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Trip Requests

A trip request is your starting point on jet4us. It is not a booking and it is not a confirmed flight — it is a demand signal: a structured expression of the flight you want, sent into the market so that operators can respond with price proposals.

What a trip request contains​

When you create a trip request, you provide:

  • Mode — Book Jet (full charter) or Book Seat (pooling)
  • Itinerary — your route (one-way, round-trip, or multi-city for Book Jet)
  • Dates — your preferred travel dates
  • Seats — how many seats you need (Book Jet: total aircraft; Book Seat: your share)
  • Visibility — Public or Private (Book Seat only)
  • Any preferences — aircraft type, departure time window, or other requirements

Your trip request is the document that travels through the platform lifecycle until either a confirmed flight is created or the request expires.

The full lifecycle​

Draft​

Your trip request has been created but not yet published. You are still making adjustments — adding legs, changing dates, inviting people.

Only you can see a Draft trip request. Nothing is sent to operators. No other travelers can join.

When you are satisfied, you publish the request to move it forward.

Pooling (Book Seat only)​

Your trip request is now live and open for other travelers to join.

Seats are filling up. Other travelers may find your trip (if Public) or receive your invitation (if Private) and request to join.

Your trip stays in Pooling until all available seats are reserved.

note

Book Jet trips skip this stage entirely and go directly from Draft to sending to operators.

Full (Book Seat only)​

All seats have been reserved and the pooling phase has ended.

Your trip is ready to move forward. As the owner, you review the group and initiate sending the request to operators.

Request Sent​

Your trip request has been broadcast to the operator network. Operators are now reviewing your requirements and preparing price proposals.

Your trip is locked at this point. Route, dates, passenger count, and other details cannot be changed while operators are working on their offers. This protects the integrity of the proposals you receive.

Offer Selected​

You have reviewed the operator proposals and selected the one that best matches your needs.

The selected offer is accepted, and all other offers on your trip are automatically declined. A confirmed trip and individual bookings are being created in the background.

Trip Created​

A confirmed trip now exists. Bookings have been issued to every traveler on the trip.

Your trip request has done its job. From this point, everything happens at the booking level — payment, confirmation, and the flight itself.

Cancelled​

The trip request was stopped before a confirmed trip was created. This can happen if the owner cancels the request, or if an administrator intervenes.

Cancellation can occur at any stage before Trip Created.

Expired​

The trip request ran out of time before reaching its goal — either seats never filled, no offers arrived, or you did not act on the offers before they all expired.

No money changes hands. You are free to create a new trip request for the same route whenever you are ready.

See Expiry for the full rules on when and how expiry is checked.

Lifecycle at a glance​

DRAFT
  ↓
POOLING (Book Seat only)
  ↓
FULL (Book Seat only)
  ↓
OFFERS_REQUESTED
  ↓
OFFER_SELECTED
  ↓
TRIP_CREATED

Exits at any stage:

→ CANCELLED (owner or admin action)
→ EXPIRED (deadline passed without completion)

Owner vs member permissions​

Trip owner​

  • Creates and configures the trip request
  • Controls visibility (Public or Private)
  • Approves or declines join requests from other travelers
  • Decides when to send the request to operators (after Full)
  • Reviews and selects the best operator offer

Trip members (Book Seat only)​

  • Can view trip details and status
  • Receive notifications as the trip progresses
  • Are automatically issued a booking when an offer is accepted
  • Cannot change trip details or select offers — those actions belong to the owner

Expiry and lazy checking​

jet4us checks whether a trip request has expired when you open it or take an action on it — not on a continuous real-time clock.

This means a trip that technically passed its deadline may still appear open until you or someone else interacts with it. The moment the system detects the deadline has passed, the status updates to Expired.

This is intentional — it gives travelers a natural window rather than having trips disappear the instant a clock ticks over.

See Expiry for the complete set of expiry rules, including special behavior when active offers exist.