Travel Agreement
1. Realization of Agreement
1.1. The client supplies all necessary information of him/herself and the group of travelers he/she represents before the travel agreement is being made, that might be of importance. As well as the client provides any special details on the character and composition of the group he/she represents that might be of importance for a successful performance of the travel.
1.2. The client who represents his / her partner, another traveler, family or group and accepts the travel agreement is head-responsible for all financial obligations and implications for his / her partner, the other traveler, family or group of travelers. All financial transactions between this client and Latinamerica Journeys Guru are restricted to this client who accepts the travel agreement.
1.3. With the confirmation of a travel program & related estimate a client accepts the Conditions of the Travel Agreement with Latinamerica Journeys Guru mentioned in this document and on the website of Latinamerica Journeys Guru.
1.4. Latinamerica Journeys Guru has the right to correct or adapt her financial offer / estimate, as long as the client has not confirmed their booking & transfer of (advance) payment, when there are changes to be made within the itinery and/or there are specific circumstances that justify an adaptation (see also 2.3).
2. Payment & Adjustments Travel
2.1. As part of the confirmation of the travel agreement, the client or traveler pays 30-50% of the total travelsum in advance depending on holiday destination and details quotation. This has to be transferred directly after accepting the travel agreement. The transfer of the advance or complete travelsum has to be visible on the account of Latinamerica Journeys within 1 week. The other 50-70% has to be paid and visible on our account not later than 8 weeks before the date of departure of the client. If the travel agreement is confirmed within 8 weeks before departure the whole travelsum has to be paid in one time & has to be visible on the account of Latinamerica Journeys Guru within 1 week. In case one or more domestic flights or other special excursions form part of the travel agreement and have to be purchased several months before departure date the amount of the first payment may be adapted according to the costs indicated by local operators. For Cuba holidays & horseback rides in Argentina we may have different conditions for payment, see the specific details of the quotations.
2.2. If the client fails to pay on time, according to the travel agreement and/or previous correspondence of Latinamerica Journeys Guru, it might lead to the cancellation of all reservations and services of the whole travel, and the client or traveler is obliged to pay the costs of Latinamerica Journeys Guru for travel design, administration & cancellation costs (for the articles of cancellation see 4 & 5). .
2.3. As long as the whole travelsum has not been fully paid to Latinamerica Journeys Guru, Latinamerica Journeys Guru has the right to adapt the costprice of the travel before departure due to changes in itinery, transport & fuel costs, taxes, changes in relevant currencies, and/or unforeseen cost adaptations of local agents or coordinators. A client may refuse this additional cost within 3 working days after notice. If this is the case Latinamerica Journeys Guru has the right to cancel the travel agreement within 7 working days after notice. In this case the client will receive restitution of the earlier made, to the travel relevant payments within 6 weeks minus the involved cancellation costs of local agents and transport providers, the administration costs and the bank transfer costs.
2.4. The client is allowed to make changes in the travel itinerary after the travel agreement is accepted, until 4-8 weeks before departure if this is possible under the given circumstances. When there are extra costs involved the client pays the eventual extra costs of the travel itinerary, accommodations, excursions, the eventual extra communication costs, plus for every change made within a booking 150 Euro as extra administration costs.
2.5. Changes of the date of arrival and a reduction of the amount of participants in a group, after the client has accepted the travel agreement and the reservations are made by Latinamerica Journeys Guru, fall under the articles of cancellation (see 4 & 5).
3. Required Travel documents, contact information, insurances, health certificates, vaccinations & financial means
3.1. The client and all the members of the traveling group, need to have valid documents, like a passport, a visa (depending on destination), a flight ticket, sufficient financial means for all payments at destination (note that for Cuba: credit or debit cards of American bank institutions are not valid), eventual proof of vaccinations, and international driving license (in case of selfdrive arrangements) before departure. A client needs to check always the information given by Latinamerica Journeys Guru on correctness with the organizations authorized for specific matters. In case a client or travelers do not have the required documents & financial means and cannot make a travel or part of a travel due to this reason, all involved costs will be for the client or travel party.
3.2. The client and all the members of the traveling group are obligated to have for the travel all necessary travel insurance with a wordwide coverage, a medical insurance (including a reasonable coverage for repatriation & funeral costs) and a valid cancellation insurance (note that a cancellation insurance booked after the booking of your flight and trip is not always considered as valid by the insurance companies). Latinamerica Journeys Guru is not liable in whatever form and situation in case of absence or insufficient insurance of of a client or travel party during the travel.
3.3.1 Latinamerica Journeys Guru requires to be informed correctly with the contact and travel insurance details of the client and the members of the traveling group. The travel insurance needs to have coverage for medical expenses at the destination as well and it is the full responsability of the client to check this with the insurance company. Latinamerica Journeys Guru will supply a form to be filled in with contact information, insurance details and eventually necessary medical information that might be of importance for a successfull performance of the trip. In case the client, travelers and/or organisator of the travelparty fail to supply this information prior to arrival on destination, Latinamerica Journeys Guru has the right to cancel the travel before arrival and/or cancel further services on destination and is not responsible nor liable under any circumstances nor in any travel itinery disagreement of the involved client and/or travelparty. Further Latinamerica Journeys Guru is not responsible nor liable under any circumstance in case a travel insurance (including medical expenses) is absent, not sufficient for the destination or in case the insurance company is not refunding as the client and travelers hoped for in case of an incident before, during or after the travel.
3.3.2 Latinamerica Journeys Guru requires to be informed correctly of any medical information that might be of importance for a successfull performance of the trip. The client and all the members of the traveling group need to be healthy and be confident that they can perform the planned holiday. In case of any doubt, illness, handicap and/or the risk of having an illness that may cause a serious handicap during the travel the client need to go to a doctor / healthcare institute, inform the responsible person about the destination and provide an official healthcare certificate to Latin America Journeys Guru that the client is allowed to travel to the specific destination and is covered by the medical insurance. When specific vaccinations are required to perform a trip at a specific destination it is the clients own responsability to take care of those and to be correctly informed. When a specific destination or country does not allow travelers from certain destinations or countries due to health risks they may bring with them it is the clients own responsability to take care and to be correctly informed about their own situation. In all circumstances Latin America Journeys Guru is not liable for any compensation due to any personal health, health risks or vaccination travel issues before, during or after a trip.
4. Cancellation by Client
- In case the travel is cancelled by a client, the client pays the following cancellation percentages:
a. by cancellation of the travel till 60 days or more before departure:
30% of the total amount will be paid.
b. by cancellation of the travel on the 60th day till the 42nd day before departure:
40% of the total amount will be paid.
b. by cancellation of the travel on the 42nd day till the 28th day before departure:
50% of the total amount will be paid.
c. by cancellation of the travel on the 28th day till the 14th day before departure:
60% of the total amount will be paid.
d. by cancellation of the travel on the 14th till the 7th day before departure:
80% of the total amount will be paid.
e. by cancellation of the travel on the 7th day till the day of departure:
100% of the total amount will be paid.
- In case the total costs of a cancellation exceed the costs represented by the percentages of the total travelsum given above, the actual involved costs are paid by the client under all circumstances. The total of these costs are the costs of reservations made by all local operators, air companies and third parties that are not restituted to Latinamerica Journeys Guru, plus the costs represented by the hours of work that the staff of Latinamerica Journeys Guru has invested in the specific travel for travel design, booking and administration according to reasonable standards.
3 .The cancellation of one or more participants of a travel party is regarded as a cancellation of all travel agreements, as such that all participants who cancel, have to pay the mentioned percentages of cancellation, or fulfill their payment according to 4.2. For the rest of the participants a new travel agreement will be determined. This may imply a higher price for the rest of participants.
5. Cancellation or adaptation itinerary by Latinamerica Journeys
5.1.1. Latinamerica Journeys Guru has the right to adapt a travel itinerary (or cancel a travel agreement) in case of urgent political, social or natural circumstances, before or during the travel (see 8.2). Adaptations may imply a change in accommodation and transport. In case of a necessary adaptation, Latinamerica Journeys Guru will come with an alternative proposal, if possible, and that is comparable to the offer of the original travel agreement.
5.1.2. The client has the possibility to not accept the new offer within 3 working days. From 10 days before departure, the client is given a term of 24 hours to reply. The client has in case he/she refuses the alternative offer, the right on restitution of the paid travelsum, minus the transfer, cancellation and administration costs (or a part of the travelsum in case the travel already started) within 8 weeks. In case a travel already has started Latinamerica Journeys Guru & their local agent will take care of alternative arrangements so that the continuation of the travel within the given possibilities can be accomplished.
5.2.1. Latinamerica Journeys Guru has the right to cancel a travel agreement in case of any inappropriate and/or violent behaviour (in verbal and/or written expression) before or during the travel by the client (s) involved. In case the travel is cancelled by Latinamerica Journeys Guru due to inappropriate and/or violent behaviour by the client, the client pays the cancellation percentages as under paragraph 4.1. In case of inappropriate and/or violent behaviour on the holiday destination Latinamerica Journeys Guru has the right to cancel all further travel services without any restitution in any form, in that case all further costs for travel services will be for the client and will not fall under the responsibility of the local operators nor of Latinamerica Journeys Guru.
5.2.2. In case a certain situation emerges before the start of the journey or on the holiday destination that requires an adaptation of an itinery and/or travel services as indicated by the local operator the client will be asked to cooperate and form part of a constructive solution. In case a client is not cooperating on purpose and is obstructing a mutual solution by which the travel and/or continuation of the travel and a good travel performance becomes in danger this is considered as inappropriate behaviour.
5.3. When a quotation and corresponding itinery have been accepted and the booking process is started and/or has been completed Latinamerica Journeys Guru does not accept any further negotiations, discussions and/or complaints about the costprice before the start of the trip or during the trip at destination towards our local agents. When the full payment is not fulfilled by the client according to the accepted quotation(s), itinery and booking conditions for that holiday destination, Latinamerica Journeys Guru has the right to cancel the whole travel agreement (for an individual traveler and/or a whole involved travel party to which an individual traveler belongs) and all related services without any further responsabilities or liabilities for Latinamerica Journeys Guru and associated partners in whatever form. In this situation the client pays the cancellation percentages as under paragraph 4.1.
5.4 Latinamerica Journeys Guru has the right to cancel a travel agreement in case the requirements under paragraph 3 are not fulfilled correctly. In that case Latinamerica Journeys Guru has the right to cancel the whole travel agreement and all related services without any further responsabilities or liabilities for Latinamerica Journeys Guru and associated partners in whatever form and the client pays the cancellation percentages as under paragraph 4.1.
6. Responsability of Client
6.1. A client or group of travelers who book an individual arrangement with Latinamerica Journeys Guru accept his/her own responsibility for a successful performance of his/her own travel itinerary, given all reservations, accommodations & transfers are correct according to the travel agreement, and communicated correctly by Latinamerica Journeys Guru and/or the contracted local agent.
6.2. A client has to follow all reasonable indications of Latinamerica Journeys Guru, their local agent(s), the local coordinator and/or local guide, which are necessary for a successful performance of their travel itinerary, trekking and/or excursion, according to be judged on what might be expected to be reasonable indications under the given circumstances for a successful performance.
6.3. Clients are responsible for damage which is caused by inappropriate behavior, to be judged on what might be expected to be the behavior of a correct traveler.
6.4. If a service is not according to what might be expected on basis of the travel agreement, the client has to contact and inform as soon as possible the local agent or coordinator, so that the local agent or coordinator can arrange alternatives, an improvement or financial compensation. If the failure of a service is not well communicated to the responsible person of the local agency or local coordinator on the actual moment of discomfort, the local agency or coordinator is not given the possibility to offer their services and assistance to change or improve a certain situation. The client accepts that with neglecting this guideline to communicate with the local agent or coordinator a later financial compensation might be excluded.
6.5. If a complaint is not taken seriously by the contracted local agent / coordinator or not regarded as falling under their responsibility, Latinamerica Journeys Guru should be contacted as soon as possible during the travel of the client by Email. In case no Internet is available a staff member of Latinamerica Journeys Guru should be informed personally by phone. If this is not done the client accepts that Latinamerica Journeys Guru has not been given the chance to correct a certain issue and that with neglecting this guideline to communicate, a later financial compensation might be excluded. An eventual financial compensation is always exclusively based on the refunds Latinamerica Journeys Guru receives from her local operator(s) and is exclusively restricted to compensation for not received excursions, accommodation and/or transfers.
6.6. For a good performance of travels on Cuba in special, Latinamerica Journeys Guru requires to have a briefing before the start of the journey based on the send detailed itinery and a question list the clients provide. When it turns out that clients are not willing to cooperate to be well informed before they arrive on Cuba it may have its influence on a good holiday performance on Cuba by our team. In that case Latinamerica Journeys Guru and associated partners have not any responsabilities or liabilities in whatever form and the client accepts all consequences at their own risk.
7. Acceptance of Risk
The client acknowledges that traveling & outdoor activities in Latin America are adventurous, and may involve some or a significant amount of personal risk. The client hereby assumes all such risks and does hereby release Latinamerica Journeys Guru from all claims and causes arising from any kind of damages or injuries or death resulting from these inherent personal risks.
8. Liability
8.1. If the travel is not functioning as a client may have expected on basis of the travel agreement, Latinamerica Journeys Guru accepts their financial responsibility, unless the deficiency in performance is neither due to Latinamerica Journeys Guru nor that of the contracted local agent or coordinator, because:
a. the deficiency in performance is due to the client, or the group of travelers the client is part of; or
b. the deficiency in performance could not be foreseen, or could not be solved as it is the result of a third party that is not contracted by Latinamerica Journeys Guru; or
c. the deficiency in performance is due to circumstances that despite all carefulness of Latinamerica Journeys Guru & contracted local agent, could not be foreseen.
8.2. Latinamerica Journeys Guru is not liable in any case for compensation, claims, damage, delay, any injury or death before, during & after the travel due to:
a. critical political, social or natural circumstances, such as war, danger of war, boycott actions, terrorism, strikes, disorders in communication or travel means, delays in transport means, serious accidents, nature disasters like floods, volcanic eruptions, land slides, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes and so forth.
b. disorders in the country of destination due to serious accidents or disasters.
c. failures of any kind of airline companies or other types of transport companies involved in the itinery of the client.
d. any health issues, any health risks and vaccination travel issues of the client or any other members of the travelparty.
8.3. The client assumes all personal risks during his/her travel and does release Latinamerica Journeys Guru from all claims and causes arising from any damages or injuries or death resulting from these inherent personal risks (see 7).
8.4. Latinamerica Journeys is not liable in any case for damage, delay, any injury or death before, during & after the travel due to:
a. mistakes or misjudgments of a third party, as well as the non-fulfillment of commitments of a third party,
b. mistakes or misjudgments of local agencies and/or local guides, despite the great care with which local agencies & guides may be selected.
9. Assistance Client
9.1. Latinamerica Journeys Guru and the local agent(s) are according to the situation obliged to give assistance to the client in case a travel is not functioning as he/she might have reasonably expected on basis of the travel agreement.
9.2. If a travel is not functioning as a client might have expected, and this is related to circumstances, which are neither the responsibility of the client nor of Latinamerica Journeys Guru, both accept their part of damage. For Latinamerica Journeys Guru and/or the local agent(s) this will consist out of extra hours of manpower and of personal assistance as far is possible and within the given possibilities; for the client this may consist out of extra costs for accommodation & transfers.
9.3. If a client is not satisfied with the given services on destination, they have the duty to inform the local agent as soon as possible (and Latinamerica Journeys Guru in case the agent does not accept the responsibility, or does not treat the complaint seriously) (see 6).
9.4. If a complaint cannot be satisfactorily solved during the travel or during a meeting with the local agent at the day of departure, the client should inform in written form Latinamerica Journeys Guru within two weeks after the end of the travel.
10. Copyrights, images and audiovisual media
10.1. All images and audiovisual media on this website and posted by us on social media and marketing channels as Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Responsible Travel etc fall under the Universal laws of Copyrights. Part of the media presented here or on other channels are the art work of Latinamerica Journeys Guru or from other parties that have given their permission that they can be used by Latinamerica Journeys Guru.
10.2. When staffmembers of Latinamerica Journeys Guru travel as staff and/or as individual/group guides with their clients and/or are contracted to work as guides/tourleaders by other third parties, the clients give automatically direct or indirect permission that all imagery and audiovisual productions made during these travels by the staff/guide can be used on all related websites and channels of Latinamerica Journeys Guru and staff.
