Cancelation Policy
At World UNGUIDED, we want to make your adventure as worry-free as possible. With that, we offer as flexible a cancelation schedule as we possibly can, considering the time-intensive tour booking process in working with huts and other family-owned accommodations.
All customers are advised to purchase travel insurance that will cover their costs in the case of a necessary cancelation.
Submit a Request for Travel Insurance Claim Documentation if you need us to send you a letter to assist with a claim with your travel insurance provider.
Unforeseeable Factors: Outdoor adventure itineraries are subject to a variety of unforeseeable factors, such as changes in hut opening seasons and trail closures. Should any changes be required to a trip for reasons excluding weather and safety conditions, Alpenventures GmbH will work with the customer to find a suitable alternative or will refund the deposit in full.
Conditions and Safety: Alpenventures GmbH's customers are expected to be prepared to adventure in a variety of weather conditions, as long as it is safe. Safe alpine conditions cannot be guaranteed and Alpenventures GmbH will not provide any compensation or incur any extra costs if a trip is not fulfilled as planned due to conditions. However, safety is important to us, and Alpenventures GmbH will support our customers on tour in re-booking huts and accommodations as much as possible if the customer and Alpenventures GmbH together deem the conditions as unsafe.*
*Unsafe conditions are dependent on the activity and can include avalanche danger levels for winter tours, thunderstorms during tours that include summits or high and exposed terrain, or low visibility during tours requiring advanced navigation skills. In most cases, unless extreme or related to climbing or snowpack conditions, rain will not be considered an unsafe condition.
Changes - Date Changes/Postponing a Tour/Canceling Part of a Tour - All Participants
Many of the small, family-operated accommodations we work with do not have a dedicated admin team and sometimes struggle to keep track of reservation changes. In order to ensure the best experience on the trail for all of our customers, we encourage customers to only change reservations when it is absolutely necessary.
World UNGUIDED does not have an obligation to accommodate changes to any confirmed reservations or tour start dates. Should a change be required by the customer, the following fee schedule applies.:
- More than 30 days prior to the trip start date: 50€ per person administrative fee*, not to exceed 20% of the cost of the tour, and less any deposits/payments already paid to Service Providers by World UNGUIDED
Between 29 and 12 days prior to the trip start date: 100€ per person administrative fee*, and less any deposits/payments already paid to Service Providers by World UNGUIDED
Less than 12 days prior to the trip start date: For date changes within the same season, we will do our best to accommodate your needs, and will provide you with a quote to include the sum of any cancellation fees plus a 150€ per person administrative fee*. For all other cases, there will be a 150€ per person administrative fee*, and less any deposits/payments already paid to Service Providers by World UNGUIDED.
Customer Cancelation - Full Tour/All Participants
Alpenventures GmbH understands that surprises occur in life. We offer the following cancelation policy:
More than 30 days prior to the trip start date: we will refund your payments less a 100€ per person administrative fee*, not to exceed 20% of the cost of the tour, and less any deposits/payments already paid to Service Providers by Alpenventures GmbH
Between 29 and 12 days prior to the trip start date: we will retain 80 percent of the trip cost
Less than 12 days prior to the trip start date or once the trip has begun: there will be no refund
*Administrative fees will not be charged for cancelations that are the result of what qualify under German law as “Hoeherer Gewalt,” or extreme circumstance (an Act of God). Customers may have the possibility to cancel without an Administrative Fee penalty fee in cases such as a major national disaster, a war or terrorist attack that impacts the direct area of the tour. In cases of “Hoeherer Gewalt,” both the Alpenventures GmbH and the Customer have the right to cancel. The balance of outstanding expenses, such as non-refundable deposits, will be split evenly between both parties.
Tour Availability Refund Pledge applicable to Standard Itineraries*
Due to the complex and time-consuming nature of booking our itineraries, we require a booking and a deposit prior to beginning the process of working through availability for that itinerary. Of course, this means that if we don’t find availability for your itinerary, we will refund your full deposit right away.
When you submit your booking, you are committing to booking an itinerary:
- within the date range you provided in your booking
- that covers the stretch of trail that you booked
- that is not more difficult than the longest day of the itinerary on the website for the tour you booked
- for the number of days you booked
- for the number of people you booked
If we are not able to meet all of the above criteria, we will work with you to find solutions to make your itinerary work. These solutions may include off-trail accommodation that is easily reachable with available transportation, expanding the date range or itinerary adjustments that may impact the number of days and/or the difficulty level. We will ask permission before proceeding with any of these modifications. Once we receive your permission to proceed with a modified itinerary, we consider this a binding commitment and will proceed accordingly.
If we are not able to book an itinerary for you that meets the criteria above, and we are not able to find a solution that you are in agreement with, we will refund your full deposit right away.
If we are able to meet all of the above criteria or are able to make the itinerary work with adjustments that you agree to, and you still decide to cancel the tour, then the Standard Cancelation Policy applies.
Note: We strive to honor all requests for specific room configurations, accommodation level and specific accommodations or huts but are not able to apply the Tour Availability Refund Pledge to these criteria. If any accommodations are downgraded due to availability, we will adjust the invoice down accordingly.
*Standard itineraries are not pre-booked. We make reservations when we receive the booking. We have a very small number of Guaranteed Itineraries available each year for the Alta Via 1 and for the Tour du Mont Blanc. These are pre-booked. Because availability for Guaranteed Tours is already confirmed, the Tour Availability Refund Pledge does not apply.