Billing & Subscriptions

Manage your 5-by-5 subscription plan, payment method, and billing details. Covers what you pay 5-by-5 (subscription) vs. what members pay each other (group billing).

Overview

Two different billing flows exist in 5-by-5 — make sure you know which one you’re thinking about:

This page covers the first. 5-by-5 uses Stripe for subscription billing. Solo subscriptions are a flat monthly or annual fee. Club subscriptions are billed per member — most clubs fold this cost into their monthly dues so every member pays their fair share.

Subscription Tiers (US)

Solo Owner Plans

For pilots who own their own airplane:

Partnership & Club Plans

For co-ownership groups sharing an aircraft:

Multi-Aircraft Support — Coming

Support for groups that own and manage more than one aircraft is on our roadmap but not yet built. If managing two or more airplanes under one 5-by-5 group would be valuable for your operation, please reach out to support@blueskyapplications.com — telling us this is a priority for you directly affects how soon we ship it. Pricing and exact feature scope will be announced when the tier launches.

Subscription Tiers (Australia)

Australian-based groups (set during onboarding) are charged in AUD at locally appropriate price points:

Solo Owner Plans (AU)

Club Plans (AU)

Multi-aircraft support for Australian groups will be priced alongside the global launch of the tier — see Multi-Aircraft Support — Coming under US plans above.

AU pricing is reviewed annually and may also adjust on significant USD/AUD currency moves.

Upgrading Your Plan

To upgrade from the free tier:

1. Go to Settings
2. Tap the Upgrade button for your desired plan
3. You’ll be taken to a Stripe Checkout page in your browser
4. Enter your payment details and confirm
5. Your group’s features unlock immediately when you return to the app
6. You’ll be asked to confirm your current tach time and date — this establishes the starting point for 5-by-5’s tach cascade management, which automatically maintains tach continuity across all flights going forward

Managing Your Subscription

To update your payment method, change plans, or view billing history:

1. Go to Settings
2. Tap Manage Subscription
3. This opens the Stripe Customer Portal in your browser
4. From there you can:
   • Update your payment method
   • Switch between monthly and annual billing
   • Update the member count if your group size has changed
   • View past invoices
   • Cancel your subscription

Cancellation

You can cancel your subscription at any time through the Stripe Customer Portal:

• Your paid features remain active until the end of your current billing period
• No further charges will be made after cancellation
• At the end of the period, your group reverts to the free tier
• No data is lost — you keep all your flights, bookings, and records
• You can reverse the cancellation at any time before the end of your billing period by returning to the Stripe Customer Portal and reactivating your subscription — your plan continues as if nothing changed

How Per-Member Billing Works

5-by-5’s Club and Club Pro tiers are priced per pilot member, billed as a single subscription to the group administrator. A few specifics worth knowing:

• Two-pilot minimum. Club and Club Pro both bill on a minimum of 2 pilot seats, even if your group is briefly down to one pilot. If you’re a solo owner, the Solo tier is the right pick — Club priced for one would otherwise be more expensive than Solo for less feature value.
• Initial seat count is set from your current pilot-member count at checkout, never fewer than 2.
• Adds and removes prorate automatically. When a pilot joins (or leaves) your group, Stripe adjusts the subscription quantity on a prorated basis — no need to redo checkout or manually adjust the seat count. The change shows up on your next invoice.
• Mechanics don’t count as paid seats. They have role-restricted access (maintenance, squawks, documents) and are excluded from the seat-sync calculation.
• Placeholder members don’t count either until they’re claimed by a real signup — see web-flights → Pilots not yet in your group.
• Most clubs include the per-member cost as a line item in their monthly member dues — the Fixed Expense Items breakdown is a clean way to surface it so members see what they’re funding.

Subscription Email Receipts

Stripe sends subscription receipts directly. These come from stripe.com, not billing@blueskyapplications.com. The billing@ sender is for internal group billing (member invoices and payment receipts), not 5-by-5 subscription receipts.

If you’re not seeing Stripe receipts for your subscription, check your spam folder — first emails from a new domain usually need to be marked Not Spam once.

Promo Codes

5-by-5 offers a 15% discount to clubs registered with the AOPA Flying Club Network. Contact support@blueskyapplications.com with proof of your club’s AOPA registration to request a promo code, then enter it during checkout on the Stripe payment page.

If you represent another aviation organisation (flight school, type club, EAA chapter) and think a partnership discount would make sense, drop us a line at the same address — we’re open to discussion.

Refund Policy

Subscription payments are generally non-refundable. If you believe you’ve been charged in error, contact support@blueskyapplications.com within 14 days of the charge for a review.

If BlueSky Applications terminates your account without cause, any prepaid subscription fees are refunded on a prorated basis.

Related Pages

• Online Payments — how your group’s members pay their monthly invoices via ACH or card
• Finances — internal group billing, posting bills, the ledger
• Email Notifications — every email 5-by-5 sends and how to allow-list senders