Release a flight you can't fly. Earn 50% of the auction clearing.
Most private aviation memberships handle changed plans the same way — you eat the cost. Empty Leg Club's release-to-auction mechanic does the opposite. The flight goes back to a Dutch auction visible to other members, and you keep half of whatever it clears for, paid via ACH within 7 days.
A claim becomes a position with measurable resale value.
The aircraft is moving anyway — that's what makes empty legs cheap. When a member can't fly a leg, the marginal cost of re-listing it is zero, so we do exactly that. The original claimer captures half the resale value.
Up to 24 hours before departure
Dutch auction on a fixed clock
50% of clearing, cash via ACH
Auction price steps down as departure approaches.
Each step is a published percentage of the equivalent retail charter price for that route and aircraft. The clearing price is whatever the schedule says when the first member claims.
| Time before departure | Auction price | What happens here |
|---|---|---|
| At release | 60% of retail | Starting point. A meaningful discount but close to typical empty-leg listing prices; rare clearings here. |
| 18 hours out | 50% of retail | Mid-tier members and broader bidder pool start watching seriously. |
| 12 hours out | 40% of retail | Most clearings happen between here and the 6-hour mark. |
| 8 hours out | 32% of retail | Aggressive bids land. This is the typical clearing range. |
| 6 hours out | 28% of retail | Floor approach. |
| 4 hours out | 25% of retail | Floor — final clearing window. Below this the auction expires. |
The 25% floor exists because the operator still has direct costs on the leg — fuel, crew time, FBO fees, segment charges, FET. Below that price the platform can't cover those costs even with the auction premium, so the auction expires rather than clear at a loss. If the leg reaches floor without clearing, the original claimer is fully refunded the taxes and segment fees they paid at claim.
TEB → KAPF on a Citation Sovereign. Released at T-18h. Cleared at $8,400.
A Citation Sovereign was scheduled to reposition from Teterboro to Naples. A member claimed it. Eighteen hours before departure, the member released it back to the pool because a meeting moved. The auction trajectory: started at $13,440 (60%), dropped through $11,200 at T-12h, then to $8,960 at T-8h. Cleared at $8,400 between the 12-hour and 8-hour steps as a bidder pulled the trigger — roughly 37% of equivalent retail.
The new claimer also wins. They paid $8,400 plus their own taxes for what would otherwise be a $22,400 charter — a 60%-off-retail save on a flight that's already happening. The platform takes 50% of $8,400 to fund operations.
Three structural reasons this isn't a re-skinned resale model.
If you've used third-party empty-leg listing sites before, the natural question is whether release-to-auction is just resale. It isn't — both legally and operationally — and the differences matter.
The new claimer is a member
Dutch auction, not 1:1 resale
Real money, not a future-flight voucher
The combination — vetted member-to-member, Dutch auction, cash payout — is why MiaJets is comfortable running the auction inside its FAA Part 135 operation. The aircraft never carries an unmanifested or unidentified passenger. The membership never functions as a charter broker.
Five taps from the Claimed flights view.
Open the claim
Tap Release
Confirm
Watch it clear
Get paid
No "you've released too many" cap. But the platform tracks members who claim heavily and never fly — chronic release-without-flying gets gradually deprioritized in notification waves. The mechanic exists for plans that legitimately change.
The honest answers.
Citation tier from $239 a year.
The release mechanic applies from your first claim — meaning even an aspirational claim has measurable resale value if your plans don't hold.