Refunds and Receipts
When you're owed a refund, it follows your host's cancellation tier, covers your whole trip cost proportionally — not just the nightly rate — and lands back on your card within a few business days.
How refund amounts are calculated
Every listing has one of three cancellation tiers, set by the host and shown to you before you book:
| Tier | Full refund window | Partial refund | No refund |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flexible | 24+ hours before trip start | 50% inside 24 hours | — |
| Moderate | 5+ days before trip start | 50% between 1-5 days before | inside 24 hours |
| Strict | 14+ days before trip start | 50% between 5-14 days before | inside 5 days |
Whatever percentage of your trip subtotal you're refunded, your Carvia service fee and protection plan cost are refunded at the same percentage — we don't keep our cut on a trip that didn't happen. If your cancellation qualifies for a 100% refund, everything comes back: trip price, service fee, and protection cost. If it qualifies for 50%, all three line items are refunded at 50%. Extras you added are refunded the same way — see Vehicle Extras Explained.
Full mechanics, including host cancellations and extenuating circumstances: Cancellation Policy and Canceling a Trip (Guest).
What's never refunded automatically
If a trip has already started (check-in is complete and the trip is "Active"), cancelling doesn't trigger a refund regardless of tier, since the car has already been handed over. Reimbursable charges like tolls, citations, or a documented refueling fee aren't part of a cancellation refund — those are billed based on what actually happened during the trip.
Where to find your receipts and invoices
Every trip has a full itemized receipt available in-app:
1. Open Trips and select the trip you want.
2. Go to Trip Details > Receipt (or Invoice, for completed trips).
3. You'll see the full breakdown — trip subtotal, service fee, protection cost, extras, any mileage overage, and any reimbursements — exactly as it was charged or refunded.
Receipts are available for upcoming, active, and completed trips, so you can pull one up any time you need it for an expense report or your own records.
How long a refund takes to land
Once a refund is issued, it goes back to the original payment method you used to book. Most refunds show up within 3-5 business days, though the exact timing depends on your bank or card issuer's own processing time — that part is outside our control. If it's been longer than that and you don't see it, reach out through in-app support with your trip ID and we'll look into it. [^1]
Related
- Cancellation Policy
- Canceling a Trip (Guest)
- Understanding Your Trip Price: Fees Explained
- Vehicle Extras Explained
[^1]: [NEEDS DECISION: confirm exact refund processing time with payments team] — "3-5 business days" is used here as a reasonable working assumption based on typical card-network refund timing, not a figure from the policy facts sheet.