Terms and Conditions
This document outlines what Ultimate Italy Tours agrees to provide when you sign up
for a tour, and what you agree to do in return. This is very important information, so
please read it carefully before you complete your reservation request.
Tour price guarantee: Our tour prices do not include airfare, and are subject to change without notice due to the unpredictability of currency rates and trip costs. However, your price for the tour you've selected will be locked and guaranteed the moment we receive your deposit. For current tour prices, visit www.ultimateitalytours.com/p/tours
Included in the price of each tour: Sightseeing tours by an Ultimate Italy Tour guide, and local guides for sight specific knowledge, including admissions to sights seen as a group; all breakfasts and most of your lunches and dinners; accommodations each night, often in family-run hotels in the historic heart of each city; all transportation from the first hotel to the last hotel of the tour (does not include optional activities or independent travel during the tour); all Ultimate Italy Tour guide, local guide and driver tips; and an international outlet adapter.
Itineraries are subject to change: Europe is full of surprises and we need to be flexible enough to take advantage of whatever comes along so that we may provide you with the best possible tour. Uncompleted portions of the tour itinerary are not cause for refund.
Tour payments: To reserve a seat on an Ultimate Italy Tour you must agree to these Tour Conditions and provide us with a deposit of $500 per person. We accept MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover for all tour payments. Note: we cannot accept credit card information via email. Your final tour payment is due in our office at least 60 days prior to the start of the tour, in one payment please. Please mark your final payment due date on your calendar. The due date is listed on your initial confirmation letter and tour invoice. Missing the final payment deadline may result in your being removed from the tour! If you sign up for a tour less than 60 days before its departure, the entire tour price must be paid, and the deposit portion is non-refundable.
Solo travelers and single supplements: If you are traveling solo, you need not pay the mandatory single supplement often required by other tour companies. You will most likely room with another tour member of the same sex. If you wish to guarantee a private room, we offer a limited number for an additional single supplement fee on some tours. This will not guarantee a larger or "nicer" room, as European single-bed rooms are generally the smallest and most basic rooms the hotel has to offer. Please refer to individual tour itineraries for the most up-to-date tour and single supplement prices. Single supplements are refundable if cancelled at least 60 days prior to tour departure; those cancelled later will be forfeited.
If a payment to Ultimate Italy Tours is returned unpaid for any reason, we will assess a $35 returned item fee per occurrence. The fee(s) will be added to the applicable tour balance, and be required to be paid in full prior to your tour departure.
Transferring to another tour: Change in plans? Up to 60 days prior to your tour's departure, you can transfer to any other tour in the same year with seats available, applying your existing deposit and with no transfer fee. If you transfer to a different departure date for the same itinerary, your initial tour price will be honored. If you transfer to a different tour itinerary, that tour's price, effective on the date we confirm your tour transfer, will be applied. Transfers less than 60 days before your tour's departure may not be possible.
Cancellations and refunds: All deposits are 100% refundable for two weeks from the day received. After these dates, deposits are not refundable for any reason and will be forfeited if you cancel your tour reservation. All cancellations must be sent to the Tour Department via email to [email protected], or to Tour Department, 718 Kirkland Circle, B101, Kirkland, WA 98033, and will be effective on the date received by Ultimate Italy Tours. For exact refunds on full payments go to https://www.ultimateitalytours.com/pages/payment-policy
Ultimate Italy Tours strongly encourages all tour members to purchase separate travel insurance to cover possible additional costs (airline tickets, loss of luggage, trip delay, medical evacuation, etc.). Please note that travel insurance companies often require insurance be purchased within two weeks of your initial tour confirmation date to include coverage for pre-existing conditions.
If we cancel a tour you have reserved, the entire amount you have paid to Ultimate Italy Tours for the applicable tour will be refunded to you within 14 days after the tour's cancellation, as required under Washington State law. Or, you may choose to transfer to another tour with seats available (see "Transferring to another tour," above). Once this occurs, Ultimate Italy Tours and its representatives have no other obligations to tour members on cancelled trips including any additional costs or fees related to the issuance and/or cancellation of airline tickets or other travel reservations not made by Ultimate Italy Tours.
Tour forms, obligations, and risks: To travel on a tour, all tour members are required to sign and return a Release and Waiver Agreement and a Tour Member Participation Agreement prior to the beginning of a tour. Any pre-existing physical, mental, or emotional disability that may require attention or treatment must be reported prior to the beginning of a tour. Omitting important information, or altering the Release and Waiver Agreement, will render it invalid, and could result in expulsion from a tour at your own expense. Please understand that to keep costs down, and because it may be unobtainable in any event, Ultimate Italy Tours has no protection coverage beyond the basic package included in the tour price to protect itself, the actions of its employees, or tour participants themselves, and that tour members intentionally assume the many risks inherent in European travel.
Participation: Although we want everyone to have a good time, it sometimes happens that someone participating in a tour can misbehave or do things that are incompatible with the safety, comfort or convenience of other members of the tour. In those circumstances we have the exclusive right and discretion, to expel someone (even you) from a tour at any time, without any claims or complaints by you against us.
All Ultimate Italy Tours tours are physically active: This is an integral, essential part of our touring style. Get in shape before you leave for Italy! On any Ultimate Italy Tours tour you should be capable of fully and happily participating — without any assistance — in the following levels of activity:
- Carry or roll your own luggage for up to 20 minutes over uneven pavement from the transportation to the hotel, then haul it up as many as five flights of stairs to reach your room.
- Be comfortable on your feet for up to four hours walking and standing, both inside museums and outdoors in all weather conditions such as hot sun and rain.
- Sleep with no (or inadequate) air conditioning and street noise in some hotels.
- After orientation and transportation lessons, be able to navigate towns and cities on your own.
You Must Pack Light: Each tour member is allowed to bring just one airline-carry-on-size bag or roll-aboard (approx. 21"x 14"x 9") plus a small day pack or shoulder bag. You will always carry your own bags from the transportation to your room, which may include carrying it up several flights of steep stairs or walking 15 - 20 minutes to the hotel. Your pre- tour handbook includes tips for packing light and creatively.
No smoking is allowed in hotel rooms or during group meals. Smokers may smoke only outdoors and downwind from the group.
The information provided during the tour is for your own personal enjoyment and not for professional use. Recording guide lectures for professional purposes and soliciting business from tour members while on tour or afterward is strictly prohibited.