FAQ
TOUR PACKAGES
T01. What is the next step after I made a reservation with you?
Answer: After receiving your reservation request, we will immediately book all the necessary arrangements in accordance with your request. This will take about minimum of 30 minutes to a maximum of 14 business days depending on the workload and services you requested. We will keep sending the messages for the up-to-date status for each of the services you have requested by e-mail.
1) For normal requests, a 20% deposit is required upon the confirmation of the services you have requested in order to guarantee your reservation. The 80% remaining balance can be settled 15 days before departure by bank telegraphic transfer or cash upon arrival in the first destination.
2) For those who use our shopping card to book our services, the 20% deposit of the total service cost will be deducted from your credit card automatically upon the confirmation of the services you have requested in order to guarantee your reservation. The 80% remaining balance can be settled 15 days before departure either by credit card or bank telegraphic transfer or cash upon arrival.
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T02. How do I participate in your tour from my hometown?
Answer: Our tour starts once you arrive at the first destination in the tour programme. In other words, you can depart from any country and start your tour upon arrival. In those countries with limited international flights, most travellers fly from Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Hanoi where they can have connection flights from their home country. Upon your arrival our guide will meet you at the airport arrival lounge with a signboard of your name.
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T03. Can you arrange the international air ticket from my hometown to the first destination?
Answer: Yes, but it will be expensive for you to have us book outside your hometown for boarding at your hometown. We don't recommend for you to do. The reason is that the best airfares that you can get are through your local agent in your hometown only. You should purchase the air ticket from the country which is your starting point in order to obtain the special fare. No agent in another country can offer you the price lower than issuing the air tickets with your local agent. The best thing is to consult with your travel agent in your country to get the cheapest airfare.
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T04. What is included in your tour services?
Answer: We state what is included and excluded at a place below the individual tour prices for each programme. Generally, our tour includes your hotel accommodation, transfers and other transports (e.g. domestic flights, boats, cars or trains), sightseeing with a stationed local English-speaking guide as described in the itinerary.
Meals for full-board (all dinners & lunches) and half-board (lunches or dinners only), the international airfare, airport taxes and the throughout language speaking guide accompanying the whole trip with you are optional and extra, as you might want to arrange on your own as we have previously discussed in Q3. Personal expenses tips and beverages at meals are on your own too.
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T05. How many persons required for the tour to operate and what are the departure days?
Answer: For private tours, you can start from 1 person and any day of the week depending upon arrival. For joint or combine or seat-in-coach and special promotion tours, normally, minimum 2 persons are required and you need to check the fixed departures dates mentioned with the programme detail. The promotional packages are seat-in-coach basis, which means that you are going to join in with other tourists. Group size is usually small.
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T06 What kind of meals do you serve during the tour?
Answer: During the tour, usually breakfast is served to you in the hotels. The type of breakfast is different depending on the hotel category you have choosen. Most upmarket hotels serve you buffet breakfast. Standard hotels serve American set or Continental breakfast.
For lunches and dinners, we serve food at standard local tourist class restaurants. European meals can be arranged at some restaurants or at standard hotels prior to request at a small surcharge.
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T07. How about payment term and conditions?
Answer: As mentioned in Q1, when your trip is confirmed, you will pay a non-refundable deposit of 20% of the total service cost by bank telegraphic transfer or your credit card or PayPal or ThaiEPay to our account and the rest of the payment can be paid either by credit card (7% surcharge), PayPal, ThaiEPay or cash on arrival in the first destination. For cash on arrival, we prefer and accept US Dollars or Euro. No traveller cheques or credit card are acceptable.
The deposit amount could be changeable depending on the services you have requested and the payment terms of our suppliers. For example, you may be requested 40% if one of your services is required to pay 100% in advance by us.
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T08. Why is deposit for tour packages required and non-refundable?
Answer: Your deposit is essential, so that we know you are serious in taking the tour. Before the tour operation, we have to secure your space with other related partners such as hotels, airlines, etc, and need to guarantee that you will definitely show up. This will ensure that your tour will run smoothly. Thus the deposit is non-refundable because payment would have been made to the suppliers to guarantee the service. The remaining balance can be settled later as discussed above in Q7.
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T09. Will I receive refund in case of cancellation?
Answer: This is a very important question as it involves MONEY. We try to state all the terms here so that you can be sure of no surprises later. If you need more information just consult us.
A) Before the tour starts
In case you have to cancel your tour after paying the full amount, we will refund to you 80% of this total amount, provided you notify us before the deadline for tour commencement.
In case we have to cancel your tour or unable to operate it after receiving your payment, but before the tour starts, you will receive full refund. This is a very rare case arising from unforeseen circumstances beyond our control such as natural catastrophe, political unrest, or sudden cancellation of airline without notice.
In the travel industry, generally a cancellation fee of 50% or 100% cancellation fee is applied if cancellation was made less than a specified number of days.
B.) After the tour starts
In case you need to cancel the tour on your own due to illness, emergency need or dissatisfaction, there cannot be any refund as tour costs would have been expended and not recoverable from suppliers. Where suppliers don't charge us we will refund the actual costs to you.
In case we have to stop the tour due to unforeseen circumstances beyond our control such as natural catastrophe, political unrest or accidents, refund less the number of days utilized only.
NOTE: The above calculation does not cover Domestic and International airfares which are non-refundable.
Dissatisfaction: By consenting to this term we do not imply that we provide low quality service but because clients' expectation is higher than what we have agreed to supply vis-a-vis the cost you paid for the tour. This is because each individual is different in interest, character, attitude and like and dislike. If you are not satisfied during the tour, please ask to stop the tour, and the cancellation fees will be calculated based on the number of days being utilized, and thisw is non-negotiable. We will not charge the additional 20% cancellation fees. Please do not utilize the tour and claim to be dissatisfied later, as there will be no money left for the refund. We deserve the right to charge this additional 20% cancellation fees in case you terminate the tour because of illness or emergency need to leave but claim "dissatisfaction".
However, the expectation of people might vary. We have open a ground up that you can ask for termination of the tour in case of not being satisfied with all terms and next as in Q09.
HOTEL RESERVATIONS
H01. What is the next step after I made a reservation with you?
Answer: Once you made the reservation, our office will immediately proceed with your request. We will reply you within 30 minutes to 2 business days depending on the situation or time you have made the reservation. Also we will send you the confirmation message for that particular hotel and the deadline to guarantee your reservation. In case your reservation request is not available we will suggest an alternative for your consideration.
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H02. Why do I have to pre-pay the room to you before check-in?
Answer: This is because the special rate that you are getting is our agency rate, thus the reservation and payment have to be submitted to us, not to the hotel. The advantage is you get a lower room rate and guarantee of the room; the disadvantage is you need to pre-pay.
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H03. Can I reserve the hotel with you and pay to the hotel?
Answer: Yes, we can reserve the hotel for you, but your booking will be "hotel account" and the hotel published rate will be applied. The room rate is higher.
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H04. How do I check-in at the hotel?
Answer: After receiving your payment, we will issue you the hotel voucher, which can be sent to you by fax or electronic mail. Present this voucher to the hotel reception as you check-in. There is nothing for you to pay to the hotel.
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H05. Will I receive refund in case of cancellation?
Answer: Our confirmation message of the hotel reservation to you will also include the cancellation policy. Unused room nights after check-in date will be non-refundable. During high season from October to April, there will be no refund once you guarantee your room(s) with payment. We will notify you in our confirmation message in Cancellation Policy.
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VISA
V01. How can I get a Visa?
Answer: Different countries in our region of operation have their own regulations about visa application. Some do not charge any visa fee. Others charge for visa-on-arrival. A few provide e-Visa application (like Cambodia) - and this is the most convenient. For example, in Myanmar there are three types of Visa called EVT (FIT) and EVT (Package) Visa. We encourage you to apply EVT (Package ) visa. Both have to be applied at the Myanmar Embassies or Consulate abroad. There is another type of visa called Pre-Approved Visa On Arrival where the tourist would be issued visa on arrival at the airport but need to apply for the permission by a travel agent (as for Vietnam also). Application should be made with a minimum of 10 days in advance. Please see the details as below.
E.V.T. (PACKAGE): You can apply the Myanmar visa at Myanmar Embassy or consulate with prior arrangements and confirmation from us. We apply for visa permission for you with the government in Myanamar and we will provide a confirmation letter by fax to the Embassy of your hometown for those clients who bought a tour from us or those who bought a Myanmar hotel, transfers and one optional tour or flight tickets together.
E.V.T (F.I.T) - Also this Myanmar visa can applied at the Myanmar Embassy abroad. Visa fee is USD20. Until August 2003, it is necessary to change 200 USD into equavelant 200 FEC compulsorily. But now the government has relaxed this requirement and those FIT visa holders also do not need to change FEC 200 on arrival at the Yangon aiport. But we strongly recommend that those who bought the tour services for Myanmar to get the E.V.T Package visa by getting the visa letter from our office.
Pre-Approved Visa On Arrival:
For those travellers who live in countries where Vietname and Myanmar Embassies or Consulates do not exist or who do not have time to apply for the visa at the embassies, we will arrange Vietnam and Myanmar pre-approved (applied in advance in Vietnam and in Myanmar & issue the visa only on arrival at the airport) visa-on-arrival. The personal particulars of the clients as below are needed:
1). Clients full name and Passport numbers.
2). Date of issue and place of issue.
3). Date of expiry.
4) Father's name.
5) Date of birth and place of birth.
6) Occupation.
7) Home address.
8) Nationality.
9). Recent photo (can scan by email to us at mekongtours@mekongtreks.com).
10). Countries that passport is NOT valid.
Self declaration of free from Myanmar politics and religious disputes
Visa Application Procedure For Tourists Effective From 01 October 2005
This is the result of Visa on arrival board announcement. The board includes Ministry of Hotel and Tourism, Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of Immigration, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There must be minimum of 2 persons travelling together to get the approval.
Application Procedure
Visitor must apply Visa-on-arrival through licensed tour company from Ministry of Hotel and Tourism.
Visitor must fill in the Visa Application Form. You may submit through web form or download here and send a copy by fax to +66-53-601055 or as an attachment via email to mekongtours@mekongtreks.com.
Send a passport photo and copy of your passport by email or fax (preferably email).
Upon approval, we will send you the 'Approval Letter' by email/fax.
All the airlines with connections to Yangon are informed of this procedure and you may show this 'Approval Letter' on airline check in.
Upon arriving at Yangon International Airport, or Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) airport, you have to present this 'Approval Letter' to the Immigration check-in counter, pay the Visa Fees of US$20/25 to the Immigration Officer, and he will stamp the visa on your passport.
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V03. Can I get visa online?
Answer: Yes! you can get visa online through www.visa.gov.mm. But, this site is dead most of the time and sometimes you may have a problem on the payment procedure. For Cambodia however it is trouble-free. For Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and China.
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R02. Is it safe to pay by credit card and travellers cheque?
Answer: When your trip is confirmed, you will pay 20% deposit by bank telegraphic transfer or credit card or PayPal or ThaiEPay to our account and the rest of the payment can be paid in these ways by the deadline for payment or in cash on arrival at the first destination.
In most Southeast Asian countries, strict precaution is imposed on charging to credit cards to prevent fraud on you. A few International chain hotels can accept some credit cards like Master or Visa. But, you may have to pay 8-12% more on credit card & travellers cheque payment further to the service charges charged by the credit card company.
Thus, it is a disadvantage to use credit card and travellers cheque for payment. In Myanmar especially this is because of the US government trade sanctions to Myanmar. So, we advise you to do a bank t.t. or pay cash on arrival and even better to withdraw cash by your credit card overseas (e.g. in Bangkok). This way, you can save unnecessary extra service charges.
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PAYMENT
P01. How and when can I pay you?
Answer: You can pay by Wire Transfer, Cash On Arrival, Credit Card. ThaiEPay or PayPpal. To confirm your booking, we need 20% deposit to secure the services with suppliers. And the balance can be paid in cash on arrival or telegraphic transfer or credit card (with extra surcharge of 4%). To make deposit by credit card, we will provide you a virtual invoice by email via a merchant account provider and you can follow the link provided by our merchant account provider to make the payment by credit card.
For those who are using our shopping card via www.mekongtreks.com, the instant payment could be done online by secured payment gateways.
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P02. Can I pay by credit card?
Answer: We accept credit card payment without any additional charges for the 20% deposit of the total sales only.
If you would like to make full payment by credit card, the surcharge of 7% will apply to the rest of the amount (that is 80% of the total sales amount)
There is no extra surcharge for other types of payment.
OTHER GENERAL INFRMATION
O01. What about roaming services and can I bring my handphone for use?
Answer: Presently, only Thai and Malaysian registered GSM handphones get the roaming service in Myanmar. International roaming is not available yet for registered phones of other countries except in some border cities like Tachileik, Muse and Kawthaung where the signals from the bodering countries. In all other Mekong and Southeast Asian countries your handphone can be used contact back to home.
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O02. How can I get in touch with my home or friends or relatives or office?
Amswer: No problem in all the countries of the region except Myanmar. There are internet cafes around in Yangon, Mandalay and Taunggyi. But, Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail and most of the free email accounts are banned in Myanmar. But, some of the internet cafes have their way to bypass the government's fire wall.
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O03. What about medical precaution?
Answer: It is better to bring your own required medicine that you use daily. Also we have foreign trained medical doctors and 24 hour clinic services. Medical facilities are sub-standard and most over-the-counter medicines are not available except in the better developed countries like Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Yunnan. |
