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Terms & Conditions

Payment Schedule*

At time of reservation: $600
90 days prior to departure: Balance

*Payment schedules for certain trips vary, including but not limited to Boat-based Trips, Private Journeys, Extensions, and Special Events. These exceptions are clearly indicated in the Detailed Itineraries for each of these trips.

Prices are listed in US dollars and all payments must be made in US dollars by credit card, check, or wire transfer.

Final Payment

Wilderness Travel will send out a Final Invoice one week before the Final Balance due date with a link to pay. If we do not hear from you with different instructions by the final due date, Wilderness Travel will charge the final balance to your credit card used to pay for your first deposit.

Pricing

To offer the lowest possible price, all of our tours are priced according to the number of full-price participants on the trip. Wilderness Travel staff, trip physicians, or guests of Wilderness Travel (e.g., travel writers, photographers, leaders-in-training) are not included in the tier pricing count.

Your statements will show the highest tier price (smallest group size at which we can operate) until the final payment is due. If the price decreases due to an increase in group size before the trip departs, you will receive a tier refund for the difference.

Prices are per person based on double occupancy and do not include airfare. A full list of what is included and not included in the base trip cost is noted in the trip’s Detailed Itinerary. Prices are subject to change as we are occasionally faced with exceptional cost increases or currency fluctuations that we cannot absorb. We do everything we can to keep our prices the same as published.

Please note that for trips in the southern hemisphere, such as Patagonia and New Zealand, prices are seasonal. In such cases, the prices quoted in our catalog are for that fall to spring season only, with specifics noted in the “Trip Cost” section of the catalog trip page, website, and Detailed Itinerary. Prices for the next season are not normally available until the late spring or even early summer.

Single Supplements

Accommodations are based on double occupancy. Participants who request single accommodations (subject to availability) must pay a single supplement fee, which is noted in the Detailed Itinerary.

Cancellation and Transfer Policy

If it becomes necessary for you to cancel or transfer to a different trip, the following fees will apply, calculated from the date we receive a written cancellation notice, which can be sent by email, fax, or standard mail.

Cancellation Fee Schedule

Up to 91 days prior to departure: No charge!
61-90 days prior to departure: 25% of trip cost
46-60 days prior to departure: 50% of trip cost
45 days or less: 100% of trip cost

*Cancellation and transfer schedules may differ for certain group trips, as well as Cruises, Private Journeys, Extensions, and Special Events. These exceptions are clearly indicated in the Detailed Itineraries for each of these trips.

Cancellation and Transfer Fees apply to the entire Trip Cost, including the base trip cost and any additional costs, single supplement fees, internal airfare, park fees, permits, etc.

Rates are based on group participation and no partial refunds will be given for unused trip arrangements for any reason whatsoever. If you are confirmed on a trip that requires a Medical Form signed by a doctor, normal cancellation penalties apply if your doctor does not sign the form.

Cancelled Trips

Wilderness Travel reserves the right to cancel any trip prior to departure for any reason whatsoever, including insufficient enrollment or logistical problems that may impede trip operations. In such a case, a full refund of all land payments is given, except in those instances such as force majeure or epidemics where prepaid deposits or irrevocable commitments cannot be returned or reversed.

If a trip is cancelled due to force majeure (epidemics, war, labor strikes, wildfires, earthquakes, flooding, a major world event adversely affecting international travel patterns, etc.), Wilderness Travel will provide a travel credit or refund the portion of the trip cost that is recoverable after using good faith efforts to recover payments already advanced to suppliers (hotels, transportation companies, etc.) as promptly as possible. However, Wilderness Travel does not guarantee recovery of any or all of the advance payments made, and our use of good faith efforts to recover these payments will not include the institution of any legal proceedings in foreign jurisdictions. Wilderness Travel is not responsible for expenses incurred by trip members in preparing for a cancelled trip (e.g., non-refundable purchase of air tickets, visa fees, inoculations, equipment, etc.) or for any additional arrangements should the trip member depart prior to the scheduled group departure date.

Travel Protection Plan

Wilderness Travel recommends that you purchase travel insurance to help protect you and your travel investment against the unexpected. Wilderness Travel offers a customized Travel Protection Plan through Travelex Insurance Services. Details will be sent to you in your Welcome Packet. You can also learn more here.

Trip Members’ Requirements

Trip members have the responsibility to select a trip appropriate for their abilities and interests. In order to assist you, we grade each trip with a Trip Level and include a detailed “What the Trip is Like” section in each trip’s Detailed Itinerary. Trip members are responsible for preparing for the trip by thoroughly reading the Detailed Itinerary and Pre-Departure booklet and understanding the physical requirements of the trip. Our Area Specialists are available to discuss the fitness level and travel conditions of the trip with you. Wilderness Travel reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to prohibit a trip member from joining or continuing a trip if, in our opinion, the participant is determined to be incapable of meeting the rigors and requirements of participating in the tour activities or if the participant is deemed unfit for group travel. Under these circumstances, refunds will not be given.

Limitation of Liability

The payment of a deposit represents acceptance by the tour member(s) of this Release of Liability, Assumption of All Risks and Binding Arbitration Agreement.

Wilderness Travel, Inc., its employees, shareholders, subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors and successors, (collectively Wilderness Travel) does not own or operate any entity that provides, or is to provide, goods or services for your trip including, for example, lodging facilities, yacht and other transportation companies, food service providers, equipment suppliers, local ground handlers, naturalist and certain guides, etc. As a result, Wilderness Travel is not liable for any negligent or willful act or failure to act of any such person, or of any other third party.

Wilderness Travel is not liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, or incidental damage, injury, death, loss, accident, delay, inconvenience or irregularity of any kind that may be occasioned by reason of any act or omission beyond its control, including without limitation any willful or negligent act, failure to act, breach of contract or violation of local law or regulation of any third party such as an airline, train, hotel, bus, taxi, van, yacht or vessel, local ground handler or guide, whether or not it uses the Wilderness Travel name, financial default or insolvency of any supplier that is, to, or does supply any goods or services for this trip.

Wilderness Travel is not responsible for any loss, injury, death or inconvenience due to delay or change in schedule, overbooking of accommodation, default of any third party, attacks by or bites from wild or domestic animals, pests or insects, epidemics or the threat thereof, sickness, the lack of appropriate medical care and/or evacuation to same, if necessary, weather, strikes, acts of God or government, lost or misplaced luggage, acts of terrorism or the threat thereof, force majeure, war, quarantine, criminal activity, or any other cause beyond its control.

I am voluntarily participating in this trip (or any trip to which I may subsequently transfer) with the knowledge of the numerous risks and dangers involved including but not limited to negligence on the part of Wilderness Travel (for example, negligence in the conduct or arrangement of the trip in any respect from inception to completion, negligence with regard to selection of suppliers, locations and otherwise). I acknowledge that the enjoyment and excitement of adventure travel, such as this trip, is derived in part from the inherent risks incurred by travel and activity beyond the accepted safety of life at home or work and that these inherent risks contribute to such enjoyment and excitement, and are a reason for my participation. I agree to be responsible for my own welfare and accept any and all risks of delay, unanticipated events, inconvenience, illness, injury, emotional trauma or death.

Wilderness Travel reserves the right to refuse as a trip participant, or remove, at his or her own expense and without any refund, from a trip, any person it judges to be incapable of meeting the rigors and requirements of participating in the activities, or who it determines detracts from the enjoyment of the trip by others. I agree to follow all written and verbal rules of safety or otherwise presented to me by Wilderness Travel, the trip leaders, or the local ground handler. Wilderness Travel reserves the right to make route, hotel, itinerary, leader changes and trip modifications as required or desirable to improve the trip quality and/or to accommodate the comfort and wellbeing of guests.

COVID-19

Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Wilderness Travel requires that all participants to fully cooperate with the trip leader by adhering to local regulations—including wearing of a face covering when asked to do so. I understand that as the pandemic continues to evolve there is the potential for unforeseen problems, including but not limited to, last second changes of regulations by governments, including new border crossing restrictions, as well as many other factors such as possible restaurant closures, or changes in hours of operation for individual attractions. I also understand that if I or someone else on my trip should contract COVID, whether or not they are symptomatic, my trip may have to be curtailed and the affected people required to quarantine locally. Thus, by agreeing to embark on this trip, I am indicating I am aware there are possible risks and hereby agree to cover any additional expenses that might arise because of them.

Binding Arbitration

Any dispute concerning, relating, or referring to this contract, brochures, web information, or any other literature concerning my trip, or the trip itself, shall be resolved exclusively by binding arbitration in Berkeley, California, according to the then existing commercial rules of the American Arbitration Association. Such proceedings will be governed by substantive (but not procedural) California law excluding any application or consideration of the California Arbitration Act. The arbitrator and not any federal, state, or local court or agency shall have exclusive authority to resolve any dispute relating to the interpretation, applicability, enforceability, conscionability, or formation of this contract, including but not limited to any claim that all or any part of this contract is void or voidable.

Miscellaneous Matters

Wilderness Travel shall not be liable for (a) expenses such as additional hotel nights and meals not specified in the individual trip itineraries, but which may be required to get to or from a trip start or end; (b) expenses due to the delay of a trip for any reason (e.g., bad weather, trail conditions, land slides, flooding, sickness, etc.); (c) expenses incurred in recovering luggage lost by airlines, belongings left behind on a trip, or in shipping purchases or other goods home from abroad.

Photographic Release

Wilderness Travel reserves the right to take photographic or film records of any of our trips, and may use any such records for promotional and/or commercial purposes without payment.

California Seller of Travel Registration No.: 1007696-40

Registration as a Seller of Travel does not constitute approval by the State of California. Wilderness Travel is not a participant in the California Travel Consumer Restitution Fund. California law requires certain Sellers of Travel to have a trust account or bond. Wilderness Travel has such a trust account.