Private Trips

Keep selected trips private

Private Trips lets you hide specific trips from your public trip listings. You can then share those trips only with the people you want to invite.

This works well when you are building a custom trip for a family, a corporate group, a school departure, or a VIP guest. The trip stays out of your public search and archive pages. Your travelers still get the same booking and checkout experience once they open the link.

For example, you might create a 7-day Annapurna trek for one private group with custom dates, porter add-ons, and group pricing. With Private Trips, that trip stays hidden from everyone else on your site.

Key features

• Hide trips from all public listings.
• Access trips only via a direct link.
• Optional password protection for controlled access.
• Customizable lock screen content.
• Fully compatible with all trip features and payments.

Benefits at a glance

These are the main benefits. Next, make sure you have everything in place before you turn the feature on.

Prerequisites

Before you use the Private Trips add-on, make sure these are already in place:

• You have WP Travel Engine installed and activated on your WordPress site. You need Version 6.7.5 or later.
• You have installed and activated the Private Trips add-on.
• You have created at least one trip in WP Travel Engine.

A plugin is a tool you add to WordPress to give your site extra features. In this case, the Private Trips add-on is the extra tool that adds private trip controls to your trip settings.

Installing the Private Trips add-on

You need the add-on installed and active before the private trip settings will appear inside a trip.

Verification

This quick check helps you confirm the add-on is active before you spend time setting up a trip.

If you can see the tab, you are ready to set up the trip.

Configuring the Private Trip settings

Private Trips are set up one trip at a time. You manage them inside the Private Trips tab in that trip's Advanced Settings.

That means you can keep one trip public and make another one private. For example, your regular Everest Base Camp package can stay public while a custom 10-person company retreat stays hidden.

Allow Private Trip Mode

Turn on Allow Private Trip Mode when you want to hide the trip from the public and share it only by link.

When you enable it:

• The trip is hidden from public trip listings, archive pages, and search results.
• A Trip Link is generated automatically.
• You can copy and share the trip link with selected customers.

For example, if you create a private birdwatching weekend for one returning client, that trip will not appear in your public trip list once this setting is on.

Apply Password Protection

Turn on Apply Password Protection if you want one more layer of control.

With this enabled, travelers who open the trip link will first see a lock screen. They must enter the correct password before they can view the trip and continue to book.

This is useful when you are sharing a trip with a school group, a corporate incentive group, or a partner agency and you do not want the link passed around without control.

Trip Password

Add the password travelers must enter to unlock the private trip. This field is required when password protection is turned on.

Use something you can share clearly with travelers. For example, if you are running a private Dolpo trek for a photography club, you might send the trip link by email and the password in a separate message.

Lock Screen Title

Set the heading text shown on the password screen.

This is a good place to tell travelers they are in the right place. For example, you could write: "Private Booking - Alpine Team Retreat".

Lock Screen Message

Set the message shown below the title on the lock screen. Use this to guide travelers or explain why they are seeing the screen.

For example, you might write: "This trip page is for confirmed members of the June Island Hopping group. Enter the password sent by your trip coordinator."

Unlock Button Label

Choose the text shown on the button travelers click after entering the password.

A clear label helps avoid confusion. For example, "View Trip" may feel more natural to travelers than a generic button label.

Frontend preview

This is what travelers will see when password protection is turned on.

Once you have checked the front-end view, you can choose the setup that fits the kind of private booking you want to offer.

Use cases

Private trip without password

This setup works best when you want the trip hidden from the public but you do not need a password screen.

Situation: You are creating a custom trip for a specific customer, corporate group, or partner, and you do not want the trip to appear in public listings or search results.

A good example is a private 3-day safari package with custom lodging and child pricing for one family. You can send them the trip link directly and keep it off your public site.

Benefit: The trip stays hidden from the public, while the customer can still access and book it through the direct link.

Password-protected exclusive trip

This setup works best when the trip should stay hidden and only approved travelers should get in.

Situation: You are organizing an invite-only or VIP trip and want to ensure only authorized travelers can view and book it.

A good example is a private departure for a company team, a yoga retreat group, or a luxury photography tour with limited spaces.

Benefit: You control who can access the trip, while travelers still go through the usual booking process after they unlock it.

Frequently asked questions