What Is The Cancellation Policy For Kailash Yatra? 

Undertaking Kailash Mansarovar Yatra is indeed, an expensive trip to the mountains. The total cost of it can be justified as the journey includes visits to multiple countries. A tour operator has to make required arrangements for all the pilgrims who have made bookings for Kailash Yatra. Still, one of the common concerns that a lot of travelers ask about is about the cancellation policy of the bookings made. Clearly, these policies may vary from one travel service provider to another, and depend on a number of factors. So, it is important for every tourist who is willing to do Kailash Yatra to know about the cancellation policy of the travel agent chosen to make the bookings.

In general, certain aspects of the cancellation policy of Kailash Yatra are the same, irrespective of the travel agent chosen. Some of them are detailed below:

Initial Booking Amount 

In most cases, the chosen tour operator will ask for a certain percentage of the total booking cost of Kailash Yatra per person from the pilgrims. In case the travelers need to cancel the bookings made and ask for the paid amount back, a certain proportion of the money will get deducted before refunding. This deduction is done at the sole discretion of the chosen tour operator. 

On the other hand, the tour operator also reserves the right to cancel the bookings made by a traveler, if he does not pay the full booking amount on time. Another consequence of such a situation will be the forfeiture of the advance amount paid  to the tour operator.

Tour Transfer

In some situations, some travelers need to transfer the originally booked tour on a specific date or time, to some other tour plan. This may be treated as a cancellation of an earlier tour plan, as per the cancellation policy of the chosen tour operator. This implies that fresh bookings are to be made for another tour. Tour tariffs or discounts with respect to the chosen time for fresh booking will be considered only, irrespective of the previous offers.

Minimum Bookings for Kailash Yatra to Commence

A tour operator has the right to decide the minimum number of travelers to be booked at least for the Kailash tour to commence at the scheduled time. If the number of bookings made has less travelers than required, then the tour operator also has the right to cancel the tour. In such an event, he will return the initial booking amount paid to him back to the travelers after deducting the taxes, if any.

Other than this, in the event if the tour operator has to decide to cancel the tour, he will inform the travelers at least seven to ten days before the commencement of the journey. In this case, the total amount gets refunded timely to the travelers.

Visa Requirements, If Any

Since Kailash Yatra requires an individual to visit multiple countries, he may require a valid VISA to visit the countries that lie as a part of the journey. The tour operators from which an individual gets the bookings made can guide him for Visa documentation or similar other formalities. He will be charged the Visa fees at the rate prevailing on the date of submission of his documents to the foreign embassies. Despite submitting all required documents, it is the sole discretion of the foreign embassy of a country to grant the individual a Visa. Generally, no tour operator can help an individual in case the Visa is not granted. 

In such situations, if an individual cancels the bookings made to a tour operator, his cancellation policy becomes applicable as per the situation.

Cancellation Charges When Full Advance Payment Has Been Made

Some tour operators ask for the complete payment of the Kailash Yatra to be made in advance, as per the schedule of the journey. To entertain the situations of booking cancellations, they have made their own rules, as per the number of days remaining before the departure at the time of receiving cancellation request.

In case, a traveler does not reach the destined place at the time of departure without prior notice, no money is generally refunded. 

The Bottom Line

The cancellation charges related to Kailash Yatra mostly come up into notice, in case an individual has to cancel the bookings made, or the entire has to be canceled because of some natural calamity. To some people, the cancellation policies of the chosen tour operator may sound unreasonable. This is the reason why people are advised to ask about the cancellation policies of the chosen tour operator in advance. By keeping it a part of the checklist to be followed while planning to undertake Kailash Yatra, it is important for every traveler or pilgrim to be aware about the cancellation policies and related costs to be borne by him.