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Home / Aircraft Guides / Challenger 300 Charter
By Pat Sinnott, Founder of Peak Aviation Solutions. Commercial multi-engine rated pilot, 21 years in private aviation, ran a 21-aircraft charter fleet before starting Peak in Bozeman, Montana.
Last updated: August 10, 2026
This July I booked a Challenger 300 charter from Charleston to Bozeman for two passengers and a dog. Two people, nine seats. On paper that’s too much airplane, and I’m usually the broker talking clients down. Not this time, and the reason is most of what you need to know about this aircraft.
A Challenger 300 charter runs about $5,700 to $6,200 per hour all-inclusive, per Peak Aviation Solutions quoting records (2026); published US broker rates spread from $3,800 to $6,500. Recent booked trips: $33,700 for Missoula to Las Vegas, and $41,500 for Charleston to Bozeman, about 4 hours nonstop. It seats 8 to 9 in a stand-up cabin with roughly 3,100 nautical miles of range (Air Charter Service).
The Bombardier Challenger 300 is a super-midsize business jet that seats eight to nine passengers in a flat-floor cabin roughly 7.2 feet wide and 6.1 feet tall, with about 106 cubic feet of baggage space and a range near 3,100 nautical miles. It’s one of the most chartered super-mids in the country, and the follow-on 350 kept the same cabin.
In this guide:
- What a Challenger 300 charter really costs, with booked trips
- What the cabin is actually like
- Range and speed, honestly
- Challenger 300 vs Citation X, and vs the 350 and 3500
- What I check before booking, including the Total Flight Review
- FAQ
How much does a Challenger 300 charter cost?
I’ll answer the way I do on the phone: range first, then the drivers. From our quoting records, a Challenger 300 or 350 runs about $5,700 to $6,200 per hour. You’ll see other numbers out there: Paramount Business Jets lists $5,950 per hour, evoJets shows $3,800 to $5,000. The spread is the tell: an hourly rate only means anything once you know what’s in it.
So here’s what’s in ours: crew fees, overnights, and landing fees, all in the Peak rate. The only exclusions are deicing, or hangar space we book to avoid it, passed through at cost. Those are incredibly rare in summer and occasional in winter, and you’ll know before you book, not on the invoice.
And here are two real trips, from Peak’s own booking records this year:
- Charleston to Bozeman, one way, 2 passengers plus a dog, about 4 hours nonstop: $41,500 all-in (July 2026).
- Missoula to Las Vegas, one way, 7 passengers, 1 hour 45 minutes in the air: $33,700 all-in (booked July 2026 for a September departure).
The Vegas trip is less than half the flight time but not half the price. A super-mid usually has to reposition into a smaller market like Missoula before it earns a dime, and operators price daily minimums into short legs. Figure an hour to an hour and a half of repositioning around a typical Challenger quote.
We knock that down by sourcing from floating fleets that cross the country, connecting trips to cut the positioning you pay for.
This is why I tell clients to compare and contrast trip quotes, not hourly rates. For your own routing, send me the trip and I’ll price it against these records.
For context: the Citation X, the other super-mid my clients fly most, typically books in the high $30,000s to low $40,000s on comparable trips. The Challenger 300 lives in the same neighborhood. If a quote comes in far under it, ask why before you celebrate.
What the Challenger 300 interior is actually like
The interior is the reason people pick this airplane, so let’s be specific instead of calling it luxurious. The cabin measures about 28.6 feet long, 7.2 feet across, and 6.1 feet tall, with a completely flat floor. At six feet tall, you stand up and walk to the back without ducking. The typical layout is a double-club of single seats, sometimes with a three-place divan swapped in.
Baggage is the underrated spec: about 106 cubic feet, reachable during the flight.
The Charleston clients split the year between two homes, so they fly a season’s worth of luggage plus a dog who needed floor space on a 4-hour leg. They paid about $1,800 more than a comparable Citation X option for that room and a newer airframe. Their call, and the right one.
There’s a booking on my desk right now for seven golfers plus a baby out of Missoula. Seven sets of clubs, a stroller, and a car seat defeat a lot of aircraft in this class. The 300 takes all of it.
Range and speed: what the numbers really say
The Challenger 300 flies about 3,100 nautical miles and cruises around Mach 0.80, roughly 541 mph (Air Charter Service; Paramount Business Jets). From Bozeman that is nonstop anywhere in North America, winter or summer, and Charleston to Montana takes about 4 hours.
The part that surprises people: out here, summer is the restrictive season, not winter. High density altitude at Mountain West airports saps engine performance, and marginal aircraft start leaving fuel or bags behind. The Challenger 300 still flies nonstop in July. Winter’s cost is deicing, not distance.
My 2 cents after quoting both airplanes weekly: the Citation X is faster at Mach 0.90, but on a domestic mission range is a wash. You pick the X for 20 to 30 minutes saved on a transcontinental leg, and the 300 for everything that happens inside the cabin during those hours.
Challenger 300 vs Citation X: the trade my clients actually make
Here’s how I frame the category on calls: a Challenger, or any true super-mid, suits anyone traveling with five to eight passengers who doesn’t want to pay a heavy jet rate but does want a real stand-up cabin and room for an extensive amount of luggage. The 300 does all of that and still flies direct to anywhere in North America with a full load.
The Citation X comparison comes up on real quotes more than any other in the class. The honest version, from our booking records and published specs, with the full Citation X charter guide if you want the deeper dive:
| Challenger 300 | Citation X | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical passengers | 8 to 9 | 8 |
| Cabin width / height | 7.2 ft / 6.1 ft, flat floor | 5.5 ft / 5.7 ft |
| Baggage | ~106 cu ft, accessible in flight | ~82 cu ft, loaded before departure |
| Range (published) | ~3,100 nm | ~2,890 to 3,240 nm, source-dependent |
| Cruise speed | ~Mach 0.80 | ~Mach 0.90 |
| Peak booked-trip reference | $33,700 to $41,500 | typically high $30,000s to low $40,000s |
Sources: Air Charter Service, Paramount Business Jets, Jet Advisors, Peak Aviation Solutions booking records.
The X wears the super-midsize label because of its speed, range, and overall size, but its cabin cross-section reads like a midsize: narrower shoulders, lower ceiling, and you notice both the moment you board. It’s still the airplane I book most: fast, plentiful, and my repeat clients love it.
Choosing between the two, I ask about bags and bodies before anything else. Golf clubs for seven? Challenger. A dog who needs floor space? Challenger. One executive leaving Teterboro after breakfast to land in California before lunch? That’s the X’s trip.
Challenger 300 vs 350 vs 3500: will you notice?
Side by side, yes. The 350 replaced the 300 in 2014 with the same cabin dimensions, larger windows, and a forward bulkhead door. The difference that actually matters is under the wing: upgraded engines improve hot-and-high performance, so if your trip touches Aspen, Vail, or Telluride in summer, the 350 is likelier to take everyone and everything.
There’s a third one now. Bombardier’s current production version is the Challenger 3500: same cabin cross-section, redesigned interior, larger windows, and a stated range near 3,400 nautical miles, with published hourly rates around $4,700 to $6,100 (evoJets; Paramount Business Jets, 2026). We do see 3500s in the market, and the clients of mine who have flown one loved it. If one lands in your quote set near the price of a 300, that’s an easy yes.
A well-refurbished 300 still holds its own, and plenty of my quotes come back mixed between all three. Which brings me to the checklist.
What I check before booking one
Anybody can be a broker. Not everybody can do it right. When I source a Challenger 300 the operator gets the same questions every time, and you can borrow them:
- Tail number, year of manufacture, and year of refurbishment. A 2006 airframe with a 2023 interior is a different product than one still wearing its 2006 interior.
- Dual crew, always, plus the full ARGUS or Wyvern audit, down to the specific pilots on your trip. More on that below.
- Wi-Fi, and what kind. “Wi-Fi equipped” covers two very different products. Satellite systems like Starlink are the most reliable. Ground-based systems like Gogo or L3 pull signal from antennas on the ground and hand off between them as you fly, so they tend to run slower and drop more often over open country.
- Where the airplane starts its day. Repositioning is the quiet driver of your quote, especially where super-mids are based thin.
An older 300 gets the same treatment as a new 350. You’re not booking an aircraft type, you’re booking one specific airplane with a known interior, crew, and starting position.
The Total Flight Review
The Total Flight Review is Peak Aviation Solutions’ pre-departure safety check: within 24 hours of every flight, a third-party report from Wyvern PASS or ARGUS TripCHEQ verifies the operator, the aircraft, and both pilots on that specific trip, and returns a trip status of green, yellow, or red. Green means every category meets or exceeds the standard. Red is an automatic no. Yellow needs a judgment call, and occasionally passes with a strong crew pairing.
One report this summer came back yellow with a single remark: “SIC does not meet the requirements for Total PIC hours.” Gold-rated operator, ATP captain, insured airframe, and the report still flagged the second pilot’s command time. That’s the level the review works at.
Here’s why that matters more than an operator rating. We get quotes all the time from operators approved by both ARGUS and Wyvern, and that approval covers the company, not the two people flying you. On a recent night trip into Jackson Hole, the operator held both ratings and the captain still came back yellow on total time, sitting next to a second pilot who was green but lighter than I want to see. I kept the operator and had them swap the crew. Jackson at night, in the mountains, with weather and density altitude in play, is not the trip where you accept the pairing you were handed.
A recent PASS report showed the captain with 6,334 total hours, 583 in type, a current Class 1 medical, and $100 million in liability coverage on the airframe. Every Peak crew clears that review before you board: proper flight experience, met or exceeded, on every seat up front.
The simpler version: we will never put a client on an aircraft that I would not put my wife and three children on.
Common questions about chartering a Challenger 300
How much does a Challenger 300 charter cost per hour?
A Challenger 300 or 350 charter runs about $5,700 to $6,200 per hour quoted all-inclusive at Peak Aviation Solutions: crew fees, overnights, and landing fees are in the rate, with only deicing or precautionary hangar passed through at cost (quoting records, 2026). Published US broker rates spread wider, from $3,800 to $6,500 per hour (evoJets; Paramount Business Jets, 2026). Recent booked trips ran $33,700 (Missoula to Las Vegas) and $41,500 (Charleston to Bozeman).
How many passengers does a Challenger 300 seat?
The standard configuration seats eight to nine passengers, typically in a double-club arrangement of single executive seats, with some aircraft carrying a three-place divan. A tenth belted seat exists on some airframes. The flat floor and 6.1-foot cabin height let most passengers stand and move around normally in flight (Air Charter Service).
Can a Challenger 300 fly coast to coast nonstop?
Yes. With roughly 3,100 nautical miles of range, the Challenger 300 flies nonstop from Mountain West departures like Bozeman to anywhere in North America, in winter or summer (Peak Aviation Solutions booking records, 2026). Summer is the more restrictive season at high-elevation airports, where density altitude reduces engine performance and can limit weaker aircraft; the Challenger 300 handles those conditions without a fuel stop on transcontinental routes.
What’s the difference between the Challenger 300 and the Challenger 350?
The Challenger 350 is the updated version, in production since 2014. Cabin dimensions are unchanged, but the 350 has roughly 20 percent larger windows, a forward bulkhead door that reduces cabin noise and adds privacy, redesigned seats, and a more modern interior. Upgraded engines also improve hot-and-high performance, easing weight restrictions at mountain airports like Aspen and Telluride (Peak Aviation Solutions broker comparison, 2026).
Can you bring golf clubs, skis, or a stroller on a Challenger 300?
Yes. The roughly 106-cubic-foot baggage compartment handles bulky items better than most of the class, and it stays accessible during flight. A confirmed Peak Aviation Solutions booking puts seven passengers, seven sets of golf clubs, a stroller, and a car seat on one Challenger 300 from Missoula to Las Vegas (booking records, 2026).
Are pets allowed on a Challenger 300 charter?
On charter flights, pets ride in the cabin with you, subject to the operator’s pet policy. The Challenger 300’s flat floor and cabin width give larger dogs genuine room to lie down and move during flight. Confirm the pet policy when the quote is sourced, since it belongs to the operator, not the aircraft type.
The right super-mid is the one that fits the trip
Two passengers and a dog took a nine-seat Challenger 300 to Bozeman. Seven golfers and a baby are booked on the same type to Vegas. Right airplane both times, and the spec sheet made neither call.
Right-sizing is the broker discipline of matching the airplane to the trip instead of the trip to the airplane, and it runs in both directions: down when seats would fly empty, up when the bags, the bodies, or the occasion demand it. If the 300 fits your trip it’s an easy airplane to say yes to. If it doesn’t, I’d rather tell you on the first call.
Our super-midsize jet charter page covers the category, and empty leg flights occasionally surface a super-mid repositioning at a fraction of retail, with alerts in the Peak app.
Get a Challenger 300 charter quote with the sourcing already done
When you request a Challenger 300 charter quote from Peak, I don’t send a rate card. I check live availability, pull the tail-specific details (year, refurb, Wi-Fi, crew), run the Total Flight Review, and price your actual routing, including the variable most quotes quietly skip.
Picture your next trip: you know what’s in the rate before you commit, and who’s flying you before you board.
Call or text (406) 296-3256, email charter@flypeak.com, or if it’s easier, fill out a trip request and compare us against whatever number you’re holding. No pressure, no membership. That’s the point of booking with a broker who does it right.
Related guides
- What Size Private Jet Do You Need? A Broker’s Guide
- Empty Leg Flights: How They Work and How to Actually Book One
- How Much Does It Cost to Charter a Private Jet?
- Gulfstream charter guide
Related services
- Super-midsize jet charter: the full category, from Citation X to Challenger 350
- Request a charter quote: all-in pricing on any trip
- Empty leg alerts and live inventory: free subscription, pay only when you fly
Peak Aviation Solutions, Private Jet Charter Broker
Peak Aviation Solutions is a pilot-founded private jet charter broker in Bozeman, Montana, arranging charter flights across the US and Canada. We arrange. You fly.
Founder: Pat Sinnott, commercial multi-engine rated pilot with 21 years in private aviation. Ran a 21-aircraft charter fleet before founding Peak. NBAA member.
Services: private jet charter brokerage from turboprop through heavy jet, including Challenger 300 charter and the rest of the super-mid class, plus empty leg flights with free alerts. No membership fees; clients pay per trip. Third-party safety vetting on every flight.
Coverage: roughly 5,000 public-use airports across the United States, only about 500 of which have commercial airline service (FAA). About 80 percent of Peak’s flying happens outside Montana.
Contact: charter@flypeak.com · (406) 296-3256 · flypeak.com
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