Booking, Payment & Cancellation

The short version: on most of our tours you pay nothing until the day itself, and if you can’t come, nothing is charged. On a small number of tours the operator requires a deposit or full payment in advance — that requirement, and its cancellation terms, are stated on the tour’s own page before you book.

How does payment work?

Most of our tours are pay-on-the-day. You book, we reserve your place with the local operator, and you pay when you’re on the tour. No prepayment, no card details, no deposit. The price you see when you book is the price you pay — once a booking is confirmed, it is never increased.

A smaller number of tours require money in advance, in one of two forms:

Deposit — a fixed amount per traveller is paid when you book, and the rest on the tour day. The amount is stated on the tour page.

Full payment — the whole price is paid when you book, and nothing is collected on the day.

Every tour page states which of the three applies, together with the amount and the cancellation terms, before you book. If a tour page says nothing about advance payment, that tour is pay-on-the-day.

How you pay on the day varies by tour: some operators accept cards, some take cash only, and a few add a card fee. Each tour page states which payment methods that operator accepts, so you know before you go. Where a tour page doesn’t state it, bring cash — it is accepted everywhere.

Why do some tours need payment in advance?

Because on those tours, we pay the operator whether you arrive or not.

When a balloon basket is reserved in your name, or a limited boat holds seats for your family, that place is bought the moment it is booked. If you don’t come, the operator still invoices us in full. The deposit doesn’t cover that loss — it’s simply a sign that you’re really coming, and it lets us keep offering these tours without asking everyone to prepay.

Full payment is a different case: some operators don’t want to handle money with travellers at all. They work with us, they invoice us, and they’d rather we settle it. On those tours you pay us in advance and arrive with nothing left to sort out.

We tell you this plainly because the alternative — quietly asking for money and letting you wonder why — is how trust gets lost.

What if I need to cancel?

Pay-on-the-day tours: message us on WhatsApp or email info@bookfromlocals.com. Nothing is charged, nothing is owed, and no explanation is needed. We’d rather know in advance so the place can go to someone else, but there is no penalty either way.

Tours with a deposit or full payment: each tour page states its own cancellation window and what is refundable, because operators’ rules differ. Where a tour was paid in full, cancelling within the stated window is refunded in full. Deposits are generally not refunded — the place was reserved and paid for on your behalf.

What if I don’t show up?

Nothing is charged. On pay-on-the-day tours there is no fee, no invoice and no follow-up demand for money. We may message you to check you’re alright and to ask whether you’d like to rebook — that’s all.

We can do this because our whole system runs on mutual trust: we trust you to come, you trust us not to hold your money. It costs us something when it goes wrong, and we’ve decided that’s a better business than one built on penalties.

What if you cancel or move my tour?

You choose: a full refund, or an alternative date. We’ll ask you on WhatsApp and do whichever you prefer.

Departures are cancelled or moved for three main reasons: weather and sea conditions, safety decisions by the operator, or — on group tours in low season — too few guests booked for the departure to run. When that happens we tell you as early as we know, and the choice is always yours.

What if the weather changes on the day?

Boat trips, balloon flights, paragliding and rafting all depend on conditions, and operators cancel them for safety, not convenience. If your tour is cancelled for weather, the same rule applies: full refund, or another date — your choice.

If a tour goes ahead but part of the route changes because of conditions, road closures or site closures, the operator adjusts the programme. If something substantial that you paid for could not be delivered, tell us and we will put it right.

How and when do refunds arrive?

Card refunds are issued the same day. The money usually appears in your account within 3–5 working days, depending on your bank — that part is between the banks and outside our control.

Refunds are always returned by the method you paid with.

How do I reach you?

WhatsApp is the fastest way, and it’s where we do most of our work. Holidays don’t run on email: if a pickup is late, if the sea turns, if you want to move a tour to tomorrow, you need an answer in minutes. Our team replies in English, German, Russian and Turkish.

Email: info@bookfromlocals.com — for anything that needs a written record, including complaints.

How are complaints handled?

Write to info@bookfromlocals.com with your voucher number and what happened. Complaints are answered within 48 hours.

We keep our booking records and message history, and we read them before we reply — so tell us plainly what went wrong and we’ll check it against what we actually promised you. Where we were at fault, we say so; where an operator failed to deliver what we sold, we take it up with them. We have ended relationships with operators over exactly that.