Travel Advice

FUTURE BOOKINGS AND HOLIDAYS

All our destinations are open to fully vaccinated travellers. We are constantly monitoring the advice provided by the UK Government and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, as well as the guidance provided by the governments in the destinations we feature. We will keep our clients updated with any changes to specific entry requirements.

Finland update

We are in contact with the Communications team of Visit Finland that aligns with the Finnish Embassy and Foreign ministry and they have provided the following, ‘Travelling to and in Finland is safe – everyday life runs normally and we warmly welcome travellers to Finland’.

• WHAT HAPPENS IF THE COUNTRY I AM TRAVELLING TO REQUIRES VISITORS TO QUARANTINE UPON ARRIVAL

If a country requires testing at the border which takes up to a few hours to return results, then we would not cancel your holiday in this instance. Instead, we would work with the local partners to ensure you had everything you need to be comfortable including snacks and meals etc.  If you were required to quarantine for any longer than a few hours, we would cancel your holiday and offer either re-booking or a refund.

• WHAT HAPPENS IF THE FCDO ADVICE CHANGES FOR MY DESTINATION AFTER I HAVE BOOKED?

If the FCDO advice changes to advising against all but essential travel then we will cancel your holiday and assist you with rebooking to an alternative date, a different destination or issue you with a full refund.

• WHAT HAPPENS IF MY TRIP IS CANCELLED?

If you are booked onto a trip that we must cancel, then we will get in touch with you immediately.  If we are forced to cancel your holiday, then there will be several options available to you:

1. Consider an alternative destination
   • As we have such a fantastic network of partners across Scandinavia, we will do everything we can to propose alternative holiday options for you to consider.  If you do decide to go for one of these options, we will transfer the money you have already paid us to your new booking and, if it is cheaper, refund you the difference. If it is more expensive you will need to top this amount up to match the new price.
2. Postpone your holiday
   • We think it is more important than ever to have something special to look forward to as the world hopefully gets back to “normal”.  If we are forced to cancel your holiday, then we will work with our local partners on your behalf to minimise any increase in costs to your holiday price and if they do increase or we are forced to make any changes to the holiday package which you don’t like – you can cancel and receive a full refund.
3. A full refund
   • Depending on the circumstances surrounding your cancellation we may request that you contact your Travel Insurance company in the first instance. Should that claim be unsuccessful then we will refund you in full. We will advise you of the relevant processing times at that stage.

• I MADE A BOOKING WITH YOU, BUT I NO LONGER WISH TO TRAVEL, WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS?

This will depend on when your booking was made and the specific terms relating to your holiday and flight booking if applicable.  The Artisan Travel Company are happy to postpone all transferable and flexible elements of your trip to either an alternative holiday or departure date. For any non-transferable elements, we will do our best to minimise these costs but unfortunately, these decisions are normally out of our hands. Naturally, we promise to do our best to negotiate on your behalf.

Another option would be to transfer your booking to another passenger (subject to terms and conditions and introduced by yourselves) and we can normally facilitate this until 10 days prior to departure.

Finally, depending on the reason you no longer wish to travel, you may be able to claim on your travel insurance.

• WHAT HAPPENS IF I TEST POSITIVE FOR COVID AND CAN NO LONGER TRAVEL?

Your first port of call would be your travel insurance policy. Like with any other illness or accident which would prevent you from going on your holiday as planned this is the very reason for travel insurance policies.  Please check your policy to ensure that you would be covered in this instance. If you do not have travel insurance (please be aware it is a prerequisite to travelling with us) or it fails to cover you, we will negotiate with our local partners to offer you re-booking for an alternative date or a refund, but there will likely be some substantial unrecoverable costs, so it is much better to have comprehensive travel insurance than to rely on this option.

• I’M TRAVELLING FROM ANOTHER COUNTRY OUTSIDE OF THE UK – WHAT HAPPENS IF I’M NOT ABLE TO TRAVEL?

The Artisan Travel Company is based in the UK, and we take all our guidance from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and other UK government bodies. Depending on whether you have booked a flight inclusive or land-only package your contract with us either starts at your UK departure airport (if we have booked your flights) or, if you have booked a land only package, the agreed meeting point in the destination country (usually an airport).

If no national UK border restrictions are preventing us from operating the holiday (i.e., unless the FCDO advise against all but essential travel to Finland, Sweden, Iceland or Norway) OR the destination government prevent all arrivals from the UK then we will continue to run the holiday as planned. For anyone who is prevented from joining the trip as planned due to medical reasons or government advice changing from a country other than the UK or the destination of your holiday, then this cancellation by you would be dealt with as per our booking terms and conditions. As such, any loss would need to be reclaimed from your travel insurance policy so please check the wording carefully and ensure you are satisfied with the level of cover.

• WHAT TYPE OF TRAVEL INSURANCE SHOULD I LOOK FOR?

Travel insurance has always been a prerequisite for travelling with us and investing in a comprehensive travel insurance policy should be the first thing you do after booking your holiday. If you, or any member of your party, are diagnosed with COVID whilst you are on holiday then you need to be satisfied that your insurance policy will cover any medical costs incurred including testing, self-isolation and treatment. We would also suggest choosing a policy which would allow you to claim for any elements of the holiday you were not able to take part in.

Though we endeavour to inform our customers of any significant changes, this is a fast-moving situation and therefore we also ask for our travellers to keep up-to-date with the relevant travel advice.

Here are some useful links:

UK health authorities: www.gov.uk/guidance/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-information-for-the-public

FCDO travel advice: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice

The National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC) TravelHealthPro website: https://travelhealthpro.org.uk/news/499/novel-coronavirus-covid-19-general-advice-for-travellers

The NHS website: www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19

ABTA: www.abta.com/coronavirus

If you have any questions or concerns, then please do not hesitate to contact our customer service team at customerservice@theaurorazone.com or call 01670 785 785.