This policy is for every participant who travels with The ARTS Educational Tours and chooses not to purchase the Student Travel Protection “Cancellation for Any Reason” insurance (CFAR). You may (in writing) cancel your reservation and receive a full refund within five days of your initial registration deposit. Beyond the five-day grace period, if you, the school, trip sponsor, group leader, or school administration cancel your reservation for any reason, The ARTS Educational Tours will base your refund on the schedule below:
Cancellation Days Prior to Departure 120-91
Refund 75% of tour cost minus any non-refundable fees
Cancellation Days Prior to Departure 90-61
Refund 50% of tour cost minus any non-refundable fees
Cancellation Days Prior to Departure 31-60
Refund 25% of tour cost minus any non-refundable fees
Cancellation Days Prior to Departure 30-0
No Refund
Initial registration deposit – Non-refundable per traveler
*Refunds do not include the cost of the CFAR, other insurance coverage, and any non-refundable deposits or fees.
The ARTS Educational Tours Recommends:
Student Travel Protection “Cancellation for Any Reason” insurance (CFAR). With the purchase of CFAR, participants may cancel for any reason, any time prior to departure, and receive a full refund less the cost of the protection and any non-refundable fees listed below. To receive a refund under the CFAR insurance program, this coverage must be purchased within 14 days of your initial trip deposit.
Non-Refundable Fees:
The non-refundable fees include the cost of the CFAR, other insurance coverage, bank NSF fees, late payment fees, phoned-in payments, fees for auto-pay declined credit card or electronic checks, and trip add-ons (shirts, photos, sweatshirts)
Cancellations:
All cancellations must be in writing prior to departure by or on behalf of the participant registered for the trip. Email info@theartsft.com or mail it to The ARTS Educational Tours, 101 E Dominion Dr Suite B, Harlingen, TX 78550.
Refunds:
The ARTS Educational Tours will refund monies directly to the trip participant if they are eligible for a refund as outlined in the cancellation sections above. All refunds are only issued to the primary contact and issued using the original form of payment on the account. Refunds will be issued within 30 days of receiving the request.
Trip Price/Fixed Costs:
Fixed costs are trip expenses that remain unchanged regardless of the number of trip participants. Fixed Costs may include non-refundable tickets such as theater tickets and airfare, motor coach, nighttime security guards, and guide services. If the trip count falls below the originally budgeted counts set by the group leader, the trip price may be altered to cover the transportation expenses or other fixed expenses.
Fuel Surcharge:
The tour package price includes all known surcharges (fuel, taxes, and other fees) known at the time the group contracted with The ARTS Educational Tours. However, given the volatile nature of fuel prices, suppliers (for example, airlines and motorcoach carriers) at times must assess a fuel surcharge which is not known by any party at the time of contracting service. Participants will be informed of any fuel surcharge prior to their final payment due date. No surcharge will ever be assessed after the final payment due date.
It is important to know that The ARTS Educational Tours works closely with all suppliers to eliminate or minimize any surcharges related to fuel, taxes, or fees. We have been able to absorb many small price increases and not pass them back to our travelers once the package price is advertised.
General Provisions:
The ARTS Educational Tours is a tour provider that contracts for services on behalf of your group, including transportation, lodging, meals, and attractions. The ARTS Educational Tours reserves the right to change activities, attractions, meals, or hotels at their sole discretion due to availability, vendor issues, or safety reasons. The ARTS Educational Tours will inform the group leader, if changes are made, with as much advance notice as possible. The ARTS Educational Tours does not own or operate vehicles, hotels, restaurants, or attractions included in the tour and therefore cannot guarantee performance or levels of services provided by these vendors or be held responsible for acts or omissions of their organizations, employees or agents. The ARTS Educational Tours cannot provide refunds in the event of delays, cancellations, overbooking, weather, strikes, an act of God, war (whether declared or not), terrorism, civil unrest, or circumstances out of its control. The ARTS Educational Tours has excellent relationships with destination vendors and will work on behalf of your group to request partial refunds if warranted.
Dietary Requirements:
The ARTS Educational Tours collects all food allergies as a service to our customers and will forward the group’s allergy list to all restaurants. We are not responsible for accommodating any food allergies, dietary requirements, or restrictions. All issues regarding food and drink, including all allergies, or dietary requirements are the sole responsibility of the traveling participant. Many trips use food courts; it will be the responsibility of participants to choose their food selection. Sit-down restaurants: The participant is responsible for informing staff of their allergy requirements.
Eligibility/Drops:
The ARTS Educational Tours may drop participants from the trip for lack of payment. To be reinstated after being dropped, you will be charged a $50 reinstatement fee, trip payments must be current, and space on the trip must be available. Space is filled on a first come first serve basis.
The group leader and the school administration will determine the eligibility of students. Student eligibility will be determined based on several factors including but not limited to:
Attending school regularly
Maintaining an acceptable academic record
Behavior in accordance with school standards
Trip Conduct:
All students are expected to follow the rules and policies of their school in addition to following the trip rules and instructions provided by the tour director, group leader, and adult chaperones on the tour. Parents/Guardians give permission for their child(ren) to participate in this tour and agree to follow the rules and policies of the trip. Parents/Guardians understand and agree that in a rare case where a student needs to be removed from a trip due to not following rules, disrupting the tour, or becoming a safety risk to other participants, they will incur the expense and responsibilities for transporting the student home.
Photo Consent:
At different times throughout the year, schools or school representatives, partners/vendors of schools, and media outlets request permission to film or photograph students in schools. They subsequently publish, broadcast, or use these materials, which often include images and depictions of students, as well as a student’s work and accomplishments. Parents grant permission and give consent for their child’s likeness or work to be used/featured by their school, its partners/vendors, or electronic/media. As a vendor of a school, it is assumed, unless notified otherwise, that all student participants at our events have been cleared through the school by parents granting permission and giving consent for their child to be filmed or photographed.
Additional Charges:
$35 Late fee if the balance is not paid in full by the final payment due date
$35 NSF charge on all returned checks
$35 auto-pay declined credit card or ACH payments
$5 Credit/Debit Card phoned-in payments to the office plus additional 3.5% + .15 cent per transaction fee
$25 Reinstatement fee for participants who got dropped from the trip and got reinstated on the trip
$10 Name change fee for a participant who exchanges a spot on the trip with another participant
Credit/Debit Cards Payments 2.9% processing fee + .30 cent per transaction
ACH Payments .8% processing fee per transaction
Some trips will have add-on options like trip gear, photos, etc. for purchase. You have the right to decline to purchase these add-ons
Waitlist: Your spot on the trip is not guaranteed until your account has been paid in full. If you are placed on a waitlist due to not making a deposit payment, an outstanding account balance after the final payment deadline, or for any other reason, you must clear the waitlist procedures. You may incur additional charges by the airlines and other charges.
Liability and Responsibility
Limitation of Liability/Responsibility: The ARTS Educational Tours, its employees, shareholders, officers, and directors do not own or operate any entity which provides goods or services for your trip, including but not limited to lodging facilities, transportation companies, sightseeing companies, entertainment or food, and drink providers. As a result, The ARTS Educational Tours is not responsible for any negligent or willful act or failure to act of any other person or entity it does not own or control. Without limitations, The ARTS Educational Tours is not liable for any direct, indirect, consequential or incidental damage, injury, death, loss, accident, delay, inconvenience or irregularity of any kind which may be occasioned by any reason of any act or omission beyond its control, including, without limitation any willful or negligent act, failure to act, breach of contract or violation of local law or regulation of any third party such as airline, train, hotel, bus, taxi, local ground handler or guide. The ARTS Educational Tours is not liable for the financial default or insolvency of any supplier which is to or does supply any goods or services for this trip.
The ARTS Educational Tours is not responsible for any loss, injury, death, or inconvenience due to delay or changes in schedule, overbooking of accommodations, a default of third party, attacks or bites by animals, insects or pests, injury or death while on activities sponsored by other third parties, sickness, the lack of appropriate medical care, evacuation to same. The ARTS Educational Tours is not responsible for any loss, injury, death, or inconvenience due to delay or change in schedule resulting from weather, strikes, acts of God or government, acts of terrorism or the threat thereof, force majeure, war, quarantine, epidemics, or the threat thereof, criminal activity, or any other cause out of The ARTS Educational Tours control.