It's easy to charter a yacht with us! First, choose the location where you want to charter. Once you find a yacht you like, create an account and request a reservation. Your reservation request will be sent to a broker at YATR who manages that particular yacht. After your reservation is confirmed, we charge your credit card on file and the broker will follow up with a Charter Agreement for you to sign.

Once you confirm your reservation, your broker will process your payment.

• If you are booking for a single day and your reservation is confirmed more than 7 days in advance, a deposit of either $1,000 USD or 50% of the total cost of the reservation (whichever is greater) is processed immediately in order to hold the yacht. Once your embarkation date is 7 days away, the remainder of the amount due is processed.
• If you are booking for a single day and your reservation is made 7 days or less in advance, the total price of your reservation is processed immediately.
• If you are booking for a multi-day charter and your reservation is confirmed more than 30 days in advance, a deposit of 50% of the cost of the yacht is processed immediately in order to hold the yacht. Once your embarkation date is 30 days away, the other 50% is collected for the price of the yacht, plus the APA and the taxes due.

Terms of refunds are dictated by the Charter Agreement. Generally, once a payment is collected, it is non-refundable. In certain circumstances, as dictated by the Charter Agreement, credits can be provided so you will be able to enjoy your yacht charter at a future date that is convenient for you.

Advanced provisioning allowance (APA) is the extra fee that you pay in advance to cover the cost of provisions for your charter. It is industry standard to collect a 30-45% APA for any multi-day term charters and is paid on top of the charter fee. It helps to think of the advanced provisioning allowance as like opening a petty cash account for your captain and chef, because it’s the simplest way of tracking charter expenses while you’re on board. This APA is collected from the client and passed on to the captain and crew to provision the yacht per the client’s specifications and also used as an allowance to pay for any berthing fees and fuel fees incurred during the course of the charter. If there are any funds remaining in the APA upon disembarkation, the broker can return the remaining amount back to the client, or the client can pay the remaining funds towards the crew gratuity.

The APA covers all the day-to-day operating expenses for your yacht charter. Everything from your food and fuel to port and customs fees. It also covers any special requirements or requests you might have while you're onboard. The main costs to expect are:

• Food and drink: Before your charter, your broker will send you a preference sheet so you can request all your favorite food and beverages. This will then be used to calculate your APA estimation.
• Fuel Charges: Your fuel costs will depend on your itinerary and whether you choose to cruise or stay at anchor. Fuel costs will also be included for any toys and tenders you use during your charter.
• Harbor fees and dockage: The harbor fees and dockage costs will also depend on where and when you want to charter. For example, you can expect to pay more for a berth in Monaco during Grand Prix week.
• Communications Costs: If you plan to use the Internet or the yacht’s satellite communications while you’re onboard, this will also be factored into the APA.
• Delivery fee: This doesn’t always apply. But if you board or disembark the yacht outside of her usual port, you may need to pay a delivery fee.
• Laundry: While the yacht laundry costs are included in the charter fee, to have personal items laundered you may need to pay extra.

All of our yachts are stocked with water, soft drinks and ice along with necessities such as toilet paper, sunscreen, linens and towels. You are always welcome to bring your own supplies if you prefer them instead.

All the essentials will be waiting for you once you step foot on your yacht. If you have something specific you’d like to bring, feel free. However, we recommend packing light. Most people will want to pack bathing suits, sunglasses, boating shoes or athletic shoes. If you’re planning to visit any islands outside of your home country, please remember to bring your passport and visas (if required). If you are boating in American waters and not an American national, please remember to bring your passport with you. It is required by law and in the event you encounter the US Coast Guard, they will ask you to show it immediately. If you are a US national, then you’ll need to have a valid driver's license or any other government issued ID. If anyone in your party is prone to seasickness, over the counter medications or prescriptions may be a good idea. Soft sided luggage is recommended as it usually fits in cabin compartments and is gentle on woodwork and paint.

At YATR, your security and privacy is of the utmost importance. We use one of the largest and most trusted credit card processing partners in the world to handle all credit card transactions. Your sensitive payment details are NOT stored on our servers and we are compliant with the strictest Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard requirements. The 3% charge goes to cover the credit card processing fee and ensures we can continue to provide the highest level of security to our users.

Customer payment information is not stored on our servers. In the very unlikely scenario that our servers were to get hacked by a third party, no sensitive payment information would be found.

As long as it doesn’t conflict with the itinerary discussed with your broker and the captain, you can sail at most times of the day if weather and visibility conditions allow it. Always work with your DIGIGEN broker as they are familiar with the local laws and will be able to advise on what is possible and what is not so that you can make the most of your charter experience.

Of course! If you would like to arrange airport pickup, simply coordinate with your YATR broker and they will be happy to assist.

You’ll notice that most yachts have a cruising capacity of no more than 12 guests. This is because most local coast guards have a law in place that dictates that no more than 12 guests can be onboard a chartered yacht regardless of the size of the vessel. If you have more than 12 guests in your party, work with your yacht broker, as they may be able to assist with finding a yacht that is certified to hold more than 12 guests, or they can help arrange a multi-boat charter so your party an remain compliant with local laws and tie up together once on anchor.

Many years ago, the United States and other major yachting destinations passed several laws to protect local boat manufacturers. One such law was the Jones Act, part of which deemed that unless a vessel is a US Coast Guard Inspected Vessel, it may not carry more than 6 or 12 passengers during a paid charter. There’s a long list of factors used to determine if a boat may qualify for either a 6 or 12 persons maximum capacity while under hire, but most major yachting destinations do have a 12 guest limit unless the vessel is Coast Guard certified to hold more passengers.

Chartering a yacht for a period longer than a single day and having guests sleep aboard is what is referred to as a “Term Charter”. Some of the yachts in our fleet allow for term charters and others do not. If a listing has “multi-day charters available” listed in the features section, you may book a term charter aboard that yacht. To do so, you will simply select your embarkation and disembarkation dates and you’ll need to pay via bank transfer as opposed to credit card. You’ll also work with your broker to set an itinerary and have a meal preferences and activity sheet filled out so the crew has a detailed provisioning list for your charter.

Most yachts will be stocked with waters, soft drinks and ice for your charter. If you would like, you can always bring your own food and beverages for your charter, or you can have your broker arrange to have food and beverages delivered to your yacht prior to embarkation. Another option is to have a chef onboard for your charter that can prepare meals for you while on charter. For multi-day (term) charters, you will fill out a meal preferences sheet that will inform the crew of what meals you would like prepared for your charter and what food and beverage preferences you have, so that the boat will be provisioned exactly to your specifications, and the chef will be able to prepare a menu for you in advance of your charter for you to review and approve.

A Charter Agreement is a legal document between the broker, customer, owner and crew that outlines the key terms of your yacht charter. Among other things, it will specify your yacht’s technical specifications, charter itinerary, yacht pickup and dropoff details, insurance and cancellation terms.

Although not mandatory, it is customary to leave a gratuity for the work of the crew and the captain at the end of a charter. Most brokers recommend a tip of 15% of the charter fee. YATR automatically includes a gratuity charge of 15% for US charters and this fee is paid out to the captain and crew of each charter. If you would like to add an additional tip, you are more than welcome to pay the captain at the end of your charter. The captain will make sure any additional tips are split accordingly with the crew. If you are chartering outside of the US, you are recommended to pay the captain a tip upon disembarkation for a job well done.

In almost all cases, you are allowed to bring your own food and beverages aboard. You can work with your broker to have beverages delivered to your boat prior to embarkation. If you would like to have a chef onboard for your charter, mention this to your broker and they will be able to assist you with this.

Chartering a yacht can make for an excellent family vacation, with activities to entertain both children and adults. Please note, the crew are not responsible for watching over them and their safety. We recommend that you bring childcare if you want to truly relax and have a carefree time while ensuring your children are being looked after.

Typically pets are not allowed aboard for health and safety reasons, and sea travel can be extremely uncomfortable for animals. If you need to be accompanied by your pet for any reason, we ask that you check with your broker for the yacht’s pet policy.

In general, smoking is not permitted inside most yachts, and is strictly forbidden in any cabins or staterooms. Usually yachts will have a designated smoking area on the aft deck or flybridge, but please ask your captain and crew before lighting up.

If you are looking to do an overnight, 24-hour charter, a 2-day rate is typically charged. The reason behind this 2-day charge is that the boat is being chartered by you for the 24-hour period and we/the owner are not able to charter the boat for those 2 days.

This is known as the “rule of 6” and is industry standard. When a client is chartering a yacht for a 7-day term charter (or longer), it is customary to have every 7th day provided to the customer complimentary. So if a customer is chartering for 7 days, they are only charged a 6-day rate. If a customer charters for 2 weeks, it is customary to only charge for a 12-day rate instead of 14 days, and so forth.