Billing and Rates
All trips are billed based on the time used or reserved and amount of miles driven during your trip, in accordance with your selected Mobility Plan. Hub-Based trips bill for the full time reserved and any additional mileage, and Free-Float trips bill from the start of the trip to the end of the trip, plus any additional mileage.
Both services are designed to be the most cost effective when a member is enrolled on a monthly paid Mobility Plan. When you are enrolled on a paid plan, you will be billed for the plan costs every 30 days from the original enrollment date. Your Mobility Plan applies to both free-float and hub-based trips.
Mobility Plans
If you are planning to use a car at least once in a month, our Standard Plan will give you the best rates, unless you qualify for further discounts based on your income (Access Plan) or by being a student, educator, or staff of an educational institution (Student Plan). Your Mobility Plan will auto renew monthly and bill to your account.
Check your Mobility Plan
If your monthly Mobility Plan invoice fails, your account will be automatically moved to no plan and your subsequent trips will be billed accordingly until you re-enroll on a paid plan. You can still take trips, but will have a much higher hourly rate and per-mile rate than expected.
We recommend checking to make sure that your invoices clear every month before driving. To confirm you're on your desired plan, log into your account via the app or browser and select Menu > My Account > Mobility plan.
If you know you'll need a carshare break or that you will rarely use the service, having No Plan will give you access to both services without a monthly fee, just at higher hourly and per-mile rates.
Plan Comparison
The Standard plan is the recommended plan for most members.
For $7 per month, free-float and hub-based services are available at the following prices:
The Student plan is available for students, faculty, and staff of educational institutions.
For $6 per month, free-float and hub-based services are available at the following prices:
The Access plan is available for members who earn less than 50% of the Area Media Income (AMI). A completion of our income self-certification form is required. See our website for AMI chart and self certification.
For $1 per month, free-float and hub-based services are available at the following prices:
No Plan driving is available for members who want to take a break from our service while keeping their accounts active, or to have access to our vehicles in case of an emergency. Driving on no mobility plan is allowed, but is very expensive compared to other plans.
For no monthly cost, free-float and hub-based services are available at the following prices:
*Start Trip Fees are $1 for most vehicles and higher for specialty vehicles:
- HOURCAR Hyundai Santa Cruz = $5
Switching Plans
You can upgrade to a paid Mobility Plan at any time - simply log in to your account and select the Mobility Plan you would like.
If you would like to switch from one paid Mobility Plan to a different paid Mobility Plan, log in to your account and select the plan you would like to choose. You will remain on your old paid plan through the end of the month, then switch automatically to the new paid Mobility Plan you selected. If you need to switch plans more urgently, contact Member Services at 612.343.2277 for assistance in switching a plan before your renewal date.
If you need a carshare break and want to cancel your plan, you can log in to your account and cancel your active Mobility Plan. You will remain on your old paid plan through the end of the month, then switch automatically to no plan, when you've reached the end of your paid month.
Trip Billing
In all scenarios, the system will automatically bill you for the cheapest possible rate based on time used and miles driven, with discounts from your Mobility Plan.
Day Rate
In both free-float and hub-based trips, a day rate is automatically applied for longer trips. When the hourly rate of a trip would be more expensive than the day rate, you are automatically charged the cheaper day rate option until 24 hours after your trip start. This rate automatically kicks in at around 8.5 or 9 hours of reservation time, depending on the service.
If your trip exceeds 24 hours, you're billed hourly for the second day until the day rate kicks in again. After 48 hours, this process repeats and you are again billed hourly for the third day until the day rate is reached.
Miles Included
For both free-float and hub-based trips, there is a certain amount of miles included before you are charged at a per-mile rate. For all paid Mobility Plans, the included mileage is 200 miles. The no plan option only includes 10 miles before you are charged for mileage costs.
Mileage costs are calculated at the end of your trip. If you're on a paid Mobility Plan, you get 200 miles per trip and per day. This means that each trip you take will get 200 miles, and if your trip spans multiple days, you get an extra 200 miles for each day of your trip. This means a three day trip will include 600 miles for the whole trip. The No Plan logic is the same, with 10 miles included per trip, up to 30 miles included on a three day trip. Any mileage over the limit will be billed at the per-mile cost.
Example: You're taking a three day trip to Grand Marais on a paid Mobility plan, which includes 200 miles per trip per day, totalling to 600 miles across your three day trip. On day one, you drive from your home in Downtown St Paul to Grand Marais, for a total of 260 miles of driving. On day two, you drive 6 miles getting to your hiking plans and back to town. On day three, you drive the 260 miles back home to St Paul. You've used a total of 526 miles across your whole trip, and are not billed for extra mileage costs.
Authorization Hold
Free-Float trips include a $3 pre-authorization charge at the beginning of all trips. This ensures the card on-file is active and helps us reduced failed or delayed payments. The $3 charge is a “test” charge and will either be absorbed into the cost of your subsequent trip or is released at the end of the day. This test charge is run every time you select the “Reserve” button. Most banking institutions absorb this into your trip cost (meaning you’ll never see it), or will release the test charge after 1-5 business days.
Hub-Based trips do not currently have an authorization hold.
Start Trip Fee
All free-float and hub-based trips include a $1 Start Trip Fee for every trip taken. This is billed as part of the total trip costs when you end the trip. Cancelled trips do not have a Start Trip Fee.
For specialized vehicles with extra features over our normal fleet, you may be charged a higher Specialized Vehicle Start Trip Fee.
More Billing Details
Invoices
Trips
Trip costs are billed automatically to your card on-file when your trip ends. You are charged for the full time you have the car booked, even when the trip is in pause. You will receive a trip invoice and email summary within minutes of your trip ending that confirms your trip ended successfully.
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Hub-Based trips are billed for the whole time you have reserved, even if you end your trip early. You can give us a call and ask to shorten your reservation or email us afterwards for reimbursement via credits for unused time.
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Free-Float trips bill for the whole time you have the car reserved. Be sure to check that your trip is ended properly to avoid a large bill for a trip you didn't realize you still had ongoing!
Mobility Plans
If you are on the Standard, Student, or Access Plan, you will be billed immediately on selecting a plan, then you will be billed every 30 days from the original enrollment date.
If your monthly Mobility Plan invoice fails, your account will be automatically moved to no plan. You can still take trips, but will have a much higher rate than expected. We recommend checking to make sure that your invoices clear every month before driving. To confirm you're on your desired plan, log into your account via the app or browser and select Menu > My Account > Mobility plan.
Once charged, Mobility Plan fees cannot be refunded.
Other Fees
Any applicable fees will be charged to your card on file within appropriate notice of violation. Fees are subject to change. Our Rules and Fees page will have the most up-to-date information.
Credits and Promos
You can earn credits by redeeming promo codes, charging Evie cars, and many other ways. When you have credits on your account, your invoices will automatically use the credits toward your trip billing, and bill any remaining balances to your card on-file. If you have multiple credits on your account, the credit with the soonest expiration date will automatically be used first.
Driving credit is non-transferable and cannot be applied to fees or other taxes. Unless specifically stated otherwise, all credit expires 60 days after application.
Promo codes can also provide percentage discount towards your next trip. If a promo code offers a percentage discount, this will be redeemed automatically on the next trip you take after the code is entered. If you want to ensure the discount is on the trip you choose, make sure to enter the promo code with percentage discount right before starting your chosen trip.
Outstanding Balance
When your invoices for trip costs or fees fail, you will have an Outstanding Balance and cannot book trips until this balance is paid. The outstanding bills will not re-run automatically, you will have to manually choose to pay them or contact us for assistance.
To pay your Outstanding Balance, log into your account via the app or browser and select Menu > My Account. You should see a button that says "Pay" next to the total amount due. Hit this button to re-run the payment to your card on-file. If you need to update your card on-file, you can also do that in the "My Account" page under the "Payment Details" section.
Once the balance is cleared, you will immediately return to good membership standing, unless you have received any communications from our team about other issues or violations unrelated to billing.
If your failed payment is a Mobility Plan fee, your account does not show an Outstanding Balance, but you will be moved to no plan and will no longer receive discounts. You can still take trips, but will have a much higher rate than expected. We recommend checking to make sure that your invoices clear every month before driving. To confirm you're on your desired plan, log into your account via the app or browser and select Menu > My Account > Mobility plan.
Refund Policy
If you ever have a billing question or believe a charge to be in error, please contact us at 612.343.2277 or email info@hourcar.org. We will investigate the problem and do our best to help.
Please help us serve you best by bringing billing questions to us during the active billing period or within a month of the charge in question. We are unable to refund any fees that are more than 90 days old.
Membership plans renew and mobility plan costs are charged monthly on the same day of the month in which the membership was started, or on the last day of the month if the month does not contain that day. Once charged, membership fees cannot be refunded.
Hub-based reservations can be cancelled until the reservation start time. If the start time has passed, fees for the full trip cost will be charged to your account upon cancellation. For hub-based trips that are ended early, the full trip cost to the scheduled reservation end time is charged. In both these cases, contact Member Services before ending or cancelling to correct the billing to the time you ended or cancelled. You can also choose to contact us after the trip is billed to receive credits for unused time.
Which Service to Use?
HOURCAR and Evie have different rates due to their different use cases. By thinking about what type of trip you need, you can select the service that will get you the cheapest rates. You may also choose service you use based on availability of vehicles instead of the price.
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Hub-Based trips have less expensive rates but less flexibility. This means that you'll get a lower price per hour, but you'll need to return back to where you started before ending the trip. You'll get the best rate on the hub-based service for multi-day trips or for trips where you'll be returning back to where you started.
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Free-Float trips have slightly higher rates but more flexibility. This means you have the flexibility to end somewhere different than you started, but you pay slightly more per hour. You'll get the best rate on the free-float service when you're taking shorter trips that start and end within the Home Area.
Example A: You have friends visiting from out of town and want to take a trip to the Mall of America. This is outside the Free-Float Home Area, so you cannot end a trip and will instead have your trip paused the whole time you are shopping. In this case, a hub-based vehicle would be more cost effective due to the lower hourly rate. You'll also be able to plan in advance to know the car will be there for you.
Example B: You are going to your work in Downtown Minneapolis from your home in Uptown. You won't be able to return a hub-based car back until the end of your workday, so you would have to pay for a lot of time where the car is not being driven. In this case, a free-float vehicle would be more cost effective due to the ability to end your trip after your commute. You'll then pick up a different free-float car to get home, or take the bus if there's not one nearby.
Check out our Pricing Calculator to help pick the service you should use!
Pricing Calculator
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HOURCAR and Evie LOOP trips are hub-based.
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Evie Carshare trips are free-float.