Understanding Roles & Access
For everyone using TravelSync
In plain terms
TravelSync uses three layers of access. Picture a building: your app account gets you through the front door; your workspaceis your group’s private apartment (membership, billing, shared space); each tripis a separate room—being in the apartment doesn’t put you in every room until someone invites you to that trip.
- AccountWho you are when you sign in (everyday user vs rare internal admin).
- WorkspaceYour family or team hub—who belongs, who pays, who can create trips.
- TripOne vacation plan—its own admins, members, and viewers.
Full role details & cheat sheetLayer-by-layer breakdown, yes/no lists, and the permissions table
Each block is one layer. Keep scrolling for the quick permissions matrix at the end.
Your App Account
· The front doorYour sign-in identity across TravelSync. Almost everyone is a regular user; system admin is only for our internal team.
User
The usual role after you sign up
- Sign in and use TravelSync
- Create workspaces or join ones you are invited to
- Accept invites to trips
- Manage other people’s accounts or the whole product
System Admin (internal only)
Operations / support staff
- Run internal tools for support and platform health
- Investigate issues across workspaces when needed
- Automatically see your trips or workspace content
- Access a trip without being invited like anyone else
The Workspace
· Your family or group hubWhere trips live, who belongs to your group, and (for the owner) how billing is handled. Workspace membership does not automatically put you on every trip.
Workspace Owner
Created the hub; one per workspace
- Billing and subscription
- Invite, remove, and change workspace roles
- Transfer ownership when you are ready to hand off
- Delete the workspace
- Automatically lead every trip (trip roles are separate)
Workspace Admin
Co-leader for members and settings
- Invite and remove workspace members
- Change workspace settings you are allowed to edit
- Create new trips in the workspace
- Manage billing or the subscription plan
- Delete the workspace or transfer ownership
Workspace Member
Part of the group
- See the workspace and open trips you are added to
- Invite or remove other workspace members
- Change billing or workspace-wide settings
- See trips you have not been invited to yet
The Trip
· One vacation planEach trip has its own members and roles. Being in the workspace only gets you to the front hall—you still need a trip invite to open a specific plan.
Trip Admin
Lead planner for this trip
- Edit dates, destination, and itinerary
- Manage bookings and checklist structure
- Invite, remove, and change roles on this trip
- Moderate suggestions and comments
- Change billing or other trips in the workspace
Trip Member
Active participant
- Suggest ideas, vote, and comment
- Answer trip surveys or feedback
- Check off packing list items
- Edit itinerary, dates, or bookings
- Manage who is on the trip
Trip Viewer
Read-only guest
- View itinerary, dates, and details
- Comment, vote, or suggest
- Check off packing items or submit survey responses
- Edit anything on the trip
Quick permissions cheat sheet
n/a means the action is not controlled at that layer—for example, billing is a workspace concern, not a trip toggle. Your workspace role and trip role are independent: you can be an Owner in the workspace and only a Viewer on one trip.
| Action | WS Owner | WS Admin | WS Member | Trip Admin | Trip Member | Trip Viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manage billing and plan | Yes | No | No | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Invite or remove workspace members | Yes | Yes | No | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Create a new trip in the workspace | Yes | Yes | No | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Edit itinerary, dates, bookings | n/a | n/a | n/a | Yes | No | No |
| Invite or remove people on a trip | n/a | n/a | n/a | Yes | No | No |
| Vote, suggest, comment, survey | n/a | n/a | n/a | Yes | Yes | No |
| Check off packing list items | n/a | n/a | n/a | Yes | Yes | No |
| View the itinerary (read-only) | n/a | n/a | n/a | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Transfer ownership or delete workspace | Yes | No | No | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Common questions—owners vs trip admins, missing trips, removing members—are answered right below.
Quick FAQ for Users
- If I’m the Workspace Owner, am I automatically the Admin of every trip?
- Not necessarily! You might own the “Family Hub,” but let your spouse or friend be the Trip Admin for a specific birthday getaway. You can be an Owner of the workspace but just a Viewer on a specific trip.
- Can we have two Owners?
- To keep billing and security simple, each workspace has exactly one Owner. If you need to step down, you can use the “Transfer Ownership” tool to promote an Admin to the Owner role.
- Why can’t I see a trip my friend created?
- Even if you are in the same Workspace, you must be specifically invited to a Trip to see the itinerary. If you’re missing a trip, ask the Trip Admin to add you!
- Can someone be invited straight to a trip instead of the workspace first?
- Yes. Organizers can invite someone directly to a trip when that is the immediate goal. Accepting that trip invite also creates the workspace membership needed for that trip. That still does not put them on every other trip in the workspace.
- What happens if I remove someone from the Workspace?
- If you remove someone from the Workspace level, they immediately lose access to all trips inside that workspace, even if they were a “Trip Admin” on one of them. Safety first!