Cancellation Policy

1. Overview

Your cancellation rights depend on the booking type selected at checkout.

Visit Socotra currently offers:

• Non-Refundable
• Flexible

The fare selected at the time of booking determines the applicable refund conditions.

2. Full Payment

Standard public Visit Socotra bookings require full payment at checkout.

There is no standard deposit-and-balance option for these bookings.

3. Non-Refundable Fare

The Non-Refundable Fare provides the lower expedition price in exchange for strict cancellation terms.

Once a Non-Refundable booking has been confirmed, the expedition fare is non-refundable.

This applies regardless of how far in advance the traveller cancels.

No refund is normally due for:

• voluntary cancellation;
• change of personal plans;
• missed flights;
• late arrival;
• no-show;
• failure to obtain required documents;
• passport problems;
• visa refusal;
• inability to travel for personal reasons; or
• failure to meet entry requirements.

Where reasonably possible, Visit Socotra may consider a change of departure date or another solution, but this is discretionary and subject to availability and additional costs.

4. Flexible Fare

The Flexible Fare provides cancellation flexibility according to the following schedule:

• 90 days or more before departure: 90% refund
• 60 to 89 days before departure: 50% refund
• Less than 60 days before departure: No refund

For cancellations made 90 days or more before departure, Visit Socotra retains 10% of the expedition fare as an administrative and booking processing fee.

No additional general processing percentage will be deducted from the refundable expedition fare beyond the cancellation percentage stated above, unless a bank, payment processor, or third-party provider charges a separate non-recoverable fee.

5. Calculation of Cancellation Date

The cancellation date is the date on which Visit Socotra receives a valid written cancellation request.

Submitting a request does not by itself guarantee a refund.

The request must be reviewed against:

• booking type;
• departure date;
• amounts paid;
• services already purchased;
• third-party commitments; and
• applicable cancellation tier.

6. Non-Refundable Components

Even where the expedition fare qualifies for a refund, the following may remain non-refundable where already paid, issued, committed, or charged:

• visa fees;
• government fees;
• permits;
• drone permits;
• flight tickets;
• hotel penalties;
• supplier cancellation charges;
• bank charges;
• payment gateway charges; and
• other third-party costs.

7. Add-ons

Refundability of optional add-ons depends on whether the service has already been purchased or committed.

Unused services that have not yet created a third-party cost may be refundable at Visit Socotra's discretion.

Government permits and fees already issued are generally non-refundable.

8. Visa Refusal

Visa approval is controlled by the relevant authorities.

A visa refusal does not override the cancellation terms of the selected fare.

Visa or processing fees already incurred may be non-refundable.

9. Flight Disruption

Flights are generally separate from the expedition package.

Airline cancellation, schedule changes, missed connections, or other flight disruption do not automatically cancel the Visit Socotra expedition booking.

We will reasonably assist affected travellers with available alternatives, but additional costs may apply.

10. No-Show

A traveller who fails to arrive for the expedition without an approved cancellation or change is treated as a no-show.

No-show bookings are non-refundable.

11. Traveller Substitution

A request to transfer a booking to another traveller may be considered where legally and operationally possible.

Approval depends on:

• visa status;
• passport information;
• airline arrangements;
• permits;
• supplier commitments; and
• the timing of the request.

Additional costs may apply.

12. Date Changes

A date change is not automatically guaranteed under either fare.

Where approved, the traveller may need to pay:

• fare differences;
• new permit or visa fees;
• hotel penalties;
• supplier charges; or
• other costs created by the change.

13. Cancellation by Visit Socotra

If Visit Socotra cancels an expedition and no suitable alternative can be provided, we will determine the appropriate remedy based on the circumstances.

This may include:

• rebooking;
• transferring the booking;
• travel credit; or
• refunding recoverable amounts.

Any third-party costs that cannot be recovered may be excluded where legally permitted.

14. Force Majeure

If travel becomes impossible or materially affected by circumstances beyond our reasonable control, we may reschedule, reroute, postpone, or cancel an expedition.

We will make reasonable efforts to recover unused supplier payments.

However, we cannot guarantee recovery of amounts already paid to third parties.

15. Refund Method

Approved refunds are normally returned through the original payment method where possible.

The customer's bank or payment provider may require additional processing time after Visit Socotra has initiated the refund.

16. Refund Processing Time

Approved refunds are processed as soon as reasonably practicable after review.

Bank, card, PayPal, or payment-gateway settlement times are outside Visit Socotra's control.

17. Travel Insurance

Travellers are strongly encouraged to obtain insurance covering cancellation and interruption.

Where a loss is covered by insurance, the traveller may be required to make a claim directly with the insurer.

18. Contact

Cancellation requests should be submitted through the customer account where available or sent in writing to:

hello@visit-socotra.com