Refund & Cancellation Policy

Last updated: September 3, 2026

This policy explains how payments, cancellations, no-shows, and refunds work on AVident. All transactions are in U.S. dollars (USD) and are processed by Stripe. Charges appear on your statement from AVident. The cancellation terms shown to you at checkout form part of your booking contract with the provider.

1. How you're charged

• When you book an aircraft rental, a hold is placed on your card for the estimated cost of the booked block, including AVident's 3% service fee (itemized before you confirm). You are not charged at booking time. Card holds only last about a week, so for a booking more than six days out we save your card at checkout and place the hold six days before the booking ends. If that hold is declined, we ask you to update your card; a booking still unsecured 24 hours before its start is cancelled so the slot frees up.
• The final charge is based on metered flight time recorded on the aircraft's Hobbs (or tach) meter, documented with photos at block-out (before the flight) and block-in (after the flight).
• Minimum billing. Booking an aircraft blocks it for everyone else, so the time billed is the metered time flown or half the booked block, whichever is greater. A two-hour dual lesson that flies 1.2 hours is billed 1.2 hours; a four-hour block that flies 1.0 hour is billed 2.0 hours. The minimum never exceeds the hold, and does not apply when an owner flies their own aircraft. Book the time you expect to use.
• Exceptions to the minimum. A checkride booking carries a flat minimum of 1.0 hour rather than half the block, so a candidate can reserve the aircraft for the day and pay for the time actually flown. A flight aborted for a maintenance problem found on the preflight or run-up is billed only the meter time used, provided the renter flags it at block-in (which files a squawk for the owner) and the meter shows the aircraft never flew (0.3 hours or less). Beyond that, the aircraft was used and the normal minimum applies.
• If the final cost is less than the estimate, only the final amount is captured and the remainder of the hold is released. Hold releases typically appear on your statement within 5–10 business days, depending on your bank.
• Lessons, checkrides, and contract or maintenance services are charged at the rate shown when you confirm the booking, plus the 3% service fee.

2. Cancellation policies

Each provider — aircraft owner, instructor, examiner, contract pilot, or mechanic — chooses one of three cancellation tiers. The tier is shown on the listing and at checkout, and your booking keeps the tier in force when you booked; a provider changing tiers later does not change your booking. When a booking blocks more than one provider (for example an aircraft and an instructor), the stricter of their tiers applies.

Tier	Free cancellation	Late cancellation	No-show
Flexible	Any time before the start	—	50% of the estimate
Moderate	Until 24 hours before the start	50% of the estimate	100% of the estimate
Strict	Until 48 hours before the start	100% of the estimate	100% of the estimate

• Free cancellation: cancel through the app and the card hold is released in full. Nothing is charged.
• Late cancellation: cancelling inside the tier's window charges the stated percentage of the estimate (the hold amount) to your card; the rest of the hold is released. The fee is paid out to the provider(s) whose time was blocked, less AVident's standard commission.
• No-show: if you neither cancel nor block out at the aircraft, the provider may record a no-show starting 30 minutes after the booked start time, charging the tier's no-show percentage. Cancelling after the start time is treated as a no-show.
• Provider cancellations: if an owner, instructor, examiner, or service provider cancels, the hold is released in full and any captured payment is refunded in full. You are never charged for a provider's cancellation.
• Weather, maintenance, and safety: we never want payment pressure to influence a go/no-go decision. If a flight cannot safely take place, cancel and tell the provider why. Providers can waive any cancellation or no-show fee from the app; a waived fee is refunded to your card in full. If a provider declines to waive a fee for a genuine safety call, contact support@flyavident.com.
• The app shows you the exact fee, if any, before you confirm a cancellation.

3. Meter disputes

• If the starting Hobbs (or tach) reading at block-out doesn't match the aircraft's records, the renter can raise a dispute in the app before the flight. The aircraft owner reviews the photo evidence and resolves the discrepancy.
• You are never billed for a disputed starting reading — the disputed amount is excluded until the owner resolves it.

4. Refunds

• Charges for metered flight time, the minimum billing, and cancellation or no-show fees applied under the tier shown at checkout are not refundable, except through a provider's waiver (section 2) or where the charge was made in error.
• If you believe you were charged in error — a billing mistake, a service not delivered, a duplicate charge — contact us within 30 days of the charge at support@flyavident.com with the booking details. We review refund requests within 2 business days and issue a full refund where a charge was made in error.
• Refund decisions made by AVident are final, subject to the dispute-resolution process in Section 11 of the Terms of Service. Approved refunds are issued to the original payment method and typically arrive within 5–10 business days, depending on your bank.

5. Payouts to providers

• Providers (aircraft owners, instructors, examiners, contract pilots, mechanics) are paid out automatically, less AVident's 8% commission, 48 hours after a completed, undisputed transaction. Cancellation and no-show fees pay out the same way. The 48-hour window lets a refund, waiver, or dispute be settled before money moves.
• If a refund is issued after payout — including when you waive a fee — the corresponding share of the payout is reversed from the provider. Where a refund exceeds what has been paid out, AVident may recover the difference from the provider's future payouts.
• If a renter's bank reverses a charge (a chargeback) that AVident cannot successfully contest, the disputed amount and any dispute fee are recovered from the provider who received the payout, including by offsetting future payouts. AVident contests chargebacks with the booking's records.
• AVident may delay a payout while a refund request, dispute, or chargeback on that booking is under review, and may require a provider's payout account to remain open for 60 days after their last payout. The recovery, offset, and account-retention terms are set out in Section 4.7 of the Terms of Service.

6. Chargebacks

Please contact us before initiating a chargeback with your bank — most issues are resolved faster through support@flyavident.com. We respond to all card disputes with the booking's documentation, including the cancellation terms you accepted at checkout, your consent record (the Terms version you accepted, with its timestamp), meter photos, and in-app records.

7. Contact

Billing questions and refund requests: support@flyavident.com. We respond within 1–2 business days.