Legal

Terms of Service

Effective date: 11 July 2026 Last updated: 11 July 2026 Version: 2026-07-11

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a binding agreement between you and Tripbuds Pty Ltd (ACN 635 938 537), a company incorporated in New South Wales, Australia ("Tripbuds", "we", "us", "our"). They govern your use of the Tripbuds mobile app and any related services we provide (together, the "Service").

By creating an account or otherwise using the Service, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

1. Eligibility

You must be at least 16 years old to use the Service. By creating an account, you confirm that you meet this age requirement, that you have provided an accurate date of birth, and that you have the legal capacity to enter into these Terms.

If you are under the age of majority in your jurisdiction (typically 18), you may only use the Service with the agreement of a parent or legal guardian, who accepts these Terms on your behalf. Tripbuds may request evidence of that consent and may suspend or terminate accounts where consent cannot be verified.

If we discover that a user is under 16, we will delete the account and all associated data within 30 days. See our Privacy Policy for details.

2. Your account

You are responsible for everything that happens under your account, including content you post and any bookings or actions initiated through the Service.
You must provide accurate information when you sign up, including an accurate date of birth, and you must not falsify it to circumvent our minimum age requirement.
You must keep your sign-in credentials safe. If you sign in with Apple or Google, you remain responsible for the security of that third-party account.
You may not create more than one account per person without our written agreement, and you may not impersonate anyone else.
We may suspend or terminate your account if you breach these Terms. See section 13.

3. What Tripbuds is — and is not

Tripbuds is a travel-planning tool. We help you build itineraries, save places, plan with friends, split costs, chat, and discover trips other people have shared.

Tripbuds is not:

a travel agent, tour operator, or seller of travel;
a payment institution, bank, money-remittance service, or holder of an Australian Financial Services Licence;
a merchant of record for any booking, stay, flight, restaurant, attraction, or other third-party product or service;
an insurer, insurance broker, or provider of financial or insurance advice;
a visa, immigration, or travel-document adviser.

When you tap "Book", we hand you off to a third-party supplier (such as Booking.com, GetYourGuide, or Viator). The contract for that booking is between you and the supplier — not Tripbuds. See section 5.

4. Your content and licence to us

You retain all rights to the content you post on Tripbuds — your trips, days, places, packing lists, expenses, polls, chat messages, reactions, photos, tips, and any other material ("Your Content").

By posting Your Content you grant Tripbuds a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, store, reproduce, modify (for formatting and resizing only), distribute, and display Your Content solely to operate and improve the Service. This licence ends when you delete the content or your account, except:

to the extent the content has been shared into another user's trip, copied into a saved trip, or otherwise reasonably integrated by another user (those copies persist with that user);
where we are required by law to retain a copy; or
where the content has been published to a public surface of the Service before deletion (see section 4.2).

You confirm that you have all rights necessary to grant this licence and that Your Content does not infringe anyone else's rights.

4.1 Group trips and shared content

When you join a trip with others, content you add to that trip (places, notes, expenses, chat messages, polls, photos) is visible to other members of the trip and may be retained as part of the trip's history even if you leave it. Some items can be marked personal, which limits them to the audience you choose.

4.2 Public trips

If you mark a trip as public, it becomes world-readable. Anyone with the link — or anyone searching the Service — can view it. Search engines may index it. By making a trip public you grant Tripbuds and other users an additional licence to copy, save, and adapt the public version of that trip; accept that other users may save it into their own account and continue using it after you delete your copy; and accept that copies already saved by other users persist even after you make the trip private again.

We provide a "save this trip" feature so that other users can copy your public trip into their account. We may also feature selected public trips more prominently in Discover.

4.3 Tips

Tips you post on stops in a public trip are visible only to members who have saved that trip. They are not search-indexable as a public surface.

4.4 Acceptable Use

You must not post or share content that:

is unlawful, defamatory, harassing, threatening, or hateful;
depicts or sexualises minors;
infringes intellectual property or privacy rights;
promotes self-harm, violence, or illegal activity;
contains malware, spam, or deceptive links;
impersonates another person or misrepresents your affiliation with any person or entity.

You must not connect an email account that you do not own or do not have authorisation to access.

You must not use the follow, bud, direct-message, or group-chat features to harass, stalk, impersonate, or track another person. You can block any user from their profile or their content (see section 12.1).

If you use the Live location feature, you may share only your own location, only with members of your trip, and only while you choose to. You must not use another person's location shared with you for any purpose other than coordinating that trip, and you must not attempt to track anyone without their knowledge.

We may remove content and suspend accounts that breach this section. We may also report serious matters to law enforcement.

4.5 Video on stops

You may upload short video clips to stops on a trip ("Stop videos"). Stop videos must be no longer than 15 seconds and no larger than 50 MB; are subject to the Acceptable Use rules in section 4.4; are screened by automated content moderation before they are made visible to others; start in a "Pending review" state visible only to you and the trip's members; and may be hidden, removed, or refused at any time where moderation determines they breach these Terms.

We do not guarantee that automated moderation will catch every breach. Auto-approval does not mean Tripbuds endorses or has manually reviewed a video. You remain responsible for the content of your Stop videos.

5. Bookings and affiliate relationships

Tripbuds works with travel suppliers and affiliate networks. As of the date of these Terms, our active partners include Booking.com (accommodation, flights, and cars); GetYourGuide and Viator — a Tripadvisor company — (tours, activities, and attraction tickets); World Nomads (travel insurance, underwritten by nib Travel); VisaHQ (visa information and services); and Ticketmaster (local event discovery and ticketing). We use affiliate networks including CJ Affiliate and Impact, and integrate some partners directly. Because we earn a commission on some bookings, our commercial arrangements may influence which options we surface, but never the price you pay. We may add or remove partners over time.

Travel-insurance and visa partners are affiliate relationships: we may earn a commission if you get a quote or make a purchase, the price you pay is unaffected by coming via Tripbuds, and any purchase is a contract between you and that provider under their own terms. Nothing in the app is a recommendation to buy a particular insurance product or a determination of your visa eligibility.

When you tap a "Book" button we open the partner's site in your browser and append an affiliate identifier that tells the partner the click came from Tripbuds. The price you see on the partner's site is the price you pay — you do not pay more because you came via Tripbuds. We may earn a commission if you complete a booking. Your booking, payment, refund, change, and cancellation are governed by the supplier's terms, not ours.

We are not responsible for the availability, accuracy, or quality of any third-party product or service; the conduct of suppliers; supplier refusal of refunds or changes; price/availability changes between viewing and booking; or disputes between you and a supplier. Verify all details on the supplier's site before paying.

5.1 Entry, visa, insurance, and weather information

The app shows general travel information — including entry and visa requirements (via VisaHQ), destination essentials, local events (via Ticketmaster), weather forecasts, and "Adapt my day" suggestions. This information is general only and may be incomplete, out of date, or wrong for your circumstances. It is not legal, immigration, insurance, financial, or professional advice. Entry and visa requirements depend on your nationality, your specific situation, and current government rules — always confirm with the relevant official authority, embassy, airline, or insurer before you travel or purchase. "Adapt my day" weather-based suggestions are advisory and never change your itinerary automatically.

5.2 Refunds, changes, and cancellations

Tripbuds is not the merchant of record and does not process payments, refunds, changes, or cancellations. Every booking, ticket, insurance policy, visa service, or subscription you buy is governed by the refund and cancellation policy of the partner that sells it. Always read that partner's policy — shown before you pay — because terms vary by product, rate, and timing. The summaries below are general guidance only and may change; the partner's current policy prevails.

Partner	Refunds & cancellations (summary)	Governed by
GetYourGuide (tours & activities)	Many activities are fully refundable if cancelled more than 24 hours before the start time; cancellations within 24 hours, or no-shows, are generally non-refundable. Some activities set their own terms, shown on the activity page. Refunds are issued to your original payment method.	GetYourGuide Terms
Viator / Tripadvisor (tours & activities)	Most experiences are fully refundable if cancelled at least 24 hours before the start time; products marked "All Sales Final" and group bookings are non-refundable, and there is no refund once an experience has started. Bookings complete on viator.com, where Viator acts as a disclosed agent for the local operator.	Viator Terms
Booking.com (stays, flights, cars)	Each property or supplier sets its own policy: free-cancellation rates can be cancelled within the stated window; non-refundable rates cannot be changed or refunded. The property or supplier — not Tripbuds — sets and charges any fee.	Booking.com
Ticketmaster (event tickets)	If an event goes ahead, tickets are generally non-refundable and non-exchangeable (including change of mind or adverse weather). If an event is cancelled, the ticket price is generally refunded (some fees may be non-refundable); if rescheduled, tickets usually remain valid or you may request a refund before a stated deadline.	Ticketmaster Purchase Policy
World Nomads (travel insurance, via nib Travel)	A cooling-off period applies, as set out in the current Product Disclosure Statement: if you cancel within it and have not started your trip or made a claim, you receive a refund of premium. After that, premiums are generally not refundable once cover has begun.	World Nomads (AU)
VisaHQ (visa services)	VisaHQ service fees are refundable on a sliding scale depending on how far your application has progressed; government and embassy fees become non-refundable once your application is submitted.	VisaHQ Refund Policy
Tripbuds Pro (Apple App Store / Google Play)	Cancelling stops future renewals; your Pro access continues until the end of the current paid period. Subscription refunds are requested from and handled by Apple or Google under their store terms — Tripbuds is not the merchant of record and generally cannot refund directly.	Apple · Google Play

Nothing in this section limits any non-excludable right or remedy you have under the Australian Consumer Law (see section 14.1).

6. The verified-by-booking badge

A "Verified by booking" badge appears on a stop when you completed a booking for that stop through one of our affiliate partners and the partner reports a confirmed, locked, or paid status. The badge confirms only that the booking record exists and is in the relevant status. It is not an endorsement and does not certify that you attended. A separate "I went here" badge can be self-applied and is unverified.

7. Expenses, splits, and settlements

The expense, split, and settlement features are an informational ledger only. Tripbuds does not move or hold money, is not a payment institution under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), and does not hold an Australian Financial Services Licence. Settlements you record are between you and the other trip members; we do not facilitate, verify, or guarantee any payment. To actually transfer money, use your bank, a payment app, cash, or other lawful means outside Tripbuds. Where the app converts amounts between currencies, exchange rates are indicative only and may differ from the rate you actually receive.

8. Tripbuds Pro subscription and payments

Tripbuds offers a free tier and an optional paid subscription, Tripbuds Pro.

Free tier. The free tier includes core planning features subject to usage limits — for example, the number of members per trip and the number of AI itinerary generations (available on your first few trips, then a monthly cap). Manual trips are not capped. New accounts may also receive a one-time allowance of introductory AI generations ("first-trip credits"), which is used before the monthly limit applies. The current limits are shown in-app.

Pro. Tripbuds Pro removes those limits and unlocks premium features, which currently include live flight status, flight-delay push alerts, unlimited trips and members, unlimited AI planning, PDF export of trips, and the Trip Wallet email scanning feature described in section 8.1. The current Pro feature list and prices are shown on the in-app upgrade screen, which prevails over any summary here.

Billing. Pro is an auto-renewable subscription billed through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store under your account with that store:

Payment is charged to your store account on confirmation of purchase.
The subscription renews automatically for the same period (monthly or annual) at the then-current price unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the current period.
You can manage or cancel your subscription at any time in your store account settings; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current paid period.
The price and period are shown in-app before you purchase. If we change the price, we will give notice and apply changes to existing subscribers in accordance with the relevant store's rules.

Refunds. Purchases and refunds are handled by the Apple App Store or Google Play Store under their terms — Tripbuds is not the merchant of record and generally cannot issue refunds directly. Nothing in this section limits any non-excludable right or remedy you have under the Australian Consumer Law (see section 14.1).

What happens if Pro ends. If your subscription lapses, Pro features stop and your account reverts to the free tier. We do not delete the content you already created, but free-tier limits may restrict creating new items until you are within them again. If you had an email account connected for Trip Wallet scanning, automatic syncing stops but previously imported confirmations remain accessible.

8.1 Email scanning (Trip Wallet)

Pro subscribers may connect a Gmail or Outlook inbox to automatically import booking confirmations into the Trip Wallet. By connecting your email account, you authorise Tripbuds to access your inbox with read-only permission and to scan for emails from known travel providers on your behalf. You may revoke this authorisation at any time via Settings → Email connections. Tripbuds is not responsible for missed confirmations or extraction errors. See our Privacy Policy section 3.9 for full details of how we handle your email data.

9. Notifications and communications

By creating an account you consent to receive transactional emails (verification, account, security, support replies); in-app notifications, push notifications (if you grant permission), and an in-app inbox; and optional product update emails, which you can opt out of at any time. We will not send you marketing about partner products without a separate, explicit opt-in.

10. AI features

Tripbuds uses AI to help you brief trips, generate itineraries, explain why a venue was suggested, search, and suggest adjustments to a day based on the weather ("Adapt my day"). AI output is generated automatically and may be wrong, outdated, biased, or unsafe. You must check anything important — especially dates, prices, opening hours, visas, vaccinations, safety advice, and supplier terms — directly with the relevant authority or supplier.

Free-tier accounts have a limited number of AI generations per calendar month, plus any one-time introductory credits granted at signup; Tripbuds Pro removes these limits. Usage limits are enforced on our servers. Inputs and outputs of AI features are stored on our infrastructure under our Privacy Policy and may be used to improve the Service. We do not use your private trip content to train third-party AI models.

11. Service availability and changes

We may update, change, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Service at any time. We will give reasonable notice for material changes that affect paid features. We do not guarantee that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or fit for any particular purpose. To the extent permitted by law, the Service is provided "as is".

12. Reporting and moderation

The Service includes tools to report users, trips, comments, tips, chat messages, Stop videos, and other content that you believe breaches these Terms. Look for the report option on a user or content item.

12.1 In-app reporting and response

We aim to review reports of objectionable content within 24 hours of receipt.
You may block another user from within their profile or from any content they have posted. Blocking prevents the other user from contacting you, joining your trips, or appearing to you on public surfaces of the Service.
We may remove content, hide Stop videos, suspend or terminate accounts, refuse re-registration, and refer matters to law enforcement at our sole discretion, with or without prior notice.
We operate a zero-tolerance policy for content that depicts or sexualises minors, content that incites or threatens violence, and other content that is unlawful under Australian law or the law of the user's jurisdiction.
Repeat offenders will be permanently banned from the Service.

12.2 Copyright takedown

If you believe content on the Service infringes your copyright, send a written notice to our designated agent that includes: a description of the copyrighted work; the location of the allegedly infringing material on the Service; your full name, postal address, telephone number, and email address; a statement of good-faith belief that the use is not authorised; a statement under penalty of perjury that the notice is accurate and that you are the owner or authorised to act; and your signature.

Send notices to: Tripbuds Pty Ltd — Designated Copyright Agent, Sydney, Australia, legal@tripbuds.com.

We will act on properly-formed notices promptly. If you believe content of yours was removed in error, you may submit a counter-notice to the same address with equivalent information and consent to the jurisdiction of the courts of New South Wales. We will share counter-notices with the original complainant.

12.3 Repeat infringers

We will terminate, in appropriate circumstances, the accounts of users who are determined to be repeat infringers of intellectual property rights.

13. Suspension and termination

We may suspend or terminate your account, at any time and with or without notice, if you breach these Terms or the Acceptable Use rules; we discover you are under 16 or do not meet your local digital age of consent; continued provision exposes Tripbuds or other users to legal, financial, or safety risk; or we are required to by law.

You may delete your account at any time from Settings → Delete account. Deletion removes your personal data as described in our Privacy Policy. Some content may persist where another trip member integrated it into a shared trip (section 4.1) or another user saved your public trip (section 4.2). Deleting your account does not by itself cancel an Apple/Google subscription — manage that in your store account settings.

14. Our liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law: our total liability arising out of or in connection with the Service in any 12-month period is capped at AUD 100, or the total amount you paid Tripbuds in that period, whichever is greater; we are not liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, or punitive damages, or loss of profits, revenue, data, or goodwill; and we are not liable for the acts or omissions of any third-party supplier, partner, or service to which we link you.

14.1 Australian Consumer Law

Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts, or modifies any consumer guarantee, right, or remedy under the Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)) or any other law that cannot be lawfully excluded. Where a guarantee under the Australian Consumer Law applies and we are permitted to do so, we limit our liability to re-supplying the Service or paying the cost of having it re-supplied.

15. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify Tripbuds against any claim, loss, or expense arising from Your Content; your use of the Service in breach of these Terms; or your use of any third-party booking, supplier, or partner reached through the Service.

16. Intellectual property

The Service — including the Tripbuds name, logo, design, software, copy, and the curated content we produce — is owned by Tripbuds Pty Ltd or our licensors. We grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to use the Service for the purposes contemplated by these Terms. You may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, scrape, reverse-engineer, or create derivative works of the Service except as expressly permitted by law.

16.1 Third-party content and attribution

The Service displays content from third parties under their own terms — including maps and place information from Google (subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Google Terms of Service), destination photos from Unsplash and its photographers, tour and activity content from GetYourGuide and Viator, and event information from Ticketmaster and PredictHQ. That content belongs to those providers or their licensors, is provided for your personal use within the Service, and may not be copied, scraped, cached beyond what those providers permit, or redistributed except as their terms allow. We display the attributions those providers require.

17. Privacy

Our handling of your personal information is described in our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms.

18. Changes to these Terms

We may change these Terms from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date and version above; notify you in-app or by email if the changes are material; and require you to re-accept the Terms before continuing if the changes affect your rights or obligations in a material way. If you do not accept the updated Terms, you must stop using the Service.

19. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of New South Wales, Australia. You and Tripbuds submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New South Wales. Nothing in this section prevents either party from seeking urgent injunctive relief in any competent court.

20. Contact

Tripbuds Pty Ltd Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Support: support@tripbuds.com · Privacy: privacy@tripbuds.com · Legal: legal@tripbuds.com