Welcome to Rainbow Tour Guides. These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of our website, platform, and services. By creating an account or using our platform, you agree to abide by these rules.
1. The Rainbow Tour Guides Platform
1.1 The Marketplace
Rainbow Tour Guides operates primarily as a marketplace connecting LGBTQ+ travelers and allies ("Travelers") with vetted, local LGBTQ+ or queer-affirming guides ("Guides") for private cultural tours. For marketplace bookings, we act solely as a facilitator. The actual contract for the tour is directly between the Traveler and the Guide.
1.2 Concierge Service
We also offer a dedicated "Concierge Service," which provides custom, done-for-you travel planning. When you purchase a Concierge package, Rainbow Tour Guides acts as your direct travel planner and service provider for the design of the itinerary.
2. Our Mission & Community Standards
Rainbow Tour Guides is built to provide safe, authentic, and premium local connections for the LGBTQ+ community.
2.1 Zero Tolerance for Discrimination
All users—Travelers and Guides alike—commit to treating one another with absolute respect. Any form of hate speech, discrimination, or microaggressions based on race, gender identity, sexual orientation, or ability is grounds for immediate and permanent removal from the platform.
2.2 Strictly No Sexual Services
Rainbow Tour Guides is a platform for cultural exploration and private tours. We are not a hookup product, dating app, or sex-work marketplace. Guides may not offer, and Travelers may not request, sexual services, "escorting," or "rent-a-friend" arrangements. Any violation of this policy will result in an immediate permanent ban.
3. Guide Verification & Privacy
3.1 Manual Verification
To ensure the safety of our community, every Guide undergoes a manual review process by our administrative team before their profile becomes publicly visible. This includes a review of their profile positioning and a manual check of a Government-issued ID.
3.2 Zero-Retention ID Policy
We take your data privacy seriously. Government-issued IDs uploaded by Guides during the onboarding process are manually reviewed and then immediately and irreversibly deleted from our databases once an approval or rejection decision is made. We do not store your physical ID documents.
4. Payments, Fees, and Commissions
Our financial model is designed to be transparent, with no hidden fees or "nickel-and-diming" at checkout. All transactions are processed securely in USD, EUR, or GBP.
4.1 Traveler Service Fee
Travelers pay the base price set by the Guide, plus a flat 10% Service Fee. This fee supports platform operations, Guide verification, secure payment processing, and 24/7 support.
4.2 Guide Commission
Guides retain exactly 80% of their set base rate. Rainbow Tour Guides automatically deducts a flat 20% Platform Commission from the base rate to maintain the marketplace.
4.3 Saved Payment Methods & Auto-Charge
Travelers may save credit or debit cards to their account for faster checkout. When requesting a booking, Travelers can opt into auto-charge, which authorizes the platform to automatically capture payment using their saved card the moment a Guide accepts the request. If auto-charge fails or is not enabled, the Traveler will receive a secure payment link via email.
4.4 Guide Payouts
To receive earnings, Guides must connect a bank account via Stripe Connect. After a tour is marked as completed, the Guide's earnings enter a mandatory 48-hour security hold to allow for dispute resolution. Following this hold, the platform transfers the Guide's 80% net earnings to their Stripe Connect account. Stripe then routes accumulated funds to the Guide's bank account on a monthly payout schedule.
4.5 Strict On-Platform Payment Rule
To guarantee safety, support, and refunds, all payments must be made through the Rainbow Tour Guides platform. Attempting to pay or request payment off-platform (e.g., via cash or direct wire) is a severe violation of these Terms and will result in account suspension.
5. Booking, Cancellations, and Refunds
We believe in simple, predictable cancellation rules that protect both the Traveler's flexibility and the Guide's time.
5.1 Cancellation by Traveler
- More than 48 hours before the tour start time: You will receive a 100% full refund, including the Traveler Service Fee.
- Less than 48 hours before the tour start time: Cancellations made within this window are strictly non-refundable. The Guide will receive their standard payout to compensate for their reserved time.
5.2 Cancellation by Guide
If a Guide must cancel a confirmed booking, the Traveler will immediately receive a 100% full refund. Guides who repeatedly cancel confirmed bookings without valid emergency reasons may face account restrictions or removal from the platform.
5.3 Concierge Service Refunds
Fees paid for custom Concierge itinerary design are strictly non-refundable once the initial draft of the itinerary has been delivered by our team.
6. Prohibited Activities
While using Rainbow Tour Guides, you agree not to:
- Request or process payments outside of the platform.
- Share exact meeting points or private contact information before a booking is officially confirmed and paid.
- Use the platform for any illegal activities.
- Harass, stalk, or coerce any user.
- Misrepresent your identity, your local expertise, or your affiliation with the LGBTQ+ community.
7. Limitation of Liability
Rainbow Tour Guides provides this platform "as is" to facilitate safe connections. While we rigorously verify our Guides and enforce our Code of Conduct, we do not directly control the actions of independent users during a tour. Users engage with each other at their own risk. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Rainbow Tour Guides shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising out of your use of the platform or any in-person interactions.
8. Changes to These Terms
We may update these Terms of Service from time to time to reflect changes in our business or legal requirements. If we make material changes, we will notify you via email or a prominent notice on our platform. Your continued use of Rainbow Tour Guides after those changes become effective constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms.
*** If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact our support team via the Help Center.