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Refunds & Credits: Cancel and Reschedule Policies

Purpose:

This is an overview of our cancellation and rescheduling policies. Please use this card for further information on these two policies, when we can allow for exceptions and quick links to the current and past policies.

If you are looking for guidance on offering clients credit or a refund due to quality issues, please see our Actionable Feedback: Concessions Policy and Cross-Functional CX/TREX SOP as well as our Escalation SOP if you need managerial decision-making.

Related Cards:

Context:

On February 13, 2024, we rolled out an updated cancellation policy and a net new reschedule policy. The primary objective of these new policies is to help lead us to profitability. The work to re-write our policies was undertaken as part of the Profitability SGI - Reduce Cancellation and Refunds, and overall success is only possible with close cross-functional alignment; however, the BAU maintenance and application of these policies is the responsibility of the CX and AX Teams. There are four key SGI KPIs that are tracked by the COO and CX Ops to evaluate the impact and performance of these policy changes:

Quick Links (Public-Facing):

Current Cancellation and Reschedule Policy

Previous Cancellation Policy (pre-February 2024)

Three Really Important Things to Remember

It is incredibly important to review and quote the appropriate section of the cancellation and reschedule policies based on the tour(s) booked (i.e. standard, custom, special access, Israel/Jordan), and the situation. Copy and paste the section into emails with clients/TAs, don’t just add the link.
Please always review the payment method clients used, as we can only refund back to that method. I.e.: paid with credit = refund to the credit or paid with CC = refund to CC
If you grant a partial refund on an Agent-Placed booking, you need to alert the Sales team to ensure the commission is still paid. Please see AX/Post-Booking - Sales: Commission Task for Partial Refunds on Active Tours

Policy Overview

CANCELLATION POLICY

Please always refer to our How to Cancel SOP if you need to cancel an order.

Client-Driven Cancellations Summary

For standard tours (private and small group), cancellations made at least 30 days prior to the tour date are eligible for a 100% refund or 100% future travel credit (less ticket, reservation, and applicable service fees). Cancellations made between 29 days and 48 hours prior to the tour date are eligible for a 50% refund or 50% future travel credit, less any ticket, reservation, and/or applicable service fees. All sales are final within 48 hours of the tour date. Venue tickets and reservation fees are non refundable and non transferable and cannot be used without a Context tour. In the event that you request a tour reschedule, Context will need to purchase and charge for new tickets / reservation fees.

30+ days from the service date = 100% refund/credit, excluding tickets, incidentals and other fees*

*we can refund tasting fees for cancellations 30+ days from the SD

29 days - 49 hours from the service date = 50% refund/credit, excluding tickets, incidentals and other fees
48 hours to the service date = no refunds/credits – ALL SALES ARE FINAL

Partial Cancellations

Clients can remove participants from their tours after they’ve booked and receive a refund/credit on the additional pax fees. Ex: Tour is booked for 6 people, and 2 people drop

* As long as the final group count remains over 2 pax, we can refund per the stipulations of our cancellation policy. If clients push back, please escalate to your manager.

Ticket and Tasting Fees

* While not stated explicitly in our cancellation policy, CXAs can feel empowered to Refund ticket costs ONLY IF THE FOLLOWING TWO CONDITIONS ARE MET:

1- the client asks in a follow-up after we give them initial cancellation terms of no tickets refunded AND
2 - the tickets have yet to be purchased

* FYI: Sometimes tickets are purchased 6-12 months in advance and other times, they’re purchased closer to the date of the tour. We are under no obligation to wait to purchase tickets and very well may purchase them well in advance to make sure the tour is able to run as scheduled.

* We never give clients the tickets we’ve purchased—it's too messy and complicated. Many tickets are special tickets for tour operators. Stay firm here.

Exceptions

We should not make exceptions to this policy; however, Context prides itself on its customer service and the overall client experience. So, there are some client-driven situations where associates and coordinators should feel empowered to provide a small concession. If the situation doesn’t fall into one of these categories or you are unsure about whether you should provide an exception, please escalate it to your manager for review.

Reason: Something heartbreaking (death in the family, a life-threatening illness, severe crisis that interrupts the client’s trip)

Give: up to 100% credit or 50% refund if the service date is within 30 days. If outside of 30 days, follow our standard cancel terms

Reason: The flight was changed, or other travel logistical issue popped up that was out of the client's control

Review: Section 3(f) - “Changes and Cancellation by You (Unforseeable Events)” of the public-facing Cancellation and Reschedule Policy
Outside of 48 hours: If you are cancelling a reservation for a small group or private tour due to “unforeseeable events” out of your control up to (more than) forty-eight (48) hours of the date and time of service, you will be offered a free reschedule or will receive full (100%) travel credit to your Context account, less irrecoverable ticket or reservation fees and applicable service fees.

A Level 4: Do Not Travel or a Level 3: Reconsider Travel advisory is issued by the US Department of State for the destination in which your services are booked;
The travel corridor is shut between your starting point and destination of service, including border closures;
Your cruise ship is unable to dock; (documentation required)
Your flight is cancelled. (documentation required)

Request further documentation from clients before providing any exception to the policy.
Give: Standard policy applies if outside of 30 days or within 30 days before 48 hrs.
Within 48 hrs, if clients can provide any kind of supporting documentation of their travel disruption we can exceptionally refund the 50% of the tour cost into their Context Credit (valid for one year). Otherwise, we can create a new booking for their desired date with a 25% discount, pending guide and ticket availability (with no need of supporting documentation).

Reason: Covid, stomach bug the morning of, travel mistake that was within the client's control

Give: Nothing - standard policy applies - if someone pushed back, you could offer an audio guide

Reason: The client thought the tour was something else; they overslept or any other miscellaneous excuse

Give: Nothing - standard policy applies

Context-Driven Cancellations (Fulfillment and/or Expert)

If Context cannot fulfill a tour due to a supply constraint, the clients are always entitled to a 100% refund/credit, including all incidental fees. However, as we push towards profitability, CX and AX should try to preserve the booking as best as they can. This can include switching clients to alternative tours, offering an audio guide experience, or rescheduling the tour for free.

30+ days from the service date = try to switch clients to an alternative tour or an audio guide (if one is available) as a substitute for the tour we cannot confirm.
29 days - 49 hours from the service date = try to switch clients to an alternative tour or an audio guide (if one is available) as a substitute for the tour we cannot confirm.
48 hours to the service date = offer a free audio guide (or pre-trip lecture) if we have one that covers a similar/same topic as the tour we cannot confirm.

RESCHEDULE POLICY

Please always refer to the appropriate Reschedule SOP when submitting or processing a reschedule request.

Client-Driven Reschedule Summary

Context Travel spends a great deal of staff time organizing tours and reservations, and last minute changes can cause significant disruption to our team and to our experts; for this reason, last minute changes are not guaranteed. Changes made to reservations follow the same policies as the above. Changes requested in advance of 30 days may be made without charge, though new ticket and service fees may be incurred. Simple date/time changes within 29 days - 48 hours will be attempted by our team but are not guaranteed dependent on guide and ticket availability and are subject to a $50 fee per tour. Substantive itinerary changes requested between 29 days - 48 hours of tour date will be treated as a cancellation and are subject to a penalty of 50% of the original tour cost to cover irrecoverable fees. All sales are final within 48 hours and no changes can be made. Changes within 48 hours need to be canceled without refund and rebooked as a new reservation.

30+ days from the service date = free reschedule - only new tickets and related concierge services need to be charged again
29 days - 49 hours from the service date = $50 reschedule fee applied to each rescheduled walk + new tickets and related concierge services to be charged again
48 hours to the service date = no reschedules or modifications – ALL SALES ARE FINAL

Reschedule vs Substantive Itinerary Changes

Reschedule requests are when a client requests to move their tour to a different date and/or time. They do not want to change tours, just reschedule it.

Substantive Itinerary Changes are when a client would like to change from one tour to another or requests to make significant changes to a tour’s itinerary to the point of altering the tour. Currently, we don’t allow for major modifications to our itineraries; however, our policy was written with the language of substantive itinerary changes in case we ever bring back more customization options for clients. In the case of a tour swap, please treat it as a cancellation of the original tour and a rebooking of the new tour, subject to the corresponding cancellation policy.

Context-Driven Reschedules (Fulfillment and/or Expert)

If Context cannot fulfill a tour due to a supply constraint but believes it is feasible to reschedule the tour, we will always offer the client a free reschedule. Clients do not need to repurchase new tickets or other linked concierge services if we must reschedule the tour. Context-driven reschedules that result in a cancellation should follow the cancellation policy above.

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