AUS: 1300 654 861 NZ: 0800 102338 contact@flowertravel.com.au

Terms and Conditions

Trans-Siberian Railway
1. Your contract is with Flower Travel Pty Ltd registered in the state of Victoria, Australia. Flower Travel is a full member of the Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA) and an accredited agency under AFTA’s ATAS scheme.

From time to time Flower Travel Pty Ltd act as an agent for other companies and in such cases the contract terms of such companies applies

2. All bookings are accepted on a request basis only. Acceptance of a booking does not imply availability of a trip.

3. No booking will be accepted without either a deposit (normally between $850 and $1000 per person) or, according to the payment schedule applicable, full payment. Deposits are non-refundable in all cases.

4. The Trip Balance is due 90 days before commencement of your trip. Late payment may cause cancellation of all or part of your trip, with no refund payable.

5. No travel documents, including visa support paperwork, will be issued until full payment has been made.

6. We accept payment by cash, cheques, bankers’ drafts and credit cards. Payment by standard Australian issued Master Card is subject to a 1.3% surcharge. Payment by Australian issued Visa Card is subject to a 1.5% surcharge and payment by American Express is subject to a 2.2% surcharge. The surcharge amounts cover the merchant fees charged to us in order to accept such payments (as set out in the Cost of Acceptance Statement from our payment facilitor) as well as costs associated in managing the risk and occurrences of fraud and also insurance for forward delivery risk. Flower Travel is fully compliant with the Reserve Bank of Australia, Standard No. 3 Of 2016 Scheme Rules Relating to Merchant Pricing for Credit Debit and Prepaid Card Transactions. All our prices are in Australian dollars and credit cards will be debited in that currency. Please note we have no control over exchange rates used by card issuers and any quote made in currencies other than Australian dollars is for comparison purposes only.

7. The responsibility for obtaining and carrying correct visas, passports and other travel documents remains with the passenger.

8. If we have to cancel your trip for unexpected reasons, you will be offered a full refund of all funds paid over to us, or the offer of a trip of substantially equal or better quality if appropriate.

9. If you wish to cancel your trip, we require written notice and will make funds to you less cancellation fees in accordance with the table below, calculated from the date which we receive written notice.

Over 90 days before commencement Deposit only
89-60 days before commencement 55%
Within 59 days or no show 100%

* The trip price does not include visas, visa processing fees, travel insurance or guidebooks, which shall be 100% forfeit in all cases.

10. Travel insurance is not included in the tour cost. Flower Travel will not be responsible or liable for any injury or damages suffered or incurred in any way arising from or occurring during your journey. Comprehensive travel insurance (including medical and repatriation cover) is strongly recommended as per Australian government guidelines.

11. We have made it clear in all sales materials that it is common and accepted practice for transport methods employed on our trips to run with delays, or to run below operational standards that would be regarded as normal in Western Europe, North America or Australia. We cannot accept any claim for indirect or consequential loss arising from the failure of transport suppliers to conform either to timetables supplied by us or to their own timetables. We cannot accept any claim for shock, loss, distress, whether mental or financial, arising from deviations from operational standards by transport suppliers whose services form part of our itineraries (whether original or amended).

12. We cannot be responsible for the safety of passengers or their belongings and for this reason we recommend strongly that you take out adequate travel insurance.

13. If circumstances force us to amend your itinerary or the services with it, we shall notify you in writing as soon as possible. If the change arises during your trip, our representatives will make every effort to contact you personally. We reserve the right to substitute alternative transport or accommodation in the interests of the safety of our passengers and/or the successful completion of the itinerary.

14. If you require us to change your booked itinerary, we will do everything possible to facilitate this, subject to your agreement to meet the costs which may be incurred. An estimate of these costs, in writing, will be provided before proceeding.

15. We believe the descriptions of the services and facilities in this brochure are fair and accurate. In the event of faults or omissions by ourselves or those acting for us, appropriate compensation may be payable. Such cases will not include cases caused by war or threat of war; changes in transport timetables; denial of border entry for any undocumented reasons; riots; civil unrest; disasters of natural or nuclear origin; terrorist activities; declarations of autonomy or independence by areas not recognised as such by the United Nations, or decisions relating to foreign nationals made by the elected or de facto leaders of such areas; and such other circumstances beyond our reasonable control.

16. In the event of illness, accident or cases described in Condition 15 above, we shall provide all reasonable help to passengers. Our assistance shall not replace the assistance to be expected from travel insurance up to the limits of cover of the policy recommended by us, nor shall it replace the assistance of the Consul responsible for you whilst abroad.

17. Claims for compensation will be accepted in writing only, within 30 days of final included service. We are unable to consider any claim where the assistance or advice of our local representatives has been unsought, rejected or ignored.

18. Passengers who fail to join the trip by the means or at the time and date they previously advised us within at least 14 days’ notice shall forfeit all subsequent services up to such time as they can be reasonably be rejoined. Any re scheduling so caused shall be at the passenger’s own expense. Departure without notification from the itinerary may result in forfeiture of subsequent services. “No-show” passengers shall forfeit all subsequent services if they fail to notify us of intention to rejoin their itinerary within 72 hours of their original arrival date. Expenses arising from unscheduled departure from the itinerary cannot be recovered from us.

19. Tariffs shown in our leaflets were accurate based on prices and exchange at the time of booking. However please be aware that tour pricing is based on a number of foreign currencies and the total cost of your trip can only be guaranteed upon final payment. Up until that time Flower Travel reserves the right to amend your tour pricing in accordance with currency fluctuations.

20. With the exception of diving none of our activities require special training or above-average levels of fitness or mobility. If you are in any doubt about whether you should undertake them, you should consult your medical adviser. We are unable to refund any money in respect of services from which you withdraw after arrival. With reasonable notice, alternative versions of most of our activities can be organised for those of you who have special needs, and a section on our booking form invites information to enable us to plan for your needs in this case.

21. At all times passengers are bound by local law and jurisdiction in their chosen destinations. Passengers, who depart from the selected itinerary, either geographically or chronologically, are advised that they may be breaking local immigration regulations, which at best will result in delay and inconvenience, and at worst may result in arrest and imprisonment, in neither of which cases are we able to assist in any material way. Passengers are advised that local duties and levies are frequently introduced, amended or increased without warning, and whilst we do our best to inform passengers of what local costs are likely to incur, we cannot guarantee that further costs may be imposed or increased subsequent to our recent information. Such costs remain the passenger’s responsibility.

22. All flight reservations are booked under the terms & conditions laid down by the airlines. Please pay particular attention to the clauses covering amendments and cancellations as detailed in your trip confirmation. All prices quoted in your statement of costs are correct at the time of writing however fares and taxes can change without notice and are not guaranteed until full payment has been made. Deposits merely hold the reservations and do not guarantee prices.

All governments levy various pre-paid airport taxes and where applicable and possible these have been included in the cost of the airline ticket and will be shown in the relevant tax boxes of your ticket. There may be some variations in final costs depending on exchange rate fluctuation and the number of taxes imposed at time of ticketing. Any additional costs or taxes that occur locally such as departure taxes payable at airports in cash will be the responsibility of the traveller.

23. Flower Travel Pty Ltd will not accept responsibility for any additional or alternative travel arrangements (including the use of local guides and the purchase of services and excursions) that are made independently by their clients and that are separate, or in addition, to the booked and ticketed itinerary. Clients should be aware that if they choose not to utilise certain services locally such services are non-refundable. Guides and other overseas representatives and partners of Flower Travel are not authorised to offer or promise refunds for unused services.

24. UNAVOIDABLE AND EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES (FORCE MAJEURE) – Except where otherwise expressly stated in these booking conditions we will not be liable or pay you compensation if our contractual obligations to you are affected by unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances which we or the supplier(s) of the service(s) in question could not avoid even taking all reasonable measures. These events can include but are not limited to war, the threat of war, civil strife, terrorist activity and its consequences or the threat of such activity, riot, disease and pandemics, the act of any government or other national or local authority including port or river authorities, industrial dispute, lock closure, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, chemical or biological disaster and adverse weather, sea, ice and river conditions and all similar events outside our or the supplier(s) concerned control. Advice from the Department/ Ministry of Foreign Affairs to avoid or leave a particular country may constitute unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances.

Flower Travel will advise all parties concerned of the cancellation of a tour due to unavoidable, extraordinary circumstances as soon as practically possible..