Frequently Asked Questions about Southeast Asia Tours
1. What is your service for private tours like?
2. How to plan my Indochina trip with you?
3. If I want to cancel my trip, how should I do and get the refund?
4. What is the latest time that I can make my reservation?
5. Can you buy international flight tickets for us?
6. Do children get discounts?
7. Is money needed if I want to change my itinerary?
8. How do I get a visa?
9. Do our tour guides and drivers have meals with us?
10. Do you offer any discounts if we have many people in our group?
11. Can we get a tour guide who can speak our language?
12. Where can I change our money into Indochina currency?
13. Do I need to bring my medical record with me?
14. When I finish my tour in Indochina, if I still have some local money, what can I do?
15. Do I need to take out travel insurance for my trip?
16. Am I expected to leave gratuities?
1. What is your service for private tours like?
We offer different kinds of tours including: Package tours elaborately designed by our travel experts features with scheduled tour routes & itineraries, quotations. All these tours are fully guided tour packages, namely, a professional tours guide who can speak your language and a private car with experienced driver in each city will be at your service during your China stay. From the starting city to the last stop, they will take good care of you, providing service as follows: airport/train pick-up, guided tour, airport/train seeing off. Exceptions that you have to do tours with others are in river cruises, such as Halong Bay cruise in Vietnam, Chao Phraya River cruise in Thailand, etc..
It means all the tour packages we have on our website are flexible, tailored to meet your special interests. We understand people are different, so are their requirements for their own tours, to design a perfect and personalized tour for you according to your own special interests by co-working with you is always our goal.
You can always just send us an email telling us your own interests, which places you want to go, what you want to see and what you want to do, let our tour consultants tailor-make a special tour plan for you for a special tour experience in your life.
2. How to plan my Indochina trip with you?
1) Send us an inquiry by filling in one of our online forms. Tell us when you wish to come, how many days, where you want to go, how many people, and any other information which is necessary for us to plan a perfect Indochina tour for you.
2) After we receive your inquiry, one of our professional Indochina travel consultants will send you a tailor-made itinerary or give you a proposal.
3) You can discuss your itinerary with your consultant till you are satisfied with it, please confirm that you would like to book with us while you are satisfied with the itinerary and accept the quotation, and then send passport information for bookings.
4). You need to pay some deposit per person to secure the booking and we will make all the reservation according to your tour itinerary immediately after we receive your deposit. The deposit is 30% of the total amount. We will send you a receipt after the receipt of money confirmed. Balance required 30days before your departure date to start your tour.
5) How can I pay you the money?
a. PayPal;
b. credit card;
c. Wire transfer (bank transfer).
Detailed payment guide will be sent to you via email by your travel consultant.
3. If I want to cancel my trip, how should I do and get the refund?
We would feel sorry if you decided to cancel your trip, however, we realize that the majority do so out of necessity. If you must cancel your trip, please submit your cancellation form. Cancellation refunds will be calculated as of the date we receive your written cancellation.All payments for travel services not provided to the passenger shall be refunded in accordance with these Terms and Conditions and in accordance with Indochina Odyssey's cancellation policy:
The period before departure when cancellation is notified | Cancellation fee |
No less than 30 days before departing | 100% refund less a $100 administration fee per person |
Between 30 to 15 days before departing | 100% refund less a $200 administration fee per person |
Between 14 to 7 days before departing | 30% of full package price |
Between 6 to 1 days before departing | 50% of full package price |
Please note:
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4. What is the latest time that I can make my reservation?
We suggest you make reservations at least one month before the departure date. If you decide to travel to Indochina in December or January (February in Vietnam) which is peak season, we recommend you make the reservations two months (at least one) before your departure date. Late reservations can not be guaranteed for the availability of domestic flights, hotel rooms, etc.However, we DO accept late reservations, if your reservation is very late, we suggest you call us directly by telephone, we will try our best to help you arrange your tour.
5. Can you buy international flight tickets for us?
Yes, we do. Indochina Odyssey Tours has established a sound relationship with airline companies since our foundation. We provide flight routes to connect China and Indochina with more than 30 countries around the world. Please tell us your depart city and date, we consider every detail in your long distance travel, then give you comfortable flight routes connecting and best quotation.
6. Do children get discounts?
It depends upon the age of your children:
1) Any children over the age of 12(includes 12) is considered as an adult by the travel agency and hotel industry, thus will no longer get any discount.
2) Children who are under 12 (excludes 12) years old can get 50% discount for flight booking. For hotel booking, stay for free in their parent's room using the existing bedding, Breakfast and requirement for an extra bed will incur an extra charge.
3) Children no more than 2 years old pay only 10% for the flight booking. Free baby cot for baby in the hotels as long as baby cot available in a hotel.
7. Is money needed if I want to change my itinerary?
1) Before your booking is confirmed, alterations to your itinerary are happily processed free of charge, because providing the best tour possible for you is our goal.
2) Alterations after you have received your booking confirmation letter will incur a fee of $25.00 per request, and changes to departure date or destination may incur cancellation fees. All changes are subject to availability and cannot be guaranteed.
Notes: IOT reserves the right to modify the itinerary of your tour if air schedule or surface transportation changes, and/or events beyond its control make such alterations necessary. In this event, any of the increase or reduction of the tour cost will be calculated and charged/ refunded accordingly. If it is you who request the changes to your tour, then you will be required to pay any additional cost in advance.
8. How do I get a visa?
It will be very easy for you to obtain an Indochina Visa to travel in Indochina, which usually will allow you to stay within Indochina for one month.
If you are from the United States of America or Canada, you have several options of obtaining an Indochina Visa:
1) contact the Indochina National Tourist Office in New York or Los Angeles, or
2) contact your travel agent or visa services
3) or you can contact us. We can give you detailed instruction to help you process your visa application after you booked your tour to Indochina with us.
If you are not from US or Canada, please inquire with your nearest Indochina embassies or consulates, or contact with us, we can help anyone with a valid passport to process applications for an Indochina visa.
9. Do our tour guides and drivers have meals with us?
The guide and the driver in each destination will not join your meals unless you invite them.
10. Do you offer any discounts if we have many people in our group?
Yes, our quotation is based on the size of the group, which can be divided into four categories as: 1 person, 2-5 persons, 6-9 persons, 10 or over 10 persons, the more people in your group, the more discounts can you have.
Private tour to solo traveler will be very expensive, therefore we do suggest solo traveler think of coming with friend or family, if it is possible for you to get a companion.
11. Can we get a tour guide who can speak our language?
We mainly have English speaking guides, but we also have guides speaking other foreign languages such as German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Italian and etc. When you book the tour, please let us know if you have else language requirement so that we can try to make the arrangement to meet your need.
12. Where can I change our money into Indochina currency?
You can exchange traveler's checks or cash at most banks in Indochina. To change money, you have to have your passport at hand. If you want to change money in a hotel, you usually have to be a guest there. Sometimes if you are not a guest in a hotel but need to change money there, you can just say a random room number, but this doesn't always work.
Can I use credit cards in Indochina?
Major credit cards such as Master Card, Visa, Diner's Card, American Express and JCB can be used to purchase goods in large shopping malls and stores in the big and medium cities, to pay for hotel rooms and for meals in some of the fancier restaurants, and to buy plane tickets with them.
Note: If you are to travel to those small cities or even remote rural areas, only local currency can be used (but you can use US dollar in Cambodia, it is acceptable).
13. Do I need to bring my medical record with me?
Yes, we suggest you take your medical record with you in case that you need it in the event of an emergency, and please also take with you your doctor's name, address and phone number, emergency contact name and phone number, and your insurance company's name, address and phone number.
14. When I finish my tour in Indochina, if I still have some local money, what can I do?
Upon leaving Indochina, if you still have some local money, you can change them back to foreign currency with your passport and the exchange memos given by the banks or money exchange counters. So please keep those exchange memos well whenever you change money.
15. Do I need to take out travel insurance for my trip?
You must always ensure you are fully insured when traveling overseas, and we require all our clients to have suitable and adequate cover. Please check that your insurance includes covering cancellation fees in the instance you are forced to cancel your tour prior to departure due to unforeseen circumstances.
16. Am I expected to leave gratuities?
It would also be usual to give your tour guide and driver a tip at the end of the tour if he/she has done a good job. The amount is entirely at your discretion, and is not mandatory, but it is always much appreciated. Tipping is a custom in the countries.
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