Triumph Jets, a private jet charter brokerage with offices in Chicago and Miami, today opened its 2026 holiday planning window and issued direct guidance to private charter clients: begin securing December travel by early October, before peak-season inventory tightens.
December is the most demanding month in private aviation. Aircraft fly heavy schedules across extreme conditions, from Caribbean heat to icy northern airports, and crews and fleets operate under sustained strain. Triumph Jets recommends clients target early October to begin booking, and notes that while arrangements can come together as late as the end of November, clients who find the right aircraft in mid-October for a mid-December trip should secure it rather than wait.
The company is also specific about the hardest days on the calendar. December 23, 24, and 26, along with December 30, 31, and January 1, are the most difficult travel days of the year, with air traffic at its peak. Flights in and out of Florida in particular face recurring air traffic control disruptions on these dates. Clients with any flexibility are advised to build their trips around these buffer days.
For its Chicago-area clients, the busiest holiday routes are consistent year over year: Mexico, Florida, and the Caribbean lead, with Aspen, Deer Valley, and Telluride rounding out the top destinations.
Triumph Jets is also candid about holiday pricing, an area where charter clients often encounter surprises. Holiday pricing reflects supply and demand: operators charge premiums during peak weeks, and additional costs such as deicing apply in colder regions. As an on-demand brokerage, Triumph Jets prices to market conditions and passes operator pricing through to clients. The company itself adds no peak-day surcharges and requires no daily minimums.
“Our approach to the holidays is simple: tell clients the truth early enough for it to be useful,” said Arturo Gomez, Co-Founder of Triumph Jets. “The right aircraft, booked in October with the right operator, is a very different experience than a scramble in mid-December.”
For itineraries with fixed hotel commitments around the holidays, Triumph Jets also reviews mechanical-disruption coverage with clients, insurance that can protect a trip when an aircraft-on-ground event would otherwise mean re-sourcing a replacement flight at peak-week pricing. The company considers the review a standard part of responsible holiday planning, particularly for tight itineraries where a missed day cannot be recovered.
Triumph Jets works exclusively with vetted operators with proven track records executing high-volume holiday flying in demanding winter conditions, under the aircraft and operator vetting standards the company recently formalized.