Please carefully read the Terms & Conditions and the applicable information below before you (the customer) make a reservation or purchase tours and tour-related products from Explore Tibet. Also make sure you fully understand your rights and duties and Explore Tibet’s rights and duties. By becoming a customer of Explore Tibet, you agree that you have read, understood, and agreed with the following “Terms and Conditions”, and irrevocable consent is to be bound by all said “Terms and Conditions”, including any updates.We will also state the terms and conditions in the tour contract/agreement that we will send to you when you confirm the tour with us, and you will be requested to send us a copy of the contract with your signature to protect your rights.
Your Eligibility and Responsibility
To book a tour with Explore Tibet, you must know that we never arrange private tours for those who are below 18 years of age. If you are under 18, you may book our tour only with involvement of a parent or legal guardian or other travel partners who are above 18. Travelers who are less than 18 years old must be accompanied by an adult throughout the trip. Before making the reservation with Explore Tibet, it is your responsibility to read and understand all the terms and conditions of Explore Tibet. If you have any questions, then please ask your travel consultant before signing the contract. After signing the contract, all the terms and conditions are bound by law.
Reservation process
Once we mutually finalize the tour itinerary and cost, we will send you the tour contract with thorough information of the trip including itinerary, cost, service voucher, tour deposit amount, terms and conditions, etc. Your reservation is not confirmed until the tour deposit is received by Explore Tibet. At the receipt of the deposit, you will receive a confirmation email with a deposit invoice and we will start to arrange the tour accordingly. So we always advise our esteemed clients to book the tour as early as they can as this will give us sufficient time to prepare and arrange everything in advance. For payment details please check How to Pay
Alteration
Once we receive your tour deposit (down payment), which is followed by signing the contract, your reservation is secured with legitimacy. We do provide unlimited alteration, as we are motivated to satisfy all your requirements and interests as much as possible. The first two modifications will be free of charge. From the third modification onwards, we will charge a service fee of $20 for every new modification. The extra charge or loss incurred due to such changes will be borne by you. Late alteration might not be workable due to legal cancellation policies of service-providing individuals or organizations that we work with. Nevertheless, our professional guidance and experience promise you a satisfying tour right from the beginning without need of any alteration.
If you would like to add additional travelers in your group after it has been confirmed, we will only charge the difference in rates for the added travelers. Once the added travelers have been confirmed, the reservation cannot be changed or removed without a cancellation fee. To cancel a customer from a reservation, the regular cancellation policy will apply.
Cancellation and Refund policy
You may cancel the tour because of your personal or work issues, so your cancellation request should be in written and you will be liable to pay cancellation charges that are bounded by Explore Tibets cancellation policy as follows:
if the tour has to cancelled because of permit closure or government restrictions that is beyond both parties control, then we will charge only USD50 per person or equivalent in CNY, this is just the service fee and larbor fee during the preparation.
If you cancel your tour more than 30 days before the trip starts, you will forfeit 10% of the total land cost per person.
If you cancel your tour 30-15 days prior to your tour start date, 20% of your total land tour cost will be forfeited as a cancellation fee.
If you cancel your tour 15-7 days prior to your tour start date, you will forfeit 30% of land cost.
If you cancel your tour 7 days prior to your tour start date, you will forfeit 50% of land cost.
If you fail to show up or cancel at your scheduled arrival time without prior notice or later than that, you will forfeit 100% of the tour cost.
NOTE: if you booked the group tour, then the Cancellation fee is different and please contact your travel consultant to have the group tour contract in which you have detail terms and condition.
Due to uncertainty of political, climatic and geographical situation of Tibet, tour cancellations might be resulted that is out of Explore Tibet’s control. Under such circumstances, there are two options for our esteemed customers:
1. If you agree to cancel the tour, then we charge only USD50 per person as labor cost for the time spent during the planning session. if you book the flight/trian tickes from us then the cancellation fee will be charged according to the Airline/Railway administration policy, and the refund service fee charge from the bank will count on your side.
2. If you still want to continue a similar tour, then we will design a similar tour that meets your requirements in another opened area. Tibetan areas which in Qinghai and Sichuan provinces in mainland China have slightly different political and climatic situations, but are equally interesting, with rich Tibetan culture and amazing natural scenery, so we can design a similar tours in those areas, but you are responsible to pay cost differences occurred by such changes.
Once the cancellation is confirmed by both sides, we will need your bank account information and Explore Tibet will refund the remaining amount to you within 10 working days. Please be informed that bank transfer costs will be counted on your side.
The cancellation fee charged by Explore Tibet will be kept under your name (person who contacted us) for a usable period of 2 years. Within the applicable period you can use it for next time or you can kindly pass your authority to any of your family, friends or colleagues to use by booking a tour with Explore Tibet. A certifying email from you is necessary to pass the cancellation fee to others, but it is only applicable for private group.
Force majeure circumstances and liabilities
Tibet is politically very sensitive and Explore Tibet never interfere or participate in any political issues at all, so all our customers should know the circumstances and never participate or interfere in a political issue during a trip to Tibet. If a customer does, he/she is responsible for any consequences stemming from the laws of the People’s Republic of China. We strongly advise our customers to avoid political matters. Your involvement in such things may spoil the future of your guide, driver and agency.
If a change to the confirmed itinerary or service standard is caused by unforeseen forces, such as weather conditions, political upheavals, etc., neither party shall be held responsible, and any extra cost thus caused shall be covered by customers themselves.
If a change to the confirmed itinerary or service standard is caused by cancellation or delay of flights and trains, or other factors that are beyond our (Explore Tibet’s) control, then we are not responsible for the losses or extra cost incurred.
If a tourist has to leave his tour group because of accident, injury, or serious illness, we will refund 50% of the unused tour cost. If a group member decides to leave the group or the whole group has to leave Tibet because of his/her/their own reason, then no refund will be made from Explore Tibet, since Explore Tibet has the responsibility to compensate the losses caused to our guides, drivers and the cancellation of other services like hotels, etc.
Tibet is still underdeveloped, so many places have very poor lodging conditions, sanitation and limited medication facilities, despite of our best efforts to choose the best available, so once you choose to travel to Tibet, you should have some understanding of the region to which you will travel. You also have the responsibility to prepare both mentally and physically to overcome any problems caused by such circumstances.
Decades ago, theft was very rare in Tibet because of the strong Buddhist influence. However, during the contemporary modernizing period, theft has been rapidly increasing in the cities. Therefore, you should properly manage your belongings and documents. Explore Tibet is not responsible for stolen and lost of your valuable items due to your own negligence.
For Disabilities
Our service embraces all people, regardless of color, physical conditions and belief. Our ultimate goal is to provide a beautiful experience and expand travel opportunities for people with special needs in the high Tibet plateau. Because of the peculiar environment of Tibet, traveling in Tibet is not suitable for some people, despite of our sincere care. You are responsible to verify with us before you book a tour with us to ensure that special arrangements can be made if required for your needs. Explore Tibet is not liable for any incidences or consequences incurred during the tour or lawsuits or complaints after travel due to your failure to inform us of your special needs. You also have the responsibility to re-confirm with us after we reserve seats for you that special accommodation will be provided per your request.
Insurance & Documentation
The liability insurance that we buy for our customers is very basic, with limited coverage and restricted regulations. Thus, Explore Tibet strongly recommends customers to acquire international standard travel insurance coverage before departing from your home country, which may cover trip cancellation, trip interruption, emergency medical evacuation and medical expenses, baggage lost, etc. In case of medical emergency in remote places of Tibet, you will most likely be taken to the nearest medical facilities or airport by a car (or local way of transportation), where you can catch the next flight to a better facilitated hospital in mainland China. If your travel insurance company is not able to send you a rescue helicopter, you need to make sure that you can at least receive reimbursement for all your expenses. Explore Tibet will help with all necessary documents for your claim.
Complaints
If you have any problems during your tour, you are required to immediately inform your tour consultant and through our adjustment the escort/representative/guide will endeavor to put things right. If you have any complaints at the end of the tour, please follow this up within 15 days of completion of services by writing to [email protected] Give us your original booking reference number and all other relevant information too. As it is difficult and sometimes impossible to properly investigate a complaint if your complaint is received long after your trip, any compensation you may have been able to claim could be reduced or even forfeited if you do not follow the complaints procedure set out in this clause.