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The number on a charter quote is rarely the number on the final invoice. A $500K base fee on a 45m Med charter routinely settles between $720K and $850K once VAT, APA, gratuity, dockage uplifts, and the items that never make the original sheet are added. The gap is not always a broker hiding anything. Most of it is industry convention. The standard MYBA contract bundles a base fee, an APA percentage, and a separate VAT line, and lets everything else float as documented spend inside or outside APA.
This is a teardown of the 12 cost lines that sit outside the base quote, with 2026 ranges for a representative 45m motor yacht charter in the Mediterranean. We have used delivered-invoice data from the 2024 and 2025 seasons, cross-checked against three central agents and two charter management firms. Where data thins, we flag the assumption.
What is actually in the base fee
Before we walk through what is outside the quote, it helps to be precise about what is inside. The base charter fee covers the yacht, the crew, ordinary depreciation, insurance, certification, the standard water-toy fleet on the inventory list, and the charter management overhead. It does not cover fuel, food, drink, dockage at marinas other than the home base, communications, shoreside transport, water-toy fuel, helicopter time, dive operations, or any consumable. Those items are operational expenses and are funded by APA or paid direct.
A clean MYBA quote will say: base fee, APA percentage, VAT rate, gratuity guidance. That is four lines. The other eight on the final invoice are the ones we are about to walk through.
The 12 lines outside the quote
VAT. Mediterranean charters pay VAT on the base fee, on a sliding rate set by the country of embarkation and the territorial-waters offset rules. French charters cleared with the French commercial exemption (with at least 70% of the cruise outside French territorial waters) can drop the effective rate to roughly 10% on the in-waters portion. Italian charters benefit from the territorial-waters offset that brings the effective rate to around 6.6% to 13.2% depending on routing. Croatia is a flat 13%, Greece a flat 12% on charters longer than 48 hours starting from a Greek port. For Atlantic and Caribbean charters, VAT is generally not applicable but local hospitality taxes can replace it. Budget 10% to 22% of the base fee on a typical Med charter.
APA. Standard is 25% to 35% of the base fee, paid in advance, reconciled with receipts at the end of the week. On a 45m Med charter that is roughly $125K to $175K on a $500K base. APA covers fuel, food, drink, port and marina fees, anchorage permits, laundry, crew shoreside transport, fishing licenses, and any operational consumable. Unspent funds are refunded. Overspend is settled at the end of the charter, in cash or by wire, before disembarkation. For the actual overspend frequency, see our APA versus actual cost analysis.
Crew gratuity. Conventionally 5% to 15% of the base fee, by region. Med is 10% to 15%, Caribbean 10% to 20%, the Bahamas and the BVIs closer to 15% to 20%, expedition destinations like French Polynesia and Patagonia tend to settle around 12%. On a $500K base, plan $50K to $75K. This is not optional in practice. The yacht returns to charter the following week and crew turnover punishes both sides if gratuity is short.
Dockage uplifts outside the home port. APA covers dockage at the daily average for the route, but every Med season has a Monaco Grand Prix night, a Cannes Film Festival week, or a Saint-Tropez August Saturday where dockage is multiples of the planning rate. A 45m in Monaco Port Hercule on Grand Prix night can be charged 8,000 to 16,000 euros per night, against a planning rate of roughly 2,500 to 4,000. The overage runs through APA but most APA budgets do not assume two such nights. Plan a $10K to $25K cushion for any week that includes a marquee date.
Helicopter time. If the yacht has a touch-and-go helideck and you bring a helicopter aboard for tender or transfer use, the helicopter itself is the charter client's cost. A light twin (AW109 or H145) chartered in the Med runs roughly $4,500 to $7,000 per flight hour, with a typical day-rate minimum of $25K to $40K. The yacht does not bill helicopter fuel through APA. Helicopter fuel is invoiced direct from the operator.
Communications. Starlink Maritime has compressed this line significantly since 2023, but yachts still bill VSAT or Inmarsat usage outside coastal coverage. A two-week charter through the Tyrrhenian or Aegean rarely incurs more than $500 to $1,500. An Indian Ocean or Pacific charter can be $5K to $15K depending on plan. Ask whether Starlink is unmetered or capped.
Customs and immigration clearance. A multi-country Med charter (France-Italy-Spain or France-Italy-Monaco) carries clearance fees in each port of entry, agent fees, and occasional crew visa renewals. Plan $1,500 to $4,000 per cross-border week. Caribbean inter-island clearance is cheaper and quicker but still $300 to $1,000 per stop.
Provisioning above the planning rate. Crew chefs build provisioning lists from your pre-charter preference sheet. Vegan, kosher, halal, Whole30, allergen-restricted, or single-origin caviar preferences all push the provisioning line. We have seen pre-charter forms requesting $400-per-100g caviar, A5 Wagyu daily, and Krug Clos d'Ambonnay across a week. Those preferences land as five-figure provisioning overruns. The chef will deliver. The invoice will follow.
Wines, spirits, and Champagne above the standard list. Crew will provision a standard cellar to the dietary brief at retail. Vintage and rare bottles are bought against your written request and pass through at retail plus the chief stew's procurement time. A standing order for Salon, Krug Clos du Mesnil, or vintage Domaine de la Romanée-Conti will not be sitting on the yacht from previous weeks. It is procured for you, with the cost charged in full.
Water-toy fuel and dive operations. The inventory list shows the toys included. The fuel they burn is a documented APA line. A 45m yacht running two jet skis, a SeaBob, a tender for water-ski tows, and a dive compressor for guests will burn $3K to $8K of water-toy fuel across a week. Dive courses, refresher courses, instructor day rates, and tank fills sit on top of that. PADI Open Water for two guests is an additional $1,200 to $2,500 in the Med, more in the Caribbean.
Spa, wellness, and onboard service add-ons. A masseuse, yoga instructor, Pilates reformer instructor, or physical trainer brought aboard for the week is a separate cost. Day rates are $400 to $1,200 in the Med, plus per diem, plus the cost of joining and leaving the yacht. Most yachts have a stewardess with a massage certification; a dedicated therapist is a different proposition.
Shoreside reservations, tickets, and transport. Restaurant reservations at La Voile Rouge, Spago, Da Paolino in Capri, or Le Club 55 are booked by the chief stew. Two or three lunch reservations a week at any of those rooms is a four-figure to low-five-figure spend through APA. Ferrari Daytona SP3 to drive the Maritime Alps for an afternoon? That is a $4K to $8K vehicle hire, run through APA at the client's instruction. The crew can arrange almost anything. None of it sits in the base fee.
The summary math on a $500K Med base
Assume a 45m motor yacht, 7-night charter, embarkation Cannes, French commercial exemption applied, two marina overage nights, one helicopter day, standard provisioning brief, no dive operations, no instructors aboard.
| Line | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Base | $500K | $500K |
| VAT (effective) | $50K | $70K |
| APA at 30% | $150K | $150K |
| Marina overage above APA plan | $10K | $20K |
| Helicopter day rate | $25K | $35K |
| Gratuity at 12% | $60K | $60K |
| Communications | $500 | $1,500 |
| Customs / clearance | $1,500 | $4,000 |
| Total | ~$797K | ~$840K |
The base fee is 59% to 62% of the total spend. On a busier charter with dive ops, a wellness team, and three helicopter days, the base can fall below half the total. On a quieter shoulder-season charter from a single base, with no helicopter and a stable preference sheet, the base can hold at 70% of the total. The variance is the client's, not the yacht's.
What good brokers do
Good brokers send a planning budget alongside the quote. Not a binding number, an honest one. They list expected APA, expected VAT under the chosen flag and routing, recommended gratuity, and a flagged set of variable costs that depend on your preferences. They walk through every line in writing before contract signature. The brokers that book by phone, send only the base fee on the quote, and hand-wave the rest are setting up an invoice surprise.
We name names. Edmiston, Burgess, Y.CO, Camper & Nicholsons, Fraser, IYC, Northrop & Johnson, Ocean Independence, Cecil Wright, and Hill Robinson all produce planning budgets as standard. The smaller retail shops that re-sell central agents' inventory often do not. If your broker has not sent a planning sheet by the contract review stage, push back before the deposit goes out.
What we would pass on
We do not recommend chartering through a broker who will not put a written planning budget on top of the MYBA quote. We do not recommend chartering a yacht where the gratuity is described as "at your discretion" with no regional norm offered. We do not recommend chartering a yacht in August through Monaco Grand Prix or Cannes Film Festival weeks without a written commitment from the captain on the dockage plan and an APA top-up cushion of at least 20% above the booked figure. Surprises at the end of the week are avoidable. Most clients who report surprise invoices have a broker who did not do this work.
FAQ
What is APA on a yacht charter? Advance Provisioning Allowance, 25% to 35% of the base fee, paid up front, reconciled with receipts at week-end. Covers fuel, food, drink, dockage, communications, and operational consumables.
Is VAT included in a yacht charter quote? No. VAT is shown as a separate line, calculated on the base fee at the rate of the country of embarkation, with offsets for time outside territorial waters where applicable.
How much should I budget on top of the base fee? Plan 45% to 70% on top of the base. The high end applies to Med charters with helicopter, marquee event dates, and active social calendars. The low end applies to shoulder-season Caribbean or quieter Adriatic weeks.
Can APA go over? Yes. It does on roughly 25% to 35% of Med charters, by 10% to 20% on average. See our APA versus actual cost data for the breakdown.
Are tips ever included in the charter fee? Almost never. Some Northern European charter contracts include a service charge in lieu of gratuity, but on a MYBA-standard contract the tip is a separate, end-of-week payment to the captain, distributed to crew.
What is the cheapest week of the year to charter the Med? Repositioning weeks in May and November. Rates routinely drop 25% to 40% from peak. See our piece on the repositioning week bargain.