TAILOR MADE TRIPS TO CHILE AND OTHER SOUTH AMERICAN DESTINATIONS - TRAVEL PACKAGES TO CHILE, PERU, ARGENTINA, & EASTER ISLAND

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Rights and Duties of the traveler 


Legal Name : Exploring Chile Travel Limitada
RUT : 76.508.860-7
Address : Enrique Foster Sur 76-A Las Condes, Santiago,Chile


Exploring Chile Travel and its Guests:

An adventure vacation, by nature, is prone to unforeseeable situations which are beyond our control. Therefore, these vacations are not suited to people who are unable to cope with the odd setback or mishap. Our clients need to have a flexible and positive attitude to ensure that their vacation goes smoothly. Our philosophy is one of complete respect for the environment. Our approach is ‘to leave no mark,’ and we expect our clients to share this commitment to avoid pollution and to protect the environment

Your contract with Exploring Chile conforms to the norms that protect the traveler from unreasonable conditions. Nevertheless, we recommend that you read the following conditions before departure so that you understand fully the norms that govern the relationship between you the client and Exploring Chile.

Exploring Chile Travel

Exploring Chile is a Chilean company, that organizes vacations, through its own means, as well as through sub-contractors and independent providers, and Exploring Chile has the authority to provide: transportation services, hotel accommodations, access to beautiful farms and thermal baths, restaurants, cruises, professional guides and car rentals.

As a client of Exploring Chile, you have the right to receive complete and timely information about the current conditions under which Exploring Chile operates, and pertinent information to your area of destination, but you also have the responsibility to inform yourself of the norms and conditions of the services provided by this company:

1. Services included in the price of the vacation.
2. Obligations of the travelers.
3. Rights reserved by Exploring Chile.
4. Responsibilities.
5. Exploring Chile and its Clients.

1. Services included in the price of the Vacation:

These conditions stipulate that the above-mentioned person specifies in a full and timely manner which of the following services they require from us:

Re: Inter-Continental flights the client has two options:

a) Exploring Chile will buy your tickets at the best market price available, and then include that price in the cost of your vacation with us.
b) You can buy your own tickets and let Exploring Chile know the precise dates of the flights and the carrier you have chosen, so that we can arrange the onward transport for you.
• As a rule our vacations include all flights and transfers to and from the airport, unless the client requests otherwise.
• Reservations for double rooms in the type of accommodation specified by the client. We offer 2, 3, 4 or 5 star accommodations, depending on availability. If the hotels chosen are fully-booked, alternative accommodations of the same standard will be provided. Reimbursement is not possible. The best way to ensure the accommodations that you want, is to book well in advance.
• Meals as indicated in the itinerary: Generally drinks and wine are not included in the price.
• Equipment for outdoor activities (this does not include personal items such as sleeping bags, sunglasses etc.)
• Safety equipment for both conventional and adventure vacations. Depending on the level of risk of your itinerary these may include: first aid kit, VHF radio transceivers, oxygen cylinders, and/or hyperbaric chamber and GPS.
• Professional guides and camping staff.
• The cost of visits to sites of historic, cultural and natural interest.
• State taxes and the entrance fees for National Parks (under the heading ‘taxes and levies’).
NB: these services are subject to supplements, increases, limits and additional costs according to the itinerary chosen by the client.


2. Obligations of the client:

Choosing a vacation with our agency, the client assumes a number of obligations, including:

2.1 Reservation and payments:

When you pay for your vacation it is considered that a contract has been entered into and that you have accepted the terms and conditions (including exemption from responsibility) outlined here and in your travel information. Booking is confirmed with a deposit of 50% of the total value of the trip. As soon as this deposit is received, the client will be supplied with all the information that relates to the vacation. The balance must be paid 45 days before departure. If the vacation is booked less the 45 days in advance, the full cost of the trip must be paid immediately. All bookings must be made via fax or email and must include all the necessary personal details of the travelers and the itinerary that they have chosen. If the client does not make payment in full within the agreed timeframe, the contract will be considered null and void, and these relevant legal penalties will apply. If the client cancels their booking, the following penalties will apply:
a) Cancellation between 45 and 30 days before departure: 10% of the cost of the vacation;
b) Cancellation between 29 and 20 days before departure: 30% of the cost of the vacation;
c) Cancellation between 19 and 10 days before departure: 50% of the cost of the vacation;
d) Cancellation between 9 and 3 days before departure: 80% of the cost of the vacation;
e) After this 95% of the cost of the vacation will be retained;
f) If the client does not show up to the airport, decides to stop their vacation mid-way through, or is unable to travel because of inadequate travel documents, they will not receive any refund.
(These periods are calculated excluding the day the cancellation is made, which must occur on a working day. They also exclude the Saturday before departure)
The following costs are not included in the price of the trip: the costs of issue or renewal of passports and other travel documents (if necessary), excess baggage, travel insurance, entrance and exit visas, food not specified in the itinerary, visits to sites of interest specified as optional in the itinerary, and other personal expenses such as laundry, phone calls; and anything else not specified as ‘included in the price’.
2.2.The client must be punctual: they must arrive on time at the airport and for all other journeys and excursions.
2.3.The client must have all the necessary documents for their vacation: the client must have adequate, valid travel documents. It is the client’s responsibility to inform themselves, via the relevant offices, of the documents they require for entry into each country they are visiting.
2.4. The client must respect the laws and rules of any places they visit during their vacation: they must not break any rules or laws during the holiday including any regarding; airports, the police, health, customs, the environment, and indeed laws of any nature, for example those that are in force in the national parks or any other places that the client might visit during their trip.
2.5. The client must obey the rules and instructions given by the lead guide and facilitator of the trip.
2.6.The client must be properly equipped: The client is responsible for their own belongings and needs to have the right clothing and equipment for their trip. They must respect the weight limits of the carrier they are flying with. Any fines for being over the weight limit are the responsibility of the client.

3. Exploring Chile reserves the right to:

3.1. Change the prices of the vacations on offer in line with the terms and conditions. The current prices on offer are valid until the end of 31/12/2011.
3.2. Make changes to the prices of the vacation, without notice, where those changes arise from a movement in the exchange rate.
3.3. Withdraw from or make changes to a vacation.
3.4. Make changes to the itinerary when it is deemed necessary or to your advantage.
3.5. Refuse to accept any person onto a tour who is deemed to have violated their obligations as a client.
3.6. Demand payment for any expense caused by the client whether this be missing a flight because the client arrived late, or anything else where blame can be attributed to the client.
3.7. Photograph, Film, or Tape any tour or part thereof and to use these photos, videos, or films to market Exploring Chile. The client gives his/her consent for this at the time of purchasing the vacation, unless he/she explicitly states otherwise.

3.8. Offer alternative activities or routes in response to circumstances that are out of our control, such as climatic conditions or other.  Anything that is considered force majeure applies to this right.


4 Responsibilities and Advice

4.1 Exploring Chile is exempt from responsibility for sub-contracted services or suppliers and for all situations that are out of tExploring Chile's direct control.
4.2 Exploring Chile does not assume responsibility for lack of availability in the hotels or resorts requested by the client. In such cases Exploring Chile will place the client in alternative accommodations of the same category, without taking any responsibility for the client’s lack of satisfaction with the alternative accommodations.
4.3 The vacations we offer include outdoor physical activities that have an intrinsic level of risk dependent on a number of factors that are out of our control. Therefore Exploring Chile does not assume responsibility for death, accidents or any other problems that can arise as a result of omissions by sub-contractors, irresponsible behavior on behalf of the client, or as a result of any other circumstance out of Exploring Chile's control.
4.4 Our vacations do not include travel insurance. We strongly advise that when you purchase you vacation with us you also purchase a travel insurance policy in your home country, that covers any costs of a possible cancellation of your vacation, of accidents or loss of baggage. You can also stipulate a policy that covers the costs of repatriation in the case of illness or accident. Exploring Chile can give you advice about a suitable policy.
4.5 We are not responsible in the case of theft or loss of baggage or personal effects.
4.6 In the case of accidents , Exploring Chile bears no responsibility for medical expenses or expenses of any other kind. It is the responsibility of the client to purchase travel insurance before departure that covers all such eventualities.
4.7 Exploring Chile is not responsible for changes to the schedule made by the head of the group, local representative or other parties, in order to guarantee the safety of the client.
4.8 Exploring Chile cannot be held responsible for unexpected and unforeseeable breakdowns, changes to flights, changes to timetables or changes to the itinerary caused by forces beyond our control (weather conditions, strikes etc.)
4.9 In trips to the mountains, we cannot guarantee that you will reach the summit as this is dependent on the fitness of the client. Exploring Chile has the right to stop any member of the group from continuing with the expedition if it is deemed that he/she is in danger or is endangering other members of the group through his/her behaviour, without giving any refund.
4.10 If during the vacation, the client requests a change of itinerary for personal reasons, we will try to accommodate the client’s wishes. However any additional cost is the responsibility of the client and no refunds can be given for activities already organised and then not undertaken.
4.11 In the case that Exploring Chile cancels a trip, all costs will be refunded to the client. and under no other circumstance will refunds be made.
4.12 Excursions and services purchased by the client directly are not included in the price of the vacation, and fall outside the remit of the contract entered into by Exploring Chile as the organizer of the vacation. Therefore, no responsibility can be attributed to Exploring Chile, either as organizer or intermediary, even in the case that such services are provided by our guides or sub-contractors.