★ GUIDES · MONEY · SKYDIVING ALLOWANCE
How to Calculate Skydiving Allowance in 4 Easy Steps
Price the base, count the jumps, add the lines, multiply by 12. This guide works the $140.00 base plus 2 skydiving jumps at $110.00 example step by step — $360.00 a month, $4,320.00 a year — and shows how to check any skydiving allowance backwards. For the interactive version, use the skydiving-allowance-calculator.
Skydiving allowance in one line
A skydiving allowance is simple: a monthly base amount, plus the number of paid skydiving jumps multiplied by the price of one skydiving jump, all multiplied by twelve for the year. Base plus jumps times price, then times twelve. Everything else on this page is about getting those three inputs right, because the arithmetic never fails — only the inputs do. Work through the four steps below with your own figures, and check the result backwards before you trust it.
Step 1: Price the monthly base allowance
The base is the recurring monthly amount for skydiving upkeep: rig checks, a drop-zone share, an insurance share and small gear maintenance that repeat every month. On the example figures the base is $140.00 a month, or $1,680.00 over twelve months. To price your own base, list every skydiving cost that repeats monthly and add them: the club share, the site fee, the insurance slice, the small maintenance you do every month. Leave out anything bought once — a rig, a helmet, an altimeter — because a one-off purchase is not a monthly cost, and spreading it across the base inflates every month that follows.
Step 2: Count only the paid skydiving jumps
Jumps are the paid jumps beyond the base: on the example figures, 2 jumps a month at $110.00 each, or $220.00 a month of jumps. Count only jumps you pay for individually. A jump covered by a club package costs $0.00 extra and must not be counted, or the total counts it twice — once in the package you already paid for, and once in the jumps line. If your jumping is seasonal, use the average month: 24 jumps a year means 2 a month, even if summer holds four and winter holds none.
Step 3: Add the lines and multiply by 12
Now the arithmetic. Jumps total: 2 × $110.00 = $220.00 a month. Monthly total: $140.00 + $220.00 = $360.00. Yearly total: $360.00 × 12 = $4,320.00, split as $1,680.00 of base and $2,640.00 of jumps.
Step 4: Check the result backwards
Before you trust $360.00 a month, work it backwards. The base behind $360.00 is $140.00: subtract the jumps line ($220.00) from the monthly total and you must land on the base. The per-jump amount behind $360.00 is $110.00: subtract the base ($140.00) from the monthly total and divide by the jumps (2). The jumps behind $360.00 are 2: subtract the base from the monthly total and divide by the per-jump price.
A holiday season in numbers
Suppose your summer months hold 4 jumps each and your winter months hold none, with the same $140.00 base and $110.00 per jump. A summer month totals $140.00 + 4 × $110.00 = $580.00, and a winter month totals $140.00 alone. Over a year of six summer months and six winter months, the total is 6 × $580.00 + 6 × $140.00 = $4,320.00 — exactly the same as the flat average of 2 jumps a month, because 24 jumps a year is 24 jumps a year however they are spread.
Common mistakes
The most common mistake is counting covered jumps as paid jumps, which double-counts the package. The second is putting a one-off purchase into the base, which inflates all twelve months. The third is pricing the jump alone and forgetting the site fee and the video package you always buy, which understates every jump. The fourth is entering the busiest month as if it were the average month, which overstates the year.
Worked example, start to finish
Base $140.00, 2 skydiving jumps, $110.00 per jump. Jumps total: 2 × $110.00 = $220.00. Monthly total: $140.00 + $220.00 = $360.00. Yearly total: $360.00 × 12 = $4,320.00, split as $1,680.00 base and $2,640.00 jumps. Add a third jump and the month becomes $470.00 and the year $5,640.00; drop to one jump and the month becomes $250.00 and the year $3,000.00. Raise the base to $160.00 and the month becomes $380.00 and the year $4,560.00. Lower the per-jump price to $100.00 and the month becomes $340.00 and the year $4,080.00.
What changes the answer most
Over a year, the jumps line usually matters more than the base, because it carries the seasonal swing: at the example figures the jumps line is $2,640.00 against $1,680.00 of base. A change in jump count moves the year by $1,320.00 per jump per month, while a $10.00 change in the base moves the year by only $120.00.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as the monthly base allowance?
The recurring monthly amount for rig checks, a drop-zone fee, an insurance share and small gear maintenance. Paid jumps are a separate line, and one-off purchases belong in the month they are charged, not spread across the base.
What if my jumps are covered by a club package?
Enter 0 jumps, or a $0.00 per-jump price, and the total is the base alone: $140.00 a month and $1,680.00 a year on the example figures. A covered jump costs $0.00 extra by definition.
Should I use my average month or my busiest month?
The average month, if you want the year total to be right. Use the busiest month only when pricing that month itself, and say so, or the year total will overstate the season.
How do I check my answer backwards?
Subtract the jumps line from the monthly total to recover the base; subtract the base and divide by the jumps to recover the per-jump price; subtract the base and divide by the per-jump price to recover the jumps. If any recovery misses, an input is wrong.
Does the calculator handle employer-paid allowances?
Yes, as a pricing check: enter the employer base and per-jump rate and compare the year total with the employer cap. It prices whatever figures you enter; it does not check any employer rules.
What if I jump more in summer than in winter?
Use the average month, or run the calculator once per stretch of the year and add the stretches. Both methods agree when the jump count is right — 24 jumps a year is 24 jumps a year however they are spread.