Legal
Terms, disclosures & refund policy
Platform disclosure
EscrowFly is a financial technology platform, not a bank, licensed money transmitter, travel agency, or tour operator. Payment processing services are provided by Stripe, Inc. and its affiliates. Contributed funds are held by Stripe with its partner banks, Members FDIC, until they are released to the receiving business.
EscrowFly provides a technology interface for users to pool funds and release them to a receiving business for group travel coordination. EscrowFly does not own, operate, manage, control, or endorse any travel suppliers, accommodations, transportation providers, or activities booked using the platform.
All bookings paid with funds released through EscrowFly are subject strictly to the independent terms, conditions, cancellation policies, and liability waivers of the respective travel merchant of record (e.g., airlines, hotels, property managers). EscrowFly expressly disclaims all liability for any injuries, damages, losses, delays, cancellations, overbookings, or service failures caused by third-party travel suppliers.
EscrowFly Group Funding Deadlines & Automatic Cancellation
- Funding Target Requirements: Every EscrowFly trip bucket must specify a "Funding Target Amount" and a strict "Funding Deadline Date" set by the Group Organizer.
- Automatic Expiry: If 100% of the Group Funding Target is not successfully cleared into the escrow bucket by 11:59 PM Central Time (CT) on the specified Funding Deadline Date, the trip bucket will be marked as "Unfunded" and automatically closed.
- Fee-Free Refunds for Incomplete Buckets: In the event a trip fails to meet its Funding Target by the deadline, all cleared funds collected up to that point will be returned in full to the original payment methods of the individual contributing group members. EscrowFly does not charge platform processing fees for failed, unfunded buckets. Please allow 3–5 business days for bank processing.
- Booking Lock Expiration: EscrowFly is not responsible for any changes in travel supplier pricing, inventory loss, or reservation expirations resulting from a group's failure to fund their bucket before the deadline.
Post-Booking Cancellations, Refunds, and Discrepancies
- Supplier Terms Precedence: Once funds are released by the Group Organizer to the receiving business (the organizer's company or the booking platform), that business's and its travel suppliers' cancellation and refund policies apply. EscrowFly cannot override a hotel, airline, or rental company’s non-refundable policy.
- Routing of Supplier Refunds: If the receiving business or a travel supplier issues a refund for a booking paid with released EscrowFly funds, the refund should be returned to EscrowFly so it can be redistributed to the group.
- Pro-Rata Redistribution: Upon successful receipt and clearing of a third-party merchant refund, EscrowFly will automatically redistribute those funds back to the contributing group members on a strict pro-rata basis (equal to the percentage of the trip budget each individual originally contributed), minus any non-refundable platform convenience fees.
- Peer-to-Peer Disputes: EscrowFly does not arbitrate interpersonal, social, or financial disputes between group members or organizers. Once the release of funds is approved by the Group Organizer, EscrowFly is directed to send those funds to the receiving business, and all subsequent interpersonal refund disputes must be resolved independently among the group members.
Summary Matrix: Who Holds the Risk?
To ensure your team handles customer support issues correctly, use this operational rule of thumb:
| Scenario | What Happens to the Money? | Who is Liable? |
|---|---|---|
| Flaky friend doesn't pay by deadline | All collected money automatically goes back to the members who did pay. | No one. The trip simply dissolves safely before booking. |
| Hotel burns down / cancels booking | Refund is returned to EscrowFly; EscrowFly splits it back to members. | The Hotel. EscrowFly is just the pass-through engine. |
| Group splits up / fights after booking | The money is already with the booking business. | The Group. EscrowFly will not claw back authorized funds. |