Terms & Conditions | Southwind Adventures

2024 Terms & Conditions

Payment of your deposit indicates an understanding of and acceptance of the Terms & Conditions outlined here, in the Release of Liability and those described on each detailed itinerary.

Reservations and Payments

Submit Southwind Adventures (SWA) Trip Reservation eForm online. A $1,500-$6,000 per person per trip deposit is required to make a reservation for any trip according to trip length and destination among other factors. You can make your deposit and balance payment using the secure CardConnect payment link included on your invoice. Your space is not confirmed until we have received your Trip Reservation eForm. More information can be found by clicking “Book a Trip” at the top of our homepage.

Trip deposit and balance payment may be made by credit card (MasterCard, Visa, Discover and American Express), wire transfer, money order or check payable in US dollars to Southwind Adventures, Inc

The trip balance payment is due 120 days in advance of departure. The exact due date will be indicated on your SWA itinerary and trip invoice. Full payment is due at the time of booking for reservations made less than 120 days in advance. Airfare, if arranged by SWA’s air specialists, is paid at the time tickets are issued and subject to airline booking policies. All land costs and airfare are quoted per person in US dollars. If your balance is not received when due, SWA will treat your reservation as canceled and apply the appropriate cancellation fee(s).

Travel Agency bookings are welcome (agents, please visit the Travel Agents pages on the website and review our Sales Policies).

Extra Services

We will gladly arrange extra hotel accommodations pre or post-tour, add-on services and/or extensions in conjunction with any SWA custom trip. Requests must be submitted in writing to avoid any confusion or miscommunication, and all requests must be made at least 45 days prior to departure. Your invoice will be adjusted once services are confirmed. If you must cancel any part or all of your extra services once they have been reserved and confirmed, cancellation fees will be assessed according to our Cancellation Policies.

Pre-Trip Planning

Upon receipt of your completed Trip Reservation eForm and deposit, SWA emails you a booking acknowledgment, receipt and price quote for Travel Insurance. Once a departure is guaranteed to operate, each guest or family will be sent an invoice for the balance due along with a comprehensive Pre-Departure e-mail including: detailed packing list(s); medical and personal information forms; and a multi-page manual covering subjects such as travel documents, health matters and inoculations, money exchange, tipping, security, weather considerations, cross-cultural advice, and what to expect on the trip. Participants are invited to contact us anytime prior to departure for personal advice and assistance. SWA must have a signed and completed Trip Reservation Form on file before the Pre-Departure information will be sent.

Final Trip Documents

This information is typically sent via e-mail 1-2 weeks before a trip departs and generally includes: an Itinerary/Voucher (official document showing services pre-reserved and paid for in advance); in-country contact numbers; hotel addresses and phone numbers; and any pre-departure updates or last minute reminders that might be useful for the program. Final Trip Documents will be sent only to participants from whom SWA has received all forms and full payment.

Services Included

SWA custom trips are priced as complete land tour packages including: first-class or deluxe accommodations, professionally guided tours, exclusive insider visits, entrance fees, most meals, airport transfers and private vehicle transportation. SWA trips are priced as complete programs, itemized trip cost breakdown is not available, nor can we account for online prices for hotels and local services or negotiate accordingly. However, we can quote extra services like extension packages or hotel upgrades. Trips containing only partial services are not available.

Each custom itinerary specifies what is and what is not included in the land cost of your trip. SWA is not responsible for any expense not listed as included, any indicated as “optional” or “on your own,” or those arising from the delay or extension of a tour due to weather, political disputes, sickness, failure of public transportation, flight changes or cancellations, missed connections, or any other cause beyond our control. Under special circumstances, SWA reserves the right to substitute hotels of an equal category or similar price for those mentioned in the custom itinerary.

Group Sizing and Pricing

SWA recommends that your custom trip have 4-12 participants to maintain personalized experience, prices are based on services for each custom trip. Trips have a tiered pricing system for the land cost. A higher cost applies for small groups and lower cost for larger groups due to some fixed prices, such as ground transportation, making a trip more expensive to operate with fewer participants. Most trips can be operated with as few as 2 travelers, but expect a higher land cost to apply. Refunds or credits are not given for unused hotel accommodations, meals, tours, transfers or other services for any reason.

Trip Costs

The land cost shown on SWA itineraries are valid for a full calendar year (Jan 1–Dec 31) unless otherwise indicated and are quoted in US dollars. We may occasionally be faced with significant cost increases due to currency fluctuations, increased hotel rates, higher costs of services, holiday travel, and/or other factors over which we have no control. Faced with this situation we will do everything reasonable to avoid raising prices but give notice that it is sometimes unavoidable even after a deposit is paid.

Invoicing

SWA provides an invoice with a payment link once all trip services are confirmed. The invoice is based on the group size reserved, if you add more travelers to your party to achieve a lower price tier, you will receive a revised invoice or a refund for the price difference if your balance is already paid. Refunds are issued in the same manner in which the balance payment was made.

Single Supplement

Trips are priced based on shared occupancy for hotels, lodges, cruise cabins and tents. Single accommodations can often be arranged for an extra cost according to room availability and/or camping space. If you request single accommodations, the single supplement is payable with space allotted on a first-received basis. Prior to travel, if you add participants to your party and share all accommodations, the single supplement fee will be refunded in the same manner it was paid. In order to best accommodate your rooming preference, we suggest you reserve your trip at least 4-6 months in advance.

Personal Equipment

It is each guest’s responsibility to be adequately outfitted for the tour they select. SWA provides you with a recommended packing list and advice for what to bring.

Smoking Policy

For the safety and comfort of all SWA guests and staff, smoking is not permitted in buses or cars, in cabins on yachts or cruise ships, at most hotels or lodges, nor is smoking allowed inside tents while camping. Additionally, by park regulation there is no smoking allowed on the Galápagos Islands plus we follow each destination or venue regulations in regards to smoking. Stops will be made on overland segments during which smoking will be allowed outside of the vehicle and at open spaces such as patios, decks or gardens at restaurants that may allow smoking.

Medical/Health Considerations

You must be in good health to take part in any SWA trip. International adventure travel involves outdoor and/or cultural experiences that may be physically and/or emotionally demanding. Tours may take place in areas where medical facilities are not easily reachable or may be nonexistent and where emergency evacuation can be prolonged, difficult, expensive, or not available at all. Every trip is rated according to the difficulty of the activities, the distances and the elevations that will be reached. Furthermore, to ensure your safety and enjoyment while traveling with SWA, appropriate conditioning suggestions are outlined in the Pre-Departure Manual for your trip.

For all trips that include hiking or camping, a basic first-aid kit will be carried by the local guide. However, Southwind assumes no liability regarding the contents of this kit, or with the provision of first-aid by the guides or staff, or with any medical care provided by local physicians, hospitals or emergency care facilities. Trip members are required to have a sufficient supply of personal medications and a suggested Personal Medical Kit list is included in the Pre-Departure Manual. All guests are encouraged to see a physician prior to their trip and seek advice regarding recommended medications, inoculations and/or precautions to take prior to departure. SWA is not a medical facility, nor are our personnel medical professionals. Therefore, we have no responsibility regarding what medications or inoculations are necessary for your safe participation in the trip you have chosen.

Medical Profile

Each trip member, couple or family must complete, sign and send to our office, at least 45 days prior to your departure, SWA’s Medical & Traveler Profile if participating on a Trip rated Grade III or IV. The Medical Profile can be reviewed prior to placing a deposit on a trip.

Canceled Trips

SWA reserves the right to cancel any trip, at any time, for any reason. In the event the number of participants falls below our recommended minimum, group members will be given alternatives that may include: operating the trip with fewer participants at a higher price; the chance to transfer to a different trip with minimum penalty; or the option to receive a partial refund of monies paid to our office. The refund of payments received is the extent of our liability in this case, and refunds will be made in the same form as your payments.

Should logistical problems, political or health circumstances, natural disasters and/or other events and situations occur that may impede the normal operation of a tour, SWA, at its discretion, may offer an alternative trip in a different region or country or cancel the departure. In the case a tour is canceled for reasons stated above, SWA does not guarantee recovery of any or all of the advance payments made to Latin America, and we highly recommend that all guests take out travel insurance to provide reimbursement in such cases.

Cancellations/Refunds

If you must cancel your participation on a trip or a portion of it, for any reason, payments made to SWA will be returned, less a cancellation fee computed per person according to the schedule below based on the date our office receives written notification of your cancellation.

Minimum fee: $800
150-121 days prior to departure: $1500
120-91 days prior to departure: 50% of the LC
90 days or no-show: 100% of the LC

Specific cancellation fees that apply to each custom designed trip are indicated on each itinerary, if different, these replace the fees described above.

LC=Total Land Cost per person including extensions and extra services as shown on your invoice, excluding discounts.

Cancellation fees apply to the entire trip cost as well as airfare if included in the SWA invoice. If airline tickets are purchased through SWA’s air specialist, we will assist in making claims with the airlines for whatever refund is allowable under the terms of the fare purchased but we cannot guarantee any refund and are not liable for airline ticket refunds. The issuance of airline tickets represents an immediate transfer of funds from you or our air specialist to the carrier, and refunds are paid by the airline, not SWA.

In the event that your participation on a SWA trip is canceled for any reason including personal choice, SWA is not responsible for any expenses you may have incurred in preparing for the trip such as non-refundable airline tickets, visa or passport fees, insurance premiums, equipment, clothing or gear costs, inoculations or doctor’s fees, etc., nor is SWA responsible for the costs of additional individual arrangements should you have embarked prior to the SWA trip departure.

Southwind cannot reimburse or compensate for any unused services, tours, extensions or accommodations missed during your trip for any reason including: personal choice, illness, bad weather, delayed flights or any other factor beyond our control. We recommend travel insurance to help protect your tour investment.

Substitutions

On occasion a trip participant canceling may have a friend or family member willing to take their place. Substitutions of this nature are allowed up to 91 days prior to departure. The canceling participant must pay the minimum fee as indicated under Cancellations/Refunds or as listed in your custom itinerary. Any remaining monies received by SWA will be refunded upon receipt of payment and the required documentation from the substituting participant. At 90 days or less, the person canceling faces the full cancellation fee as indicated above. No substitutions are allowed 21 days or less before departure.

Travel Insurance

We strongly recommend that all trip participants take out Travel Insurance.

Airline Reservations

SWA trips DO NOT INCLUDE INTERNATIONAL OR IN-COUNTRY FLIGHTS WITHIN LATIN AMERICA (unless indicated otherwise in the custom itinerary). Participants may purchase international and in-country air directly from the airlines, an online ticketing service or other ticketing agency. SWA will provide participants with recommended arrival/departure dates and times. Participants redeeming frequent flyer or award certificates must book directly with the airline. SWA can recommend a Latin America air specialist to assist with all your air arrangements. It is the participant’s responsibility to make sure all international and in-country flights coincide with the trip itinerary. Please notify our office as soon as possible if you choose to arrive or depart apart from the scheduled itinerary. Once you have your flights confirmed, please send us your air confirmation including your airline record locator/confirmation number, no later than 45 days before departure. SWA cannot be held responsible for the actions of an independent ticketing agency or the airlines.

Limitations of Liability

Southwind Adventures, Inc (SWA) is a Colorado corporation in the USA that acts only as an agent for participants to purchase transportation, hotel accommodations, meals, tours, guides and other services in connection with its itineraries from independent suppliers and contractors who are not owned by or under the control of SWA. Participants expressly agree that SWA shall not be liable for death, personal injury or any other loss that may occur (1) due to any act or omission of any such supplier, (2) by reason of any other event over which it has no control. Each passenger conveyance, tour company, hotel, restaurant, etc. is subject to the laws of the country in which the service is rendered.

Additionally, SWA shall not be liable for: a) expenses such as hotel accommodations or additional meals not specified in the itinerary which may be required due to the participant’s travel arrangements, airline schedule changes, canceled flights, missed flight connections, or by other factors not under SWA’s control; or b) expenses incurred in recuperating luggage lost by the airlines, excess luggage fees, flight changes or delays, belongings left behind on a trip, or in shipping purchases or other goods home from abroad. Southwind Adventures reserves the right to make reasonable changes to the custom itinerary or activities when deemed advisable for the comfort and/or well-being of the tour group.