This policy applies to every tour organised by Ha Giang Experts. It may be updated over time, but the version that applies to your booking is always the one in force at the moment Ha Giang Experts confirms it; later changes are never applied retroactively. Anything published previously, in any form, that conflicts with this page is no longer in effect.
The policy is drawn up in accordance with the Vietnamese Law on Tourism 2017 (No. 09/2017/QH14), the Civil Code 2015 and the Law on Protection of Consumer Rights 2023 (No. 19/2023/QH15).
1. TOUR PRICES
Prices may change with the market and with our suppliers’ rates. For bookings Ha Giang Experts has confirmed, the price is held until the tour ends. For bookings not yet confirmed, if the price changes we will tell you the new price before you decide; you are free not to proceed, and any money already paid is returned in full.
Ha Giang Experts does not make tours cheap by cutting services, and does not compete on price. What we quote is what it actually costs to deliver what we promised.
2. DEPOSIT
To hold your place you pay a deposit:
- 30% of the tour price — domestic tours of under 5 days
- 50% of the tour price — domestic tours of 5 days or more, and tailor-made tours
- 70% of the tour price — cross-border tours and tours taking place abroad
3. PAYMENT
The balance is due before departure:
- 7 days — domestic tours of under 5 days
- 30 days — domestic tours of 5 days or more, and tailor-made tours
- 45 days — cross-border tours and tours taking place abroad
If the deadline passes with no payment and no request from you for more time, Ha Giang Experts will remind you by email or message and allow a further 3 working days. If there is still no response, the booking is treated as a cancellation by you on that date, under section 6.3.
4. TOUR CONFIRMATION AND TRAVEL CONTRACT
As soon as your deposit arrives, Ha Giang Experts acknowledges it, collects the participant list and issues a signed and stamped Tour Confirmation within 2 working days. The two parties then sign the travel contract. The original can be posted to the address you give us, or signed when you arrive in Ha Giang, before departure.
5. MINIMUM GROUP SIZE
Some programmes only depart with a minimum number of participants, stated on the tour page. If that number is not reached, Ha Giang Experts will tell you at least 15 days before departure for domestic tours and 30 days for cross-border tours and tours abroad, and section 9 then applies.
6. IF YOU CANNOT TRAVEL — THREE OPTIONS
If you have booked and something prevents you from going, you do not have to cancel. Consider these in order: the first two keep more of your money.
6.1. Postpone — keep 100% of your money
Everything you have paid is held to your credit for 365 days from the original departure date. Within that time you may join any Ha Giang Experts tour, at that tour’s price on the day you confirm it; the difference is either added or returned to you. With good reason, the credit can be extended once by a further 365 days at your request.
If the credit period ends unused, you may ask for the balance back, less any actual non-recoverable costs supported by documents. Ha Giang Experts does not keep money you have not used.
6.2. Transfer your place — free of charge
You may pass your place to someone else at no charge, up to 7 days before departure for domestic tours and 21 days for cross-border tours and tours abroad (longer, because permits and visas are issued in individual names). You are responsible for telling that person about the programme, the conditions of participation and the tour’s terms; they must meet the conditions in section 15 and accept this policy.
6.3. Cancel
Domestic tours:
- 30 days or more before departure — 100% refunded
- 15–29 days — 85%
- 8–14 days — 60%
- 4–7 days — 35%
- 3 days or less, or no-show — 0%
Cross-border tours and tours taking place abroad:
- 60 days or more before departure — 100% refunded
- 45–59 days — 85%
- 30–44 days — 60%
- 21–29 days — 35%
- 14–20 days — 15%
- Under 14 days, or no-show — 0%
The cancellation date is the date Ha Giang Experts receives your notice in writing (email, Zalo, WhatsApp or Messenger all count as writing).
A visa refusal is handled under the same table, counted from the date you receive the refusal.
7. HOW THE REFUND IS CALCULATED
A tour is not a single service. To hold your place, Ha Giang Experts books and pays a number of local partners in advance: hotels, guesthouses, homestays, boat and bus operators, train and domestic flight tickets, permit and visa fees. Many of those payments are non-refundable under each partner’s own terms, and have already gone before you tell us you are cancelling.
The refund is therefore worked out like this:
- Refund = what you have paid, minus the deduction.
- The deduction is the higher of two figures: (a) the percentage in the table in section 6.3, and (b) the total that Ha Giang Experts has spent or irrevocably committed to partners and cannot recover, incurred before you gave notice.
- The deduction never exceeds what you have paid. You will never be asked to pay anything more.
Where (b) applies, Ha Giang Experts must send you an itemised statement with supporting documents within 7 working days. No documents, no deduction — in that case the percentage in section 6.3 applies.
Refunds are transferred within 15 working days of both parties agreeing the amount, to the same account you paid from. International transfer fees, if any, are shared as agreed between us.
8. IF SOME MEMBERS OF THE GROUP CANCEL
Tour prices depend on the number of participants and the number of vehicles, so if one or more members drop out, the price for those remaining is recalculated from the price table. Ha Giang Experts will tell you the new price before you decide. If you do not accept it, you may cancel, and section 6.3 is applied using the date you received our notice, not the date you cancelled.
9. IF HA GIANG EXPERTS CANCELS OR CHANGES THE TOUR
If we cancel because the minimum group size is not reached and we gave notice within the time in section 5, you choose one of three: a different departure date, a different tour with the difference added or returned, or a full 100% refund.
If we cancel for reasons of our own, or give notice later than section 5 allows, then in addition to refunding 100% we will cover the costs you have already committed to the trip and cannot recover — flights, train or bus tickets, hotels before and after the tour — against documents, up to 30% of the tour price.
If we have to change part of the programme before departure and the change materially reduces the value of the trip, you may choose: accept the revised programme with the difference refunded, or cancel with a full 100% refund.
10. FORCE MAJEURE
A force majeure event is one that occurs objectively, could not be foreseen and cannot be overcome despite every reasonable measure, as defined by the Civil Code: natural disaster, epidemic, government order, border closure, landslide, extreme weather.
In that case neither party is in breach and neither owes compensation. As to money:
- Anything Ha Giang Experts has not yet spent or committed is refunded in full.
- Anything already spent or committed and not recoverable, supported by documents, is held as credit for 24 months for a future trip — you do not lose it.
If force majeure occurs while the tour is running, Ha Giang Experts is responsible for your safety: arranging accommodation and transport and getting you to a safe place or to the end point of the journey. Services in the programme that were not delivered are refunded or credited; costs arising outside the programme are discussed and shared between us, so that neither side carries the whole burden.
11. CHANGES TO THE ROUTE FOR SAFETY
Our tours go into high mountains and along border roads. The guide may change the route, shorten a leg or move an overnight stop when weather, road conditions, a traveller’s health or an instruction from the authorities require it. This is a power exercised for your safety, not an arbitrary one.
- If the replacement service is equivalent, no refund arises.
- If a service in the programme is not delivered and nothing replaces it, the corresponding cost is refunded to you.
12. LEAVING THE GROUP MID-TOUR
If you leave the group of your own accord while the tour is running, services already used, or booked and not cancellable, are not refunded. Transport to leave the group and related costs are yours. Ha Giang Experts will still help you find transport and make sure you reach somewhere safe.
If you have to leave the group because of illness or an accident, we will take you to a medical facility, contact your insurer, and refund any unused services we are able to cancel with our partners.
13. IF YOU MISS YOUR FLIGHT, TRAIN OR BUS TO THE MEETING POINT
Tell your contact at Ha Giang Experts immediately.
- If the first day of the tour takes place within 200 km of the starting point, we can arrange transport and a guide so you can catch up with the group; the cost is yours and is quoted to you in advance.
- If the group travels by public transport to another city or country, it is for you to rebook and arrange transport to rejoin the group as scheduled.
- If you cannot or do not wish to continue, section 6.3 applies as at that date.
Ha Giang Experts is not liable for a carrier’s delay, even where we booked the ticket for you — but we will provide every document and confirmation you need to claim from the carrier or your insurer. For this reason we recommend travel insurance covering trip cancellation and interruption, medical care and emergency evacuation, and lost baggage.
14. INSURANCE
Under Article 37 of the Law on Tourism 2017, Ha Giang Experts insures its guests for the duration of the programme, at the highest level available for the type of tour you are on. This does not replace personal travel insurance — the two cover different things. For expedition tours, cross-border tours and tours with adventure activities we recommend you also take out personal cover that includes motorcycling and off-road activity.
15. CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION
For your own safety and that of the group, when you book you must:
- Declare your state of health, medical history, allergies and current medication honestly and in full.
- Hold a licence valid under Vietnamese law if you are riding or driving yourself. For cross-border tours you need an International Driving Permit together with your national licence.
- Use the protective equipment provided and follow the guide’s safety instructions.
- For tours abroad, hold a passport valid for at least 6 months beyond the last day of the tour. Children aged 14 and over need their own passport.
If what you declared is not accurate and that affects safety, Ha Giang Experts may refuse your participation; this is then treated as a cancellation by you on that date, under section 6.3.
16. COMPLAINTS AND DISPUTES
You are entitled to complain about anything in this policy and in the way your tour is run. Nothing on this page limits your right to complain or to take legal action.
- Send complaints to info@hagiangexperts.com, or through whichever channel you used to book.
- Ha Giang Experts responds within 7 working days and proposes a resolution within 30 days of receiving your complaint.
- If you are on the road, raise it with your guide or our operations team straight away — many things can only be put right while the tour is still running.
We will always try to settle matters by discussion first. Failing agreement, disputes are resolved by mediation or before the competent court in Vietnam, under Vietnamese law.
17. YOUR PERSONAL DATA
The information you give us is handled as set out on our Privacy page. We share it only with the partners directly serving your trip, and with the authorities where the law requires it — for example accommodation registration and permits for border areas.