Please Note: This set of terms and conditions applies to my 2008 eclipse tour. If you are interested in my Ancient Capitals and Scenic Wonders or China Panorama tours, please go to the Ancient Capitals and Scenic Wonders or China Panorama page to find the link for the applicable terms and conditions and reservation form.
Please read these terms before proceeding to the Reservation Form.
In these terms and conditions, the word "we" refers to the tour director, Jasmine's China Adventure Tours (CST No. 2034611-40). If you send us a deposit for a tour, you are agreeing to be bound by all these General Terms and Conditions.
1. Prices for the tours:
Two-week tour (July 19- August 3, 2008): $3,995 USD per person, double occupancy;
Eclipse only tour (July 28- August 3, 2008): $2,650 USD per person, double occupancy;
Optional post-eclipse extension (August 3-9 , 2008): $1,000 USD per person, double occupancy. (Please note: This price is only available if the post-eclipse extension is selected in conjunction with one of the other tours.)
These prices include all travel arrangements within China, as set forth in paragraph 3, but do not include international air fare between your home and China.
2. Price changes: The prices are based on the most current information on costs in China and on the rate of currency exchange. If there are significant changes in either of these things prior to departure, we may have to increase the cost of the trip. We will always inform you of this, if it is necessary, as far in advance of the trip as possible. If we have to increase the cost of the trip 10% or more, we will let you cancel your trip without any penalty. Your tour price will be guaranteed, and will not be changed, once you have made full payment for the tour.
3. What the price includes: Airport pickup upon your arrival in China and transfer to your hotel; all air and other transportation within China; all airport departure taxes on included flights; all accommodations (double occupancy); all meals listed in the itineraries (including one beverage, such as bottled water, soft drinks or Chinese beer); bottled water on the buses; transfers and permits; entry fees for sightseeing attractions; eclipse-related activities as listed in the itineraries; music and dance performances and other cultural events described in the itineraries; the services of Jasmine Zheng-Behrens as your tour leader throughout the trip; the services of English-speaking local guides; dropoff service at the airport of departure from China; all tips and gratuities.
4. What the price does not include: Roundtrip air travel between your home and China; airport departure taxes on such travel; the cost of your Chinese visa (usually, the visa costs approximately $50 USD, plus additional fees for the use of visa application services and postage/delivery, which vary from company to company); personal insurance; personal items such as extra beverages at meals, food or snacks at times other than regular meal times, laundry, telephone, fax or Internet/E-mail access charges, film, fees for taking photographs or videos in certain locations, fees for changing money, individual transfers, medical expenses, excess baggage fees, customs duties, shopping.
5. Payment terms: A deposit of $300 USD per person and a completed and signed reservation form is required to reserve your place on the tour. A second payment of one-half of the remaining balance is due no later than August 1, 2007. Final payment of the balance of the tour price is due no later than February 1, 2008. All payments must be made in U.S. dollars by check drawn on a U.S. bank, made out to “Jasmine’s China Adventure Tours”, or by wire transfer to the Jasmine's China Adventure Tours trust account. Unfortunately, we are not able to accept payments by credit card, or payments in currencies other than U.S. dollars.
6. Refunds and cancellations by customers: You may cancel your participation in the tour at any time by giving us written notice by letter or e-mail. Cancellation is effective on the date we receive it. In case of your cancellation, all payments are fully refundable up to August 1, 2007. From August 2, 2007 to February 1, 2008, there will be a $1,000 per person cancellation charge. From February 2, 2008 onward, all payments are non-refundable.
7. Cancellation of the Tour By Us: We reserve the right to
cancel the tour at any time up to the date final payment is due under the following
conditions:
1. Fewer than 20 persons have signed up for the tour;
2. In our opinion, health and/or safety factors related to conditions in China
would make the tour inadvisable.
If we cancel the trip for either of these reasons prior to the date final payment
is due, all money paid by the participants will be refunded.
If cancellation occurs because of the number of participants, we will offer
all those who have signed up the opportunity to have the same tour, but the
price may have to be increased. We will notify you of any increase, and give
you a reasonable period of time to make your decision. You may, but are under
no obligation to, take the tour under these new terms.
After final payment has been made, we may cancel the tour only if, in our opinion,
health and/or safety factors related to conditions in China would make the tour
inadvisable. Since cancellation in this case involves factors which may arise
suddenly and are entirely outside our control, including but not limited to
natural disasters and civil unrest, we cannot guarantee advance notice in such
a case. Please note that if we cancel the tour on this basis after the date
for final payments, all payments are non-refundable as stated above. This is
because payment will already have been made to our cooperating agencies in China
in order to finalize the arrangements. Please see paragraph 8 regarding trip
cancellation insurance.
8. Travel / trip cancellation insurance: We strongly recommend that you obtain a trip cancellation, accident and baggage insurance policy. We do not sell such insurance or obtain any benefit from its sale, and we do not recommend or endorse any particular companies providing such insurance, although we can give you a list of companies that some of our prior customers have used. When you are choosing insurance, please review the terms of coverage carefully to make sure the insurance meets your individual needs. Special Note Regarding Insurance: Please inquire specifically of any insurance company you contact whether their policy will cover cancellations, delays or other damages or expenses that are the result of war or terrorist attacks. We make no representations regarding the availability or scope of coverage for these or any other events.
9. Participation by minors: Persons under 18 may take this tour only if they are traveling with a parent or legal guardian. There can be no exceptions to this policy.
10. Room assignments / Single supplement: All hotel accommodations are double occupancy. If you tell us that you are willing to share a room on the trip when you sign up, we won't charge you a single supplement if we can't match you with a roommate. If you tell us when you sign up that you want to have your own room, there will be an extra charge to guarantee you a single room throughout the trip, as follows: $ 1,000 USD for the two-week tour; $ 600 USD for the eclipse only tour; and $300 USD for the optional post-eclipse extension. . If you wish to request a particular person as your roommate, please indicate that on your application form or by e-mail or letter to Jasmine, and you will be given a room together. In the absence of such a request, room assignments will be same-gender and random.
11. International Air Travel: As noted above, the tour price does not include round trip international air fare between your home and China. You will need to arrange your international air tickets yourself. Many of our customers use frequent flier miles or work through a home-town travel agent or a flight consolidator. Alternatively, we can refer you to an air ticket agent we have worked with in the past. Please contact us for details.
12. Itineraries, Arrangements and Tour Guides: All are subject to change without notice, although we will try to give you notice as soon as possible. We reserve the right to rearrange the itinerary and to substitute or delete activities from the schedule if this becomes necessary due to local conditions, the convenience of the parties or the proper and safe conduct of the tour. If this happens, we will try to provide you with alternate arrangements of comparable quality.
13. Accommodations: In the larger cities we visit on the tour, such as Beijing, Xi’an, Lanzhou, Guilin and Shanghai, our accommodations will be in three to five star level hotels. In smaller cities or rural areas, such as Wuwei, Linxia, the Tibetan pilgrimage center, Yangshuo and Tongli, we will stay in the best available hotel. All rooms will have air conditioning (except perhaps at the Tibetan pilgrimage center, where the 9200-foot elevation and mountain climate make it unnecessary), and an attached private bath, as well as a telephone capable of international direct dialing and a television (although often only Chinese channels are available). A final itinerary with a list of the hotels and contact information (telephone and fax numbers) will be provided to you approximately one month prior to departure.
14. Extra Days: If your travel plans require you to spend extra days in China at the beginning or end of your trip, or if you would like to spend more time there, you may do so at an additional cost. Please contact us for more information. Alternatively, you may make your own arrangements for the extra days.
15. No Refunds After Tour Begins: There will be no refund for any reason once the trip has begun. There will be no refund for unused hotel rooms, meals, sightseeing or any other charges once the trip begins.
16. Travel Documents: You are responsible for obtaining and having all required travel documents such as passports and visas to enter China and to re-enter your home country. Tour participants will have to obtain an individual Chinese tourist visa (the “L” visa) from the Chinese consulate that covers their home area. Please see our “FAQ” page for information on how to obtain the visa.
17. Baggage / Special Equipment: You carry your baggage and any special equipment for viewing the eclipse at your own risk throughout the tour. You are responsible for compliance with international and Chinese domestic airline baggage limits, as well as for any excess and oversized baggage charges. You are also responsible for any insurance on your baggage and equipment. Please see our “FAQ” page for more information on baggage limits.
18. Medical Responsibility: We are not responsible for any illness, injury or medical condition of any kind that you may incur or aggravate during the tour. It is your responsibility to determine whether the tour you choose is suited to your physical and medical condition. You are responsible for the cost of any medicines or medical care you may require during the trip for any reason, including the cost of medical evacuation if needed. Please make sure you have adequate personal medical insurance, or travel medical insurance, to meet any medical emergency which might arise. In some cases, if you need medical care during the tour, you may be required to pay for it at the time it is rendered and seek reimbursement from your insurer after you return home. Please check with your medical insurer for details. In the event of a medical emergency, we will make every effort to assist you in obtaining necessary care and, if necessary, assist you in making arrangements to transfer funds from home to pay for it. Please note that only basic emergency care may be available in more remote areas such as the Tibetan pilgrimage center, and that such care may not necessarily meet the standards of your home country. Also, please tell us if you suffer from any allergies or other physical conditions which might affect you during the tour. Finally, please check with your doctor to find out what inoculations may be recommended for the areas you will be visiting. It is your responsibility to obtain all necessary inoculations. We reserve the right to decline to accept any person as a member of the tour, or to decline to retain any person, if such person's physical condition, mental well-being or behavior interferes with the operation of the tour. There will be no refund in such cases.
19. Special Note Regarding Elevation: We will visit some high-elevation areas during our exploration of Gansu Province. Wuwei and the eclipse-viewing area lie at an elevation of approximately 4,600 feet. The Tibetan pilgrimage center we will visit lies in a valley with a base elevation of approximately 9,200 feet, and during our excursions to the nearby grasslands we reach elevations of nearly 11,000 feet. If you have experienced difficulty with high elevations in the past, we recommend that you do not take the full two-week tour.
20. Special Note Regarding Eclipse Viewing and Safety: Based on our personal investigation of potential centerline viewing sites, we have chosen a spacious site with excellent sight-lines outside of Wuwei. We reserve the right to change the viewing site without notice if a change should become necessary for any reason; if such change is necessary, we will do our best to substitute a site of comparable quality. We have researched weather conditions in Wuwei and Gansu Province and believe that they offer excellent prospects for viewing the eclipse; however, we do not warrant or insure in any way that conditions on the day of the eclipse will permit viewing. Although our expert eclipse viewing consultants will provide a pre-eclipse briefing that will include information regarding safe viewing methods, participants are entirely responsible for their own safety in viewing the eclipse and we accept no responsibility for any injuries or damage that participants may suffer while viewing the eclipse.
21. Limitation of Liability: We are not liable for delays, inconveniences, accidents, injuries or expenses of any kind resulting entirely, or in part, from the negligence of others or from causes beyond our control. Participants assume all risks of personal injury and aggravation of any medical condition related in any way to the activities of the tour. Baggage, special photographic or telescopic or other equipment for viewing the eclipse, and other personal property are the responsibility of the owner and we are not liable for any loss. Also, please see the paragraph on "Free Time" below.
22. Free Time: Certain periods during the tour are, or will be, designated as "free time". These periods are provided primarily to give you a chance to rest and relax. You are, however, free to use the time as you wish. We will be happy to give you some information about things to do or see, but we do not accept responsibility for any loss, accident or injury which occurs while you are not with the group.
23. Disclosures Required Under California Law:
[For residents of California only:]
This business is a participant in the Travel Consumer Restitution Corporation
(TCRC).
You, the passenger, may request reimbursement from TCRC if you are owed a refund
of more than $50 for transportation or travel services which was not refunded
in a timely manner by a seller of travel who was registered and participating
in the TCRC at the time of sale. The maximum amount which may be paid by the
TCRC to any one passenger is the total amount paid on behalf of the passenger
to the seller of travel, not to exceed $15,000.
A claim must be submitted to the TCRC within six months after the scheduled
completion date of the travel. A claim must include sufficient information and
documentation to prove your claim and a $35 processing fee. You must agree to
waive your right to other civil remedies against a registered participating
seller of travel for matters arising out of a sale for which you file a claim
with the TCRC, if you are located in California at the time of the sale.
You may request a claim form by writing to Travel Consumer Restitution Corporation,
P.O. Box 6001, Larkspur, California 94977-6001; or by faxing a request to (415)
927-7698.
California law requires certain sellers of travel to have a trust account or bond. Jasmine's China Adventure Tours has a trust account.
[For all other persons:]
This transaction is not covered by the California Travel Consumer Restitution
Corporation.
California law requires certain sellers of travel to have a trust account
or bond. Jasmine's China Adventure Tours has a trust account.