“A passenger was once billed $3,000 for tea and biscuits on a private jet.”

The story usually goes like this: a client asks for tea and biscuits on a short hop, the crew orders it through the FBO's catering partner, and the line item on the trip invoice is a four-figure sum. It is retold by people in the business as a lesson about private-aviation pricing, and by outsiders as proof of absurdity.

Why it's plausible: catering on a private flight is rarely just the food. Suppliers add delivery-to-airside charges, airport access fees, handling fees, packaging, minimum-order thresholds and a service margin, and then the operator or broker may add its own percentage. Small orders are hit hardest, because the fixed fees don't shrink. Documented cases exist of a single sandwich box exceeding $175 once all of that is added.

Why it's unverified: no named client, operator, airport or date has ever surfaced, the number changes with every retelling, and 'tea and biscuits' is suspiciously perfect as an illustration of the point. We searched and found only people citing other people.

If you have the invoice, we'd love to see it.