Refunds & Cancellation Policy

Flights Delays and Cancellations: We strongly recommend that you secure travel insurance for your time in Indian Sub-continent. Company will not be liable for any flight delays due to weather or technical issues or any natural calamities. If your international arrival is delayed, there are no last minute refunds for missed hotel nights. We will do our best to make, as per your request, however in the event of new arrangements being made you will be liable for any increase cost of booking. As a basic principle, no refunds will be paid to guests.

Balance not paid in full: Please note if we do not receive all balance payments (including any surcharge and taxes where applicable) in full and on time, we are entitled to assume that you wish to cancel your booking. In this case, we will be entitled to keep all amounts paid or due at that date. If we do not cancel immediately because you still have promised to make payment, you still must pay the cancellation charges shown below based on the date we treat your booking as cancelled. The cancellation of the payment fee detail is mentioned below in the cancellations section.

If you change your trip: If, after the contract between us has come into existence, you want to change your itinerary we will pass your request on to the relevant supplier. We will try our best to accommodate your requests, however we cannot guarantee that such changes can be made. Where a change can be made, we will charge for any additional costs incurred only if incurred by any of our suppliers, for example cancellation charges that may be incurred for sectors cancelled.

If you cancel your trip: If you have to cancel part of the booking or cancel the entire booking once it has been confirmed by us, written notification must be sent to us via email. As proof of receipt by email, of your notification to cancel, you must receive and retain written acknowledgement from us. Charges will be applied from the date your email is received, as per the cancellation of the payment fee detail mentioned below. The charges are applied as a percentage of the total invoice amount excluding any amendment charges and any amounts paid in addition to the deposit at the time of booking or before balance due date.

Non-Transferable: All tours are non-transferable: the original booking passenger(s) must use their respective amount(s) and cannot be transferred from one passenger (in whose name it is issued) to another passenger.

Alterations or cancellations by you after commencement of travel and unused services: We will do our best to implement any changes to your arrangements, as per your request, once they have commenced, but we cannot guarantee this will be possible. In the event of such amendments being made you will be liable for any cancellation charges that may be levied for the services originally booked, and for the cost of booking the revised arrangements and the arrangements themselves. As a basic principle, no refunds will be paid to clients who do not complete a trip. However where we ourselves are able to obtain a refund from hotels or principals for services not used, we will pass this on to you, less any administration charges. If you have taken out travel insurance you may, depending on the details of your policy, be able to recover the cancellation charges.

Luxury Train Tours cancellation: In case of luxury train tours, river cruises, package airfares, etc. the cancellation policy of the Railway Authorities or concerned departments /companies / airlines will apply.

Cancellation Fees: Please note, different cancellation charges apply in relation to certain products during high demand and peak seasons – please see your confirmation invoice for details. Cancellations received prior to final payment will incur loss of initial non-refundable deposit (adults and children). This goes towards costs of making your preliminary reservations, itinerary design & administrative costs. You also confirm that in the case of no deposit being made for a confirmed tour and / or balance not paid before the tour commencement (for whatever reasons like the special arrangement could be credit card guarantee, etc.) that gets cancelled, the above will still apply and you would send us the cancellation charges on good trust or the credit card guarantee will be charged. Following cancellation schedule will apply depending upon Time period and Balance paid in full or not:

Final balance NOT PAID in full
Cancellation : 14 Days or Less before Tour Start date.
We will retain 100% Deposit paid by you in connection with the booking.

** Note: In some special circumstances, if cancellation is done within 15 days or more before the tour commencement date, then the initial non-refundable deposit can be applied towards new itinerary, however this is solely at the discretion of the Company and the third party suppliers.

If we change your trip: We start planning the trips we offer many months in advance. Occasionally, we have to make changes to itineraries, hotels and other details both before and after bookings have been confirmed. While we always endeavor to avoid changes and cancellations, we must reserve the right to do so. Hotels and flights can get over-booked or fail to provide contracted services for other reasons. We reserves the right to substitute equivalent grades of accommodations and switch travel itineraries around to respond to these situations, although for our Hotel reservations this is highly unusual and occurs less than 0.1% of the time. Weather related issues and technical problems do occur on occasion. However, we will only cancel your confirmed booking after balance due date where you have failed to comply with any requirement of these booking conditions entitling us to cancel (such as paying on time) or where we are forced to do so as a result of “force majeure” as defined herein. We will not cancel after this date for any other reason. We will do our best to keep to the itinerary you choose. If circumstances beyond our control force us to deviate from the original plans, we will provide you with a choice between comparable values and a refund of the relevant fees.

Surcharges: We reserve the right to impose surcharges up to 45 days before departure due to unfavorable changes in exchange rates, increases in airfares or other transportation costs, increases in local operator costs, taxes, tariffs or if government action should require us to do so. We give you opportunity to choose one of the following options:
1. Once we have received your deposit you would be given the opportunity to pay in full to avoid a price increase (should it occur).
2. If any surcharge results in an increase of less than 10%, we will be responsible for the increase in any amount up to 2% of the tour price and you will be responsible for the balance.
3. If any surcharge results in an increase of more than 10% of the trip price you may cancel the booking within 14 days of notification of the surcharge and obtain a full refund. Please note that a surcharge may be applied to all purchases made by credit card.

Force majeure: We cannot accept liability or pay any compensation where the performance or prompt performance of our contractual obligations is prevented or affected, or you otherwise suffer any loss, injury, death, inconvenience or damage as a result of circumstances amounting to “force majeure”. “Force majeure” means any event or circumstances which we or the supplier of the services in question could not foresee or avoid. Such events and circumstances may include, acts of God, actual or threatened, war, insurrection, riots, strikes, civil action, decisions by governments or governing authority, technical or maintenance problems with transport, changes of schedules or operational decisions of air carriers, terrorist activity or the threat thereof, industrial action, natural or nuclear activity, epidemics/pandemics or the threat thereof, adverse weather conditions, fire and all similar events outside our control. Under such conditions we always try to advice on the best route possible and we even consult you. It is to be noted that though we try our best, we do not commit any refunds whatsoever for unutilized services due to unforeseeable reasons like this. Yes, we do try our best in these cases and most of the cases. We will try our best to adjust the pre-paid part being changed with the new part but again we do not commit the same since most of the services will be pre-paid for to the suppliers like the hotels, transporter, guide, etc. and it is at the sole discretion of the suppliers. If we have not already paid for the services to the suppliers, than we do adjust the same too, but in lot of these circumstances, this becomes impossible – so please bear with us.

No Show: If Tour is cancelled within less than 7 days of tour start date, a cancellation is considered a “no show”. Any guest that is not at their chosen starting point (airport, hotel or similar location) at the scheduled time, is considered a “no show“. No Show’s, as defined above, do not qualify for any refunds, for any part of their tour, except at the sole discretion of 10thGate, LLC.

Refunds: The Company shall disburse any applicable refund amount within thirty (30) days of the receipt of the request/instruction to cancel or change the tour as per the above cancellation terms. All payments for transportation, or travel service, not provided to the passenger shall be promptly refunded, in accordance with the agreed-to terms and conditions, unless the passenger otherwise instructs the Company in writing. In the unlikely event that we are unable to provide the tour package, we will process the refund of all your payments within three days from the day that we become aware of this inability. In the event of cancellation due to unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control (such as a natural disaster), Company will refund all your money within 30 days of cancellation, after adjusting for any unrecoverable payments already tendered to our suppliers, of which we will provide you with concrete evidence. However, during our past years of operations, we have never had to take such a step. All refunds are made using the same channel used for all receipts and under no circumstances a request will be entertained to use a different mode. This is to safeguard you and all financial institutions.

(xxvii) Complaints & Concerns: If you have a complaint during your trip please inform your tour director or our local representative at the time in order that they can attempt to rectify the matter. If satisfaction is not reached through these means then any further complaint should be put in writing to us within 30 days of the end of the tour. If a dispute arises between you and company, our goal is to resolve such dispute quickly and cost effectively. Before resorting to any other alternatives, you agree to first contact us directly to seek a resolution by going to customer service.

(xxviii) Privacy Policy: We will not share your personal information with any outside person or agency, except for the purpose of (1) making various reservations associated with your tour (2) processing your payments through the Banks and Credit Card transaction institutions (all located in the United States) that we deal with. From time to time, we may send you information on our specials. You will always have the option to stop that whenever you choose. We will otherwise treat your details in accordance with our privacy policy (available for viewing on our Website).

Limitation of Liability, Assumption of Risk & Release of Liability, Binding Arbitration Agreement, Statement of Agreement and Other Legal Considerations Limitation of Liability

All trips and tours sold by us are subject to these conditions and the other general information in this booklet, brochures and custom itineraries. 10thGate LLC, its employees, shareholder, officers, owners, directors, successors, agents and assigns, (collectively “10thGate”), doesn’t own or operate any entity which is to or does provide goods or services for your trip. It purchases transportation (by aircraft, coach, train, vessel or otherwise), hotel and other lodging accommodations, restaurant, ground handling and other services from various independent suppliers (including from time to time other 10thGate affiliated companies). All such persons and entities are independent contractors. As a result 10thGate is not liable for any negligent, omissions or willful act of any such person or entity or of any third person. 10thGate and its operators and agents neither assumes nor bears any responsibility or liability for injury, damage, financial or physical loss, accident, death, delay or damage to personal property in connection with the provision of any goods or services whether resulting from but not limited to act of God or force majeure, illness, disease, inconvenience, irregularity or additional costs resulting directly or indirectly from any of the following causes: weather, quarantines, acts of war, civil disturbances, theft, government regulations, insurrection or revolt, animals, strikes or other labor activities, criminal or terrorist activities of any kind, overbooking or downgrading of services, food poisoning, mechanical or other failure of aircraft or other means of transportation or failure of any transportation mechanism to arrive or depart on time. All such losses must be borne by the traveler, and tour rates provide for arrangements only for the time stated. 10thGate reserves the right to change any itinerary at any time when it is deemed advisory for the safety of the guest or the group or to comply with government restrictions.

Assumption of Risk & Release of Liability

Assumption of Risks: There are certain inherent risks in the travel of the type involved here, which can lead to inconvenience, illness, injury or even death. These include, but are not limited to, hiking, walking safaris, climbing injuries, altitude sickness, and in all trips with dangers of animals, insects or flora and forces of nature. These risks are increased by the fact that these trips take place in remote locations, far from medical facilities leading to inaccessibility to medical attention and difficulty in evacuation from these remote locations in the case of a medical emergency. Infrastructure and other conditions in South Asia are not as advanced as the United States. Facilities for the handicapped are grossly inadequate, except for in a few select areas. Weather conditions may be severe, adverse and/or unpleasant. You will be visiting places where the political, cultural and geographical attributes present dangers and physical challenges greater than those present in our daily lives. In order to partake the enjoyment and excitement of this adventure travel trip, you acknowledge you have read the description of the trip as it appears in the current 10thGate brochure, website, any supplements and itineraries relating to the trip, together with all information contained in this document and you acknowledge that you assume all such risks with regard to these possibilities.

Travel Advisories/Warnings and your responsibility: We use information from government foreign departments and reports from our own contacts in assessing whether the itinerary should operate. It is the responsibility of the traveler to become informed about the most current travel information, advisories and warnings by referring both to the U. S. State Department’s travel website at www.travel.state.gov/ or by phone at 1-888-407- 4747 and by accessing the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website at https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices. Citizens of other countries should check with the relevant embassy and state travel websites in their own country. In the event of an active State Department Travel Warning against travel to a specific location on your itinerary, 10thGate will reroute your trip to avoid that specific locale. If it cannot do so and if the traveler still chooses to travel to the locale of a warning, the traveler assumes all risk of personal injury, death or property damage that may arise out of or which relates to the type of events warned against.

Voluntary Participation: By booking the tour with 10thGate, you acknowledge that you have voluntarily applied to participate on the trip (or a trip which you may change to), with the knowledge of the risks, hazards and uncertainty involved in travelling to these designated destinations in the itinerary. You also accept the responsibility for your own welfare and waive future claims against 10thGate for liability to the maximum extent permitted by law. You understand that 10thGate contracts with a network of operators in other countries through affiliate tour operators. These third party service providers are deemed qualified and experienced to the best of company’s (10thGate) knowledge. You are also aware that additional waivers may be required by local tour providers in order to participate in certain activities during your trip.

Release of liability: Besides looking after your comfort and enjoyment, we do our best to ensure that you travel, explore, and reside in a safe and risk free environment. However, 10thGate, is not responsible, in any sense of the term, for the safety, health, and/or condition, of any guests person, their wards, or their property. You, and each party traveling in your tour expressly acknowledge that you are cognizant of all risks of travel and arrangements for trips of this nature and fully disclaim, waive and discharge 10thGate (including its management and employees) from any and all liability, claims. damages, loss, or responsibilities (including damage to or loss of your property, or your injury or death) with regard to the proposed tour and/or visit, and arrangements made with respect there to, even if caused by the negligence of any airlines, transportation companies, hotels, restaurants, or any other party providing services or accommodations included in the tour/visit. 10thGate, will similarly not be liable for any claims, losses, damages for delayed or lost baggage or other property, or any loss of intangibles such as pleasure, or feelings of disappointment, distress, or frustration, whether mental or physical, which may have resulted from any act or omission of any other t