When and Why to Use a Charter Broker

What does a middleman add to your bareboat charter vacation?

- Zuzana Prochazka

Thanks to Google, there’s very little you can’t find online these days. So why, you might ask, would you need an intermediary or agent to book a bare boat charter vacation? The answer is that you don’t need one. However, you may gain value by using one, depending on where, when and how you want to experience your sailing sojourn.

A charter broker works like a travel agent, representing numerous charter companies in a region or around the globe. They have relationships with various organizations and can do the legwork for you in terms of identifying local companies, comparing prices and providing user reviews of the bases or even of the individual vessels. Think of them as a kind of Expedia for charter boats.

Brokers operate on a commission that is not paid by you, either directly or indirectly, through any kind of higher pricing. Instead, they get volume-booking discounts, which allow them to make a profit by giving you the same price you would get by going direct. In some cases, they may be privy to real-time deals that will allow them to also pass some of the savings on to you.

WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU