Making an extra payment
You can pay more than your scheduled amount at any time. Open Trips, tap your trip, and tap Make a Payment in the Payment Schedule section.
There are three ways to pay extra, and none of them has a fee or a penalty. The main thing to decide is what you'd like to happen afterward: more time before your next charge, smaller payments from here on, or no more payments at all.
What are my options?
When nothing is past due, Make a Payment gives you three tabs. Each one costs something different today, and changes something different afterward.
Pay ahead
Pay ahead is the tab that opens by default. It pays your next one or more installments today.
- What you pay today: the installments you choose to cover.
- What changes afterward: your next automatic charge moves back, giving you breathing room later.
For example, say your weekly payment is $50 and your next payments are due on the 7th and the 14th (example figures). If you pay ahead two installments, you pay $100 today, both of those payments are covered, and your next automatic charge is on the 21st.
Inside Pay ahead, Custom amount lets you enter an amount of your own. It pays toward your upcoming installments, and it moves your next charge back too.
Principal
Principal pays any amount you choose toward your balance. (This tab used to be called "Custom".)
- What you pay today: any amount you choose.
- What changes afterward: your future installments get smaller, and their dates stay the same. Your next payment is still due on the same day, for less.
For example, say you have $600 left to pay and you pay $150 with Principal (example figures). Your balance drops to $450, your payment dates don't move, and your future payments get smaller to match.
Pay off
Pay off clears your entire remaining balance in one go.
- What you pay today: everything that's left. If Defera Credit is applied to your trip, Pay off charges only what's left after that credit, and the credit covers the rest.
- What changes afterward: there are no more payments. Your trip is paid in full, and our team releases your airline confirmation number.
Here's what happens after you pay off your trip, including when to expect your confirmation number.
Which one should I choose?
- You have money now and want room later: choose Pay ahead.
- You'd like smaller payments from here on: choose Principal.
- You want to be done, and get your confirmation number: choose Pay off.
All three mean paying more today. If an upcoming payment is going to be hard to make, they're not the right tool: skipping a payment or switching to weekly can help instead.
How do I make a payment?
- Open Trips and tap your trip.
- In the Payment Schedule section, tap Make a Payment.
- Choose Pay ahead, Principal or Pay off.
- Check the amount, then confirm.
What if a payment is past due?
If a payment didn't go through, Make a Payment puts it first. A red banner at the top asks you to pay what's past due, and the other options open once it's cleared.
You don't have to clear it all at once. The Past due tab takes any amount from $5 toward your oldest missed payment, with your card on file or a new card.
What if my screen looks different?
On some older Defera Installments plans, Make a Payment opens a separate payment page instead. There, you can pay an extra installment, pay off your balance or clear a past-due payment.