Booking a tailor-made itinerary with Expert Africa
All of Expert Africa's trips are flexible and tailor-made to suit our travellers. We believe in giving you full and detailed information about the options available, so that you can make the right decisions.Most of our travellers prefer to book a full "tailor-made itinerary" with us. This means that we arrange everything for a substantial section of your trip - which in practice is often your whole holiday, from start to finish.
By booking your whole holiday with us, you can take advantage of:
- Guaranteed no currency surcharges: once you have booked a trip with us, the price stays the same, no matter how the currency markets change before you travel.
- Our expert advice: we don't own any properties in Africa so our team can guide you with impartial advice, then you make the decisions about your trip.
- All our trips are fully-bonded: giving you complete peace of mind. (Even if we fail, your holiday will not - see Our Guarantee page for details of our bonding).
- We have offices around the world: in New Zealand, South Africa and Namibia, collectively offering round-the-clock support to our travellers while they are in Africa.
By contrast, if you want to book just a few nights somewhere with us, perhaps with a transfer or two, we'll see this as a "trip element". If that's what you're considering, then take a look at Booking a trip element with Expert Africa for details.
Planning your holiday itinerary
When we start on a tailor-made itinerary, we'll usually talk to you about the kind of travel you enjoy, perhaps with reference to our brochure or this website. Then we'll use our specialist knowledge to guide you to the best options, which may include one of our Trip Ideas if these are close to what you're looking for.To help you refine your ideas, we'll discuss carefully with you the pros and cons of the options that we suggest. We won't rush these discussions, as a clear understanding of the options at this stage is vital if you're going to make the right decisions about your trip.
Itineraries and free quotes
When we arrive at an itinerary that looks promising, we'll send you a free quote. This will detail your proposed trip and any flights we have discussed, noting inclusions, exclusions and a precise cost in your choice of GB pounds, US dollars, South African rand or euros. We'll then leave you to think about it before getting in touch again. We will never pressurise you!Once you've had time to consider the proposals, we'll encourage you to discuss the trip further with us, and perhaps look at any variations that might suit you better. If you then want to alter the trip plan or budget, we'll send you further free written quotes for the revised trips. In fact, we'll do as many of these as you like - but eventually we'll aim to arrive at one that you're happy with!
Exchange rates
We base our quotes in the currency of your choice (GB pounds, US dollars, South African rand or euros), using the exchange rates of the day when the quote is produced. We will honour each quote for seven days, though once any booking is confirmed there will be no changes in cost due to currency fluctuations.Places that we don't feature
Very occasionally a traveller will request time at a place that we don't know and don't feature. If it's a small part of a larger trip, then we'll normally be happy to incorporate this - but we can't take any responsibility for any of its shortcomings.Making a booking
When you have a quote for a trip that you are happy with, and want to go ahead and book it, we'll ask you to send us a completed booking form with a deposit. (Please read our Make a payment page before you make a deposit payment to us.) This deposit is normally held on file, without being processed, whilst we complete your reservations.Because of the time it takes to communicate with many of our suppliers in Africa, we don't make overseas bookings without a signed booking form and a deposit.
Confirming your booking
We'll work swiftly to confirm your bookings and slot everything into place, but communications aren't easy for some of our suppliers - especially those in very remote corners - so this can take anything from a day to a few weeks.If anything on your itinerary isn't available, we will call you to discuss possible alternatives. If you choose higher-cost substitutes, then the price of your trip will increase; if you choose lower-cost alternatives, then it will decrease. Ask us and we'll always do our best to explain the choices, and the pros and cons of the various options. Normally, between our knowledge of Africa, and your knowledge of what you enjoy, we can plan a great trip. However, if you don't like what we suggest then you can cancel at any point and we will return your deposit.
Only when all the reservations have been confirmed for a trip that you are happy with will we process your deposit and issue you with a confirmation invoice.
Changes after booking
Once we have issued your confirmation invoice, we will absorb most price increases (the main exceptions being airline charges and government action), giving you peace of mind that the price shouldn't change. Unlike many other travel companies, we promise not to change our prices as the result of currency movements.In the very unlikely event that something has to change on your itinerary (e.g. if a hotel/lodge burns down, or a flight is cancelled), we will do our best to contact you to discuss alternative options before making alternative arrangements for you.
If you need to change or cancel this booking, note that it will be subject to our normal Booking conditions.
Balance payment, ticket dispatch and late bookings
The balance of your account is usually due 10 weeks before your departure. For bookings within this period we require the full amount to be paid immediately on confirmation. (Please read our Make a payment page before you make any payment to us.)Your tickets, vouchers and a final information pack will normally be sent out eight weeks before you leave. This will usually be by first-class mail within the UK, or by airmail if overseas, to the address on your invoice. If this address changes after you have booked, but before you travel, please advise us immediately.
