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Travel Policy

SPECIAL INTEREST TOURS TERMS & CONDITIONS

CANCELLATION REFUND POLICY

If a guest cancels their tour, for any reason, then the following refund policies shall apply (as applicable):

(i) Tour deposits are fully refundable (minus a $25 per person service fee) until 6 months prior to the tour start date.

(ii) Within 6 months but prior to the date in which full payment is due, the tour deposit is 50% refundable (minus a $25 per person service fee).

(iii) All tour payments become non-refundable after the date in which full payment use due.

*Please note that deposits for Solar Eclipse Tours are fully refundable (minus a $25 per person service fee) until 1 year prior to the tour start date. After such time the deposits are non-refundable.

We strongly recommend that all guests procure a trip protection plan or some form of travel insurance.

Cancellation By Special Interest Tours

(i) If Special Interest Tours cancels the tour due to a Force Majeure Event (as defined below) prior to the tour start date, then guests will receive a full refund of payments made by guest prior to the date of cancellation minus any non-returnable amounts retained by third party vendors, including, but not limited to, hotels, transportation companies, food suppliers, or any other third party as a result of the cancellation.

(ii) If Special Interest Tours cancels the tour due to a Force Majeure Event after the commencement of the tour, then guests shall not be entitled to a refund of any kind.

(iii) If Special Interest Tours cancels a tour due to low enrollment, which shall be determined in Special Interest Tours’ sole discretion, then guests will receive a full refund of payments made prior to the date of cancellation.

LIABILITY; FORCE MAJEURE; PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS

Special Interest Tours and sponsoring organizations act only as an independent contractor for the suppliers of transportation, accommodations, food and other goods and services provided to our tour guests. All arrangements to transport and accommodate other services are made upon the express condition that Special Interest Tours and its agents shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential or incidental damage, injury, or loss to person or property, accident, delay or irregularity of any kind occasioned by reason of any act or omission beyond our control, including without limitation, any act or negligence or breach of contract of any third party, such as an airline, cruise line, train, hotel, restaurant, ground handler, etc., who is to or does supply any goods or services to the tour.

Without limiting the foregoing, Special Interest Tours and its agents are not responsible for any loss or expenses due to delay or change in schedule, overbooking and/or other default of any third parties, sickness, weather, strikes, acts of nature, acts of terrorism, war, theft, criminal activity, fire, flood, epidemic, pandemic, global health crisis, earthquake, explosion, accident, act of government, including governmental order,  regulation or order of any court of competent jurisdiction, labor dispute, riot, civil disturbance, failure of common carriers, failure of technical and/or communications systems, or other acts beyond the control of Special Interest Tours (each a “Force Majeure Event”).

Special Interest Tours reserves the right to change the itinerary of its tours without prior notice, upon extenuating circumstances.

Special Interest tours shall have the perpetual, worldwide right to use guests’ likeness(es), whether contained in, photos, videos, or otherwise, in and in connection with a tour and promotional materials relating Special Interest Tours on Special Interest Tour’s website and social media platforms e.g.: Facebook, Instagram, Canva, and Twitter galleries etc.

ASSUMPTION OF RISK AND RELEASE

Guests hereby acknowledge that guests have voluntarily and knowingly decided to participate in the tour with full knowledge, appreciation and understanding of the personal risks involved.  As used herein “Released Parties” shall be deemed to include Special Interest Tours and its affiliates, licensees, assigns, parents, subsidiaries, successors, employees, agents, officer, directors, shareholders, members, and representatives, and any and all other individuals and/or entities involved in the tour (including, without limitation, any other vendors). To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, guests hereby agree to accept any and all risks attributable to guests’ participation in the tour, including but not limited to, the following risks, and such risks shall be included within the scope of the Released Claims as set forth below.

Guests acknowledge and agree that the tour may involve activities that are or may become hazardous and dangerous and that may expose guests to risks of physical, emotional, and mental stress or injury whether or not guests participate in the activities.  Guests understand and acknowledge that while conduct giving rise to such situations and activities might otherwise constitute an actionable tort, guests understand that guests’ participation in any such activities, guests’ presence when they are occurring (whether or not guests are participating in them), and any of the locations themselves, may carry with them the risk of death, serious physical injury, extreme emotional distress, severe physical, mental and emotional stress, mental and physical illness, non-consensual physical contact and loss of property.  In particular, guests are aware of potential exposure to, and transmission to others of, the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) and/or any other viruses and/or like matters and guests assume any and all risks in connection therewith. Special Interest Tours shall have the right to require each guest to be fully vaccinated (i.e. 14 days have lapsed since the guest has received the second dose of the applicable COVID-19 vaccine [or first does in the case of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine]) prior to the start date of a tour. Additionally, guests acknowledge that Special Interest Tours shall have the right to require guests to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test prior to the tour start date. Unless otherwise authorized by Special Interest Tours in writing, each guest must provide proof, in a manner acceptable to Special Interest Tours, that they received a negative COVID-19 PCR test result within 3-5 days prior to the tour start date. After guests receive their COVID-19 PCR test and prior to the tour start date, each guest agrees to self-isolate and take reasonable measures to prevent contracting and/or transmitting COVID-19.  Guests shall follow all of Special Interest Tours’ directions and instructions in connection with the COVID-19 protocols, including but not limited to social distancing and wearing personal protective equipment. If a guest is taking two or more tours consecutively, then the guest agrees to follow all safety protocols, and Special Interest Tours reserves the right to require such guest receive a rapid COVID-19 test between the applicable tours.

Guests understand the risks of participating in such activities, and guests acknowledge that while conduct that gives rise to such situations might otherwise constitute an actionable tort or give rise to other claims or causes of action, guests have freely consented to such conduct and has assumed the risks thereof.

Guests hereby grant the following indemnities, waivers and releases to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law: Guests acknowledge and understand that it is of the essence to these terns, and guests hereby agree on behalf of himself/herself, guests’ heirs, next of kin, spouse, guardians, legal representatives, employees, executors, administrators, agents, successors and assigns (collectively, the “Releasing Parties”), that guests and the other Releasing Parties do hereby unconditionally and irrevocably release and forever discharge the Released Parties from and against any and all claims, demands, liens, agreements, contracts, actions, suits, costs, attorneys’ fees, damages, judgments, orders and liabilities of whatever kind or nature in law, equity or otherwise, whether now known or unknown, suspected or unsuspected, and whether or not concealed or hidden (collectively, the “Released Claims”) in any way directly or indirectly related to or arising directly or indirectly out of the tour, including, without limitation, guests’ participation in the tour, except to the extent a Released Claim arises from the gross negligence or intentional misconduct of Special Interest Tours. The Released Claims will include, but not be limited to, those based on negligence of any of the Released Parties, libel, slander, defamation, personal injury, invasion of privacy, false light, right of publicity or personality, misappropriation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, violation of trademark rights and infringement of copyright, except to the extent arising from the gross negligence or willful misconduct of Special Interest Tours. Guests and the other respective Releasing Parties hereby unconditionally and irrevocably agree that neither guests nor the other Releasing Parties will sue or make any claim against any of the Released Parties with respect to the Released Claims.

WHAT WE COLLECT

This privacy policy sets out how this website (hereafter “the Store”) uses and protects any information that you give the Store while using this website. The Store is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement. The Store may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes.

We may collect the following information:

  • name
  • contact information including email address
  • demographic information such as postcode, preferences and interests
  • other information relevant to customer surveys and/or offers

For the exhaustive list of cookies we collect see the List of cookies we collect section.

WHAT WE DO WITH THE INFORMATION WE GATHER

We require this information to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, and in particular for the following reasons:

Internal record
We may use the information to improve our products and
We may periodically send promotional emails about new products, special offers or other information which we think you may find interesting using the email address which you have
From time to time, we may also use your information to contact you for market research purposes. We may contact you by email, phone, fax or We may use the information to customise the website according to your interests.

SECURITY

We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.

HOW WE USE COOKIES

A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.

We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about web page traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.

Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us. You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.

LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES

Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.

CONTROLLING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways:

  • whenever you are asked to fill in a form on the website, look for the box that you can click to indicate that you do not want the information to be used by anybody for direct marketing purposes
  • if you have previously agreed to us using your personal information for direct marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time by letting us know using our Contact Us information

We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so. We may use your personal information to send you promotional information about third parties which we think you may find interesting if you tell us that you wish this to happen.

You may request details of personal information which we hold about you under the Data Protection Act 1998. A small fee will be payable. If you would like a copy of the information held on you please email us this request using our Contact Us information.

If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please write to or email us as soon as possible, at the above address. We will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.

LIST OF COOKIES WE COLLECT

The table below lists the cookies we collect and what information they store.

Cookie Name

Cookie Description

FORM_KEY                                                      Stores randomly generated key used to prevent forged requests.

PHPSESSID                                                     Your session ID on the server.

GUEST-VIEW                                                   Allows guests to view and edit their orders.

PERSISTENT_SHOPPING_CART                    A link to information about your cart and viewing history, if you have asked for this.

STF                                                                  Information on products you have emailed to friends.

STORE                                                             The store view or language you have selected.

USER_ALLOWED_SAVE_COOKIE                  Indicates whether a customer allowed to use cookies

MAGE-CACHE-SESSID                                    Facilitates caching of content on the browser to make pages load faster.

MAGE-CACHE-STORAGE                                Facilitates caching of content on the browser to make pages load faster.

MAGE-CACHE-STORAGE-SECTION-INVAL IDATION

Facilitates caching of content on the browser to make pages load faster
MAGE-CACHE-TIMEOUT                                  Facilitates caching of content on the browser to make pages load faster.

SECTION-DATA-IDS                                         Facilitates caching of content on the browser to make pages load faster.

PRIVATE_CONTENT_VERSION                       Facilitates caching of content on the browser to make pages load faster.

X-MAGENTO-VARY                                          Facilitates caching of content on the server to make pages load faster.

MAGE-TRANSLATION-FILE-VERSION             Facilitates translation of content to other languages.

MAGE-TRANSLATION-STORAGE                    Facilitates translation of content to other languages.

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