Once booked, Purely Bhutan tours that are cancelled are subject to the following cancellation charges:
- Earlier than 30 days before the start of the tour programme: 10% of the rates
- Between 30 and 21 days before the start: 20% of the rates
- Between 21 and 14 days before the start: 25% of the rates
- Between 14 and 7 days before the start: 40% of the rates
- Less than 7 days before the start or cancellation without notice: 60% of the rates
- After arrival in Bhutan: 100% of the rates.
If you cancel your tour after you have sent payment then we will process your refund in accordance with the above list of charges. To return funds to you from Bhutan we have to request permission from the Royal Monetary Authority to send foreign currency outside Bhutan. Once we have this we have to ask the Tourism Council of Bhutan to return the funds to you, as they are still holding them at that point since your tour has not yet run. This process of arranging the refund can take some time – at busy periods even 6 to 8 weeks.
Please note also that when your currency arrives in Bhutan it is booked to Purely Bhutan in local currency at the then prevailing rate of exchange and money will be returned to you at that same rate in the event of cancellation.
We advise you take out insurance to cover the risk of having to cancel your trip for medical or other reasons – every year we have two or three groups who end up having to cancel after they have already paid for their trips, sometimes as little as a day or so before they fly, and it is an expensive venture if you don’t have insurance to cover the costs incurred.
Sometimes it may be possible to postpone the tour instead of cancelling – we can discuss the options with you if this idea appeals. Note however, that once postponed past the date of the original trip the above cancellation conditions will no longer apply and the payments you have made for the tour and flights will no longer be refundable on the same basis, so you should not take this option unless you believe that you will go ahead with the trip on the new dates.
Finally, note that if you have booked any nights in luxury accommodation then the cancellation terms differ according to the hotel. Generally speaking, once full payment is due on these hotels (around 30 days to 60 days before the date of stay) then no refund is available on cancellations after this point – we can provide further details of the precise terms on request.
