Please read the following information and confirm your acceptance at the bottom of the page.
Note that tours organized on short notice may require earlier deposit and payment dates than those described below.
Once a price quote has been accepted, registrations and the per person deposit are required from each tour participant.
Reservations for Private tours under $10,000 per person require a deposit of $500 per person. Tours over $10,000 per person require a deposit of $1000. $250 of the deposit is non-refundable upon receipt but may be transferred to a replacement participant should one be found.
An information packet containing a full itinerary, general information, and prospective bird list will be sent to the participants (or tour organizer, depending on how the communication was originally set up) when registration and deposit have been received. WINGS private tours are quoted as a cash price and full payment is only accepted by check, ACH, bank transfer, or money order. However we do accept MasterCard or Visa for online payment of the initial deposit for most private tours.
WINGS will issue an invoice for the remainder of the tour balance 120 days before departure, with full payment due and non-refundable 98 days before tour departure.
When full payment has been received from everyone in the group, WINGS will send a notice of tour confirmation to each participant (or the tour organizer) which will include details for arrival and departure, visa letters (if needed), and a request for the participants’ flight information.
Thirty days before departure the participants (or the tour organizer) will be sent a Final Information packet which includes a full participant list, field checklists and luggage tags for each participant.
WINGS highly recommends that you purchase travel insurance for your tour. Such insurance offers protection from trip cancellation, interruption, illness, and other unforeseen circumstances. Keep in mind that some providers have time restrictions around purchasing for various coverages, such as pre-existing conditions, so we recommend contacting your travel insurance provider soon after your tour registration to find out their policies.
For your convenience, we can recommend travel protection through Travelex Insurance Services. For more information on the available plans or to enroll, click here or contact Travelex Insurance Services at 800-228-9792 and reference location number 03-0082.
For UK-specific companies, a couple of good options are P J Hayman & Company Ltd (www.pjhayman.com) or Staysure (www.staysure.co.uk).
Please contact your insurance agency with any insurance-specific questions.
Some of our tours require the purchase of travel insurance. Your Tour Manager will be in communication with you if this is the case.
Our tours are carefully planned but sometimes circumstances beyond our control require us to make significant changes after a tour has been published on the WINGS website. If such changes, for example in itinerary or primary leadership, are necessary before a tour has been confirmed to run (98 days before tour departure for private tours, unless otherwise specified), participants will be informed and may withdraw from the tour without penalty.
If significant changes occur after the 98 day time frame listed above, but before the private tour has departed, it will be WINGS' decision whether or not we can run the tour successfully. Participants may withdraw without penalty only if they have WINGS written agreement. If WINGS decides the tour cannot be run successfully, the tour price will be refunded.
If significant changes to itinerary or mode of operation are forced upon us while a tour is in progress—for example, by an airline strike, weather delay, or political crisis—WINGS will adjust the tour to the new realities as best it can but other than for its leaders and staff, WINGS is not responsible for the additional costs. These costs, if any, are a participant expense and will be invoiced after the tour concludes. Please note that tour leaders may make itinerary adjustments during the course of their tours if local conditions warrant.
Note that in the event of cancellation by WINGS, clients are responsible for cancellation penalties for their own travel arrangements (flights, etc.).
Restrictions on participation are a matter of common sense. If you have experienced any sort of health symptoms within 3-5 days of the tour departure (fever, coughing, sore throat or other symptom that is not conducive to healthy travel) it is strongly recommended to see a doctor prior to traveling to ensure your own health and safety and that of others while on tour. Notify the WINGS Office/Tour Manager of your current situation as well so we can be aware of precautions you have taken prior to going on tour.
The tour organizer must advise WINGS if in detail and in writing of any health problem or any physical limitation that may hamper or restrict a participant's full involvement in any aspect of the tour, or about which we should be aware for your safety (for example, walking difficulties, diabetes, asthma, angina, and so on), please advise us in detail and in writing at the time you reserve space. We will provide any information that you or your doctor may need to judge your capacity to participate fully in the tour, and we may request a physician’s letter indicating that you are healthy enough to participate on the tour. We do not normally program strenuous physical exercise, but if it cannot be avoided, the fact is made explicit in the tour description and in the General Information sheets for the tour.
Participants should be able to complete moderate walks of up to a couple miles, ride in any seat in tour vehicles (and be able to enter/exit vehicles on their own), and meet the simple schedule of the tour. We reserve the right to send home persons unable or unwilling to conduct themselves in a manner compatible with the satisfactory operation of the tour.
Please note that we do not allow the collecting of plants or animals during any tour.
Should circumstances beyond the control of WINGS force WINGS to cancel the private tour, WINGS will work with its suppliers to recover as much of the tour cost as possible for tour participants.