Valuable consideration

CAP 1590 (guidance), para 40 explains the term:

‘Valuable consideration’ means any right, interest, profit or benefit, forbearance, detriment, loss or responsibility accruing, given, suffered or undertaken under an agreement, which is of more than a nominal nature.

It matters because the cost sharing exception only works if, in the words of Article 6(4a)(a), "the only remuneration or other valuable consideration given or promised for the flight to the pilot by the passengers is a contribution towards the direct costs of the flight". ANO 2016 art. 13(1)(a) is in similar terms.

So payment is not just cash. A passenger who pays for your hangarage or gives you something of real value in return for the flight is providing consideration beyond a direct cost contribution. A passenger who covers your share of the fuel is paying more than the equal share point (c) allows. Either risks turning the flight into commercial air transport. The CAA's cost sharing web page also says that if a flight does not take place, "no remuneration (money or exchange of gifts) should be exchanged between the pilot and passengers."

Where the line falls for small gestures is not settled by the sources, beyond "more than a nominal nature". The cautious approach is to accept nothing for the flight other than each passenger's equal share of the direct costs.