TRIP TERMS & CONDITIONS

PRODUCT: Bella Vita Travels offers custom-designed trip packages known as “Tailor-made Vacations”. Our tailor-made Vacations include all accommodations, transportation, tours, and other special activities such as cooking lessons and wine tastings plus a designated travel specialist to assist and consult you throughout the trip planning process and during your travels. Our custom packages are sold at one price to our clients.

By signing your approval to your proposed itinerary, you are agreeing to our complete terms and conditions.

BOOKING PROCEDURE: When you are ready to proceed to work with Bella Vita Travels, we require a completed booking form along with a Trip Design Fee. This fee is non-refundable and based on the number of travelers, destinations, and intricacy of your trip, and covers the first 5 hours of service. Your travel specialist will provide you with the amount of this fee before moving forward with any trip planning. Additional hours or a la carte concierge services start from $100 per hour and will be billed monthly.

Once we have gathered the necessary information and your travel wish list, it usually takes us about one week to deliver a first draft itinerary for your review.

Upon approval of the itinerary via electronic signature, a deposit will be due. Our normal deposit is between 25-30%. Although, on occasion, we require a larger deposit, based on our supplier needs or hotel policies of upfront payment. We will advise you as early on in the trip planning process of what exactly the deposit will be. 

The balance is due fully 90 days before the arrival date. If bookings are made within 90 days of departure, full payment must be received immediately to secure and confirm a booking.

Only after the signed Booking Form and appropriate deposit (or full payment if within 90 days of the trip) have been made and returned to Bella Vita Travels, will the booking be confirmed and final. The date of receipt of these documents will be deemed the date of booking. If payments are not made in a timely manner, Bella Vita Travels reserves the right to refuse to confirm the booking or to impose a last-minute fee to cover costs.

PAYMENT: Payments can be by credit card (Amex, Visa, and MasterCard) and wire. 

PRICING: Our tailor-made vacations are sold at one price to the client. We are unable to give price breakdowns for our vacation packages as we receive bundled, contracted and confidential rates from our suppliers.

FOR TRIPS QUOTED IN US DOLLARS: Pricing is calculated on the current exchange rate. Bella Vita Travels reserves the right to reprice the package if any significant currency fluctuations take place between the time your deposit is received and the time we receive your final balance payment.

VILLA RENTALS: Villa rentals are an exception to our normal booking procedure due to the different payment and cancellation policies of rental agencies and owners, and will be handled and paid for separately from the rest of the tailor-made vacation package.

TRAVEL PACKET: Upon receipt of your deposit, you will receive PDF copies of our country info kits which include helpful hints to traveling in those countries. Upon receipt of the balance, you will receive PDF copies of our destination kits for each place you will be visiting on your trip and which include our restaurant recommendations and “on your own” excursion ideas. Bella Vita is an eco-friendly company. If you prefer a hard copy of your itinerary and documents, we can do so at an additional cost.

Approximately 2-3 weeks before your trip, you will receive your final itinerary along with any tickets or vouchers, electronically through our travel itinerary app, Axus. You will be invited to download your final itinerary on the app and will have access to your itinerary on any of your desired devices.

CANCELLATION POLICY: Any party may cancel their booking at any time providing that they communicate the cancellation in writing to Bella Vita Travels. After a confirmed trip is canceled the following conditions apply and without exception:

• In case of cancellation between booking and 91 days prior to your arrival date: Bella Vita will retain the deposit.
• In the case of cancellation between 90 – 61 days prior to your arrival date: 50% refund minus any banking fees and other non-refundable fees.
• In the case of cancellation between 60-31 days prior to your arrival date: 25% refund minus any banking fees and other non-refundable fees.
• In case of cancellation 30 days or less prior to your arrival date: 100% of the full cost of your trip will be charged.

No refund will be given for unused portions of the trip, cancellations made after the trip has begun or early departures for any reason.

In case of cancellation of certain sites, temporary exhibits, or sporting events, a 100% cancellation fee will apply.

CANCELLATION CHARGES FOR INTERNAL AIR: All internal air is 100% non-refundable at the time of final payment (some exceptions may apply).

POSTPONEMENT OF TRIP: Postponing or rescheduling a trip is considered on a case-by-case basis, but is in no way guaranteed and subject to the cancellation charges stated above. Any party wishing to postpone or reschedule a trip must communicate their request in writing to Bella Vita Travels.

TRAVEL INSURANCE: We strongly recommend you to buy travel insurance at the time of booking, in the event you must cancel and forfeit funds or in the unfortunate case of injury or loss. We can provide you with a comprehensive coverage plan which you will find here: ROAM RIGHT or you can use the following travel insurance search engine to find the best plan for you: SQUAREMOUTH.

NECESSARY TRAVEL DOCUMENTS: Travelers are responsible for obtaining and carrying a valid passport. Many destinations require you to have at least 6 months left on your passport from the date of arrival in the country and pages free for Visa and immigration stamps. Bella Vita Travels does not accept any liability if you or any member of your party are refused entry onto any transport or into any country due to failure on your part to carry correct documentation. If you or any member of your party is not a US citizen or holds a non-US passport, you must check passport and visa requirements with the Embassy or Consulate of the country or countries to or through which you are intending to travel. If failure to have any necessary travel or other documents results in delays, fines, surcharges, or other financial penalties being imposed on us, you will be responsible for reimbursing us accordingly.

AIRLINES: Each airline has specific rules and requirements in regards to baggage size, weight, and even design. It is the responsibility of the party to make sure that baggage brought on any flight adheres to the size, weight, and design requirements of the airline. Smaller planes or helicopters often require smaller and lighter baggage. Airlines will likely charge fees for baggage that exceeds weight and size requirements. On smaller planes and helicopters, oversized baggage or baggage that is too heavy may not be allowed on the flight for safety reasons. If any item, terms, or conditions of this document are found to be invalid or illegal, all other remaining items, terms, and conditions will still apply.

COMPLAINTS & REFUNDS: If a problem arises during the party’s vacation, please inform us immediately. Complaining at the time of the problem will likely yield the best results. It is, therefore, a condition of this agreement that the party communicates any problem and attempts to resolve any problem before departure directly with Bella Vita Travels as soon as the problem arises.

Any refunds will be evaluated on a case by case basis and if mutually agreed upon, processed within 30 days of receiving written notification of the cancellation. The refund will be by check in US dollars or wire transfer. Any complaint must be received at Bella Vita Travels’ address in writing.

LIMITED LIABILITY: Bella Vita Travels and/or its partners, subsidiaries, and agents act only as an agent for the hotels, restaurants, airlines, bus companies, ship lines, owners, or contractors providing accommodations, transportation providers, or other service providers (“suppliers”).

By acceptance of a tailor-made vacation package, the client agrees that Bella Vita Travels assumes no liability for any loss, injury or damage to a person or property, or otherwise any connection with any accommodations, transportation, or other service, resulting directly or indirectly from any acts of co-travelers, suppliers, nature, or dangers, delays, cancellations, and incidents related to the sea or weather conditions, health related problems before, after, or during the tour, fire, breakdown in machinery or equipment, acts of government or other authorities, de jure or de facto, wars, whether declared or not, hostilities, civil disturbances, terrorist attacks, strikes, riots, thefts, pilferage, epidemics, quarantines, medical or custom regulations, defaults, delays or cancellations or changes in itinerary or schedules, or from any causes beyond the control of Bella Vita Travels or for loss or damage resulting from insufficient, or improperly issued passports, visas or other documents, and that Bella Vita Travels assumes no liability sustained or incurred by a trip member as a result of any foreign causes and is not liable for defaults or breach of contract of those persons, suppliers, or companies not directly under the control of Bella Vita Travels. In some exceptions, Bella Vita Travels may host an excursion or activity, and the same acceptance applies to the client.

Valid through February 28, 2022