<< TERMS & CONDITIONS
PAYMENT, CANCELLATION & REFUND POLICIES
For your protection, we strongly recommend that you purchase trip cancellation insurance that includes medical emergency. This is important in case you need to cancel your trip before or after the departure date.
All tour fees must be paid in U.S. dollars, including your deposit at the time of registration. A price posted or announced in this website for a specific tour will never be increased. This means that you will not be billed for charges other than the balance due. This includes surcharges due to unexpected tariffs and exchange rate variations after your registration. In this way, we can help make your tour financial plans stable and predictable. The invoice for your balance payment will be sent by email. The due date for the tour is 120 days (earlier and at our discretion in multi-islands, private, and other tours) before the tour departure day. As your airline tickets, trip insurance, and other necessary payments on your side are usually non-refundable, please wait to finalize your purchases until you receive our confirmation notice indicating that the tour will be conducted as planned.
Reservations for regular tours require a deposit of $1000 per person, of which $200 ($350 for private or multi-island tours) is a non-refundable administration fee. If you wish to cancel, your cancellation notice must be signed and emailed as a pdf file, or mailed as a hard copy. If a cancellation notice is received 120 (or more) days before departure, the deposit, excluding the non-refundable $200, will be refunded. If notice of cancellation is received between 119 and 90 days before of departure, 50% of the deposit (registration deposit + balance) is non-refundable. If notice of cancellation is received 89 days or less before departure, all deposits and payments are non-refundable. If a tour is cancelled by WILLIAM SUAREZ BIRDING TOURS, all deposits, including additional payments for extensions of the tour (if applicable), will be refunded (check by regular mail) after the scheduled tour dates. No refunds are given for hotel reservations, meals, activities, or any other trip features you do not use (in full or in part), or in which voluntarily or involuntarily, you do not participate. No refunds are given for any extra payment you incurred during preparation for your tour and that was not received by, or paid to, WILLIAM SUAREZ BIRDING TOURS (e.g., non-refundable airline tickets, trip insurance, etc.) if the tour is canceled by WILLIAM SUAREZ BIRDING TOURS.
WILLIAM SUAREZ BIRDING TOURS reserves the right to cancel any tour before departure, while in progress, or part of a tour at any time or location, especially if any danger or risks for our participants exist, or any other reasons considered by the leader.
All tour fees must be paid in U.S. dollars, including your deposit at the time of registration. A price posted or announced in this website for a specific tour will never be increased. This means that you will not be billed for charges other than the balance due. This includes surcharges due to unexpected tariffs and exchange rate variations after your registration. In this way, we can help make your tour financial plans stable and predictable. The invoice for your balance payment will be sent by email. The due date for the tour is 120 days (earlier and at our discretion in multi-islands, private, and other tours) before the tour departure day. As your airline tickets, trip insurance, and other necessary payments on your side are usually non-refundable, please wait to finalize your purchases until you receive our confirmation notice indicating that the tour will be conducted as planned.
Reservations for regular tours require a deposit of $1000 per person, of which $200 ($350 for private or multi-island tours) is a non-refundable administration fee. If you wish to cancel, your cancellation notice must be signed and emailed as a pdf file, or mailed as a hard copy. If a cancellation notice is received 120 (or more) days before departure, the deposit, excluding the non-refundable $200, will be refunded. If notice of cancellation is received between 119 and 90 days before of departure, 50% of the deposit (registration deposit + balance) is non-refundable. If notice of cancellation is received 89 days or less before departure, all deposits and payments are non-refundable. If a tour is cancelled by WILLIAM SUAREZ BIRDING TOURS, all deposits, including additional payments for extensions of the tour (if applicable), will be refunded (check by regular mail) after the scheduled tour dates. No refunds are given for hotel reservations, meals, activities, or any other trip features you do not use (in full or in part), or in which voluntarily or involuntarily, you do not participate. No refunds are given for any extra payment you incurred during preparation for your tour and that was not received by, or paid to, WILLIAM SUAREZ BIRDING TOURS (e.g., non-refundable airline tickets, trip insurance, etc.) if the tour is canceled by WILLIAM SUAREZ BIRDING TOURS.
WILLIAM SUAREZ BIRDING TOURS reserves the right to cancel any tour before departure, while in progress, or part of a tour at any time or location, especially if any danger or risks for our participants exist, or any other reasons considered by the leader.
TOUR PRICE INCLUSIONS & EXCLUSIONS
The tour price INCLUDES, during the days conceived for the tour, the services of a full-time professional leader (William Suárez); double occupancy accommodations (if possible; see SINGLE OCCUPANCY SUPPLEMENT below) in comfortable standard hotels, or their equivalents from day 1 through the night before the departure day; all meals with one non-alcoholic drink from dinner on day 1 through breakfast on the departure day; cold bottled water and soft drinks during our travels in the vehicle(s) and in the field; and a bird checklist (sent by regular mail before departure). All park, botanical garden, and other birding area entrance fees; all on-island transportation including transfers or transport to and from the airport and hotel during arrival and departure days, are covered by the cost of your tour package.
The tour price does NOT INCLUDE, at any time, charges incurred for immunizations or vaccinations, medicines, medical care, visa(s) fees, passport, travel insurance, airfare (unless otherwise announced), airport taxes, tourist card fee(s), excess baggage charges, phone calls, laundry, alcoholic beverages of any kind, snacks, personal activities or excursions, tips and gratuities (e.g., to hotel staff, drivers, local guides, etc.), or any other item of a personal nature. All expenses related to your meals and drinks in airports or en route to the tour country are not included in the tour plans and therefore, not included. Any other expenses before the departure date of the tour, or after the ending date, are also not included.
The tour price does NOT INCLUDE, at any time, charges incurred for immunizations or vaccinations, medicines, medical care, visa(s) fees, passport, travel insurance, airfare (unless otherwise announced), airport taxes, tourist card fee(s), excess baggage charges, phone calls, laundry, alcoholic beverages of any kind, snacks, personal activities or excursions, tips and gratuities (e.g., to hotel staff, drivers, local guides, etc.), or any other item of a personal nature. All expenses related to your meals and drinks in airports or en route to the tour country are not included in the tour plans and therefore, not included. Any other expenses before the departure date of the tour, or after the ending date, are also not included.
SINGLE OCCUPANCY SUPPLEMENT
Single rooms are provided for participants requesting this type of accommodation at the time of registration. Some small lodges do not provide single rooms in some circumstances and therefore, the Single Occupancy Supplement charge for these locations will be completely refunded. For participants not requesting a single room, if a roommate is not available for the tour, or for part of it, a Single Occupancy Supplement will be charged before the departure date of the tour.
ALTERATIONS IN TOUR ITINERARIES
Owing to a variety of circumstances, a planned itinerary as appears on this website, can be changed or modified locally by the leader to accommodate particular weather conditions, bird activity, human disturbances, unexpected situations or any other reasons considered by the leader. WILLIAM SUAREZ BIRDING TOURS reserves the right to change any itinerary in situ.
BIRDING ACTIVITIES & PHYSICAL DEMANDS
Birding activities involve some physical effort, and may also include sitting in a van or other vehicle for long periods during rides between birding localities and hotels. We will be in a variety of habitats that occasionally demand moderate physical effort. Each person has a different perception about such requirements, as well as differing abilities. We must be notified in advance of any health problem or physical limitations and a space is provided on the Registration Form. If we consider it necessary, we may request that you provide a letter from your doctor regarding your particular limitations and certifying that you are able to participate in our tour. WILLIAM SUAREZ BIRDING TOURS reserves the right to send home any person with health problems not compatible with the necessary physical demands required during our tours.
SMOKING
Our tours are smoke-free. During the tour, smoking is prohibited in the vehicle(s), during meetings, at meals, or during any of the birding sessions.
ETHICS
Every participant is responsible for his or her own actions and conduct as a member of a birding group. Common sense and basic birding ethics are imperative for all participants. Be prudent, ethical, and respectful with each participant, the leader, wildlife, and corresponding authorities. Inappropriate or illegal conduct, including collecting animals, plants, or any other wildlife, are not allowed in our tours and therefore forbidden. The leader reserves the right to terminate participation of any person who violates these guidelines during the trip.
LIABILITY
WILLIAM SUAREZ BIRDING TOURS conducts tours in the wild, often in remote localities where medical care and sanitary conditions may be rudimentary or absent, with communication deficient or completely lacking, and transportation difficult. Once you are voluntarily registered in our birding tour(s), you completely accept your personal responsibilities, knowing that you must take reasonable care for your own safety. You must recognize that WILLIAM SUAREZ BIRDING TOURS does not offer any guarantee for your safety or for any other person. Accordingly, you must voluntarily sign and enter (see REGISTRATION) into a Release and Indemnity Agreement releasing WILLIAM SUAREZ BIRDING TOURS from liability for your safety within the limits of the law. Your completed and signed Registration Form and Release and Indemnity Agreement Form, along with the corresponding payment, are mandatory to be registered and to participate in any of our tours.