Terms and Conditions
Trip Confirmation
These trips are offered by INCA/Inca Floats, Inc., hereafter known as INCA. Upon receipt of your deposit(s) and completed Release of Liability, Assumption of All Risk and Binding Arbitration Agreement, you will be confirmed on your trip and INCA will send you a detailed Traveler’s Guide, statements, and sample itinerary.
NOTE: Your trip reservation is considered confirmed only when we receive your completed, signed, and unaltered Release of Liability, Assumption of All Risk and Binding Arbitration Agreement.
Passports, Visas
Do not delay completion of trip forms while waiting for your passport renewal as missing passport numbers can be supplied at a later date. Participants are solely responsible for obtaining their own passports, insuring the ongoing validity of same and for obtaining any necessary visas or other necessary travel documents.
Covered Expenses
Land cost includes hotels (double occupancy), land and yacht transportation, yacht or ship accommodation (double occupancy), transfers as specified in the itinerary, tips for hotel services, baggage handling, and storage at trip hotels, all guides, tours as indicated, fees to museums and archeological sites, and sightseeing arrangements as specified. All yacht and ship meals are included as are meals indicated on the trip itinerary. Reservations are accepted for charters and for individual travelers on INCA’s inclusive itineraries. No price reduction will be granted for any requested itinerary deviations, changes or omissions.
Expenses Not Included
Not included are any airfare, transfers to any hotel not specified in the itinerary, any extra services or any deviations from the trip itinerary, tips for the yacht or ship crew, guides or naturalists (at your discretion), laundry, alcoholic beverages, excess baggage charges, transit tax, Galápagos National Park Fee or items of a personal nature. Price also excludes any insurance coverage for trip cancellation/interruption, travel accident, travel delay, baggage delay or baggage theft (we recommend you obtain coverage for these items), medical, or hospitalization expenses. Currencies fluctuate in many countries of the world: In cases where INCA issues air tickets from or to the United States in conjunction with your trip, INCA reserves the right to raise a trip or charter price at any time before departure if there are cost increases (such as fuel surcharges) that are beyond our control, and, in the case of increased governmental taxes, at any time prior to departure. In cases where INCA does not issue air tickets from or to the United States it reserves the right to increase the price for such reasons at any time up to the departure of the trip.
Payments
To confirm space send your nonrefundable but transferable deposit for each person as follows:
Deposit and Payment Schedule
Trip Price............... Nonrefundable Deposit.......... 1st Payment
$4,500-$5,500.................$500.........................$3,000
$5,500-$6,500.................$750.........................$3,500
$6,500-$7,500.................$750.........................$4,000
$7,500-$8,500.................$750.........................$4,500
$8,500-$9,500............... $1,000........................$5,000
$9,500-$11,500............. $1,000........................$5,500
Over $11,500.............. contact INCA................. contact INCA
150 days prior to departure an additional 1st Payment, in the amount based on your trip’s price, as indicated in the Deposit and Payment Schedule, is due.
Final balance is due 90 days prior to departure.
All Antarctica & Arctic trips have a different deposit and payment schedule which will be provided for those trips prior to booking.
All Holiday departures may require two times the above nonrefundable deposit. Requested single or suite accommodations for an entire trip or for a yacht, ship or gulet, may require an additional nonrefundable deposit to be paid at the time of booking.
Only the nonrefundable deposit may be paid by credit card. Balance must be paid by check, moneyorder, or wire transfer.
The above deposit and payment schedule does not apply to private charter trips. Private charter trips deposit and payment schedule is stated in the charter contract.
If trip payments are not paid when due, INCA reserves the right to treat the reservation(s) as cancelled and to accept new reservation(s) for the space(s). Cancellation fee schedules will apply.
Trust Account
California Law requires certain sellers of travel to have a trust account or bond. INCA has such a trust account.
California Seller of Travel Program
California has established a Travel Consumer Restitution Fund under the California Seller of Travel Law. This fund is designed to protect consumers from unscrupulous practices by airfare ticket sellers or air charter operators. This law does not cover non-California residents and, even in the case of California residents, it does not cover any foreign travel where the foreign “providers of transportation or travel services” are not in compliance with the Seller of Travel Law (compliance being defined as registered as a Seller of Travel in California and a participant in the Travel Consumer Restitution Fund). Thus, none of INCA’s trips qualify. The law requires all tour operators to advise each of their clients that they would not be eligible to make any claim from the Fund in the unlikely event of any default by INCA or any of our foreign suppliers. I understand that this means I am not eligible to make any claim against that Fund. CST #1013564-60.
Cancellations, Transfers, Refunds
The deposit is nonrefundable. However, if we receive written notification cancelling your reservation at least 180 days prior to your planned departure, a one-time transfer of this deposit (less a $200 per person processing fee) may be made to another date, for a similar INCA trip for which the original deposit was paid, that departs anytime within one year from the original departure date. A transfer to another trip or departure date with less than 180 days notice before departure is considered a cancellation and re-booking of a reservation; thus all payments to date will be subject to the cancellation penalties below. If we are notified in writing of cancellation of your reservation more than 150 days but less than 180 days prior to your trip departure, the deposit will be forfeited. After that time all payments will be refunded less the following cancellation fees computed as of the date of our actual receipt of written cancellation notice:
Cancellation Fee Schedule
121-150 days............................25% of trip price
91-120 days..............................50% of trip price
61-90 days...............................75% of trip price
60 days or less.......................100% of trip price (Including “no-show”)
The above terms do not apply to private charter trips. Private charter trips have the cancellation terms stated in the charter contract.
Once a trip has started there will be no refunds for any unused portion of the trip. This includes any pre-trip or post-trip arrangements, transfers, meals, tours, hotels and any “no shows” due to delay or failure of transportation to arrive or depart on time. Insurance coverage for such risks may be purchased.
We reserve the right to raise the trip fee at any time before departure if there are cost increases beyond our control.
Cancelled Trips
Although INCA almost never cancels trips, we reserve the right to cancel any trip prior to departure for any reason whatsoever, including too few participants or logistical problems such as strikes, wars, acts of God, or any other circumstances which may make operation of the trip inadvisable. All trip payments and nonrefundable deposits which were received will be promptly refunded. This refund will be the limit of INCA’s liability. INCA is not responsible for any expenses or damages incurred by trip members as a consequence of any cancellation, such as costs expended in preparing for the trip (including non-refundable or penalty-carrying airline tickets), special clothing, visa or passport fees, lost income, or any other trip-related losses or expenses.
Medical Emergency and Medical Evacuation Insurance
INCA requires medical emergency and medical evacuation insurance coverage of at least $100,000 for all adventures. INCA offers stand-alone $200,000 coverage for a nominal fee. Proof of coverage is required if insurance is obtained elsewhere.
Trip Insurance
To cover your investment in your trip, INCA strongly recommends you purchase trip cancellation insurance coverage that would reimburse you for pre-departure trip cancellation fees or post-departure trip interruption (limited to the amount of coverage you purchased) losses, lost baggage or travel documents, delayed luggage, for reasonable accommodation and travel expenses if your trip is delayed, accidental death or dismemberment, and coverage for emergency medical expenses including
emergency medical evacuation.
Coverage that includes a pre-existing medical condition exclusion waiver, trip cancelation or trip interruption due to financial default of an airline, cruise line, or tour operator may be included provided you purchase travel insurance within 15 days of the date on which INCA received your trip deposit.
INCA has selected what it believes to be a high quality travel insurance carrier for our guests. For details and enrollment, contact INCA or see the travel insurance brochure from the INCA office. Note: Medicare does not provide coverage outside of the United States.
Special Diets
If we receive at least 45 days’ notice, we can usually accommodate special dietary requests. For vegetarians there are usually plenty of fresh vegetables, fruits, rice, potatoes, pastas, and juices. You may wish to bring your favorite snacks if you are on a restrictive diet.
Smoking
No smoking is allowed in yachts, ships, boats, buses, vans, automobiles or during any group dining. Smoking is permitted only outside on deck on our chartered yachts. If you are a smoker and we cannot pair you with a suitable other smoker, we must charge you an additional fee for a single hotel room as nonsmokers prefer not to share hotel accommodations with smokers.
Accommodations & Traveling Alone
Accommodations are based on double occupancy, two persons to a room or cabin. Most single travelers are easily paired with a trip member of the same sex. However, if there is no appropriate member with whom you may share, you may have to pay a single supplement for the trip or for single hotel accommodations to cover our additional costs.
Physical Fitness
These trips may be taken by anyone in good physical condition. Even an easy trip is more enjoyable if you are fit. As you will have to go up and down stairways, walk over irregular terrain, and may need to get on and off the yacht or ship from a small skiff, you are encouraged to get in shape by exercising regularly. Some itineraries require walking or hiking over mountainous terrain on challenging trails, sometimes at high altitude. Running, hiking, swimming, bicycling, and aerobics are all good conditioners. Please call us if you have any questions about your ability to do a particular trip. Once a trip has started and it is necessary for you to leave the trip because it is beyond your physical abilities, please note that there will be no refunds for any unused portion of the trip.
Medical
You must be in generally good health. It is vital that persons with medical problems and related dietary restrictions make them known to us well before departure. Our staff will discuss with you the advisability of the particular trip you have selected. The trip leader has the right to disqualify any member from the group at any time if considered medically necessary to avoid endangering the welfare of the group. Refunds are not given under such circumstances.
INCA is not a medical facility and has no expertise or responsibility regarding which medications or inoculations you and your private physician should decide necessary for your safe participation on the trip. A list of commonly taken inoculations and immunizations by travelers to the destination of your trip will be in the Traveler’s Guide that will be sent upon receipt of your reservation deposit and Trip Application. INCA urges you to review the CDC website (www.cdc.gov) before booking and before starting your trip. INCA assumes no liability regarding provision of medical care. Trip members are urged to be sure to obtain adequate coverage.
Travel Alerts and Warnings
Both the U.S. State Department and the Centers for Disease Control publish and update important country-specific information for travelers. We strongly recommend that you review them. They can presently be found at:
https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/alerts/warnings.html
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices
If not a United States citizen, please consult your country's Foreign Office for similar information.