Regional deployments

Past about 150 miles a search stops being an evening's work and becomes an overnight. This page covers those. If your animal is missing inside that radius — which is almost everybody — the local price is simpler and it is on the main pricing page.

What a regional deployment costs

Regional deployment

$985plus mileage, per diem and lodging

Roughly 150 to 400 miles from Austin.

6 hours on site, split across two sessions either side of an overnight stay
Everything a local search includes, plus the second session at first light
A per diem of $120
Lodging, billed at cost — no markup, and the receipt is on the invoice

Mileage at the same $1.55 per mile round trip. The callout fee is the total charge for the service and is earned in full whether it takes one session or two — if we find your animal in the first, the second is simply unnecessary.

The line between local and regional is not a hard edge. A case a little past 150 miles is often still worth flying as a local search, and where it could go either way we will tell you which we think it is and why. It is our call to make, and we make it in the direction that costs you less unless the search genuinely needs the overnight.

What a regional search costs, in one table

These are the charges that actually come up. Nothing is added to an invoice that was not discussed with you first.

Charge	Amount	When it applies
Regional deployment	$985	Roughly 150–400 miles. 6 hours across two sessions.
Mileage	$1.55 per mile	Round trip from Austin.
Per diem	$120	One per deployment.
Lodging	At cost	Billed at the rate paid, with the receipt.
Adverse weather surcharge	Quoted before deployment	When conditions require weather-rated aircraft — sustained wind over 20mph, gusts over 25mph, temperatures at or below 36°F, or fog and heavy mist.
Holiday surcharge	Quoted before deployment	US national holidays, the two days before and the two days after.

Cancelling a regional deployment

These windows are tighter than for a local search, and they run from when we leave rather than when we arrive. A regional booking commits the whole night — the drive, the lodging, and two sessions — and no other case can be taken for that period.

Measured from our scheduled departure

Notice given	Refundable
More than 5 hours	50%
2 to 5 hours	25%
Under 2 hours	Non-refundable

Once we have departed, the fee is non-refundable.
Non-refundable lodging already paid is deducted from any refund.
Finding your animal in the first session is not a cancellation. The fee is earned in full, and the second session is simply not needed.
If we cancel — weather, airspace, safety, equipment — you choose between a full refund and a credit toward a rescheduled deployment.

How booking and paying work

We talk it through on the phone first — what happened, where, the terrain, and what it would cost. You get the number for your case on that call, along with an honest read on whether a search would help at all.
If it makes sense, we send a service agreement to sign electronically, with the cost written on it. Nothing is committed until you sign.
Signing produces an invoice. It is paid before we deploy, so the deployment is fully arranged before anyone drives anywhere.
There is no charge for the call, for the assessment, or for being told a drone is the wrong tool for your situation.

Not sure which applies to your case?

Send us where the animal was lost and what happened, or call. We will tell you whether it is a local search or a regional one, and what it would cost either way.

Tell us what happened

Or call 512-808-0246