General Terms & Conditions

Definitions:

The traveler / service user / customer, hereafter described as “client”.

The tour operator Authentic Travel, hereafter described as “agency”.

The travel-related service or arrangement of various services, hereafter described as “trip” or “tour”.

The significant objects of the tour, hereafter described as “tour terms” or “terms”.

The person or persons in representation of the agency in charge of the consulting of planning of the clients’ tour, hereafter described as “travel agent” or “agent”.

The person or persons in representation of the agency in charge of the operation of the tour, hereafter described as “operator”.

The binding agreement between the agency and the client for the former to render the mutually agreed upon travel services, in return for the agreed upon monetary recompensation by the latter, hereafter described as “contract” or “travel contract”.

Purpose: These terms and conditions shall regulate the contractual regaltion between the agency and the client.

Scope: The terms and conditions set out in this document shall be applicable to the extend where the two parties have not reached another agreement prior to conclusion of the travel contract. The travel contract shall be considered as effective upon agreement to the trip proposal by the client and transfer of the down payment. The agreement must be done in writing, including by electronic means. All other terms shall remain effective.

Responsibilities of the agency:

The agency is contacted by the client in request of one or various travel services. The travel agent asigned to the client is responsible for designing the trip according to the requests of the client, to his or her best knowledge. Upon conclusion of the contract, the agency is responsible for organizing the tour, in particular the reservation of all the relevant subcontracted services. From the initiation of the tour (at the moment of the first service) until the last service contracted, the agency is responsible for the correct execution, in content, quantity and quality, as per the tour outline.

Liability of the agency:

The agency is liable for any incompliance of the tour terms. In case of notification of such incompliance by the client, the agency shall work to its best capabilities and with reasonable resources to remedy the incompliance. The client shall be held harmless against personal or monetary injuries caused by severe negligence or purpose by the agency.

Limitation of liability:

The agency shall not be held liable for incompliance with any or all the tour terms due to circumstances beyond the control of the agency (force majeure), including but not limited to natural catastrophies such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, strikes or civil unrest, outbreak of diseases, epidemics or pandemics, changes in operationablility of parts of the tour or the tour in its entirety due to changes in regulations of local authorities. The agency shall not be held liable for personal or monetary injury induced by the agency’s subcontractors. Personal or monetary injuries caused by the agency due to severe negligence or purpose shall be limited to the amount of the tour price.

Furthermore, the agency shall not be held liable for incompliance with terms that are not of significant nature, nor shall the agency respond for the lack of success in achievement of personal objectives of the client during the tour, such as observation of particular people, landscapes, animals, plants, fungi or natural phenomena, or particular climatic conditions.

Responsibility of the client:

The client is responsible for providing the travel agent with all the information necessary in order to create a tour that complies with the physical and mental capabilities of the client, as well as his or her personal preferences. Furthermore, the client is responsible for paying the tour price. The client is responsible for taking part in the tour with all the necessary equipment for successfully conducting the included activities. It is the sole responsibility of the client to inform himself about the necessary personal equipment, if the requirement of the equipment can be assumed due to the nature of the planned activity. This explicitly does not include specialized equipment where the knowledge of its requirement cannot be expected regularely. By entering into the travel contract, the client acknoledges that he or she will abide by local laws and customs. It is the sole responsibility of the client to inform himself about local regulations prior to arrival to the country or countries where the tour takes place. The client is furthermore responsible for complying with all the travel documentation required by local authorities, including but not limited to, passports, visas, vacccination certificates, outbound air tickets. The client agrees not to disturb local inhabitants, agency personnel, subcontractors or other travels.

Liability of the client:

The client is responsible for the premature termination of the tour due to incompliance to his responsibilities, especially as far as the required physical or mental condition, the necessary equipment, the travel documentation and the respect of other persons are concerned. The client furthermore shall be held liable for any personal or monetary injury incurred by non-observance of the agency’s representatives or its subcontractor’s guidance, negligant or purposeful actions.

Limitation of liability:

The client shall not be held liable for personal or monetary injuries incurred by severe negligance or purpose by the agency. This explicitly excludes those injuries incurred by subcontractors, in which case the latter shall be the subject of the claim.

Alteration of the tour terms:

Modification of terms by the agency before the initiation of the tour:

The agency is entitled to modify the tour terms prior to the initiation of the tour up to 30 days before the travel date, whereof the client must be informed in writing. The modification may comprise significant changes to the tour or terms if due to circumstances beyond the control of the agency affecting the initial tour, the integrity or logistics of the tour could be compromised. The agency is entitled to make non-siginificant changes to the tour or terms as it seems fit, in order to optimize overall logistics of the tour and the experience of the client.

Modification fo terms by the agency after the initiation of the tour:

The agency reserves the right to modify the tour terms of a tour in progress in order to ensure operability in case of circumstances beyond the control of the agency or in case of failure of the client to comply with his responsibilities outlined in this document. Furthermore, the agency may be obliged to make modifications to the terms of the tour in order to comply with the client’s demand to remedy any incompliance of the agency’s responsibilities. The agency is entitled to modify the terms if the fullfilment of the original terms have become impossible and this impossibility is not due to severe negligence or purposeful action by the agency.

Cancellation of the tour by the agency before the initiation of the tour:

The agency reserves the right to cancel the tour prior to its initiation if with reasonable certainty, the tour cannot be conducted as planned to a significant extend, especially due to but not limited to events of force majeure. In case of cancellation, the agency may retain expenses made with the purpose of organizing and ensuring availability of the terms of the tour, as well as a reasonable administration fee. The following guidelines may be used, unless the agency can prove that significantly higher costs have been incurred:

For tours exclusively on mainland Ecuador:

More than 91 days before the initiation of the tour: the deposit amount or 10% of the tour price, whichever is less

90 to 61 days before the initiation of the tour: 25% of the tour price

60 to 31 days before the initiation of the tour: 50% of the tour price

30 to 15 days before the initiation of the tour: 75% of the tour price

14 or less days before the initiation of the tour: 100% of the tour price

For tours including the Galapagos Islands and/or visit to other countries:

More than 121 days before the initiation of the tour:

120 to 91 days

90 to 61

60 to 31

30 to 15

14 or less

The agency shall not be entitled to this indemnization in case of cancellation by the agency due to minor changes to the terms become necessary (less than 35%), in which case the client is entitled to a full refund.

Modification of terms by the client before the initiation of the tour:

The client, in accordance with the agent, may modify the terms of the tour prior to its initiation. Any additional costs arising from these modification shall be beared by the client in its entirety. Any modification is subject to availability and operability.

Modification of terms by the client after the initiation of the tour:

The client, in accordance with the agent, may modify the terms of the tour after its initiation. Any additional costs arising from these modification shall be beared by the client in its entirety. Any modification is subject to availability, operability and timeliness of the request.

Cancellation of the tour by the client before the initiation of the tour:

The client shall be entitled to withdraw from the contract at any time before the initiation of the tour, in which case the following cancellation fees apply:

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Cancellation of the tour by the client after the initiation of the tour:

The client may decide to cancel his tour at any time due to personal reasons, in which case he loses his right to the contracted services and any monetary reimbursement. Additional expenses required to successfully abort the tour (e.g. transfer to airport, additional accommodation) shall be covered by the client.

Salvatory Clause:

All provisions of this Agreement shall be considered several and if any of the provisions of this Agreement are held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, void or otherwise unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall remain in effect, and if any provision is inapplicable to any person or circumstance, it shall nevertheless remain applicable to all other persons and circumstances.