Terms & Conditions

Updated: January 9th, 2023.

Terms & Conditions may be updated or revised without notice at the discretion of Butterfield & Robinson. Current Terms & Conditions are always available on our website.

The terms “Butterfield & Robinson”, “B&R,” “we” and “our” in this document refer to Butterfield & Robinson Inc. and its related and affiliated companies, including their employees, guides, contractors, shareholders, officers, directors and agents. Butterfield & Robinson Inc. is an Ontario corporation, and a tour operator registered under the Travel Industry Act of Ontario (registration nos. 01321983/01322989), which offers and operates all the trips listed herein. All trips are offered subject to B&R’s standard terms and conditions, which are found on your issued statement of account, on our website here and by request. Please review the terms and conditions carefully prior to completing your reservation. Some of these terms and conditions are set out below to draw your attention to the fact that our obligations to you are limited. Should you have any questions or concerns please contact your Travel Advisor.

PRICES, RESERVATIONS AND PAYMENT: SMALL GROUP SCHEDULED DEPARTURES

To reserve your Small Group Scheduled B&R trip, we require a deposit of US$1,000 per person. The balance of your payment is due 95 days prior to departure. If reserving your trip within 95 days of departure, full payment is required. To complete your reservation, you must sign a Traveller Information Form and an Acknowledgement of Risk, Release and Indemnity, prior to your date of travel with us. These will be sent to you in your booking confirmation email. These forms include additional terms and conditions of travel, including limitations of our obligations to you.

Please note, some trips have special cancellation terms and conditions different to what is outlined here. Refer to your Statement of Account, where you will find the terms and conditions specific to your trip at the time of booking. Please call with any questions or concerns.

PRICES, RESERVATIONS AND PAYMENT: PRIVATE DEPARTURES

To reserve your Private trip, we require a deposit of US$1,500 per person. The balance of your payment is due 95 days prior to departure. If reserving your trip within 95 days of departure, full payment is required. To complete your reservation, you must sign a Traveller Information Form and an Acknowledgement of Risk, Release and Indemnity, prior to your date of travel with us. These will be sent to you in your booking confirmation email. These forms include additional terms and conditions of travel, including limitations of our obligations to you.

ELIGIBILITY

We require that travellers be at least 18 years of age (at time of travel) on all Small Group trips, with the exception of ‘Family’ trips, where age limitations may apply, and travellers under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult. There are no general age limitations on private trips although specific itineraries may have age-specific activities, and all minors must be accompanied by an adult.

PREPARING FOR YOUR TRIP

Our trips entail risks—and rewards—beyond those encountered at home. We count on our travellers to ensure they are healthy and fit; to read our pre-trip materials about clothing, training and medical requirements; and to appreciate that in some countries local living standards, practices, services and accommodations may differ from those to which you are accustomed.

TRAVEL DOCUMENTS

Travel documents, which may include, but are not limited to, visas, passports, proof of vaccination, proof of COVID-19 testing, proof of medical insurance, and any other government-mandated documentation required by countries to which we travel may vary according to the nationality of each traveller and may change at any time for reasons beyond our control. Although we endeavour to provide you with accurate information about these requirements it remains your responsibility to verify that you have the appropriate travel documents related to this trip for your nationality. B&R is not liable for any expenses or costs arising from any traveller being prohibited from entering a country scheduled to be visited on a trip.

EXTERNAL TRAVEL SERVICES

B&R may recommend the services of external travel companies or other support services in response to requests made by travellers for services outside of the scope of a B&R trip. Although we endeavour to recommend only companies that provide the highest levels of service and work closely with them to try to obtain special treatment for B&R travellers, we do not guarantee the services provided by third parties. B&R is not liable for any injury, expenses, costs or cancellation penalties arising from any services, or lack thereof, provided by any third party nor the standards of care which travellers experience when using those services.

HEALTH

By sending a deposit toward your trip purchase and completing your Traveller Information Form, you certify that you do not have any physical or mental condition or disability that would create a hazard for you or other travellers and that you have received all appropriate or necessary vaccinations as required by your country(ies) of destination. Please consult your doctor.

We reserve the right to modify any trip and its associated activities, including where modifications are necessary or advisable (as determined by us) i) to accommodate any physical, mental or emotional limitation, condition, limitation or ability of which you have advised us; or ii) due to health and safety concerns arising from local conditions including those related to the COVID-19 global pandemic. You acknowledge that should you choose not to advise us of any physical, mental or emotional condition, limitation or ability, or vaccination status, we may not be able to fully accommodate you on all aspects and features of a trip.

Each traveller shall be responsible for carrying and providing to local authorities and service providers proof of vaccination, proof of COVID-19 testing, proof of medical insurance and all other government-mandated forms as required by local authorities in the country(ies) of destination. It is your responsibility to be aware of and to comply with all such requirements and laws. The rules change quickly and often – continue to inform yourself right up to and during your trip. For details of B&R’s requirements, please visit: https://butterfield.com/health-and-safety

INSURANCE

Before travelling on a trip, we strongly recommend you review your personal insurance and health insurance to ensure you have coverage appropriate to meet your needs, and the needs of your family and dependants, in case of any loss of property or illness, injury or death.

RISKS

All B&R trips are intentionally designed to take clients “off the beaten path” to places where facilities, infrastructure, safety and other standards may not be sophisticated and may be different from those in a traveller’s home country. Trips involve physical activity that can be demanding, depending on the condition of the traveller, and the risk of serious personal injury, including permanent disability and death from accident, illness or the actions or negligence of other persons. Medical facilities and services may not be easily accessible and may not be sophisticated.

Risks related to travel also include the likely presence of the virus that causes COVID-19, including variants (collectively “COVID-19”). Rates of COVID-19 infection may be higher, and rates of vaccination may be lower at the locations of your Trip than in your home state or country, and that the sophistication and availability of therapies, medical practitioners and hospital beds for treatment of COVID-19 may be significantly impaired. Laws, regulations, customs and policies related to COVID-19 in the destinations and premises where you will travel on Trip (“Local Regulations”) may be different than in your home country.

There are other risks associated with B&R trips, such as theft or loss of or damage to property. Some of the services provided in connection with the trip, including lodging, transportation, food service, and local tours and activities, are obtained from independent suppliers over whom Butterfield & Robinson has no control.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY, RELEASE AND INDEMNITY

When pricing each B&R trip, we strictly and expressly rely on each traveller to read, execute and submit our standard Acknowledgement of Risk, Release and Indemnity form.

This document will be sent to you after you have paid your initial deposit. The document must be read, executed and returned to us at least 30 days prior to the trip’s departure. Our receipt of the completed and signed form will complete your reservation.

CANCELLING/SWITCHING TRIPS: SMALL GROUP SCHEDULED DEPARTURES

If you have to cancel your Small Group Scheduled B&R trip, you are entitled to the return of these amounts†, which are also reflected on your statement of account, and are based per person:

Cancellation by Traveller:

Your deposit is fully refundable within seven (7) days of booking, up to the date of final payment.

· 270+ days prior to departure: 100% Refund of deposit

· 269-96 days prior to departure: $500 per person cancellation fee or 100% kept on file as a credit**

· 95-61 days prior to departure: 75% Refund of full trip cost

· 60-31 days prior to departure: 50% Refund of full trip cost

· 30-0 days prior to departure: 0% Refund of full trip cost / 100% cancellation fee

**This credit is valid for 3 years. Travel must be completed within 3 years of the date of issue.

† Please note, some trips have special cancellation terms and conditions different to what is outlined here. Please refer to your Statement of Account, where you will find the terms and conditions specific to your trip at the time of booking. Please call with any questions or concerns.

CANCELLATION BY B&R: SMALL GROUP SCHEDULED DEPARTURES

B&R reserves the right to cancel any scheduled trip at any time for any reason determined in our sole discretion. We have also introduced a special cancellation policy specifically related to COVID-19 described below.

Force Majeure Excluding COVID-19

In the event B&R determines to cancel a scheduled trip for reasons of force majeure (subject to the COVID-19 policy described below, but including acts of war, terrorism, civil unrest, quarantine, curfew, natural disaster, pandemic, epidemic and other causes outside of B&R’s control), or if the quality of the trip or the safety of the travellers is judged by B&R to be compromised by factors external to B&R. In such a case, B&R will endeavour to refund payments received by B&R We ask that our valued clients recognize that there are expenses, including unrecoverable third-party deposits, that B&R cannot recoup as the planned date of a trip approaches and as a result, a refund is not always possible. However, we will make every effort to recover, for the benefit of our travellers, as many of those expenses as we are able.

COVID-19 and Other Reasons for Cancellation

In the event B&R determines to cancel a scheduled trip due to restrictions imposed owing to the global pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus or its variants, or for internal reasons within the control of B&R, unless otherwise provided in the affected travellers’ Statement of Account†, payments received from travellers for the cancelled trip will be returned to affected travellers in accordance with the following:

· 66+ days prior to departure: 100% refund

· 65-31 days prior to departure: 50% refund of full trip cost and 50% kept on file as a credit**

· 30-0 days prior to departure: 100% of the trip cost kept on file as a credit**

**This credit is valid for 3 years. Travel must be completed within 3 years of the date of issue.

B&R’S DISCRETION TO RUN SMALL GROUP SCHEDULED DEPARTURES

B&R retains the sole discretion to run any scheduled trip notwithstanding the occurrence of any event or the existence of any condition in or near any place of travel included on a trip itinerary or in proximity to such a place or affecting travel, including air travel, in general. If B&R determines in good faith to run a trip, then with respect to that trip, any traveller cancelling a reservation shall be bound by the cancellation policies applicable to trips cancelled by the traveller in accordance with the provisions above.

CANCELLING TRIPS: PRIVATE DEPARTURES

If you have to cancel your Private B&R trip, you are entitled to the return of these amounts†, which are reflected on your statement of account, and based per person.

Any costs referred to as a Trip Development Fee or “TDF” are non-refundable.

Cancellation by Traveller:

· 270+ days prior to departure: 100% Refund of deposit

· 269-96 days prior to departure: $1,000 per person cancellation fee or full trip credit kept on file**

· 95-61 days prior to departure: 75% Refund of full trip cost

· 60-31 days prior to departure: 50% Refund of full trip cost

· 30-0 days prior to departure: 0% Refund of full trip cost / 100% cancellation fee

**This credit is valid for 3 years. Travel must be completed within 3 years of the date of issue.

† Please note, some trips have special cancellation terms and conditions different to what is outlined here. There may be non-refundable amounts associated with your cancellation which are above and beyond these terms. We will do our best to alert you to these at time of booking. Please refer to your statement of account, where you will find your trip’s specific terms and conditions. Please call with any questions or concerns.

B&R’S DISCRETION TO RUN PRIVATE DEPARTURES

B&R reserves the right to cancel any private trip at any time for any reason determined in our sole discretion, or if the quality of the trip or the safety of travellers is judged by B&R to be compromised. In such a case, B&R will endeavor to refund payments received by B&R. We ask that our valued clients recognize that there are expenses, including unrecoverable third-party deposits, that B&R cannot recoup as the planned date of a trip approaches and as a result, a refund is not always possible. However, we will make every effort to recover, for the benefit our travellers, as many of those expenses as we are able.

B&R retains the sole discretion to run any trip notwithstanding the occurrence of any event or the existence of any condition in or near any place of travel included on a trip itinerary or in proximity to such a place or affecting travel, including air travel, in general. If B&R determines in good faith to run a trip, then no refund under this paragraph shall be payable with respect to that trip and any traveller cancelling a reservation shall be bound by the cancellation policies identified in the preceding paragraphs.

CANCELLATION INSURANCE

We strongly recommend you purchase cancellation insurance to protect yourself from unexpected circumstances that may cause you to cancel your trip. We recommend Cavalry Elite cancellation insurance. A summary of the Cavalry Elite cancellation and medical insurance will be included with your confirmation package and can be found here or by request. The price of Cavalry Elite travel protection is determined by factors such as your state of residence, region of travel, trip price and age. Please reach out to your Travel Advisor for an exact quote.

In particular, the impact of COVID-19 on travel means that elements of your trip are beyond the control of Butterfield & Robinson – this may include border closures, government-mandated quarantines, etc. We will do our utmost to ensure your safety; however, B&R is not liable for any expenses, changes to the trip itinerary or medical emergencies. Any costs associated with cancellations or delays are your responsibility.

Trips within Canada are subject to the applicable federal value-added tax (GST or HST), some of which may be recoverable by some travellers.