Privacy Policy

Updated: July 26, 2026

Who is responsible for your data

Travel Under Cost LLC is the controller of the personal data described in this policy. The company is a registered West Virginia Limited Liability Company, and it publishes this journal from Charleston. The postal address is 707 Virginia Street East, Charleston, WV 25301, United States. Written questions about data reach the company at register@travelundercost.com, and the telephone line is +1 (304) 346-2140. The office is open Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm, Eastern Time. There is no separate data protection officer, since the company is small and the editor handles these requests himself.

What this policy covers

This policy applies to travelundercost.com and to correspondence that arrives through the addresses listed on the site. It describes what is collected, why it is held, how long it stays, and who else may see it. The site carries no links to other domains, so you are unlikely to leave these pages by accident. Where a public body is named as a source in a trip, its own privacy practices apply once you look it up separately. Anything you send by post or telephone is handled under the same principles, even though this policy is written for the site.

What the site collects

Four things account for nearly everything the company holds about readers. The first is the contact form, which asks for a name, an email address, a topic, and a message. The second is the reader list signup, called The Odometer, which asks only for an email address. The third is ordinary correspondence, meaning messages you write to the published addresses along with whatever you choose to include. The fourth is the server record kept whenever a page is served, described in its own section below.

The forms include one hidden field that human readers never see, which exists to catch automated submissions. If that field arrives filled in, the message is discarded and nothing is stored. No form on this site asks for a postal address, a date of birth, or any document number. The company collects no payment details at all, because it takes no payments and sells nothing.

Server records

The hosting provider keeps a technical log of requests, which is normal for any site that stays online. Entries in that log typically include an internet protocol address, a timestamp, the page requested, and a browser identifier string. These records help with diagnosing errors, spotting automated traffic, and understanding whether the site stayed available. They are not combined with form entries, and they are not used to build a profile of any reader. The provider sets the retention window for those records, and the company keeps no separate copy of them. No analytics script runs on these pages as the site operates today, and the storage notice governs anything of that kind.

The one item stored in your browser

The site places a single item in local storage under the key tuc_notice_2026. It holds one short value, either full or basics, which records the choice you made in the storage notice. That item is not a tracking identifier, it carries no reference number, and it is not sent anywhere. It stays in the browser until you clear it, or until the browser clears storage for the site on its own. Clearing it brings the notice back on your next visit, and you can then make a different choice.

If consent-based advertising or measurement is ever enabled here, that value decides what may load. Under basics, nothing beyond what the pages need to work would be permitted to run. Any change of that kind would be disclosed on the page and described in the Cookie Policy before it took effect.

Why the data is used, and on what basis

Contact form entries and letters are used to answer the person who wrote, and nothing else. Where you write with a question or a correction, the processing rests on steps taken at your request. It also rests on the legitimate interest in running a reader desk that answers. Reader list addresses are used only to send a short note when a trip is filed, and that rests on your consent. Server records rest on the legitimate interest in keeping the site available, stable, and reasonably protected against abuse. The storage choice is recorded so the site can honor it, which rests on consent where consent is required.

Data is not sold, and it is not shared for cross-context behavioral advertising as the site operates today. Should that ever change, the policy would be updated first and the choice in the storage notice would apply.

How long things are kept

Correspondence, including form entries and the replies sent back, is kept for up to 24 months. That window exists so an old correction can be traced back to the reader who reported it. Server records are kept for 30 to 90 days, depending on the level of detail, and then they fall out of the system. Reader list entries stay until you leave the list, after which the address is removed within 30 days. The item in your browser stays until you or the browser removes it, as described above. Where a longer period is required by law, or by a live dispute, the affected records are held until that need ends.

Who else may see it

The company uses a small number of service providers, named here by function rather than by brand. A hosting provider serves the pages and keeps the technical log. A form delivery service passes form entries to the company mailbox. An email provider carries messages in both directions, and a mailing tool sends the reader list notes. Each of them acts on instructions and is permitted to use the data only for the service supplied. Professional advisers may see limited records where a legal question arises, and public authorities where a valid legal process requires it. Nobody else receives reader data, and no list of readers is passed to another publisher.

Where the data is handled

The company works out of the United States, and its providers hold data on servers here as well. A message written in the United Kingdom, in the European Economic Area, or anywhere further afield lands in the United States. It travels that way because the desk and its mailbox both sit in Charleston. Where transfers of that kind need a safeguard, the company relies on the standard contractual terms offered by its providers. You can ask for a plain description of those terms, and one will be sent to you in writing. Nothing in this section changes the rights described below, which apply wherever you happen to be reading.

Rights in Europe and the United Kingdom

Readers covered by the General Data Protection Regulation, and by the equivalent United Kingdom rules, hold a familiar set of rights. You may ask for access to your data, correction of what is wrong, and deletion of what is no longer needed. You may ask for processing to be restricted, object to processing based on legitimate interests, and request your data in a portable form. Where processing rests on consent, that consent can be pulled back whenever you like, and earlier handling stays lawful. You may also complain to your national supervisory authority if the response from the company does not satisfy you.

Rights under United States state laws

Several states give residents comparable rights, and this section is written for readers in those states. The California Consumer Privacy Act, amended by the California Privacy Rights Act, covers requests to know, delete, and correct personal information. California residents also hold the right to opt out of sale or sharing of personal information. They may limit the use of sensitive information, and they keep equal service after making a request. Comparable rights apply under the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act and the Colorado Privacy Act. The Connecticut Data Privacy Act and the Utah Consumer Privacy Act cover residents of those two states. The Texas Data Privacy and Security Act does the same for readers in Texas.

To make a request, write to register@travelundercost.com with a short description of what you want. The company will confirm receipt, verify the request against the records it holds, and answer within 45 days in the usual case. Where a request is complex, that period may be extended once, and you will be told before the first period runs out. An authorized agent may act for you, provided the request includes written proof of the arrangement. Residents of Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, and Texas may appeal a refusal in writing. The editor reviews the appeal within the period that the relevant law allows.

Readers under 13

This journal is written for adults planning ordinary trips, and no part of it aims at children. Nobody under 13 is knowingly asked for personal data here, which is what the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act requires. No page asks a reader for an age, and neither form is designed for use by a child. If a parent or guardian believes that a child has sent an address or a message, write to register@travelundercost.com. The record will be located and deleted, and the deletion will be confirmed in writing.

How the data is protected

Pages reach you over an encrypted link, and the mailbox behind the desk uses strong authentication. Access to reader correspondence is limited to the editor, since there is no wider staff to grant access to. Form entries pass through the delivery service and land in that mailbox, where they are filed by topic and reviewed. Old material is removed on schedule rather than kept in case it becomes useful later. No system is perfect, and the company makes no absolute claim here, but the data collected is deliberately thin. Where a provider reports an incident affecting reader data, affected readers will be notified as the law requires.

Changes to this policy

The date at the top of this page shows when the text was last revised. Substantive changes, such as a new category of data or a new purpose, will be described on the page rather than slipped in quietly. Where a change requires consent, the storage notice will reappear so you can make a fresh choice. Earlier versions are kept internally, and a copy of the version that applied on a given date can be requested. Once a revision is posted, the version on the page is the one that covers your visit. Readers on The Odometer will also see a short line about any material revision in the next note.

Contact about this policy

Write to register@travelundercost.com for anything covered here, including access, deletion, and correction requests. Postal requests reach the company at Travel Under Cost LLC, 707 Virginia Street East, Charleston, WV 25301, United States. The telephone line is +1 (304) 346-2140 during posted office hours, which is the fastest way to check that a letter arrived. General editorial questions and corrections belong on the Contact page instead, where a topic list keeps them sorted. The Terms of Use cover the rules for using the site itself, which sit outside this policy.