Guest FAQ

FAQ for Guests

Explore Local Activities

What is TripJunction?

TripJunction is a website where travelers from around the globe can find and book exciting activities offered by local people in Japan. We, as a marketplace platform, enable travelers to have authentic experiences in Japan while providing opportunities for locals to earn extra income by sharing their insights, expertise and spare time.

Booking Activities

You can find unique activities offered by inspiring locals in Japan. The activities are available for various fields of interests, ranging from traditional handicraft workshops to a wild night out in the heart of Tokyo! Go browse around, we are sure you can find one that satisfies your curiosity. On www.tripjunction.com, choose a location, language, and your interest – then press GO. You see varieties of interesting activities that you may want to try in your next trip to Japan. Choose one and check the details and availability. You can also see who is offering the activity, what they are like and what they love to do! You can also send them messages if you want to ask questions before you book.

You found the activity you want to join? Just choose the date and time from the calendar, and click on “Request a Booking”.

You are requested to enter your payment details, but until your guide confirms your booking, you will not be charged. Wait up to 48 hours (or ½ of the time between your booking time and the activity start time, if the activity is supposed to start within 96 hours).

You will be notified by email once the guide responds to your request. Once booking is confirmed, your payment goes through, and you will receive the guide’s email and telephone number as additional contact information. We recommend to use TripJunction’s message feature whenever possible.

You can contact a guide via the communication system of our platform. After the booking is placed by you and confirmed by the guide, both of you receive each other’s contact details.

Try requesting a different date by contacting the guide using the message feature. If your guide agrees, she/he can open a spot in the calendar, and inform you to book it by selecting the requested date and time.

You can book as many activities as you want during your trip. Be sure to cross-check schedules to avoid booking activities that overlap.

You’ll see information about what is or isn’t included in the activity page. Inclusions vary for each activity.

We respect the privacy of our community and that’s why we ask you to postpone sending your contact details until a booking is confirmed. Immediately after confirmation, you’ll receive an email with the guide’s email address and phone number, as alternative ways to contact your guide in case you can not communicate with him/her via TripJunction message system.

Your email address and phone number will be shared with the guide after your booking is confirmed.

We require you to verify your mobile phone number as an additional method of contact in case you cannot use TripJunction message feature. Your phone number and email address will be shared with your guide once your booking is confirmed. Your phone number may be used

Some guides require their guests to provide a government issued photo ID in order to book their activities. There are also times when we’ll ask for an ID to help us check that someone is who they say they are. Whatever the reason, your ID will never be shared with anyone else.

To verify your phone number:

  1. Mouse over on your user icon or Go to Settings page
  2. In Phone Number field, enter your phone number including country code (+81 if you have a Japanese phone number), and omit the first ‘0’. For example, if your number is 090-1111-1111, enter +819011111111.
  3. Click Verify Phone Number. We’ll send you a 4-digit code via text message (SMS)
  4. Enter the code you received in the Confirm Code field and click Confirm Code

In many activities, children are welcome. However it depend on the guide’s policy and the nature of activity. If you want to join an activity with children, and if you don’t find any information about bringing children in the activity page – we recommend to contact the guide before you book the activity.

You must comply with local laws and regulations when you go on an activity. For example, you’ll need to meet the local drinking age laws of a city to drink alcohol on your activity.

Any other specific requirements for an activity will be listed by your guide in the activity listing.

Cancellation

If the cancellation is made at least 168 hours (7 days) prior to the scheduled date/time of the activity, the guest gets full refund. If the cancellation is made between 168 hours and up to 72 hours prior to the date of the activity, the guest shall receive 50% refund of the activity fee. If the cancellation is made within 72 hours prior to the date/time of the activity, the guest is charged full fee of the activity. Please note, transaction fee (3.4%+HK$2.35) will be deducted from the refunded amount.

To cancel your booking, go to your Inbox and open the booking in question. There you can see a Cancel button. Click on it, then it will jump to a confirmation page. Click the cancel button to confirm your cancellation.

We recommend you to write a short personal message to your guide if you need to cancel.

You can reschedule the date or time of your activity only if your guide is available and agrees to do that.

If you reschedule an activity, the cancellation policy is based on the original purchase time and original start date of the activity.

If your reservation is cancelled by your guide, we’ll automatically give you a full refund.

If weather creates a safety concern, either before or during the activity, the guide may cancel the activity. If this happens, you will be fully refunded.

We may be able to give you a refund if you have to cancel because of an unexpected circumstance that’s out of your control. Please note that you might need to provide documentation.

Natural disasters that prevent the guest from traveling to or from the destination. Examples:

  • Severe storms
  • Earthquakes
  • Flooding
  • Tornados
  • Tsunamis
  • Wildfires
  • Winter storms

Death of guest, or guest’s immediate family member. You’ll be asked to provide the death certificate

Serious illness of a guest, or any member of the traveling party. You’ll be asked to provide a general statement from a doctor confirming that the person can’t travel. The statement must be dated after the reservation was booked.

If you’ve confirmed your circumstance meets the requirements above, please send us an email to support@tripjunction.com including your booking number and reason for cancellation.

Activities

First of all, try to get in touch with your guide via TripJunction’s message feature or telephone, and let him/her know what is your situation and he/she will help you to find a place.

Please note, most activities need to start on time.

If you have a bad experience with a guide, please report it within 48 hours after the activity on TripJunction. Open your booking details page > click on “Dispute” button > In the confirmation screen, write a message to your guide and click on “Continue”.

Please note, if you do not complete this within 48 hours, you will lose the right to claim a refund.

After you discuss the issue with the guide, TripJunction will get in touch with both guest and guide. If you do not see eye to eye on the issue with the guide, we will help to get to the bottom of the situation and to find a solution together. Your happiness counts more than anything!

Payment

You will not be charged for a booking until it is confirmed. Once it is confirmed by the guide, the payment will be processed and collected by TripJunction. You will never pay before the booking is confirmed by the guide.

Currently we accept the following credit cards: VISA, Master Card and AMEX. We are looking into accepting more payment methods in the near future.

General questions

Yes. In order to use TripJunction website and services, you must be 18 years or older. It’s against our Terms of Service to create an account unless you’re at least 18 years old.

If you didn’t receive an email notification from us, there are a few different steps you can try to figure out the issue.

Make sure your email address is correct

We might be sending emails to an old or incorrect email address. To see or change the email address associated with your account, log in to your TripJunction account and follow the steps below:

  1. Go to Setting > My account
  2. Look for the Email Address field. Make sure your address is correct.
  3. If it’s incorrect, add the correct address, scroll to the bottom of the page, and click Save. You can add additional email address as well.

Check your Spam inbox.

Reviews are very important to the users of TripJunction, they help guests choose both the activity and their guide. You can only review the activities that you’ve booked. You will be asked to review your activity with a guide after it has taken place. By reporting bad and rewarding great guides and activities you can help improve the quality of the offers and give advice to other guests.

You can speak with your guide in the language that activity is offered in. For example, if your guide offers the activity in Chinese, you can speak to him/her in Chinese.

You can also see in their profile page which language they speak.