Booking & cancellation terms
What you pay and when, what a change costs, and exactly what comes back to you if you cancel. Written plainly, with the numbers, because this is the page people are looking for at the moment they hesitate. The full terms of service are the legal document; if the two ever differ, that one governs.
Paying for the trip
- Deposit20% of the trip price, or $500 per traveller, whichever is greater. It confirms the booking and is non-refundable. A few trips need a higher deposit because the suppliers do — Norwegian fjord cruises and Lapland, mainly — and your specialist tells you before you commit.
- BalanceDue 90 days before the first day of the trip; 95 days for trips that include a cruise. Special offers and promotions may require full payment at booking, which is stated in the offer.
- How to payCredit card (Visa, MasterCard) or Apple Pay, both with a convenience fee; bank wire; and for US customers, online check or Zelle. Details on the payment link.
- InstalmentsAvailable on request: tell us the amounts and dates at billing@firebirdtours.com and we set up a schedule with reminders. Families and groups can split the trip so each household pays its own share.
- Nothing booked without youNo deposit is taken, and nothing is reserved, until you and your specialist have both approved the itinerary.
Changing the trip
- Before final confirmationChange anything, as often as you like, at no charge. Each version comes back re-priced. Final confirmation is sent 30 days before departure.
- Within 30 days of departureChanges carry a $150 modification fee, because they mean rebooking with several partners at short notice. Timings on private tours may still be adjusted by us up to 14 days out, depending on the entrance slots museums release.
- Optional experiencesAdd-ons and activities booked on top of the itinerary become non-refundable 30 days before departure.
- Moving the whole tripIf you need to reschedule rather than cancel, we cancel the current arrangements, pay whatever the suppliers charge us, and apply the rest of what you've paid to the new dates. Where we can, non-refundable services are carried over too.
Cancelling the trip
Counted in days before the first day of the trip. Cancellation takes effect on the day we receive it in writing.
| You cancel | You get back | You lose |
|---|---|---|
| 90 days or more before | Everything except the deposit | The 20% deposit (or $500 per traveller, if that was greater) |
| 60 to 89 days before | 35% of the trip price | 65% |
| 31 to 59 days before | 20% of the trip price | 80% |
| 30 days or less before | Nothing | 100% |
Worked example, $10,000 trip.
Cancel 100 days out: $8,000 back. Cancel 75 days out: $3,500 back. Cancel 45 days out: $2,000 back. Cancel 20 days out: $0.
With the Refund Guarantee (below), cancelling at 100, 75 or 45 days out returns the full $10,000, less any card fees.
The step at 90 days is large, and it's there for a reason: that's when we pay the hotels, guides and rail carriers on your behalf, and most of that money can't be recovered. Two ways to protect yourself against it are below.
Refund Guarantee and insurance
- Refund GuaranteeAn optional programme, priced separately: cancel for any reason up to 45 days before departure and receive a full refund of the trip price, less merchant payment fees. The guarantee's own fee is non-refundable. Where it's available it's offered with your quote; you can also ask your specialist for it.
- Travel insuranceNot included, and strongly recommended for every trip. If you have to cancel inside 45 days, or leave a trip early because of illness, insurance is usually the only route to reimbursement. We can arrange Allianz cover on request and will help prepare the documents for a claim.
Services booked on their own
These apply only to services booked by themselves, outside a Firebird trip. Anything inside a trip follows the trip's terms above.
- HotelsFree cancellation up to 3 days before check-in; after that, one night's charge. A no-show counts as a cancellation.
- Day tours and transfers15 days or more before: 70% refund. 7 to 14 days: 50% refund. Under 7 days: no refund.
- Museum and theatre ticketsNon-refundable once issued.
- Rail ticketsSubject to the carrier's own fare rules, shown before you buy.
If something goes wrong on our side
- We cancel the tripIf we cancel or can't run a trip for reasons within our control, you get a full refund of everything paid, less only what suppliers won't return to us.
- Events beyond anyone's controlStrikes, weather, closures, civil events: we offer a rescheduled or substitute trip, or refund whatever we can recover from suppliers on your behalf.
- A transfer doesn't showTake a taxi, keep the receipt, and we reimburse it.
- A service wasn't delivered as promisedTell us within 30 days of the trip ending, in writing with supporting documents, and we investigate and refund where the service was missing or substandard. Refunds are based on the actual price of the service concerned.
Anything unclear?
Ask before you commit. A specialist will tell you exactly which terms apply to your trip, including any supplier-specific deposits.
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