Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (the “Terms”) govern your access to and use of GoPhuot’s websites, mobile experiences, and related services (collectively, the “Services”). By creating an account or otherwise using the Services, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, you must not use the Services.

You must be at least the minimum age set by your local law to use the Services — generally 13 in the US, UK, and Australia, and between 13 and 16 in EEA member states (whichever applies in your country). If you are under the age of majority where you live, you may only use the Services with the involvement of a parent or legal guardian who agrees to these Terms on your behalf.

To access most features, you will need to create an account. You agree to:

• Provide accurate, current, and complete information.
• Keep your password and credentials confidential.
• Be responsible for all activity that takes place under your account.
• Promptly notify us at the address in Section 18 if you suspect any unauthorized use of your account.

We may refuse, suspend, or terminate accounts at our discretion, including where required by law or where there is a credible risk to other users or to the Services.

GoPhuot is an independent travel-planning platform built for backpackers and independent travelers. It is currently operated by an individual sole operator based in Vietnam — there is no separate legal entity behind the Services at this time. The Services are currently free to use; we do not process payments. GoPhuot may earn affiliate fees when you book tours or experiences through partner sites — see Section 7.

The Services allow you to:

• Browse countries, cities, attractions, tours, and dishes curated by GoPhuot.
• Build day-by-day itineraries, save destinations, and collaborate with travel companions on shared trips.
• Use AI-assisted features that suggest destinations, activities, and routes based on your preferences.
• Discover and book tours and experiences offered by third-party providers through their own platforms.

We continuously improve the Services. Features may be added, changed, or removed.

“User Content” means anything you submit, post, or upload through the Services — including trips, itineraries, notes, photos, reviews, and comments. You retain ownership of your User Content.

By submitting User Content, you grant GoPhuot a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, and sublicensable license to host, store, reproduce, modify (for technical purposes such as resizing or reformatting), display, and distribute that content as needed to operate, promote, and improve the Services. This license ends when you delete the relevant User Content, except where it has already been shared with other users (who may retain their copy) or where we must retain it to comply with legal obligations.

You represent and warrant that:

• You own or have the necessary rights to your User Content and the license you grant above.
• Your User Content does not infringe the rights of any third party and complies with applicable law.

We may remove or restrict any User Content that, in our reasonable judgment, violates these Terms or applicable law.

You agree not to:

• Use the Services for any unlawful, fraudulent, harmful, or abusive purpose.
• Post content that is defamatory, obscene, hateful, harassing, or infringes someone else’s intellectual property or privacy.
• Attempt to reverse engineer, decompile, scrape, or circumvent technical protections of the Services, except as expressly permitted by law.
• Interfere with or disrupt the Services, our infrastructure, or other users — including denial-of-service attacks, automated mass account creation, or distribution of malware.
• Use the Services to send unsolicited communications, spam, or chain messages.
• Misrepresent your identity or impersonate any person or entity.
• Use the Services to train competing AI models or to build a competing product without our written permission.

The Services, including the GoPhuot name, logos, designs, source code, curated travel content, software, and AI models, are owned by GoPhuot or our licensors and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other laws. Subject to your compliance with these Terms, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Services for personal, non-commercial travel planning.

All rights not expressly granted are reserved. See Section 16 for our copyright complaint process.

The Services may surface content from, link to, or allow you to book through third parties — including tour operators, accommodation providers, affiliate partners (such as Viator and similar platforms), maps providers, and payment processors. When you transact with a third party:

• Your relationship is directly with that third party, and their terms, conditions, and privacy policies apply.
• GoPhuot is not a travel agent, tour operator, accommodation provider, or transport carrier. We do not sell, deliver, or guarantee the products or services offered by third parties.
• GoPhuot may earn referral or affiliate fees when you make bookings from links or buttons on our Services. This does not increase the price you pay.

We are not responsible for the accuracy, availability, quality, safety, or legality of third-party offerings. Disputes about a booking should be raised directly with the third party.

Some features use artificial intelligence to generate suggestions — including destinations, itineraries, packing tips, and route ideas. AI output is provided for inspiration only and may be inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated. Always verify time-sensitive information such as visa requirements, opening hours, transit schedules, prices, safety advisories, and local laws before relying on it.

You are responsible for reviewing AI suggestions before acting on them and for your own travel decisions.

We may label certain features as “beta”, “preview”, or “experimental”. These features are provided on an as-is basis, may change or be discontinued at any time, and may be subject to additional terms presented when you access them.

TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND ANY WARRANTIES ARISING OUT OF COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE.

We do not warrant that the Services will be uninterrupted, secure, or error-free; that defects will be corrected; or that travel information (including pricing, availability, transit routes, safety conditions, border requirements, or local regulations) is accurate, complete, or current. Travel involves risk — please use sound judgment, consult official sources, and obtain appropriate insurance.

Nothing in this Section excludes warranties or guarantees that cannot be excluded under applicable law (including non-excludable consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law and statutory rights under EU/UK consumer law). See Section 15.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE OPERATOR OF GOPHUOT WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES — INCLUDING LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, GOODWILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES — ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO YOUR USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE SERVICES.

Because the Services are provided free of charge, our total aggregate liability for all claims relating to the Services is limited to US$100 in the aggregate. If we introduce paid features in the future, the cap for those features will be the amount you paid for the relevant feature in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim, or US$100, whichever is greater.

Carve-outs. The limitations above do not apply to: (i) liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence; (ii) fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; (iii) any liability that cannot be limited or excluded under the law that applies to you, including under the Australian Consumer Law, UK Consumer Rights Act 2015, or EU consumer-protection laws; or (iv) gross negligence or willful misconduct, where applicable law prohibits limitation of such liability.

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless GoPhuot and our affiliates from any claims, damages, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of your use of the Services, your User Content, your breach of these Terms, or your violation of any law or the rights of a third party. This Section does not apply to the extent prohibited by applicable consumer law.

You may stop using the Services and delete your account at any time from your account settings. We may suspend or terminate your access if you breach these Terms, if your account poses a security or legal risk, or if we discontinue the Services. Sections that by their nature should survive termination — including intellectual property, disclaimers, liability, indemnification, governing law, and dispute resolution — will continue to apply after termination.

Subject to Section 15 (which preserves consumer rights in your country of residence), these Terms are governed by the laws of Vietnam, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles, and the competent courts of Vietnam will have non-exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute. You may also bring proceedings in the courts of your country of residence where your local consumer law gives you that right.

Informal resolution first. Most disputes can be resolved quickly and informally. Before starting any formal proceeding, you agree to first contact us at the address in Section 18 and give us at least 30 days to try to resolve the matter.

15.1 European Economic Area, United Kingdom & Switzerland

Nothing in these Terms affects the mandatory statutory rights you have as a consumer in your country of residence, including any rights you have under the UK Consumer Rights Act 2015, the EU Consumer Rights Directive, or comparable laws. You may also bring proceedings in the courts of your country of residence and apply your local consumer-protection laws.

Right of withdrawal (digital content). If you are an EEA or UK consumer and you purchase paid digital content from us, you have the right to withdraw from that purchase within 14 days without giving a reason — unless you have requested immediate access to the digital content and acknowledged that you lose your right of withdrawal once performance begins. The Services as currently offered are free; this notice will apply if and when we introduce paid features.

Online Dispute Resolution.EU consumers may access the European Commission’s ODR platform at ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr. We are not obliged to participate in consumer-arbitration proceedings unless required by law.

15.2 Australia

Our Services come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. To the extent the Services are not of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic, or household use, our liability for failure to comply with a consumer guarantee is limited (at our option) to supplying the Services again or paying the cost of having the Services supplied again. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any guarantee, warranty, or right that cannot be excluded or limited under the Australian Consumer Law. Australian consumers may bring proceedings in the courts of Australia.

15.3 United States

If you reside in the United States, you keep all statutory and common-law consumer rights available to you under federal and state law. You may bring an individual claim in small-claims court for qualifying disputes. We encourage you to contact us first under the informal-resolution process in Section 14.

15.4 Other Jurisdictions

If you reside in another country, any non-waivable consumer rights you have under the law of that country continue to apply.

We respect intellectual property rights and review notices of alleged copyright infringement in good faith, including notices that align with the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and similar laws. We have not at this time designated a registered DMCA agent with the US Copyright Office. If you believe content on the Services infringes your copyright, please send a notice to the address in Section 18 that includes:

• A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or an authorized agent.
• Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed.
• Identification of the allegedly infringing material and information sufficient to locate it on the Services.
• Your contact information (name, address, telephone, email).
• A statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
• A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notice is accurate and that you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.

We may, in appropriate circumstances and at our discretion, terminate the accounts of users who repeatedly infringe copyrights.

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we make material changes, we will notify you by email, by an in-product notice, or by updating the “Last updated” date above, at least 30 days before the change takes effect where required by law. Your continued use of the Services after the changes take effect means you accept the updated Terms. If you do not agree, you may close your account before the changes take effect.

If you have questions about these Terms, please reach out: