CFS Travel 'Bhutan Ladies Tour': Terms & Conditions.
Bhutan & Beyond: Our Terms & Conditions (T&C)
These T&C below are in addition to any T&C provided to you by CFS Travel. In some cases CFS Travel T&C may override Bhutan & Beyond T&C.
The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the need for the global travel industry to revise travellers booking Terms & Conditions (T&C).
Effective December 2021 the following T&C will now apply for all new bookings made by Bhutan & Beyond. These will provide our travellers with more transparency & improved financial security, under the circumstances of travelling in a COVID-19 environment.
It is both mandatory, and your obligation as a traveller, to read these T&C carefully and to fully understand your liabilities. This is essential for your own protection.
T&C Section 1: Bhutan & Beyond (B&B)- General Booking Terms & Conditions
It is essential you carefully read and agree to these additional following Terms & Conditions. These form a component of the contract you enter into when making travel reservations to Bhutan with Bhutan & Beyond and our overseas partner suppliers.
It is important you are aware, and accept, that pre-planned arrangements may occasionally need to be amended at late notice due to events beyond the control of any operator involved in the provision of your travel related services.
1. Booking Form; Passport Scan & Proof of COVID-19 Vaccination:
It is mandatory that you fully complete our tour booking form and submit this on-line in order we can hold a reservation on your behalf. At the same time we require a quality scan of your passport photo page (regardless if it has expired or will expire before travel) which we use to ensure we have your name details 100% correct. We appreciate you limiting each passport scan to less than 2 MB in file size. We also now require a copy of your official COVID-19 vaccination certificate.
Both your passport and vaccination certificate can be uploaded and submitted with the booking form.
2. Bhutan & Beyond Deposit & Service Fee Information Specific to the CFS Travel Ladies Tour to Bhutan:
- CFS Travel will provide you with tour cost and payment schedule details. Please note Bhutan land tour costs and also airfares Bangkok-Paro-Bangkok, will be quoted in US dollars! These tour costs will be converted into Australian dollars when your final tour balance is due, using the best rate of exchange available on the day, minus your deposit payments in Australian dollars.
- Of your Bhutan land tour deposit AU$190.00 per adult is non-refundable should cancellation be made for any reason. This is our Bhutan & Beyond service fee regardless of whether travel takes place or not. Please note CFS Travel will also levy a service fee in such an instance.
- Additional fees of AU$410.00 pp will apply to cover Bhutan hotel deposits and tour operator service fees, should tour cancellation be made between 61 days prior to arrival in Bhutan and the time your final tour payment is due being 35 days before your arrival in Bhutan.
- In some cases these non-refundable service fees may be claimable against your travel insurance.
- B&B requires your tour deposit within 7 days of your tour bookings being confirmed in writing.
- Final balance of land tour costs is due 35 days prior your arrival into Bhutan.
- Cancellation of your tour reservations may occur if your final payment is not received by the due date.
- Ex-Australia airfares & en-route stopovers (ie. Bangkok) may require earlier payment & be subject to their own T&C.
3. Deposits, Cancellations & Voluntary Amendments to Your Bhutan Tour:
Important Note: Should a continuing COVID-19 related situation force the late abondonment of this tour it will be rescheduled for new dates TBA in 2023. Refunds will not be possible after final tour payment has been made however the credit value of your tour payments will be transferred to any 2023 tour.
Deposit date until 61 days prior arrival in Bhutan:
Land Tour Deposit is refundable less B&B service fee of AU$190.00 pp plus relevent CFS Travel fees.
Between 61 day and 35 days prior to arrival in Bhutan:
B&B and Bhutan Supplier fees of AU$600 are non-refundable. Relevent CFS Travel fees will be additional as per their T&C.
35 days or less prior to arrival in Bhutan:
No Land Tour refund is permitted. Paro airfares fees will be advised after air bookings are confirmed.
Voluntary Travel Amendment Requests:
Airline/hotel fees as applicable PLUS a B&B service fee of AU$40 per person.
4. Your Health & Travel Insurance:
ESSENTIAL READING PLEASE:
You are personally responsible for ensuring your general health & fitness is sufficient for your planned journey.
We strongly recommend you consult your doctor, or nearest Travel Medical Alliance (TMA) centre, at least 6 weeks before departure, for advice on vaccinations and medications. TMA can be contacted in Australia toll free on T: 1300 421142.
It is strongly recommended you hold adequate comprehensive travel insurance before/when you pay your tour deposit. It is mandatory you hold adequate comprehensive travel insurance before you pay your final tour balance for Bhutan, or your visa may be denied!
Bhutan & Beyond can assist you with a suitable travel insurance policy, especially chosen for Bhutan. Please enquire. Should you purchase your own travel insurance independently please forward us the front page of your certificate of cover as soon as this is purchased.
Some travel insurance providers do NOT provide any cover at all for a range of adventure activities such as hiking over 3000 metres. On this ‘CFS Travel Bhutan Ladies Tour’ the highest point you might hike to is 3120m to the Taktsang Monastery. It is essential you ensure your chosen insurance policy covers you for all the activities you intend to undertake whilst on your journey.
Many insurers now offer extra cover for COVID-19 related events. Please ensure you carefully review travel insurance Product Disclosure Statements (PDS) before you make your decision to purchase insurance.
Please BEWARE!
Travel insurance does NOT cover you if governments close international borders and/or the Australian Government places a ‘DO NOT TRAVEL’ status on your destination via their Smart Traveller website, therefore preventing travel to be undertaken at late notice. These exclusions have always been in place pre-COVID-19, and are not new exclusions.
5. Enforced Itinerary Changes:
Bhutan is located in south Asia. This region can be challenging to travel in for a wide variety of reasons. B&B, along with CFS Travel and our partner operators in Bhutan, reserve the right to make necessary changes to your pre-arranged and prepaid land tour itinerary structure, where unforseen circumstances dictate such changes. Depending on circumstances a refund may not be offered for such late changes and your travel insurance may cover for any financial loss.
6. Airline Flight Cancellations & Delays
Bhutan & Beyond, CFS Travel and our partner ground operators, take no responsibility for airlines amending flight times at short notice and/or cancelling and/or rerouting flights for operational reasons. No responsibility can be assumed for delay, cancellation or unavailability of a flight, or for missed connections. In such an instance any additional costs must be borne by the traveller and claimed via their travel insurance.
7. Bhutan & Beyond Tour Costs & Exclusions:
All B&B land tour costs, and some south Asian regional airfares, are always quoted in US Dollars. They are therefore subject to exchange rate fluctuation until converted into Australian dollars on the day you choose to pay your final balance due. Occasionally we reserve the right to increase prices after a trip has been quoted on, however this is only in instances beyond our control. An example of this is a foreign Government imposing higher tourism taxes, before travel has been undertaken, or an airline increasing fuel surcharges prior to ticketing.
Unless advised otherwise, your trip pricing does NOT include items of a personal nature such as COVID related tests and procedures, tipping & gratuities, medications, travel insurance, telephone calls, laundry, visa charges (except Bhutan where visa fees are always included), excess baggage charges, daily incidental expenses or drinks (with the exception of bottled water daily and tea/coffee with some meals in Bhutan).
In Bhutan all meals are included in the tour costs.
Costs for Bangkok-Paro-Bangkok return airfares:
As flight schedules & airfares are still under review for travel afte 30 June 2022, we will update you further in due course. We anticipate receiving this imformation in April 2022 or thereabouts.
9. Your Acceptance of Risk.
You acknowledge your journey to/from and through this region of South Asia comes with the usual risks of travel and, in some cases, additional risks that are associated with adventure activities and the specific nature of your chosen journey. You accept these risks and the possibility personal injury, death, property damage or loss may result from your decision to participate in such a journey.
You agree that should you be affected by any sickness, serious injury or other unforseen circumstance, that Bhutan & Beyond, CFS Travel and/or any of our overseas partner operators, can arrange any urgent medical treatment or emergency evacuation as deemed necessary for your safety and that all such costs will be borne by you and/or your travel insurer.
You also agree that upon completion of our tour booking form, and payment of your deposit, that you release all claims of liability against Bhutan & Beyond (and all staff), CFS Travel and any and all of our partner operators overseas , including all their staff, for any personal injury, death , property damage, loss or inconvenience sustained by you as a result of this tour, be it a private journey or as part of a small group tour.
