Terms & Conditions

A deposit is required to confirm your booking on a tour. Please refer to the specific tour for the deposit amount required. This deposit is used to pay for hotels and other land arrangements to be made on your behalf. This deposit is non-refundable, however it can be transferred to another tour of your choosing. There is no time limit for its use.

Some tours require instalment payments to cover specific components of a tour, such as performance tickets. All instalment payments are non-refundable.

Prices quoted in our itineraries, brochures, advertising and/or on our website are based on exchange rates at the time of publication. Prices may be subject to change due to significant currency fluctuations up until final payment is received. We will advise you at the earliest opportunity in the event of a price variation. You will have the option of accepting the amended prices or withdrawing from the tour and receiving a full refund of all monies paid, less an administration fee. We may receive fees, commissions, gifts or financial incentives from third parties under this contract.

Your final payment is due 90 days before the tour start date. Failure to make your final payment by the due date may result in the cancellation of your booking and loss of any payments made to date. Payment by cheque, direct deposit, American Express, MasterCard and Visa is accepted.

While we will use our best endeavours to operate all tours as advertised, by entering into this contract you acknowledge and accept that it may prove necessary or advisable to vary or modify a tour or its contents due to prevailing local conditions. We reserve the right at any time to cancel or change any of the facilities, services or prices described in the brochure (including flights, transport, accommodation or other arrangements) and to substitute alternative arrangements of comparable monetary value without compensation. If a service or facility becomes unavailable due to circumstances beyond our control (‘force majeure’) and no alternative arrangement of comparable monetary value is available, we will attempt to substitute the best alternative available and/or will refund you for any cost saving.

‘Force majeure’ includes any event which Academy Travel or its suppliers could not, even with all due care, foresee or avoid (e.g. advice against travel from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), war, threat of war, riot, civil strife, industrial dispute, epidemics, pandemic, health risks, terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disaster, fire or adverse weather conditions, technical or maintenance problems with transport, changes imposed by cancellation or rescheduling of flights by an airline or main charterer, the alteration of airline or aircraft type).

If you decide to cancel your tour booking the following charges apply, based on the day we receive written notification:

• More than 90 days before departure: Forfeit of all deposits paid*†

• 90–45 days before tour start: 50% of total amount due for tour*

• 45 days or less before departure: 100% of total amount due for tour*

*You may also be liable to pay any cancellation charges imposed by third parties for flights and additional accommodation and services.

† Your tour deposit will be credited towards any future Academy Travel tour, with no time limit for use.

Academy Travel reserves the right to cancel a tour for any reason, including failure to reach the minimum number of participants required for the tour to operate. Except in cases of force majeure (as outlined above) or your failure to pay the final balance, we will make a final decision to proceed with or cancel a tour no less than 60 days prior to departure. If Academy Travel cancels a tour, we will refund or credit all amounts paid to date for the tour, including any Academy Travel-arranged pre- or post-tour accommodation. Payments made for travel insurance and separately booked airfares are excluded and are subject to the terms and conditions of the relevant provider. Airlines may impose cancellation charges of up to 100% of the airfare. No other compensation will be payable in the event of cancellation by Academy Travel. The refund of monies paid for tour costs will be the full extent of our liability.

Academy Travel will always attempt to provide a cash refund of all amounts paid but, depending upon the specific circumstances, which are outside our control, you acknowledge that any credit or refund may take the form of a substitution of a similar tour at a later date, or a credit voucher for a tour with Academy Travel at a later date.

We regret that refunds will not be given for any unused portions of the tour, such as meals, entry fees, accommodation, flights or transfers.

Academy Travel requires all participants to obtain comprehensive travel insurance. We offer a comprehensive policy with a reputable insurer if required.

A valid passport is required for all international travel. Usually this will require that your passport will not expire until at least six months after your planned return to your country of residence. Some countries require a visa to be issued before you depart your country of residence. We will advise you of all passport and visa requirements, but it is your responsibility to be in possession of a valid passport, to obtain all necessary visas, inoculations and preventative medicines as may be required for the duration of the tour. Information about these matters is given in good faith but without responsibility on the part of Academy Travel.

All tours require a moderate level of physical fitness and mobility. Each tour itinerary specifies a level of physical fitness required. You are required to read these requirements and acknowledge them at the time you make a booking. We reserve the right to refuse admission to the tour for any reason before commencement of the tour. Further, if after the tour has begun it becomes apparent that you are unfit or unsuitable to travel on the tour, we reserve the right to require you to withdraw from the tour at the earliest opportunity to do so. No refund will be provided. It is also a requirement that you do not cause any significant disruption to the tour or the tour group, and we may require you to withdraw from the tour at any time if your participation causes significant disruption for other guests or the tour group or there is any safety issue as a result of your ongoing participation in the tour.

Anyone suffering from illness or disability or undergoing treatment for a medical condition must declare the true nature of that condition at the time of booking and make arrangements for the provision of any medication or other treatment which may be required during the tour. Failure to make such disclosure will constitute a breach of these booking conditions and result in such persons being excluded from the tour in which case all monies paid will be forfeited.

We accept responsibility for all ingredients of your tour, except those to which the principle of force majeure prevails, as set out herein. Our obligations and responsibilities are limited to those to which international conventions apply in respect of air, sea or rail carriers, including the Warsaw Convention and its various updates.