Upgrading and Downgrading
How to change plans on AeroCopilot — when changes take effect, how the trial works, and how Operator and School billing differ from individual plans.
Upgrading and Downgrading
You can change plans whenever you want. AeroCopilot is built around flat-rate subscriptions, so the rules are intentionally simple.
Where to do it
All plan management lives at /account/billing. From there you can:
- See your current plan and renewal date
- Change tiers (upgrade or downgrade)
- Update your payment method
- Open a refund request if you're within the eligibility window
- Cancel
Upgrading
Upgrades take effect immediately. The moment your new plan is active, every feature on that tier — AI included — is unlocked. You don't need to wait for a billing cycle to roll over.
A typical upgrade path:
- Free to Student — adds the full AI Copilot, the study platform, and 3 flight plans/month.
- Student to Pilot — unlocks unlimited flight plans and the full safety center.
- Pilot to Pro — adds priority AI routing, SWIM data, and unlimited aircraft profiles.
Downgrading
Downgrades take effect at the end of your current billing period. You keep paid-tier features through the date you've already paid for. On renewal, your subscription drops to the new tier and the new price.
This applies in both directions on the calendar:
- Monthly plans drop at the next monthly renewal.
- Annual plans drop at the end of the current year.
If you downgrade and change your mind, just upgrade again — the change takes effect immediately.
The 14-day free trial
Every paid tier except Pro includes a 14-day free trial. During the trial:
- You have full access to the tier you signed up for
- Your card is on file but not charged until the trial ends
- You can cancel any time and not be charged
The post-trial confirmation
About 7 days after your trial begins, AeroCopilot will ask you to affirmatively confirm that you want to continue into a paid subscription. You'll see a screen at /account/billing/trial-confirm with two clear choices:
- "Yes — continue my subscription" — your trial converts to paid at day 14
- "No — let it expire" — your subscription cancels at the end of the trial; nothing is charged
This is a deliberate, regulator-aligned step. Several US states (Vermont being the strictest) require an affirmative click before a free trial converts to a paid subscription. Rather than enable this only for Vermont residents — which would mean guessing your location — we send the confirmation to every US user. One extra click, no surprise charges.
If you don't respond, you'll be reminded. We don't quietly start billing you on day 15.
Operator and School billing
Operator and School are seat-based plans with different mechanics from individual plans.
Operator:
- Two pricing models: $39/seat/mo or $199/mo flat (yearly: $390/seat or $1,990 flat)
- The LLC is billed centrally, not the individual RPICs
- Per-seat is the better deal at 5 or fewer RPICs; flat wins at 6 or more
- Yearly billing is 16.7% off (two months free)
School:
- $19.99/seat/mo, billed centrally to the school
- Students pay nothing — the school covers their seats
- Add or remove seats from the admin dashboard; changes prorate to the next invoice
For Operator and School, contact support for help sizing the right plan or moving between per-seat and flat pricing.
What does not change when you change plans
- Your account, flight history, briefings, and saved templates stay intact
- Your AI Copilot conversations are preserved
- Your aviation-currency tracking continues uninterrupted
- Your two-factor authentication and connected integrations stay configured
A plan change is a billing change, not an account change.
When to upgrade
A few clear signals it's time:
- You're hitting "3 of 5 AI chats used today" on Free
- You're a student who finished PPL and started IR — Pilot makes more sense than Student
- You added a second aircraft and Student's 3-plan/month limit is in the way
- You're flying enough that priority AI routing pays for itself in saved minutes