Yacht Charter Basics
APA, VAT, and why the number on the contract is not the number you pay
Three letters cause more client confusion than anything else in charter brokerage. Here is what APA means, where VAT fits, and how to explain both without losing the deal.
2026-09-16 · 4 min read
A client sees a charter fee of €100,000 and assumes the week costs €100,000. It rarely does, and the gap between the two numbers is where trust is either built or lost.
The fee is not the cost
On top of the charter fee a client pays:
- APA, an advance provisioning allowance, typically 25 to 35% of the fee, held against fuel, food, dockage and other expenses
- VAT where it applies, which depends on the yacht's flag, the cruising area and where the charter begins
- Gratuity, usually discretionary, and expected in most markets
The APA is an advance, not a charge. Whatever is not spent is returned, which is exactly why the reconciliation at the end of the charter matters as much as the quote at the start.
Why brokers get this wrong
Because quoting a fee alone is easier, and because a client who is surprised at the end is a client who does not come back. Explaining the structure properly in the first conversation does two things at once: it protects the relationship, and it filters out enquiries that were never going to close.
The line to remember
When a client gives you a budget, treat it as the total they are willing to spend, not the fee they are willing to pay. Work backwards from there. It changes which yachts you present, and it is the difference between a broker who sounds like a salesperson and one who sounds like an advisor.
Want to work on this properly?
The academy takes each of these ideas and turns them into a process you can run, with real enquiries to practise on.