiday during the high seasons, we’d highly recommend going during these times. You’ll also generally get a much better selection of boats, and the charter operators will be less harried and be able to spend more time with you (Flights will be less expensive as well).

Prices listed on the site are the best we've negotiated for that particular boat at that particular time. Because of the great variety and number of boats available, we can't put every iteration on the site. For instance, if there are two Bavaria 49's in one port, we'll generally list the newest, because newer boats tend to make for happier customers. But, of course, they're usually more expensive. So if you find the the boat you really want on the site, but it's slightly higher than you'd like to pay, just contact us and we'll see if there's one that's slightly older and less expensive. We won't however, send you to a boat that's not up to our standards.

How are yacht charter prices set?

The fundamental guide for yacht pricing is that owners try to cover their true costs of investing capital in their boats through an expectation of yearly charter fees. Owner's costs include interest and depreciation, which can be substantial on a yacht. The length of the charter season has a significant impact on this equation, of course. Generally speaking, boats are only chartered for 8-12 weeks per, which means that all of these costs including paying the crew, must be covered in a very short amount of time. This is why high season prices shoot up - it's when all of the demand is, and you'll generally find during these times that similar boats go for similar prices because of the underlying economics.

This doesn't apply, of course, if the boat is "marked -up". This practice doesn't generally happen at the high end of the market because the MYBA contract doesn't allow it, and typically not for sailboat charters, because their prices are generally set at the beginning of the season and published on their web sites. Where this pricing occurs most is for day motor boats, because there are sometimes 2-4 people in the loop all putting a bit of a mark-up on the boat (such as hotel concierges or charter shops), and pricing may not be so transparent. Boatbookings.com tries to go directly to the owner/operator for these types of boats, so that you pay a fair price without unnecessary mark-ups. This is why we spend so much time "walking the docks" to find you the best boats and operators.

A note about pricing and "shopping around" for the best deals

Our job is to find you the best boat at the best price. We make our commission from the boat owner or operator, we don't add it on top. Our prices are teh same or lower than the operator would give you if you showed up at the dock or looked on their web site because we do so much business with them.

As your agent, we do the shopping around for you - we have a direct relationship with nearly all of the quality operators and speak with them on a daily basis during high booking seasons. You don't need to Google 20 sites and spend the time (and cost) emailing and calling everyone, often in foreign languages. In fact, it's counterproductive because a lot of the people you speak with will have already been contacted by us. If you've previously contacted operators, please tell us which ones, so that we don't bother them. If you're worried that our price will not be the best, we encourage you to look at one or two web sites for their price lists, and if you see a better price let us know and we'll meet it, or tell you why we didn't propose that boat! But please don't contact lots of operators and get everyone running around in circles - it's much appreciated by everyone in the charter industry.

By the way - we know you want the best deal! We've been doing this for quite a while, and know that if you get a great deal, you'll be a happy and returning customer!

Charter Economics - convincing your self and your party that chartering is affordable!

OK – you’re excited about chartering a boat, but the price may seem a bit daunting. With a little math, you will generally find that the economics of a boat are highly affordable and reasonable. Take this example:

A nice 4 Star hotel with sea view, beach, kitchen and watersports included will generally run you at least this plus you can change the view from your room whenever you want!

If you're chartering a luxury yacht, you can make a simialar calculation. It is certainly not unusual for a couple to pay €10,000 to €20,000 for a week in a luxury 5* resort. Three couples together can then afford a yacht for €30,000 to €60,000, which will get you on some of the nicest yachts in the world.