Pay for a booking

You don't pay anything when you send a booking request — payment only happens after the guide accepts. This protects you from paying for a tour that never gets confirmed.

What happens after a guide accepts

Once a guide accepts your request, you'll get an email and a notification in your dashboard letting you know it's time to pay. Open the booking and follow the secure checkout link to complete payment through Stripe. Your booking only becomes confirmed once that payment is captured — an accepted request that hasn't been paid yet is not confirmed, and chat with your guide won't open until it is.

If you have a saved card with auto-charge on

If you saved a card and chose to auto-charge at request time, payment is attempted automatically the moment the guide accepts, and you'll be notified either way. If that attempt doesn't go through, you'll get the standard checkout link instead so you can pay manually. See Saved cards and auto-charge for how to set this up.

Paying without a saved card

If you didn't opt into auto-charge, you'll pay through a one-time Stripe Checkout link. This works like any secure online checkout — enter your card details, and Stripe handles the transaction. Rainbow Tour Guides never sees or stores your full card number.

What your total covers

Your checkout total is the guide's base price plus the 10% Traveler Service Fee, exactly as shown when you sent the request. See Understand tour pricing for the full breakdown.

If checkout isn't working

Double check you're using the most recent checkout link for that booking, and that your card and browser are working normally. If it still won't go through, see Checkout or a payment link is not working.

Still need help?

If you're not sure whether a payment succeeded, don't try again — contact us with your booking reference and we'll check before you retry.