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Pacific Trade Winds Policies

General Policies:

In this statement the terms "us, we, our" refer to Pacific Trade Winds S.A., the terms "you, your" refer to you as our client.

By agreeing with our policies and making payment on behalf of yourself and others, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our policies. You also acknowledge and accept responsibility that anybody you are paying on behalf of has also read and understands our policies.

Unless otherwise specified, all vacations are private vacations. All vacations can be modified by adding or subtracting days, tours or transportation methods. Childrens' prices are based on one to two children triple occupancy or quadruple occupancy in the same room as parents.

Children's prices are based on child under 10 years of age sharing occupancy with 2 adults unless otherwise specified. Times, tours, hotels and locations are subject to change without notice on this website. We reserve the right to change hotels, tours or transportation based on availability to hotels, tours or transportation of equal or greater value without notice. In the case that this cannot be provided, you will immediately be notified of available options.

All policies are subject to change without notice. We are on your side at all times, but there are times when policies of our providers or the laws or taxes of the Costa Rican government supersede our policies.

Trip Insurance:

We strongly recommend buying trip insurance to protect your investment. You wouldn't drive your car without insurance, so why would you travel without insurance? We are not an insurance company and cannot be held liable for any situation not incurred directly by the services that we provide including: missed or cancelled hotels, tours or transportation, flight delays or cancellations, natural causes, rain, thunder storms, tornado, hurricane, fire, theft, flood, land slide, flat tire, automotive problems, construction, health problems etc.. We are also not responsible for situations that can occur based on clients not providing reasonable or adequate information such as incorrect flight information, health issues, height or weight restrictions and / or limitations etc.. This includes any situation that could reasonably deemed as inadequate information provided by the client.

We are not responsible for any injuries (including death) while riding in any conveyance reserved / arranged by our company, or on any tour reserved / arranged by our company. You agree that there are inherent risks to travel, and agree to hold us blameless for any loss experienced while traveling. Please contact a travel insurance provider to obtain appropriate coverage.

By authorizing us to make your travel arrangements or by making a payment to us, you agree to be bound by the above stated policies, terms and conditions and acknowledge that you have shown these policies to all members of your travel party in which you represent by making payment for them. Please contact a travel insurance provider to obtain appropriate coverage.

Payment Policies:

We utilize the following options for payment; Visa, Master Card, Bank Transfer.

Phone Orders: We can accept phone orders through a credit card terminal in our office. With this terminal, we accept Visa & MasterCard. If you choose this option, you will be required to complete a credit card authorization form administered by Echo Sign or the one in our website within 48 hours of reservation. If your vacation is within 60 days of reservation, you will be required to complete the credit card form within 24 hours. We have a zero tolerance policy for this time period. If you do not sign your credit card authorization form within this time frame, your vacation will be cancelled at full penalty of our cancellation policies.

We are located in Costa Rica and your transaction will be processed in Costa Rica. We recommend that you check with your bank to see if they impose a foreign transaction fee. If they do, you should change your credit card plan accordingly or use a different card.

Direct Funds Transfer: We accept direct funds transfer into our Citi Bank account in Costa Rica. Please contact us for details; 1-866-853-9426.

Regular Season dates:
* Reservations made more than 3 months in advance require 25% down payment to secure reservations, 50% of total reservation must be paid within 3 months of arrival date, and the remaining 50% balance due no later than 60 days prior to arrival date.

* Reservations made within 3 months of arrival date require 50% down payment to secure reservations. The remaining 50% balance must be paid on or before 60 days prior to scheduled arrival date. 60 days prior to clients arrival, payment for the remaining balance will be processed. After processing, a printable receipt of payment will be sent to clients email address.

* Though we will send a reminder statement via email, it is the sole responsibility of the client to contact us for all payments. If a client does not make payment or other written and confirmed arrangements with us within 14 days of scheduled payment due date, their vacation may be subject to cancellation.

Peak Season Dates:
*Vacations scheduled for December 20 - January 5 must be paid in full a minimum of 90 days in advance. If a client does not make payment or other written and confirmed arrangement with us within 7 days of scheduled payment due date, their vacation may be subject to cancellation.

Government Taxes:

We take great pride in providing bottom line pricing, but there are some situations which are out of our control such as government taxes. We are a law abiding company and respect the local law, which means that we cannot be held responsible for changes in government taxes or not charge taxes to clients with pending balances. The rate that you have been provided is based on current government taxes. If the government changes tax policy prior to your final payment, the new tax rate will be applied to your final balance and will be based on your entire purchase price (not only the final payment). Remember, we are a travel service. We cannot control government regulations and have no way of predicting them.

Rental Car Clients:

Drivers must be 25 years or older. Unless otherwise specified in your travel plans, your rental car will have a manual transmission. Please note that rental car companies usually require a refundable deposit in the amount of $750 - 1,500 on your credit card for a deductible. Please also note that most require a $150 deposit for cell phone rental with the car.

Cancellation Policies:

**Please keep in mind we are a travel service, not an insurance company. Our Cancellation Policies are based on the average cancellation policies of hotels, tour operators and transportation companies in Costa Rica.

Cancellation 60 days or more before scheduled arrival will receive a full refund minus $200 processing fee per person.

Cancellation 30 days to 60 days before scheduled arrival will be refunded 50% of full payment.

Cancellation 14 days to 29 days before scheduled arrival will be refunded 25% of full payment.

Cancellation 13 days or less before scheduled arrival will be refunded 0% of full payment.

Though we will send a reminder statement via email, it is the sole responsibility of the client to contact us for all payments. If a client does not make payment or other written and confirmed arrangement with us within 14 days of scheduled payment due date, their vacation will be cancelled without exception.

Vacations scheduled for December 20 - January 5 must be paid in full a minimum of 60 days in advance. If a client does not make payment or other written and confirmed arrangement with us within 7 days of scheduled payment due date, their vacation will be cancelled without exception.

**If an individual hotel, tour operator or transportation company's policies supersede our policies in any way, it will be added to the aforementioned policies. Example: If you cancel your vacation 61 days prior to your vacation start date and one of the hotels has already been paid that has a zero refund policy, you will be refunded all but $200 processing fee per person plus whatever is lost to the hotel.

Individual Hotel Cancellations: Hotels reserved individually or separate from vacation packages will be reserved with the policies of each individual hotel or resort. These policies can be furbished upon request. Our policies do not supersede individual hotel policies when reserved in this fashion.

Partial Group Cancellations

Cancellations made by individuals of a larger group are considered on an individual basis, based on the amount of money credited to us by providers. This is normally a small sum as the transportation and hotel rooms are often still being used by other group members. Group rates are quoted based on the group sharing these items and we cannot ask other group members to pay more if you decide to cancel. Generally, the only credit given in these situations are for tours that are within the cancellation period of the tour operator when the total rate is not affected by the loss of the cancelling participants. Due to the aforementioned, standard cancellation policies do not apply to partial group cancellations.

**Please keep in mind we are a travel service, not an insurance company.

Rescheduling Policy:

Our Rescheduling Policies do not include rescheduling your vacation. Rescheduling your vacation requires an in depth review of individual hotel, tour operator and transportation company policies and is handled on an individual basis. **If an individual hotel, tour operator or transportation company's policies supersede our policies in any way, it will be added to the aforementioned policies. Example: If you reschedule your vacation 14 days prior to your vacation start date and one of the hotels has already been paid and applies a penalty for rescheduling, you will have to pay the penalty. Please keep in mind we are a travel service, not an insurance company.

A flat fee of $20 per person, per Activity / Hotel / Transportation will be charged for amendments to confirmed dates and times. This fee is to cover courier costs, communication costs, re-documentation and the additional time to coordinate the changes. We are not responsible for any missed or cancelled hotels, tours or transportation due to any reason not directly caused by our services, including: flight delays or cancellations, natural causes, rain, thunder storms, tornado, hurricane, fire, theft, flood, land slide, flat tire, automotive problems, health problems etc.

Hotels, transportation and tours are subject to change based on availability to hotels, transportation and tours of equal value.

Inclement Weather

Costa Rica in general is considered a rain forest area. Though there are seasons that are drier than others, it is impossible for us to predict or be held liable for inclement weather. We are not responsible for the weather in any form such as tour, hotel or transfer cancellations. If you choose to cancel a tour, hotel or transfer, you assume full liability to do so and should understand that it is unlikely a refund will be given by us or the operator. This is what trip insurance is for.

Why is it so expensive to cancel or change?

Once you confirm your trip and make a payment to us we make bank transfers to the individual hotels, lodges, transportation providers, rental agencies, activities and adventure tour providers to pre-pay and absolutely guarantee your reservations.

Most people plan well in advance for international travel so if you change your plans less than 60 days before your arrival it’s likely that the room you decide you don’t need or the tour you’re too tired to take will go unused.

Additionally there are non-recoverable costs for the time spent planning and booking your reservations, bank and credit card transfer fees, documentation and confirmations.

Take advantage of our expertise and let us help you plan the perfect trip so you won’t want to make changes later and buy travel insurance to cover cancellations or changes necessitated by emergencies then have a great vacation in Costa Rica.

Privacy policy

We do not like Spam any more than you do. We will not give or sell your information to any other company that does not directly require your information to fullfill your reservations.

Location of services

Pacific Trade Winds Sociedad Anonima, Cudula Juridica Numero 3-101-488098 is a registered Costa Rica business, conducting all affairs in the country of Costa Rica. Pacific Trade Winds S.A. abides all laws in accordance to those regulated by the Republic of Costa Rica. In the case of legal dispute, the Costa Rica judicial system will determine judgments.