Originally Posted by
rickair7777
In order to share expenses, all occupants must have a common purpose for the flight (ex $100 hamburger or weekend getaway).
If the pax want to go somewhere, but the pilot does not really want to go there and is just along to fly the airplane that would count as an illegal charter business.
This a nuance in the rule that a lot of pilots don't understand - including the one posting the ad on craigslist. It's a shame it's not covered in our private pilot education.
Funny though, he mentions the "public letter" defining pro-rata, but not the "public letters" saying that the pilot and passengers must share the purpose of the flight.