Booking Terms

TrovaTrip Groups is a demand-aggregation platform. We do not directly sell or operate Trips. We facilitate the introduction between you, your group of friends, and a TrovaTrip Operator. After Lock-In, your booking and trip experience are governed by the TrovaTrip Booking Terms and the Operator’s policies.

You must be at least eighteen (18) years old and have the legal authority to enter into binding contracts in your jurisdiction. You must use a valid credit or debit card you are authorized to use.

Bookings that include a minor (under 18) are subject to the parent TrovaTrip Booking Terms: the booking adult must be at least twenty-five (25) years old, be legally authorized to act on the minor’s behalf, and provide an executed guardian waiver before the trip departs.

Organizers must create an account using our identity provider (Clerk). Travelers may commit as guests by providing first name, last name, and email. You are responsible for the accuracy of information you provide and for maintaining the confidentiality of any credentials.

An Organizer selects a TrovaTrip itinerary template, names the Trip, optionally writes a personal message, selects a departure date from the template’s available dates, and authorizes their own Deposit Hold. Once the Organizer’s Deposit Hold is active, the Trip becomes shareable via a private link and the Organizer is counted as the first committed Traveler.

Anyone with the link can commit by providing required information and authorizing a Deposit Hold. The Trip’s departure date is fixed at creation; commitments are for that specific date.

A Trip “locks in” when the number of Travelers with active Deposit Holds reaches the template’s Minimum Travelers threshold within the Commitment Window. At Lock-In:

• Deposit Holds remain in place; no funds are captured automatically.
• TrovaTrip is notified to confirm dates and inventory with the Operator and prepare the booking under TrovaTrip’s primary platform.
• Once confirmed, Travelers receive instructions to complete their bookings under TrovaTrip’s standard process. At that point, the Deposit Hold may be captured as the down payment for the Trip.

If a Trip does not reach Lock-In within the Commitment Window, it is marked EXPIRED, all Deposit Holds are released automatically, and no funds are captured. Hold release timing is controlled by the issuing bank and may take several business days to be reflected on a Traveler’s available credit.

A Trip “sells out” when the number of committed Travelers reaches the Maximum Travelers cap on the template. Additional commitments are not accepted after sell-out. We do not currently maintain a waitlist.

By committing to a Trip you authorize TrovaTrip’s payment processor (currently Stripe, Inc.) to place a hold on your card in the amount of the Deposit. A hold reserves funds against your available credit but does not transfer money. You are not charged at the time you commit.

The Deposit is twenty-five percent (25%) of the Lock-In Price (the per-person price at the Minimum Travelers tier). The Deposit amount does not change as the group grows; reductions in the per-person price flow to the final balance, not the hold.

Deposit Holds are only captured if the Trip locks in and the Trip is confirmed under TrovaTrip’s primary platform. Capture, when it occurs, converts the held funds into the Trip down payment under the TrovaTrip Booking Terms. The remaining trip balance becomes due per those terms (typically 90 days before departure).

By default, we email each Traveler a pre-charge notice and capture occurs approximately forty-eight (48) hours later. However, capture may occur sooner without a 48-hour notice in the following cases: (a) operational urgency where TrovaTrip elects to capture inline at confirmation (for example, when inventory must be locked immediately); (b) Travelers who join a Trip that is already confirmed (a “late joiner”), whose card is charged at the time they commit rather than held; and (c) when Travelers have already provided post– material-change reconsent and the resulting confirmation triggers immediate capture. The Refund & Cancellation Policy describes these paths in plain language.

We release Deposit Holds when (a) a Trip expires, (b) a Trip is cancelled, or (c) you cancel your commitment before Lock-In. Card networks process hold releases on their own schedule; we have no control over how quickly the funds reappear on your account.

Deposit Holds typically expire on the issuing bank’s schedule (usually 7 days). If a Trip has not locked in or been cancelled by the time a hold lapses and you are still committed, you may be asked to re-authorize.

The per-person price for a Trip is fixed for the chosen departure date and displayed before you commit. Every confirmed Traveler on the Trip is billed at the same per-person price.

All amounts are in U.S. dollars (USD) unless otherwise specified.

You may cancel your commitment at any time before your deposit is captured, including while the Trip is gathering and after the Trip has locked in but before capture. Cancel by using the link in your commitment- confirmed email (the per-commitment manage link) or by emailing hi@groups.trovatrip.com. Your Deposit Hold is released; no funds are captured.

If your cancellation drops the committed-traveler count below the Minimum Travelers threshold while the Trip is locked in but not yet captured, the Trip returns to gathering status, the Organizer is notified, and other Travelers’ holds remain in place. The Commitment Window in Section 1 continues to run.

Once your deposit is captured, the booking is confirmed under TrovaTrip’s primary platform and cancellation, refunds, trip credits, and rescheduling are governed by the parent TrovaTrip Booking Terms then in effect (Sections 5.7–5.10), as summarized in our Refund & Cancellation Policy. The captured Deposit is generally non-refundable, subject to the carve-outs in those terms (material change, TrovaTrip cancellation, force-majeure). The parent terms’ 48-hour post-confirmation back-out window is satisfied by the Groups pre-charge notice; there is no separate post-capture refund window in Groups.

Before Lock-In: An Organizer may cancel an unconfirmed Trip at any time. All Deposit Holds (including the Organizer’s own) are released and no charges are made.

After Lock-In, before capture: The Organizer may withdraw their own commitment under Section 5.1; that may un-tilt the Trip if the committed count drops below the minimum. The Organizer cannot unilaterally cancel the Trip on behalf of other committed Travelers once it has locked in.

After capture: The Organizer is treated like any other Traveler for refund purposes — see Section 5.2 and the parent tier structure (typically TrovaTrip credit equal to the captured deposit, less a $100 cancellation fee, applied within 365 days, when more than 90 days from departure; non-refundable when 90 days or fewer from departure). The Trip continues with the remaining Travelers, and TrovaTrip will identify a replacement Organizer if one is needed for on-the-ground coordination.

Before Lock-In or before capture: We may cancel a Trip in our reasonable discretion, including (without limitation) for suspected fraud, violation of these Terms, or unavailability of the underlying inventory. All Deposit Holds are released and no charges are made.

After capture: If TrovaTrip cancels a confirmed Trip (other than for cause attributable to you under Section 7.4), captured Deposits are fully refunded to the original payment method, or — at your election — issued as TrovaTrip credit usable within 365 days. Cancellations after capture are otherwise governed by the parent Booking Terms.

If the Operator cancels a confirmed Trip, the parent TrovaTrip Booking Terms (Section 5.9) govern. In summary: with more than thirty (30) days’ notice, you may take a full refund or TrovaTrip credit equal to your captured payments; with thirty (30) days or fewer notice, refund availability depends on whether TrovaTrip is able to recover funds from the Operator. Where the Operator reschedules with at least thirty (30) days’ notice, you may elect a credit at the rescheduled date or a full refund.

Where a Trip is cancelled, delayed, materially altered, or otherwise affected by an unavoidable and extraordinary circumstance — including (without limitation) acts of war, terrorism, civil unrest, public-health emergencies, government travel restrictions, natural disasters, or significant infrastructure failures — the parent TrovaTrip Booking Terms govern. TrovaTrip will use reasonable efforts to recover Operator funds and minimize losses to Travelers, but liability is limited as set out in Section 9 and the parent terms’ force-majeure provisions.

The departure date selected at Trip creation is the operative date for the Trip. The final, on-the-ground date is confirmed by TrovaTrip with the Operator after Lock-In and may differ slightly based on inventory availability; material date changes are handled under Section 6.3.

The day-by-day itinerary and the activities, accommodations, transfers, and meals described are representative. Operators reserve the right to substitute reasonably equivalent components, and the Operator’s decisions on the ground are final subject to applicable law.

If, after Lock-In but before capture, the Trip materially changes (for example, a meaningful itinerary edit, a departure-date shift, or an overnight-location change outside a 100-mile radius), we will notify each committed Traveler and ask each Traveler to reconsent to the changed Trip within seven (7) days. A Traveler who declines, or who fails to respond within the seven-day window, will be removed from the Trip and their Deposit Hold released. If the resulting committed Traveler count drops below the Minimum Travelers threshold, the Trip returns to gathering status. Material changes that occur after capture are governed by the parent TrovaTrip Booking Terms.

You agree to provide truthful, accurate, complete, and current information when you commit. After Lock-In, additional information will be required for booking (full legal name as on passport, date of birth, nationality, passport details, emergency contact, dietary or medical needs, etc.) under the parent TrovaTrip Booking Terms.

You are solely responsible for obtaining and maintaining all required travel documents (passport valid for at least six months beyond your travel dates, visas, health certificates, and any local entry permits). We are not liable for entry denial, missed travel, or related costs caused by document issues.

We strongly recommend you purchase comprehensive travel insurance. Under the parent TrovaTrip Booking Terms (Section 5.14), the recommended minimum coverage is two hundred thousand U.S. dollars ($200,000) for each of personal accident, death, medical expenses, and emergency repatriation, and your policy should also include cancellation, curtailment, personal liability, and lost-luggage cover. Insurance is not included in the Trip price and is not a substitute for our cancellation rules.

If the Operator for a particular Trip requires travel insurance, you will be notified at least ninety (90) days before departure under the parent terms. Once you have a policy, the policy holder name and policy number must be provided to TrovaTrip at least forty-eight (48) hours before departure.

You agree to comply with the laws of all destinations visited and the reasonable instructions of trip leaders, Operators, and TrovaTrip. We may cancel your commitment or remove you from a Trip for behavior that endangers the group, the Operator’s staff, or local persons or property, with no refund.

We use Stripe, Inc. for card authorizations and any payment captures. Stripe’s handling of your payment information is governed by Stripe’s privacy policy.

Organizer authentication is handled by Clerk, Inc.; Travelers who join an existing Trip do so as guests via email and a signed link, without creating a Clerk account. Where Clerk is used, your use of Clerk is governed by Clerk’s terms and privacy policy.

Trips are delivered on the ground by independent local Operators. We do not employ the Operators’ staff and do not control their day-to-day decisions. Your relationship with the Operator after Lock-In is governed by the parent TrovaTrip Booking Terms and the Operator’s applicable policies.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Oregon, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. The U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply.

Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the service shall be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in the State of Oregon, and you consent to personal jurisdiction in those courts. This forum clause matches the parent TrovaTrip Booking Terms.

You and TrovaTrip agree to bring any claims only in your individual capacity and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class or representative action.