Why was my booking refused?
Every message AerScheduler gives when it will not create a booking, what it means, and the shortest way past it.
For owners, admins, dispatchers, instructors, students, renters and technicians
AerScheduler never trims a booking quietly. When it will not create one it says which person, which aircraft or which rule stopped it. This page lists every refusal and the shortest way past each.
No times are offered for the day I want#
The Start dropdown lists only 15 minute marks where the resource and every person on the booking are simultaneously free. When nothing overlaps, the list is empty and says "No open times on this date for everyone selected."
Underneath it there is a Next available link with a date and a time. Clicking it moves the form to that slot, which is usually faster than hunting.
Otherwise, shorten the list of people. Adding a second instructor or a fourth student intersects one more diary into the calculation, so removing somebody almost always opens slots. Trying another aircraft or another day does the same.
That person does not meet currency requirements#
"Jamie Smith is not current on Medical and Flight review."
Somebody on the booking is not current for that aircraft. Currency checks at book are always on. Open their currencies and look at all four counts, not just Expired. A currency that has never been signed off counts as not current even though nothing has run out, and that is the usual answer.
Some currency rules allow the flight with a current instructor aboard. If yours does, adding an instructor to the booking clears the refusal. Nothing on screen explains that this is what happened, so it can look as if the block was never real.
Somebody on the booking is grounded, archived or unavailable#
"Jamie Smith is grounded." or "Jamie Smith is grounded for unpaid invoices. Paying them lifts it."
The refusal always names the person. Two flavors:
- Grounded for unpaid invoices, which AerScheduler applies by itself. It says so, because paying the invoices lifts it with no admin involved.
- Grounded by an admin, where the reason is deliberately not quoted back. It may be personal, and the person reading the message is often not the person who is grounded.
Grounding only blocks bookings with an aircraft on them. A grounded member can still be booked into a ground lesson or a simulator session. Archived and unavailable people are named the same way.
The aircraft is grounded#
A grounded aircraft can be booked for Maintenance and for nothing else. That exception is deliberate: the maintenance booking is what gets it back in service, so blocking it would leave the aeroplane permanently stuck.
The airworthiness notice above the time picker is a separate thing. It reports the grounding reason and any open squawks so you know what you are booking. Open squawks on an aircraft that is not grounded are information, not a block.
See Why can't I book this aircraft?.
A solo has one pilot, a shared flight has none#
The personnel limits are per type, and they are refusals rather than warnings.
| Message | What it means |
|---|---|
| "A solo has one pilot. Book a dual if an instructor is flying with a student." | A solo carries exactly one person. This is regulatory, not a product limit: 14 CFR 61.87 defines solo as the student being the sole occupant, so a two-person solo would be a false record. |
| "A shared flight is two or more pilots sharing one aircraft. With one pilot, book a solo or a rental instead." | Shared means two or more pilots splitting one aircraft. |
| "A shared flight has no instructor. With an instructor aboard it's a dual." | The moment there is an instructor, it is a dual. |
| "Pick an instructor for this dual reservation." | A dual needs both sides filled in. |
| "Guest flights need an aircraft." | Guest is the one type that always needs a tail. |
| "Enter a valid email. The guest's invoice is sent there." | The guest's invoice has nowhere to go without it. |
| "A maintenance booking can't have anyone assigned to it." | Maintenance takes the aircraft off the line and carries nobody. |
If you are not sure which type you want, read Which reservation type should I use? once. Picking the wrong type is the most common reason a booking is refused.
That tier can book up to N days ahead#
"The Associate tier can book up to 7 days ahead. That booking is 12 days out."
The member is on a membership plan with a booking window. Three things people get caught by:
- It applies to every reservation type, so it limits ground school and simulator time as well as aircraft.
- It applies when staff book on that member's behalf too, because the rule is about whose membership it is.
- It applies only while the membership is active. A pending or lapsed membership has no window at all.
An admin can change or clear the window on the plan. See Booking rules and settings.
Bookings at this school can be at most N hours#
"Bookings at this school can be at most 4 hours. This one is 6 hours."
Your school set a max reservation length under Booking preferences. Shorten the booking, or ask an admin to raise the limit.
Already has N upcoming bookings#
"Ana Ruiz already has 3 upcoming bookings, and the school limit is 3."
Or, for a repeating booking:
"This repeat would create 25 bookings, but Ana Ruiz already has 5 upcoming and the school limit is 20 (room for 15 more)."
Your school capped how many future bookings one member may hold. Every date in a repeating series counts toward that same cap. Cancel or wait for one to finish, shorten the series, or ask the front desk.
This booking would keep the aircraft overnight#
"This booking would keep the aircraft overnight, and multi-day bookings are turned off for this organization. An owner or admin can enable them in Settings, under booking rules."
You have crossed local midnight at the airport. Note where the line is: a flight that ends exactly at midnight is fine, and midnight is the last slot the end-time picker offers every day. 12:15am is a night away.
An admin turns multi-day bookings on under WebSettings → Booking preferences, and cannot do it until the school has a time zone set. See Book a trip that keeps the aircraft overnight.
Add a payment method before booking#
"Add a payment method before booking. Open Payment methods in your profile, then try again."
Your school requires a card on file before a student or renter books themselves. Add one under WebYou → Profile → Payments and book again.
It only applies to somebody booking themselves into the student or renter seat. The front desk booking on your behalf is never blocked by it.
You are not checked out on that tail#
"You're not checked out on any aircraft." when you have no approvals at all, or a message naming the tail when you click a lane for one you are not approved on. The Aircraft field clears rather than letting you get further into a booking that would be refused.
A check-out is an explicit approval linking you to one aeroplane. Ask your school to approve you on the aircraft you can fly. An admin does that from Approve members on the aircraft, or from Approved aircraft on your profile. It takes a moment.
That repeating booking cannot be made#
"That repeating booking can't be made" followed by how many dates conflict, up to five of them named, and "Nothing was booked."
A repeat is all or nothing. If one Tuesday in twelve has a clash, none of the twelve are created. Fix or avoid the named dates, or shorten the series, and book again. See Set up a lesson that repeats every week.
Your account does not have enough credit#
"Your account needs at least $200 credit to book. Your account has $0. Add funds under Billing, or ask the front desk."
The school is on an account ledger and requires prepaid credit before students and renters book themselves. Add funds on WebBilling, or ask the desk to post a credit. Owners, admins, and dispatchers booking for you, and instructor-led duals, are not blocked by this. On a shared flight the other pilot's balance is checked too; the refusal names them if they are the one under the floor.
A $0 floor means you cannot book while the account is negative.
You already owe more than the school allows#
"Your account owes $501, and this school does not let members book more than $500 owing. Add funds under Billing, or ask the front desk."
Same self-book rule as the credit floor, but a ceiling on how far into the red you can go. Paying down the balance (or a desk credit) clears it.
You cannot start this flight#
"Your account needs at least $200 credit to start this flight…" is the same ledger rule, checked at ramp-out rather than when you booked. Add funds, or ask the desk to ramp out for you (owners, admins, and dispatchers skip it).
Bookings more than a year ahead#
Nothing can be booked more than 365 days out, by anyone. There is no error message: the date picker simply will not go there.
Other refusals worth knowing#
- "Nothing to book yet" on the Book page. Your account has no role that can book. Ask an admin to add student, renter, instructor or technician to you. Owner, admin and dispatcher do not count, because they book other people rather than themselves.
- Notes that will not save. Notes are capped at 200 characters and titles at 50. The web Notes box does not show a counter, so a long briefing note fails on save with an unhelpful message. Shorten it.
- One person in two seats. A booking cannot put the same person on both sides, for example as instructor and as student. A close-out waits on every distinct person, and somebody in two seats could never complete it.
Related#
The other half: refusals on a booking that already exists.
The page behind the most confusing refusal on this list.
For admins: which of these rules you turned on.
Still stuck on this?
Email support@aerscheduler.com and tell us what you were trying to do. We answer.