Terms and Conditions

Terms and Conditions for Wandering Women

BOOKING TERMS AND CONDITION

You must not continue with any booking unless you understand and agree with the following terms and conditions. Once payment is made for the booking, it is deemed that you have read and understood the terms and conditions for the booking.

DEPOSIT AND BALANCE OF PAYMENT

You are required to fill out the tour registration form which is to be sent electronically together with the deposit for the tour within 7 days of receiving our confirmation. The deposit is a non refundable deposit equivalent to 30% of the full cost of the tour. Full payment is required 120 days before the departure date, unless stated differently in the individual tour information. Failure to pay the full amount by the due date may result in a late payment fee or cancellation fee, as determined by us.

CREDIT CARD TRANSACTIONS

Credit card surcharges will apply when paying by credit card and will be determined by credit card type. This will be advised at the time of booking. We do not accept American Express or Diners.

If for any reason any travel service provider is unable to provide the services for which you have contracted, your remedy lies against that provider, and not against Wandering Women, or any associated entity. In the event that payment has been made to Wandering Women by credit card, you agree that you will not seek to approach the credit card bank to charge back your payment to Wandering Women.

NOT INCLUDED

The tour price does not include beverages with meals unless specified, and any meals and sightseeing tours not specified. It is your responsibility to ensure settlement of any charges made by a hotel or provider of any service, for extra services ordered directly by you such as room service, mini bar, laundry, post, telephone charges, items of a personal nature or tips (hotels require validation of a credit card upon check in). Visa (if applicable), travel insurance and excess baggage fees are not included in our prices.

Please ensure that you read the Tour inclusion outlined on the relevant pages.

PRICING

All prices quoted are in Australian dollars, In the event of a fluctuation in charges including exchange rates, airfares, fuel surcharges, taxes and other land arrangement costs, Wandering Women reserves the right to adjust tour prices accordingly. You are required to pay any such increase before departure.

Prices are inclusive of GST where applicable and are subject to change until full payment has been received and tickets issued. Airfare & tour prices can change without notice. Certain countries may charge an airport/departure tax or their own country/state tax. Some taxes will not be included in the price and are payable at the airport upon departure or direct at the point of purchase.Wandering Women endeavours to ensure that taxes are included in the cost but should any tax be increased or added during the tour, you will need to pay those directly to the authority concerned.

CHANGES TO THE ITINERARY

Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy. If we are forced to change your booking, or part of it, for reasons beyond our control prior to or during actual travel, we bear no responsibility for this and reserve the right to vary your holiday itinerary and give you prompt notice thereof. In the event that any one change or series of changes to your holiday itinerary means that your holiday has become materially different from that contemplated prior to the change or changes, you have the right to withdraw from the tour and all monies already paid will be refunded less any charges imposed by suppliers.

If a substitute tour, or part of the tour is accepted in replacement of the original tour, or part of the tour (that cannot be provided), a surcharge may apply if the substitute tour or part of the tour is more expensive. If variations in the itinerary are accepted (which are permitted in these conditions) then no claim shall be made for compensation, refund or loss on that account.

CANCELLATION CHARGES

All cancellations must be made in writing to Wandering Women and will be subject to the following cancellation charges from the date the written cancellation is received.

Cancellations received more than 60 days prior to departure will incur a loss of deposit. Cancellations received within 60 days of departure will incur a loss of 100% of total tour cost. However, this could be recoverable through your travel insurance depending on the circumstances.

LATE BOOKING AND AMENDMENT FEES

Bookings made within 60 days of departure will only be accepted if full payment is made at the time of confirmation. Late booking fees may also apply. A fee of $50.00 per amendment to confirmed bookings will be charged in addition to any charges levied by hotels, ground/cruise operators or airlines. If an amendment is requested within 60 days of the scheduled departure date, a cancellation fee may apply.

TRAVEL INSURANCE

It is a condition of joining all Wandering Women’ experiences that participants take out full comprehensive travel insurance. Your insurance policy details will need to be provided to us prior to departure, failure to do so will mean exclusion from the trip. Wandering Women is able to arrange insurance  should you require it. Please discuss with us at the time of booking.

MAXIMUM GROUP NUMBER

The escorted tours are subject to a maximum number of 10 (ten). However, if the minimum number of participants is not reached, the tour may be cancelled with all monies refunded. If we re-cost the tour and you decide not to proceed, all monies will be refunded. You are strongly advised against making any additional flight arrangements you might have to make to reach departure point in Sydney until you have received confirmation the tour is proceeding. Any cancellation fees as a result of such arrangements will be your responsibility.

PASSPORTS AND VISAS

For international tours, it is your responsibility to ensure that your passport is current. All international passengers require a current passport with at least 6 months validity. You may need a re-entry permit to Australia, if you are not travelling on an Australian passport. Passport and visa requirements are not our responsibility although we can assist. We are not liable for any loss or expense due to a passenger’s failure to have a valid passport or visa. We will advise procedures for obtaining a visa (if applicable) and provide assistance if required. For security reasons, airlines require your name exactly as it appears in your passport. It remains your responsibility to advise these details. If you do not provide the correct information and we have to re-issue airline tickets or other documentation, we will be compelled to pass on any additional costs to participants requiring document re-issue.

SINGLE PARTICIPANTS

If you are travelling alone and wish to share a room, we will endeavour to match you with another single participant. We accept no responsibility for the suitability of the rooming partner. If at any time during the tour you consider the rooming partner to be unsuitable, we will arrange single accommodation (if available) the additional cost of which (if any) will be borne by you. If we are unable to find a rooming partner prior to departure, you may be required to pay any single supplement to undertake the tour. Wandering Women works with operators, wherever possible, who do not charge a single supplement.

REFUNDS

No refund will be given for any pre-booked accommodation, coach tours or other pre-booked services or other travel which is not utilised. Participants who do not conform to the itinerary will not be entitled to refunds for any parts of the tour missed and no variations are allowed. No allowances or refunds will be made for lost or unused tickets or hotel coupons.

ACCOMMODATION

Requests for smoking /non smoking rooms will be passed onto hotels, but cannot be guaranteed. In heritage hotels, room size and layout can vary from room to room. You are responsible for any costs incurred as a result of damage or excess cleaning fees related to your accommodation.

BAGGAGE ALLOWANCE

Baggage allowance is a maximum of 20 kilograms per person. We recommend no more than 1 small suitcase (preferably with wheels) plus a large handbag/carryon bag per person with 7kg maximum. You can always shop locally for anything you need.  Excess baggage fees for international and any domestic flights will be your responsibility.

To increase your safety there are new rules for taking liquids, aerosols and gels on flights into and out of Australia. These new rules are needed to protect you from the threat of liquid explosives. Wandering Women will include information regarding the current requirements once your booking is confirmed.

PARTICIPATION

All participants warrant that they have the physical capacity to participate fully in the tour without any assistance from the tour escort or other participants. Any important health, disability (physical or mental) issues must be made known to us verbally and written on the booking form. We reserve the right to ask for a doctor’s clearance if necessary. You are advised to check your travel insurance policy to make sure these issues are covered. Wandering Women reserves the right to decline any person as a tour participant if it believes that it is not possible to guarantee the welfare of that person during the tour. A booking may be refused or cancelled after payment. It also reserves the right to remove from the tour any person whose conduct is deemed incompatible with the interests of the other passengers. In such event, Wandering Women and the tour escort are not liable for any direct or indirect costs, losses or expenses incurred by the participant.

You agree that we may take photographs and films of you while on this tour and that those may be added to our website, brochures and advertising without any further consent from you.

HEALTH REQUIREMENTS

You are requested to familiarise yourself with any health requirements specific to the countries/States being visited if travelling with us. Wandering Women will provide basic information for each tour but it remains your responsibility to seek out additional information. It is highly recommended that you get advice from a medical practitioner.

CONSULAR ADVICE

We recommend that you review information issued by the Health Departments of whichever State/Territory you will be touring or that you review the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for international travel by calling 1300 555 135 or by visiting their website at www.smarttraveller.gov.au

RESPONSIBILITY

Wandering Women acts as co-ordinator for all persons taking these tours, in the making of all arrangements for transportation, sightseeing and hotel accommodation. These services are not provided by Wandering Women but by airlines, hoteliers, transportation companies and other service providers which are not under its control. While we take all reasonable care in selecting such service providers, Wandering Women, its tour escort and associated agents accept no responsibility whether in negligence or contract for any accident, injury, death, sickness, damage, loss, cancellation, delay, failure to deliver or partial or inadequate delivery of services, disappointed expectation, additional expenses or other unforeseen events caused in connection with those service providers, their employees, agents, servants or representatives. All coupons, vouchers, receipts and tickets issued by the airlines, hoteliers and transportation companies and other service providers are issued subject to the terms and conditions of liability contained in those documents, which may limit or exclude liability for death, personal injury, delay, and loss of or damage to baggage and are subject to the laws of the country where the services are provided. We do not accept any liability caused directly or indirectly by force majeure or other events beyond our control, including but without limitation to war or threat of war, acts of government, acts of terrorism, fire, strikes, civil disturbances, quarantines, floods, weather conditions, natural disasters, incidents at sea, accidents or failure of machinery or equipment, theft, or other disturbances of any kind which cancel, interfere with, or add cost to the services requested.

WEBSITE

We make every effort to ensure all information displayed on our site is accurate; however, as considerable information is accessed from our accommodation partners, we are unable to guarantee the accuracy of all information nor are we able to guarantee that the site is free of errors or faults. We reserve the right to change information displayed on our site (including these terms and conditions) at any time without notice to you.

WAIVER

While on tour there may be instances where you may wish to join the tour escort for activities in free time outside the tour programme which may involve catching taxis or using public transport to shopping/dinner locations or other destinations chosen at the time. The tour escort and Wandering Women will not be liable for any accident, injury, death, property damage or loss in relation to such activities. By signing the booking form, you agree to take part at your own risk.

COMPLAINTS

If you have any complaint about your trip, you must make it known to Wandering Women at the earliest opportunity. We will endeavour to resolve the issue at the time. If a reasonable alternative is offered to you to remedy the problem and is rejected by you, Wandering Women will not be liable to provide any further option to you even if we decide to pursue them. If at the end of the trip you feel your complaint has not been properly dealt with, you must notify Wandering Women in writing within 30 days of the end of your trip.

LAW OF CONTRACT

This contract is governed in all respects by the law of the State of New South Wales, Australia and any legal action arising under the contract shall be litigated only in the appropriate court having jurisdiction in that state.

The Booking Conditions detailed herein contain the entire contract between you and Wandering Women. No representation, term, warranty or condition can be expressed or implied by reference to any other writing, advertisement or conversation. This contract may only be varied in writing by a duly authorised officer or Director of Wandering Women.

Your contract is with us as the tour operating business. At any time and at our complete discretion we may nominate to you in writing any other company or person to have the benefit of some or all of those provisions of this contract, which we may then specify, as if you had agreed the provisions concerned directly with that company or person in the first place as well as agreeing them with us. We may at our complete discretion assign all or any rights and liabilities arising under or by virtue of this or any other contract with you.

We rely on international convention which may apply to the services provided by us, our suppliers or agents with respect to any claim or any nature brought by you against us as a result of the provision of those services. International conventions which apply may include: Warsaw Convention 1929, (as amended by Hague Protocol and Montreal Protocol) in relation to air travel, or Montreal Convention; the Berne Convention for rail travel; Athens Convention 1974 for carriage by sea; the Geneva Convention for carriage by road and the Paris Convention 1962 for Hotels. We are to be regarded as having the benefit of all these conventions on limiting our liability in relation to any claim for death, injury, loss, damage and delay to passengers and luggage.