Payment & Cancellation Policy

Payment & Cancellation Policy — International Programs

This policy applies to all Benegas Brothers Expeditions (BBE) expeditions, climbs, treks, ski programs, and courses outside the United States. If your trip has its own written payment and cancellation terms, those terms apply instead.

Booking a U.S. program? Our programs in Utah, Alaska, and on Mount Baker are operated by Wasatch Mountain Guides under WMG’s own payment and cancellation policy, shown on each U.S. trip page.

At a Glance

Deposit	20% of the trip price, due at booking
Booking fee	$350 of your deposit is nonrefundable
Final balance	Due 120 days before the program start date
Booking within 120 days	Full payment due at booking
Currency	U.S. dollars (USD)
Cancel 121 days or more out	Full refund, less the $350 booking fee
Cancel 90 to 120 days out	50% refund, after the $350 booking fee
Cancel 89 days or fewer out	No refund
Insurance	Medical and rescue/evacuation coverage required

1. Reserving Your Place

A 20% deposit reserves your place. Your place is confirmed when we receive your deposit and your signed acceptance of this policy. We then send you a written confirmation.
$350 of your deposit is a nonrefundable booking fee. It is part of the trip price, not an extra charge, and covers the planning and administration that begin as soon as you book.
Example: On a $5,000 trip, the deposit is $1,000. Of that, $350 is the nonrefundable booking fee. The $4,000 balance is due 120 days before the start date.

2. Final Payment

Your balance is due 120 days before the program start date. We email you a reminder before it is due.
If you book within 120 days of the start date, full payment is due at booking.
If your balance is not received by the due date, we may cancel your reservation. A cancellation for non-payment is treated as a cancellation by you on the due date, under the schedule in Section 4.

3. How to Pay

All prices and invoices are in U.S. dollars.

Method	Fee
Bank transfer or ACH (QuickBooks invoice, U.S. bank accounts)	No fee
Wire transfer	You pay all sending, intermediary, receiving, and currency-conversion fees
Credit card	3% surcharge, shown on your invoice before you pay

Paying from outside the United States? A wire transfer is usually your lowest-cost option. When you pay by wire, BBE must receive the full invoiced amount. Any shortfall caused by bank charges remains due.
Payment fees and card surcharges are separate from the trip price and are not refunded.
Protect your payment: BBE will never change its bank details by email. Call us to confirm wiring instructions before you send funds.

4. If You Cancel

Send your cancellation to BBE in writing by email. Your cancellation date is the date we receive your email (Mountain Time). Days are calendar days counted back from Day 1 of the published itinerary.

When we receive your cancellation	Your refund
121 days or more before the start date	All payments, less the $350 booking fee
90 to 120 days before the start date	50% of your payments, after first deducting the $350 booking fee
89 days or fewer before the start date	No refund

“Payments” means the amounts you have paid toward the trip price. Card surcharges and bank fees are not included.

Examples on a $5,000 trip:

• You paid the $1,000 deposit and cancel 150 days out: $650 refunded ($1,000 − $350).
• You paid in full and cancel 100 days out: $5,000 − $350 = $4,650. 50% of $4,650 = $2,325 refunded.
• You cancel 60 days out: no refund.

This schedule applies regardless of the reason, including illness, injury, work, or family changes. That’s why we strongly recommend trip cancellation insurance (Section 13).
Refunds are issued within 30 days of receiving your written cancellation, to your original payment method where possible.

5. Sending Someone in Your Place

You can transfer your reservation to another participant at no BBE fee, as long as:

• We approve the replacement participant
• They meet the program’s experience, fitness, medical, and technical requirements
• They complete all required forms, waivers, and documents
• You cover any third-party name-change, permit, airline, or administrative costs

Some permits and reservations cannot be transferred.
Moving to a different date or program is not guaranteed. Any credit is a dollar amount, valid for 2 years from the date it is issued. It is applied to the trip price in effect when you rebook, so if the price has gone up, you pay the difference.

6. Small Teams and Departure Confirmation

We run small teams by design. Each trip page shows that expedition’s maximum team size and guide ratio; unless it says otherwise, the maximum is six participants. There is no single minimum: each expedition has its own minimum enrollment and operating requirements.

Departure confirmation. A departure is confirmed when we tell you so in writing. We confirm each scheduled departure, or tell you it cannot run, by the final payment date (120 days before the start date), unless your trip’s written terms give a different date. If you book within 120 days, we tell you the departure’s status when you book. Please buy nonrefundable flights only after your departure is confirmed.

If enrollment is low. We operate scheduled departures whenever they are financially and operationally viable, even with fewer participants than planned. If a departure cannot operate at the published price, we may offer an optional Small-Team Rate. It applies only if you agree to it in writing. If you decline it, you do not pay the higher price. We may offer you another departure or program, and if we cancel the departure solely because enrollment is insufficient, the next paragraph applies.

If we cancel for insufficient enrollment. If we cancel a departure solely because enrollment is insufficient, you receive a full refund of everything you have paid BBE, including the $350 booking fee. Instead of a refund, you may choose to move to another departure or program.

After your departure is confirmed. If another participant withdraws, we will make reasonable efforts to keep the departure running, and your price will not increase unless you agree in writing. If the departure still cannot operate because of insufficient enrollment, the paragraph above applies.

Events beyond our control. This section does not change Sections 7 and 10. If a departure is cancelled or changed because of weather, government restrictions, access limitations or other events beyond our reasonable control, those sections apply.

Your own cancellation. If you cancel, Section 4 applies to you only.

Separate terms. Private expeditions, Everest and other major expeditions (Section 8), and programs operated by a partner follow their own written terms.

7. If BBE Cancels

For reasons within our control, such as guide availability, you choose between alternate dates, a substitute itinerary, a future trip credit, or a full refund of everything you have paid BBE, including the booking fee. If we cancel solely because of insufficient enrollment, Section 6 applies.

For events beyond our control (Section 10), we will offer alternate dates, a substitute itinerary, or a future trip credit. If none of these options works for you, we refund your payments less any documented third-party costs that we have already paid or are contractually obligated to pay and cannot recover or avoid. We will provide an itemized list of those costs.

BBE is not responsible for airfare, hotels, visas, equipment, insurance, lost wages, or other costs you paid to anyone other than BBE.

8. Major Expeditions

Mount Everest, Lhotse, Everest/Lhotse combinations, Vinson, Carstensz Pyramid, other 8,000-meter expeditions, and any program we designate as a major expedition at booking have their own payment and cancellation schedule, provided in writing at booking.
These expeditions require large upfront payments for permits, aviation, local operators, oxygen, and staff. Deposits may be larger and may be fully nonrefundable. Their trip-specific terms take precedence over this policy.

9. Once the Program Begins

Once a program has started, payments are nonrefundable. There are no refunds or credits for:

• No-shows or late arrival
• Missed flights, travel delays, or weather delays
• Passport, visa, or entry problems
• Illness, injury, or altitude illness during the program
• Inadequate fitness or skills, or not reaching the summit
• Leaving the program early for any reason, or removal for unsafe conduct

You pay any extra transportation, lodging, evacuation, guide, or logistics costs that result.

10. Weather, Conditions and Events Beyond Our Control

Mountain travel abroad depends on weather, snow and ice, avalanche hazard, route conditions, permits, access, transportation and politics. We may change routes, objectives, camps, itineraries, transportation, start or finish points, and schedules. These changes are not a cancellation by BBE.
BBE is not responsible for delays, shortened programs, or extra costs caused by events beyond our reasonable control, including:

• Airline delays or cancellations, and delayed or lost baggage (including guide and group equipment)
• Weather and natural disasters
• Government restrictions, political unrest, border closures and strikes
• Road closures and transportation disruptions
• Customs, permit and helicopter delays

We will adjust the plan and deliver as much of the program as possible within the scheduled dates. We are not obligated to extend a program or cover extra airfare, lodging, or other costs to make up missed days. Any extension must be agreed in writing and may cost extra.

11. Guide Authority

Our guides have final authority on safety and operational decisions, including turnaround times, route changes, acclimatization plans, weather holds, evacuation, and removing a participant. These decisions do not create a right to a refund.

12. Medical Information

You must give us accurate medical information and complete the required forms by the stated deadlines. If required medical clearance is not received, we may deny participation, and the cancellation schedule in Section 4 applies.

13. Travel and Rescue Insurance

Required: emergency medical coverage for treatment and hospitalization appropriate to your destination and planned activities, and mountain rescue and evacuation coverage appropriate to your expedition, including its altitude, location and mountaineering activities, to your program’s maximum altitude. Check your coverage against your expedition’s requirements: a standard travel insurance policy, rescue membership or credit-card benefit may not be enough. Before departure, send us your provider name, policy number, and emergency phone number. See Travel & Rescue Insurance.
Strongly recommended, not required: trip cancellation and interruption, travel delay and baggage coverage. It protects what you have paid if you have to cancel or leave early for a covered reason. Buy it soon after paying your deposit. Many plans include pre-existing condition and cancel-for-any-reason benefits only if purchased within 14–21 days of your first trip payment.

Our cancellation and refund schedule applies whether or not you buy this insurance, and our refund decisions are separate from any insurance claim.

14. Groups and Private Bookings

For private groups, clubs, families, and other organized bookings, the person or organization making the reservation is responsible for the payment schedule and any unpaid balance, unless we agree otherwise in writing.

For private groups, clubs, families and other organized bookings, pricing and payment obligations may depend on the agreed group size. If participation decreases, BBE may offer a revised price or alternative arrangements. Any revised price requires written agreement. If the group does not accept the revised arrangements, the cancellation provisions of its written group agreement apply.

15. Billing Questions and Disputes

Please contact us first about any billing question, cancellation, or refund. If a charge is disputed with your bank or card issuer, we may provide our booking records, your signed acceptance, invoices, correspondence, and this policy.

16. Accepting This Policy

You accept this policy by checkbox or e-signature on the registration form before your reservation is confirmed. We keep a record of the policy version and the date you accepted it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Questions

Email info@benegasbrothers.com.

Policy version INT-2026-02