To book yourself on an open trek simply e-mail or fax us with your name
and the trek number you would like to book on.
Then we will e-mail or fax you an invoice for your trek package and you need
to remit 20% of your invoice as your deposit.
Once we have received your
deposit your name will be confirmed on the trek and we will advise you what
further information we require from you (eg your flight arrival details,
medical report, signed trekking contract, travel insurance policy details).
Two months before the trek commences, the 80% balance is due and we will
send you a reminder to remit the balance owing on the original invoice.
All payments for deposits and balances must be sent by international telex
transfer (also known as "TT" or "wire transfer") to our bank account in
Papua New
Guinea. Our account details are shown on your invoice. We don't accept credit
cards.
SPECIAL
NOTES:
AIRFARES
Please note that our package prices does not include airfares
from Australia. Trekkers are responsible for booking and paying for their
own
international
air travel
on the arrival
and departure dates shown for each trek. You can book airfares to Port
Moresby through any travel agent or online with Qantas www.qantas.com.au or
Air Niugini www.airniugini.com.pg (sales.brisbane@airniugini.com.pg)
or Airlines PNG www.apng.com
Flight Centre's website
www.flightcentre.com.au or other similar websites may enable you to compare
airlines for the best domestic airfare deal on any given day.
EXTRA NIGHTS
Your trek package includes 1 night hotel accommodation in Port Moresby for
south-north treks or 2 nights hotel accommodation
for north-south treks. Any
additional nights in Port Moresby required by your chosen international flight
schedule will involve additional cost we will automatically add extra nights
to your invoice at the rate of AUD$160 per room per night at the Gateway
Hotel, Ela Beach Hotel or Holiday Inn (1
or 2
people
per room) unless you advise us that you have made other arrangements. There
are
cheaper hotels in Port Moresby for your extra nights but they can be
false economy by the time you have to pay extra for taxi fares to get to
and from. Cheaper hotels may not have phones in rooms, may not have meals
available and may not be located in safe areas, all of which
can mount up to considerable inconvenience for both you and us.
BOOKING
CONDITIONS FOR OPEN TREKS
Booking conditions for our Kokoda treks should be read in conjunction
with our general tour booking information and
also the terms and conditions stated on page 2 of your invoice. Where information
conflicts, terms and conditions on this page and on your invoice over-ride
our general
tour booking information.
FORFEIT OF DEPOSIT
Bookings
not confirmed with full payment two months before the trek may be released
to other clients on the waiting list for that trek and your 20% deposit
will be forfeited.
CANCELLATION OR RESCHEDULING
OF TREKS DUE TO CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND OUR CONTROL
All treks are subject to date change or cancellation due to events
beyond our
control
such as extreme weather, political events, civil unrest, landowner disputes
or other force majeure, availability of charter aircraft, change of airline
schedules and other logistical considerations. Where a trek
is cancelled
due to reasons beyond our control,
all monies paid are refundable or transferrable to another trek date. Where
a trek is rescheduled due to factors beyond our control (eg to
a new date one or two days either side of the original advertised date
to accommodate logistical factors), you have the option
of withdrawing from the trek with full refund of monies
paid if the
new date no longer suits your requirements. However if you
opt to continue your participation in the rescheduled trek, any additional
costs you may incur (such as airline amendment fees or additional transit
accommodation) are not reimbursable by
Ecotourism
Melanesia but may be claimable on your travel insurance. It is important
to purchase travel insurance by the time you pay your final balance.
CANCELLATION OF OPEN
TREKS DUE TO INSUFFICIENT NUMBERS
To
run an open trek on an advertised date we require a minimum of 6 trekkers.
If, by the deadline of two months before the trek, we have
not received commitments from a minimum of 6 trekkers for an open trek
you have booked on, or if cancellations have brought numbers down to less
than 6 trekkers, we
may at our discretion cancel the trek, in which case we will
give you the option to:
(a) rebook for another trek date without penalty - ie any monies you have
paid will be credited towards another of our scheduled treks
(b) withdraw your interest without penalty, ie with a full refund
Ecotourism Melanesia will not be responsible for reimbursing airline ticket
amendment fees or other additional costs you incur if you have to rebook on
another trek after we cancel the trek you were originally booked on due to
insufficient numbers.
Please note the above statement if you are planning to buy non-refundable or
non-variable discount air tickets prior to two months before the trek.
PRICE
CHANGES
Our package price is subject to change without notice but we
expect to hold our rates firm through to December 2009 unless there is a
major
exchange rate fluctuation between the Kina and the Australian dollar. Once
you have paid in full for your
trek you will not be affected by any price rises. If prices increase after
you have paid your deposit only, you will be given the option of paying
the
balance due at the increased rate or withdrawing your interest without penalty,
with full refund of your deposit.
CLOSED TREKS
If you
have a group of 10 or more people and you book for an open trek date that
currently
has
no other bookings you can request that the open trek become a private (closed)
trek for your group only.
REBOOKING YOUR TREK DATE
If you elect to change your trek date outside two months of scheduled commencement
of the
trek you
originally
booked and after you have paid in full for your trek, all monies you have
paid can be carried over to
a new trek date (if space available) without penalty. However if as a result
of your proposed change of date the trek you originally booked is no
longer
viable,
ie
now has
less
than
6
confirmed
trekkers which may force us to cancel the trek, your change of date will
not be permitted and you will either have to trek on the date originally
booked,
or forfeit all monies paid.
WITHDRAWING FROM THE
TREK
The 20% deposit paid to hold a place for you on one of our treks is non-refundable
if you cancel at any time after paying the deposit. This compensates us for
administration costs and lost business as a result of turning other customers
away once the trek is fully booked. If you cancel your place on the tour
or trek within 2 months of scheduled arrival in PNG and after having paid
in full, a 50% cancellation penalty applies, to compensate us for being unable
to re-sell your place on the trek to another customer at such late notice.
If you cancel your tour or trek within 1 month of scheduled arrival and after
having paid in full, an 80% cancellation penalty applies, to further compensate
us for certain expenditure in relation to your participation in the trek
that we will be unable to obtain refunds or recompense for (eg overhead costs
of organising the trek, hotel cancellation penalties, share of pre-paid vehicle/aircraft
charter costs, share of pre-purchased food supplies). If you cancel or abandon
your tour or arrangements (or any part thereof) after commencement of the
tour or trek (for any reason), no refund is available. (Your travel insurance
policy may reimburse you for such cancellation penalties under certain circumstances
eg illness or bereavement).
TRAVEL INSURANCE
We
strongly recommend you purchase travel insurance at the time of paying
your deposit. This will cover you for forced cancellation of your
prepaid trek due to medical reasons, compassionate reasons, or other
reasons
allowable
by the insurer.
TREKKING CONTRACT
Additional terms and conditions are detailed on your invoice and in our
Kokoda trekking
contract which must be printed out, signed and returned to us by
fax or mail at the time of making final payment for the trek (ie no later
than two months prior
to the trek).
METHOD OF PAYMENT
All payments for deposits and balances must be sent by international telex
transfer (also known as "TT" or "wire transfer") to our
bank account in Papua New Guinea. Our account details are shown on your invoice.
We don't accept credit cards. An international bank draft sent by mail is
also acceptable but personal or company cheques drawn on Australian banks
cannot be deposited into our ANZ account in Papua New Guinea because ANZ
(PNG) is a separate entity from ANZ (Australia).
There are two ways to send us a telex transfer. One is to go into your branch
and do it manually. You should also be able to do it using your internet
banking system, just take care to select the "send money overseas"
or "international transfer" option on your internet banking site, because
if you try to send money to our ANZ (PNG) account through the normal Australian
domestic
money transfer system it will not go through. Even though ANZ (PNG) has a
BSB number the Australian domestic money transfer system will not recognise
it as an Australian bank and will not process your
payment
instruction
(money
will
disappear from your account initially but will be bounced back within a few
days). If you include our bank's SWIFT code (shown on your invoice) in your
telex transfer instructions the payment will reach us quickly and reliably.