FBO Fuel Price Calculator

FBO 1 is modeled as your planned destination or primary stop, meaning you're flying there regardless of fuel price, so there's no additional detour distance to account for. FBO 2 and FBO 3 represent alternate options that may require extra flying beyond your planned route to reach, which is why their totals include the detour cost on top of the fuel price itself.

It should reflect your aircraft's real operating cost per nautical mile — fuel burn, engine time, and other variable costs of flying the extra distance — not simply the price difference between fuel options. Using your aircraft's actual operating cost per mile ensures the detour penalty reflects the true expense of the extra flying, not just a guess at what the fuel savings might be worth.

Yes — that's precisely the scenario this calculator is designed to catch. If the detour distance is long enough or your aircraft's cost per nautical mile is high enough, the added detour cost can exceed the savings from a lower fuel price, making the cheaper-looking option actually more expensive once total cost is compared rather than just price per gallon.

Comparing the best total cost against the worst total cost shows the full range of what choosing poorly could cost you, giving a clear sense of the stakes involved in the decision rather than a smaller, less dramatic figure that a second-best comparison would produce. It's meant to highlight how much is genuinely on the table across all your fuel stop options, not just the marginal difference between the two closest choices.