How does Trip Finder work?
The map is every empty leg on the board right now (2,544 of them), refreshed every 30 minutes from the operators who publish them. Put in where you are flying from and to, and Trip Finder shows the ones that fit.
- Exact match
- A leg from your city to your city, inside your dates. Nothing to bend.
- Close
- A leg from an airport near your city, or a day or two outside your dates. You set how far with the nearby-airports dial: 50 miles to start, up to 150, and it tells you how many more legs the wider search finds. Each one marks what is different.
What happens when you send
- You pick the legs you like and send them together: each becomes its own request. Nothing fits? Set an alert and we email you when a leg on your route is listed. Nothing is booked and nothing is owed.
- We ask the operator of each flight you picked. We also look at jets already flying past your route and ask whether they would stop for you, and beyond the board for the same trip. A stop is the operator's call and changes the price, so it is asked about, never promised.
- Every operator that confirms gets you one exact total for that flight, to say yes or no to. Every flight is flown by an FAA-certificated Part 135 operator.
Want to hear when a leg posts on your route? Set a flight alert.
More about finding an empty leg with Trip Finder
What is Trip Finder?
Trip Finder is UpLeg's empty leg search for one trip: you give it a route, your dates and the seats you need, and it checks every empty leg on the UpLeg board and shows the exact matches and the close ones, from a nearby airport or a day or two off. The legs you pick go to UpLeg together, a request for each, and asking costs nothing.
Trip Finder is for anyone with a trip in mind and some room on the dates or the airports: a family flying to a holiday home, a team going to a meeting, a flyer who saw one leg on the board and wants to know what else could work. An empty leg costs significantly less than a charter of the same aircraft, but it flies on the aircraft’s schedule, not yours, and Trip Finder is where the two are matched.
What does Trip Finder search right now?
| Empty legs it searches right now | 2,544 |
|---|---|
| Airports on the board | 532 |
| How often the board is updated | Every 30 minutes, from the operators who publish their empty legs |
| Which flights | Flights that depart from or arrive in the United States |
| Who flies them | FAA-certificated Part 135 operators, named before you agree to anything |
| Match groups | Exact and close (an airport within 150 miles or up to two days off) |
| Cost to search or to ask | Nothing: no account to search, no deposit, no card on file |
The figures are the live UpLeg board at the moment this page loaded. This is important because empty legs come and go every day: a leg that sells or expires leaves the board, and the next search no longer shows it.
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Where are the most empty legs right now?
According to the live UpLeg board at the moment this page loaded, these are the airports and the routes with the most empty legs. They are a good place to start a search, and the Empty Leg Index at flyupleg.com/empty-leg-index has the full picture: the busiest cities, the median listed price by cabin and how far ahead legs are posted.
| Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) | 275 legs |
|---|---|
| Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport (OPF) | 179 legs |
| Teterboro Airport (TEB) | 178 legs |
| Van Nuys Airport (VNY) | 136 legs |
| Scottsdale Airport (SCF) | 105 legs |
| Naples Municipal Airport (APF) | 100 legs |
| McClellan-Palomar Airport (CLD) | 96 legs |
| William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) | 88 legs |
| San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport (OAK) | 81 legs |
| Westchester County Airport (HPN) | 68 legs |
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How do you find an empty leg with Trip Finder?
- Step 1. Put in the trip. Your departure and your arrival, each a city or one airport, the day or the range of days you could fly, and how many seats you need.
- Step 2. Set how far you would travel. The nearby-airports dial starts at 50 miles and widens each end up to 150, and it tells you how many more legs the widest setting finds. A nearby airport is often a short drive and a much better price.
- Step 3. Read the matches. Exact matches come first, then close matches, and every card is marked with what differs: an airport near your city or days moved. If nothing is exact or close, set an alert and we email you when a leg on your route is listed.
- Step 4. Sort and pick. Sort each group by best match, lowest price or soonest, and tick the legs you like in the order you prefer them.
- Step 5. Send the ones you like. Give your name, your email and a US mobile number, or nothing more if you are signed in. Each one becomes its own request. We ask each operator, and if none works out we look beyond the board for the same trip.
- Step 6. Say yes or no. When an operator confirms, you get one exact total for the whole aircraft with the operator named, and nothing is owed until you agree to it.
How does Trip Finder compare with other ways to find a flight?
Trip Finder is one of four ways to look for an empty leg, and the only one that starts from your trip. The second table sets an empty leg beside the two other ways to fly private, for the trip no empty leg fits.
| Method | Trip Finder | Browsing the board | Flight alert | Operator websites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you give it | Your route, your dates and the seats you need | Nothing up front; filter by route, date, cabin or price as you go | A route and, if you like, a range of dates | A visit to each operator's site, one at a time |
| What you get | The legs on the board that fit your trip or come close, in two groups: exact and close | Every live leg on the board, from every operator UpLeg reads | An email when a leg posts on that route | That one operator's legs |
| Near misses | Shown and marked: an airport within the distance you set, or a day or two off | Only the ones you think to search for | Only legs on the route you set | Only that operator's |
| A leg nobody published | Send your closest picks and UpLeg also asks the operators around both ends | Not shown | Not shown | Only by calling the operator |
| Best when | You have a trip in mind and some room on dates or airports | You are open about where and when | Nothing fits yet and you can wait | You already fly with one operator |
| Aspect | Empty leg | Private jet charter | Jet card |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you buy | The whole aircraft on a flight it was making anyway | The whole aircraft for a trip built around you | Prepaid hours or dollars, drawn down per flight |
| Price | Up to 75% under retail charter; one final price before you book | Retail, quoted per trip; one final price before you book | Fixed hourly rates, paid in advance |
| Route and dates | Set by the aircraft's schedule | Yours | Yours, with the program's notice period |
| Commitment to ask | None: no deposit, no card on file | None: a quote is free | A prepaid balance, often on a term |
| Who flies you | An FAA-certificated Part 135 operator, named before you pay | An FAA-certificated Part 135 operator, named before you pay | The program's own or partner operators |
| Can it change | Yes: the operator can withdraw the leg if its schedule changes | Rarely: the trip is yours once confirmed | Rarely |
| Best for | Flexible dates on a common route, one direction | Fixed dates, round trips, groups, unusual routes | Frequent flyers who want a fixed rate |
| On UpLeg | The live board at flyupleg.com/flights | A free quote at flyupleg.com/charter | Not offered |
Why search by trip instead of by route?
An empty leg exists because an aircraft has to be somewhere else, so it flies on the aircraft’s route and dates, not yours. A list sorted by route shows only the legs that happen to join your two cities on your day, and it is essential to see the rest: the leg from the next airport over and the one a day later.
New York, for example, is served by Teterboro, Westchester County, Republic and Morristown, and Los Angeles by Van Nuys, Burbank and John Wayne Orange County; a leg from any of them may suit the same trip. Trip Finder searches every airport within the distance you set and says how far each one is from your city, so the drive is a number you can weigh, not a guess.
On October 3, 2026, for example, a search from New York to Miami with any dates found 7 exact matches and 18 close matches: 25 options for one trip. This is important because the option that suits you best, on price or on timing, is not always the exact one.
When you send your picks, we also check the jets already flying past your route and ask the operator whether it would stop for you. A stop is the operator’s decision and changes the price, so Trip Finder does not list these jets: they are something we ask about, never a promise. Exact and close matches are listed legs, but nothing is held for you until the operator confirms.
Questions about finding an empty leg
Where can I find private jet empty legs in the US?
On UpLeg, at flyupleg.com. For a trip you have in mind, start with Trip Finder at flyupleg.com/trip-finder: give it your route, your dates and the seats you need, and it checks every empty leg on the board and shows the exact matches and the legs that come close, from a nearby airport or a day or two off. To browse instead, the board at flyupleg.com/flights gathers the empty legs published by FAA-certificated Part 135 operators and is updated every half hour, and each US city and major route has its own page at flyupleg.com/empty-legs. A free alert emails you when a leg posts on your route.
How do I find an empty leg for my trip and dates?
Put the trip into Trip Finder at flyupleg.com/trip-finder. An empty leg flies on the aircraft’s own route and dates, so a trip often has no exact match; Trip Finder also shows the legs that come close, from an airport within the distance you set (up to 150 miles) or a day or two either side of your dates, each with what differs marked. Sort them by best match, lowest price or soonest, tick the ones you like and send them together, a request for each. If none works out, UpLeg asks the operators around both ends for a leg that was never published.
How does Trip Finder work?
You give Trip Finder the route, your dates, the seats and how far you would travel to a nearby airport, at flyupleg.com/trip-finder. It shows every leg on the board that fits exactly and the legs that come close, from a nearby airport or a day or two off. Send the ones you like together, a request for each. If none works out we search beyond the board for another empty leg. Asking costs nothing. Step 1. Tell us the trip. At flyupleg.com/trip-finder give the route, your dates, the seats and how far you would travel to a nearby airport. Step 2. See the legs that fit or come close. Exact matches, and legs from a nearby airport or a day or two off, on a map with each difference marked. Step 3. Send the ones you like. We ask about each one separately, and every operator that confirms comes back with one final price and the operator named. If none works out, we search beyond the board for another empty leg, flown like every leg by an FAA-certificated Part 135 operator. Step 4. Say yes or no. Nothing is owed for asking. A request becomes a booking only when the operator has confirmed and you have agreed to the total.
What is a close match in Trip Finder?
A close match is a leg that differs from your trip in one or two ways: it leaves from or lands at an airport within the distance you set from your city, up to 150 miles, or it flies up to two days outside your dates. Each card says what is different, for example “Lands 42 mi north of Miami”, so you can weigh the drive or the day against the price.
What is an on-the-way leg?
An on-the-way leg is an empty leg already flying past a trip's route that might stop to pick the flyer up or set them down, for example a New York to Miami leg setting someone down in Atlanta. Trip Finder does not list them: once a trip is sent, UpLeg checks the jets flying past its route and asks the operator whether it would stop. A stop is the operator's decision and changes the price, so it is something UpLeg asks about, never a promise. If an operator agrees to stop, the stop is in the one total you are quoted before you agree to anything.
How current are the legs in Trip Finder?
As current as the board. Trip Finder searches the live UpLeg board, which lists each leg as published by its operator and is updated every half hour. A leg that sells or expires leaves the board, and if a leg you picked has gone by the time you send, the answer says so and the request goes ahead with the rest.
Does Trip Finder cost anything, and do I need an account?
Searching costs nothing and needs no account. To send a trip you give your name, your email and a US mobile number, or nothing more if you are signed in. Asking costs nothing and there is no deposit: a request becomes a booking only when an operator has confirmed and you have agreed to one total.
Key terms
These terms mean the same thing on every UpLeg page and in every quote. On the board, listed means that the operator published the price itself, and estimated means that UpLeg computed the range and marked it as an estimate. Part 135 refers to the FAA rules an operator flies under, and Part 295 refers to the Department of Transportation rules UpLeg works under as an air charter broker. This is important because the operator, not UpLeg, flies the aircraft and holds operational control of every flight.
- Trip Finder
- Trip Finder is UpLeg's empty leg search for one trip: you give it a route, your dates and the seats you need, and it checks every empty leg on the UpLeg board and shows the exact matches and the close ones, from a nearby airport or a day or two off. The legs you pick go to UpLeg together, a request for each, and asking costs nothing. More on the Trip Finder
- On-the-way leg
- An on-the-way leg is an empty leg already flying past a trip's route that might stop to pick the flyer up or set them down, for example a New York to Miami leg setting someone down in Atlanta. Trip Finder does not list them: once a trip is sent, UpLeg checks the jets flying past its route and asks the operator whether it would stop. A stop is the operator's decision and changes the price, so it is something UpLeg asks about, never a promise. More on on-the-way legs
- Empty leg
- An empty leg is a private jet flight that has to happen anyway, with nobody on board, because the aircraft is repositioning after one charter or before the next. Operators sell that flight for the whole aircraft at a fraction of the charter price, on the aircraft's own route and dates. More on empty legs
- Estimated total
- An estimated total is UpLeg's estimate, shown as a range and marked as an estimate, for an empty leg the operator posted without a price. Every booking gets one final price for the whole aircraft before you agree to anything. More on estimated totals
- Part 135 operator
- A Part 135 operator is an air carrier the FAA has certificated under 14 CFR Part 135 to fly on-demand charter with its own aircraft, pilots and maintenance program. Every empty leg and charter on UpLeg is flown by one. More on Part 135 operators
Terms as of