The founding deal, in plain terms.

No fine-print games. Here’s exactly how the Founding Pilot program works, what you keep, and what’s expected of you.

1. 1. Applying isn’t a reserved seat.

   Raising your hand starts the process — it doesn’t make you a founding pilot. Your place is secured only when you complete setup: confirm your email, get approved, and set up your account. The cohort opened at 50 and was widened when demand ran past it, so finishing setup is what counts, not being early. Apply but don’t complete it and you simply aren’t in the program yet.

2. 2. Free to start.

   Founding Pilots get Pro free through October 1 — no card required.

3. 3. The 25% is earned by contributing.

   The permanent 25% discount on Pro is earned by contribution: any real activity by the Oct 1 audit locks it in for good. It’s the floor every contributor keeps — but a member who joined and never contributed (zero activity at the audit) does not retain it. Subject to change at SkySuite’s discretion.

4. 4. The big awards are earned by contribution — and they’re awarded over five months, not all at once.

   The bigger rewards are earned by contribution: actively flying with SkySuite and giving real feedback (bugs, wishes, what’s missing). Here is the whole schedule, in order.

   1. October 1, 2026 — the audit (done). Straight off the Flight Path leaderboard, the audit set the Founders 20. Those 20 — the Silver tier, the Annual Founders — hold comped annual Pro that runs Oct 1, 2026 to Oct 1, 2027: a full year of Pro free. Finish below the 20 with real, sustained activity and you earn the Bronze (Active Founder) badge — only the subscription awards are limited to the 20.
   2. The 5 lifetime seats — one a month. One lifetime seat (Pro free for life — the Gold tier) is awarded each month, from within the 20: the first is already awarded, then Nov 1 and Dec 1, 2026, and Jan 1 and Feb 1, 2027. Win one and you leave the lifetime running, so five different pilots take the five seats — and you keep your login and can keep contributing.
   3. The badges. Gold = the Lifetime Founders (the five lifetime winners). Silver = the Annual Founders, the Founders 20. Bronze = an Active Founder below the 20 with real, sustained activity. All decided by contribution and subject to change at SkySuite’s discretion.

   Signing up alone does not win the year or the lifetime award.

5. 5. Your seat depends on participation.

   A Founding seat is for active pilots helping shape the product. If you join but never contribute — zero activity at the Oct 1 audit — you’re released from the program and don’t keep the 25% or a badge. Contribute anything at all and your permanent 25% is locked in; sustained contribution also earns your Founder badge.

6. 6. This is a live beta.

   SkySuite is in active development. Features may move or change as we build — but your work is never lost.

7. 7. Credits are pay-as-you-go.

   Credits — one wallet that pays for both AI features and map processing — are always pay-as-you-go, drawn by real use and separate from your subscription. The monthly credit allowance is a paid-subscription benefit — 250 credits a month on Pro, which does not roll over. A free account is a free subscription, not a free credit draw: it gets no recurring monthly credits and instead receives a one-time grant of 25 starter credits when you create it, then buys credits as needed. The founding awards cover the Pro subscription only; a comped or awarded Pro does not draw the monthly allowance, and credits stay pay-as-you-go. Subject to change.

8. 8. The Founder badge — Gold, Silver or Bronze, decided once, at the audit.

   At the October 1 audit, the Founder badge is decided ONCE, from an activity snapshot taken at that moment, by contribution, not rank — and held permanently after. Gold is the Lifetime Founders (the five lifetime winners). Silver is the Annual Founders — the Founders 20, with the subscription awards attached. Bronze is an Active Founder: any other founding pilot the snapshot shows with real, sustained activity — the Bronze badge and their program membership, no comped Pro beyond that. There is no cap on how many hold a badge, and nobody loses one they’ve earned for placing low afterward. Activity means real contribution: tickets, missions, meetings, deliveries. Time-in-service and profile setup don’t count. Show up at the audit with zero activity and you hold no badge and don’t keep the 25%; contribute anything at all and the permanent 25% is yours for good, and sustained work fixes your badge — no badge of any tier is granted to anyone after that date. Awards are subject to change at SkySuite’s discretion.

The short version: contribute anything by the Oct 1 audit and you keep a permanent 25% off Pro; a member who never contributed does not. The audit set the Founders 20 (Silver), who hold comped annual Pro that runs Oct 1, 2026 to Oct 1, 2027. The 5 lifetime seats (Gold) go out one a month — the first already awarded, then Nov 1 and Dec 1, 2026, and Jan 1 and Feb 1, 2027 — and five different pilots take the five. Active founders below the 20 earn Bronze. All subject to change at SkySuite’s discretion.