★ MONEY · PAY · HOT AIR BALLOON ALLOWANCE
On the defaults — a $150.00 monthly base allowance plus 2 hot air balloon flights a month at $120.00 each — your hot air balloon allowance totals $390.00 a month and $4,680.00 for the year. This is the HOT AIR BALLOON version — a monthly base for hot air balloon upkeep plus paid hot air balloon flights priced monthly — the hang-gliding-allowance-calculator page is the HANG GLIDING version, the paragliding-allowance-calculator page is the PARAGLIDING version, and the how-to-calculate-hot air balloon-allowance guide is the METHOD version — the same $150.00 base plus 2 hot air balloon flights at $120.00 worked step by step.
Put your monthly base allowance, hot air balloon flights per month and cost per hot air balloon flight in: $150.00 base plus 2 hot air balloon flights at $120.00 total $390.00 a month, $4,680.00 over 12 months.
It means $150.00 of recurring base allowance plus $240.00 of paid hot air balloon flights: 2 flights at $120.00 each. The base is 38.46% of the monthly total, and the hot air balloon flights are the remaining 61.54%. Over 12 months that is $1,800.00 of base plus $2,880.00 of hot air balloon flights, $4,680.00 in all. If the base rises by $20.00, the monthly total rises by exactly $20.00; if one hot air balloon flight is added at $120.00, the monthly total rises by $120.00.
| Output | Formula | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Hot air balloon flights total per month | hot air balloon flights × cost per hot air balloon flight | $240.00 — 2 × $120.00. |
| Total per month | monthly base allowance + hot air balloon flights × cost per hot air balloon flight | $390.00 — $150.00 + $240.00. |
| Total hot air balloon allowance | (monthly base allowance + hot air balloon flights × cost per hot air balloon flight) × 12 | $4,680.00 — $390.00 × 12. |
| Base total | monthly base allowance × 12 | $1,800.00 — $150.00 × 12. |
| Hot air balloon flights total | hot air balloon flights × cost per hot air balloon flight × 12 | $2,880.00 — 2 × $120.00 × 12. |
| Base behind a target monthly total | target monthly total − hot air balloon flights × cost per hot air balloon flight | $150.00 — $390.00 − $240.00. |
| Per-flight amount behind a target monthly total | (target monthly total − monthly base allowance) ÷ hot air balloon flights | $120.00 — ($390.00 − $150.00) ÷ 2. |
| Hot air balloon flights behind a target monthly total | (target monthly total − monthly base allowance) ÷ cost per hot air balloon flight | 2 — ($390.00 − $150.00) ÷ $120.00. |
First, the base must be genuinely recurring: envelope checks, a launch-site fee, an insurance share and small gear maintenance that repeat every month. A harness bought once is not base, and spreading its price across the base inflates every month that follows. Second, count only paid hot air balloon flights: flights already covered by a club package or included in the base allowance cost $0.00 extra and must not be entered, or the total counts them twice. Third, the per-flight price must be everything that flight costs you — the flight itself plus any site fee and video package you always buy — not the flight alone, or the year total quietly understates what hot air balloon really costs.
Base $150.00, 2 hot air balloon flights, $120.00 per hot air balloon flight. Hot air balloon flights total: 2 × $120.00 = $240.00. Monthly total: $150.00 + $240.00 = $390.00. Yearly total: $390.00 × 12 = $4,680.00, split as $1,800.00 base and $2,880.00 flights. Add a third flight and the month becomes $510.00; drop to one flight and it becomes $270.00. The base share rises as flights fall, because the base stays fixed while the flights line shrinks.
A $170.00 base with the same hot air balloon flights and per-flight amount gives $410.00 a month and $4,920.00 a year. A $110.00 per-flight amount with the same base and hot air balloon flights gives $370.00 a month and $4,440.00 a year. Three hot air balloon flights with the same base and per-flight amount give $510.00 a month and $6,120.00 a year. One hot air balloon flight with the same base and per-flight amount gives $270.00 a month and $3,240.00 a year. Each branch changes exactly one input, so the difference from $390.00 isolates that input.
The base behind $390.00 a month is $150.00: at $140.00 the figures are $380.00 a month and $4,560.00 a year, and at $160.00 they are $400.00 a month and $4,800.00 a year — a $10.00 step moves the month by $10.00. The per-flight amount behind $390.00 a month is $120.00: at $110.00 the figures are $370.00 a month and $4,440.00 a year, and at $130.00 they are $410.00 a month and $4,920.00 a year — a $10.00 step moves the month by $20.00, because it applies to both flights. The hot air balloon flights behind $390.00 a month are 2: at 1 flight the figures are $270.00 a month and $3,240.00 a year, and at 3 flights they are $510.00 a month and $6,120.00 a year — one flight either way moves the month by $120.00.
The defaults assume a flat $150.00 base every month of the year, 2 paid hot air balloon flights every month, and a constant $120.00 per hot air balloon flight. Real hot air balloon runs on the holiday season: a summer month may hold 4 flights and a winter month none, so the honest use is to enter the average month, or to run the calculator once per stretch of the year and add the stretches. Zero hot air balloon flights is the honest edge: $150.00 a month and $1,800.00 a year, the base alone. Negative inputs are rejected — a base, a flight count, or a per-flight price below zero has no meaning here.
A twice-a-month balloonist budgeting the year: the base covers envelope checks and the launch-site share, the flights line prices the paid flights, and the year total is the annual budget. A club guest comparing packages: the base is the monthly upkeep allowance and the per-flight price is the flight rate for flights beyond the package. A parent pricing a teen hot air balloon program: the base is the monthly club fee and the hot air balloon flights are the paid flight days. A benefits manager comparing sport allowances: the same base-plus-flights shape prices hot air balloon next to hang gliding, paragliding and other sports on equal terms.
The arithmetic is exact for the inputs entered; the judgement is in the inputs. A base that bundles one-off purchases, a flight count that mixes covered and paid flights, or a per-flight price that omits site fees or video packages will each move the answer by exactly the amount of the error, every month. The model does not include travel, accommodation, a harness bought as a block, safety gear bought once, or employer reimbursement caps — price those separately, and re-check the allowance when the base or the per-flight price changes. This page is a calculation tool, not payroll or benefits advice.
Hot air balloon base $150.00 plus 2 flights at $120.00 totals $390.00 a month, $4,680.00 a year ($1,800.00 base + $2,880.00 flights). Calculator, example. Source: Bright Side Kit, https://brightoolbox.com/hot-air-balloon-allowance-calculator/, accessed 30 October 2026 (2026-10-30).
The recurring amount for envelope checks, a launch-site fee, an insurance share and small hot air balloon gear maintenance: the figure set each month. Paid hot air balloon flights are not part of the base — they have their own line — and one-off charges such as an envelope purchase belong in the month they are charged, not spread across the base.
Enter 0 hot air balloon flights, or a $0.00 cost per hot air balloon flight, and the total is the base alone: $150.00 a month and $1,800.00 over 12 months on these defaults. A covered hot air balloon flight makes its flights line $0.00 by definition, and that is the honest edge, not a missing input.
The average month, if you want the year total to be right: 2 flights a month here means 24 flights a year. Enter the busiest month only when you are pricing that month itself, and say so, or the year total will overstate the season.
No. A package paid yearly is a lump sum, not a monthly base. Either leave it out and price paid flights only, or spread it yourself across the months it covers and add it to the base — but never do both, or the package is counted twice.
Because the per-flight price applies once per flight: one more flight adds exactly one per-flight charge. The base does not change when flights change, which is why the flights line, not the base, carries the seasonal swing.
Yes, as a pricing check: enter the employer base and per-flight rate and compare the year total with the employer cap. The calculator prices whatever figures you enter; it does not check any employer rules.