What we collect, and what we do not.

What we collect, and why

The only place we ask for anything personal is the email signup. When you use it, you give us your email address and you choose what you want: general updates, one or more countries you are planning to visit, or both. We also note which guide you were reading when you signed up. That is the whole list. There is no account, no password, and nothing else is required to read the guides.

We use that information for one thing: to send you what you chose, the general updates or the cost alerts for the countries you picked. That is the reason you handed it over, and it is the only reason we will use it for.

Confirming your signup

We use double opt-in. Right after you sign up we send you one email with a confirmation link, and we do not send you any updates until you click it. If you never confirm, we do not email you, and the pending signup is dropped.

Where it goes

Your address is held by Buttondown, the email service we use to send these updates, and nowhere else. Buttondown stores and delivers the mailing list on our behalf, and True Trip Costs is responsible for the list and how it is used. We do not sell it, rent it, or share it with anyone for their own use. We are not in the business of trading email lists, and we never will be.

How long we keep it, and how to leave

We keep your address for as long as you want the updates. Every email we send includes a way to unsubscribe in one click. If you would rather be removed sooner, or you want to know exactly what we hold about you or have it deleted, email us at privacy@truetripcosts.com and we will take care of it.

Cookies, tracking, and affiliate links

We do not run display advertising, and the site does not load third-party analytics or ad scripts that follow you around the web. It sets no tracking cookies of its own, and it builds no profile of you. This is a small, independent site, not an ad business.

What we do use is affiliate links: the ones labeled we may earn a commission. When you click one, the company you land on, and the affiliate network that runs its program, may place a cookie in your browser so that a purchase you go on to make can be credited back to us, at no extra cost to you. That cookie is set on their side and governed by their own privacy policies, not ours, and it tells us only that a referral led to a sale, never who you are. You can block or clear these cookies in your browser whenever you like, which will not change your price or stop the guides from working. The site does no tracking of its own, so there is nothing on our side to switch off for a browser's Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control signal; those affiliate cookies are the partners', and your browser controls them.

Who this is for

True Trip Costs is written for adult travelers and is not directed at children. Please do not use the signup if you are under 16.

Changes to this note

If this note changes, we will update the date at the top of the page. For anything you are unsure about, the fastest answer is to write to privacy@truetripcosts.com.