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Frequently Asked QuestionsWill the tour director speak English?
Do you accept travelers who need special assistance?
How old does a child have to be to travel with Cosmos?
Is smoking allowed?
Are prices based on double occupancy?
How big can my suitcase be?
I'm leaving in 4 weeks, when will I get my travel documents?
Are tips for the tour director included in the tour price?
What is the Travel Insurance Plan?
How can my family contact me while I am traveling?
Can I purchase optional excursions in advance?
Is our air schedule / price ever guaranteed?
Why have I been asked to pay an upsell charge?
Does it cost me anything to revise my air itinerary?
Why is Cosmos unable to confirm all air schedules available on the open market?
Why is it so important that I provide names exactly as they appear on our passports?
Can I sit at the front of the motorcoach due to my medical condition?
Why do I sometimes get air at the same time I book my vacation and sometimes I have to wait a few days?
Will the tour director speak English?Yes, we operate only English speaking tours.
Do you accept travelers who need special assistance?Any disability requiring special attention should be reported to Cosmos by you or your travel agent at the time the reservation is made. Cosmos will make reasonable efforts to accommodate the special needs of disabled tour participants, but is not responsible in the event it is unable to do so, nor is it responsible for any denial of services by carriers, hotels, restaurants, or other independent suppliers. We regret that we cannot provide individual assistance to a tour member for walking, dining, and getting on and off motorcoaches and other transportation vehicles, or other personal needs. A qualified companion must accompany travelers who need such assistance.
How old does a child have to be to travel with Cosmos?
An adult must accompany travelers who are less than 18 years old on the tour departure date; the child receives a 10% discount on the land tour price. We do not accept children under the age of 8 on escorted tours, because we have found they are too young to enjoy these vacations.
On our independent vacations, there is no minimum age requirement. Land arrangements for infants under two are free of charge, providing parents pay directly to the hotels for food, crib, etc. Infants sometimes fly free of charge if they do not occupy a seat, while some airlines charge 10%. An airline ticket is always required for the child. Please arrange for this ticket directly with the airline.
Is smoking allowed?Cosmos motorcoaches are smoke-free.
Are prices based on double occupancy?Prices are per person, based on two persons sharing a room. Single room supplements and triple room reductions are listed where available.
How big can my suitcase be?Porterage for one suitcase on tour is included in the tour price. Due to limited coach capacity, we strongly recommend that this single bag should have dimensions not exceeding 30"x18"x10" and weight not exceeding 60 lbs. (27 kg).
I'm leaving in 4 weeks, when will I get my travel documents?Travel documents, including any air tickets, Travel Insurance Plan, tour itinerary, hotel lists, Tips for Touring and helpful hints and other information are sent three to four weeks prior to tour departure.
Are tips for the tour director included in the tour price?Airport taxes and fees; tips to your tour director, tour drivers, and local guides; laundry, beverages and food not on the regular table d'hte menu (these extra items will be billed to you before leaving the hotel or restaurant); optional excursions; porterage at North American airports; all other items of a personal nature are not included in the tour price.
What is the Travel Insurance Plan?The Travel Insurance Plan and emergency assistance is strongly recommended and will protect you if trip cancellation for tour arrangements and airfare accrue, trip interruption, delayed arrival and missed connection coverage, upgrade protection, subsistence allowance, accidental death and dismemberment, accidental medical expenses and dental, baggage coverage and baggage delay. Please ask your travel consultant for more information and read the Travel Insurance Plan page in the back of any of our printed brochures.
How can my family contact me while I am traveling?In your travel documents you will receive a hotel list. This list will have an address and a telephone number for each hotel you will be staying on each day.
Can I purchase optional excursions in advance? Your tour director will go through the optional excursions available for purchase during the welcome meeting. You may choose and purchase any optional excursions for your tour then.
Is our air schedule / price ever guaranteed?Air is on request until we confirm flight schedules via invoice to you, generally mailed on the business day after you make the booking. Airfares, airline regulations, and flight schedules, including the originally confirmed carrier, routing and number of connections, are subject to change at any time without notice due to airline schedule changes, strikes, weather, etc. regardless of whether or not there is any payment on the booking. If you revise or cancel your air record after tickets are issued, revision fees or airline cancellation charges may be applicable.
We guarantee the air-inclusive prices in effect for your trip when we receive full payment. We encourage early payment to ensure that you are not subject to any airfare increases. Please note that International Air Transportation Taxes, security fees, and airport taxes and fees cannot be guaranteed.
Why have I been asked to pay an upsell charge?An upsell charge is the additional amount required to confirm air from your requested departure city. It means that Cosmos has not been able to confirm air at the brochure rate based on carrier / space availability. This amount will be added to your invoice pending your acceptance of the air schedule. Please note you always have the option of revising your departure city or making the booking land-only prior to ticketing if the upsell charge is unacceptable.
Does it cost me anything to revise my air itinerary?If you wish to change the booking to land-only within two business days of air confirmation, there is no revision fee. Otherwise, once air is confirmed, any change to a booking, including spelling of passenger names, may incur a revision fee.
Any changes after Cosmos issues air tickets are also subject to airline revision fees. Express delivery costs apply for changes made within five weeks of departure.
Why is Cosmos unable to confirm all air schedules available on the open market?As a completely independent tour operator we have no ties to any one airline. We have negotiated the lowest possible airfares for our tour members with the fine air carriers listed in our brochures.
Not all carriers may have agreed to offer us the air-inclusive price listed in the brochure, or may not have included service from your city in our contract agreements. We are offered specific classes of service that not everyone may be able to book. Conversely, you may have other classes of service available to you for booking which we are not allowed to use at our contracted rate. This may also be the cause of an upsell charge (links to upsell charge above) on your invoice.
Why is it so important that I provide names exactly as they appear on our passports?Due to increased travel security around the world, it is now more important than ever that the passenger's airline ticket match the full title, first name, middle name / initial and last name exactly as it reads on his or her passport. It is best to provide that information to Cosmos at the time of booking so the air we confirm is not in jeopardy of being lost. Should any letter need to be changed or rearranged anywhere n the passengers name, the air will be cancelled and re-requested "from scratch." Please note that the booking will be revised to land-only or subject to increased cost if the original air is not available to rebook. There is no guarantee we will be able to confirm the original air schedule or any flights at all.
Can I sit at the front of the motorcoach due to my medical condition?Travelers rotate seats on the motorcoach everyday or every other day.
Why do I sometimes get air at the same time I book my vacation and sometimes I have to wait a few days?Our travel counselors use an on-line booking engine to search available flights for your invoice at the time of booking. Unfortunately, this engine is not available for all tour start / end combinations, or may occasionally return an error message to the travel counselor if it was unsuccessful at booking the air. At this point, another system must be checked, which is not a "real time" system. If both programs are unsuccessful, a manual process is in place to be sure we have checked all options for you.
Due to the efforts involved in separate areas, the turnaround time for an original air request or a revision may take a few business days. Thank you for your patience while we make every effort to provide the best possible flight schedule at our negotiated fares.
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