Investing in your student’s travel is an investment that lasts a lifetime

Remain confident that your investment is protected, even in unpredictable times.

Academic Expeditions’ Guaranteed Refund Program ensures you can receive the maximum refund possible if needing to cancel travel.

BUILT-IN PROTECTION

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PEACE OF MIND

Our Guaranteed Refund Program is exceptional within the industry.

Your initial deposit not only secures your place on the trip, it also purchases on your behalf a built-in travel insurance policy from Trip Mate that provides 100% trip refunds for listed covered reasons.

On top of that, our Guaranteed Refund Program ensures you receive the maximum refund possible if needing to cancel travel for any reason at all.

HOW DOES AE’S GUARANTEED REFUND PROGRAM WORK?

Choose the Cancel For Any Reason add-on when registering for your trip.

Our company cancellation terms combined with CFAR coverage results in optimal protection on your travel investment. It works like this: if for any reason you or your group needs to cancel travel, the amount retained (AE’s terms combined with the CFAR benefit) is based on the total trip cost, minus the nonrefundable CFAR premium. All remaining payments will be refunded, no questions asked.

Want to know exactly how much will you be refunded? See below.

Bus Groups

In the event that the trip is cancelled or you yourself decide to not travel, the amount we retain for cancellation will be based on the table below. The remainder of the total you paid (excluding the CFAR insurance premium) will be refunded to you, no questions asked.

Flight Groups

The above policy relates to cancellations for any reason, or no reason at all, and applies to individuals as well as group cancellations.

If your cancellation or trip interruption is for a specific reason, such as a medical issue or an unexpected family emergency, then you may qualify for a full refund on all monies paid. Please contact us(opens in a new tab) with any cancellation requests to help determine whether your specific scenario qualifies as a listed covered reason. For details on this plan and its conditions, please visit our Insurance(opens in a new tab) page.

HOW DO I JOIN AE’S GUARANTEED REFUND PROGRAM?

Easy! Opt for CFAR coverage when registering travelers for your trip.

If you forgot to select the CFAR box when registering, no worries.

Simply contact us and we can help you enroll within 14 days of registration.

*Note: This program cannot be extended to residents of New York. This is because Trip Mate doesn’t offer Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR) coverage to New York (NY) residents. With the Standard Travel Protection plan included on all trips, New York residents are still eligible for a trip cancellation benefit if prevented from traveling due to a specific qualifying reason, such as a documented medical issue or an unexpected emergency. For details, please visit our Insurance(opens in a new tab) page.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Your enrollment in AE’s Guaranteed Refund Program is all that is required to ensure you receive the maximum refund possible. With the Travel Protection Plan included in your trip price plus Cancel For Any Reason add-on, you have the best coverage to receive the maximum refund possible in the event of a cancellation.

This all depends on the reason for cancellation:

If canceling for a listed covered reason, then yes! You may receive 100% refund.
If canceling for any other reason, you can receive an average of 80-95% in refunds by opting for the CFAR coverage.
If you choose not to enroll in our Guaranteed Refund Program (that is, you don’t select CFAR within 14 days of registering for the trip), refunds are subject to our cancellation terms.

*Please note that insurance premiums are nonrefundable.

You are protected on both the group and individual levels regarding cancellations for ANY REASON.

You are protected on both the group and individual levels regarding cancellations for ANY REASON. Specific listed covered reasons may qualify for full reimbursement. Please contact us with all cancellation requests. We guarantee you’ll receive the maximum refund that your reason for cancellation allows.

Our partnership with Trip Mate is unique in the student travel industry. Following spring 2020 cancellations due to the global pandemic, we worked closely with Trip Mate to review and enhance procedures to better streamline the claim filing process, speed up the reimbursement timeline, and reduce paperwork to guarantee you receive the maximum refund as quickly as possible.

Refund percentages are based around nonrefundable payments placed on the group’s behalf. Group airfare deposits become nonrefundable starting at 90 days prior to departure, hence the slightly “earlier” timeline for groups traveling by air versus land.

Many tour operators offer dates for pre-arranged departures and trips with little or no say in how a trip is organized… Not us. Rather than provide the same expeditions to everyone, we recognize that different groups have different needs and desires. We work with you to create your own tailor-made trip that feels right and works well for your group, offering our expert knowledge and advice to help guide your decision-making. Academic Expeditions develops each tour from the ground up and customizes as much as the client wishes. We feel this is the way that fulfilling travel should be.

Read more about how group travel booking works from the Student and Youth Travel Association (SYTA).

Guaranteed Refund Program