COVID-19 and Travel: A note from Cycle Europe, Terms FAQ
A note to our customers and fellow travelers
We begin this note by thanking you, our customers and fellow travelers, for your continued support since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, where are home office is located. As difficult as it has been for us and for the travel industry in general, we hope to emerge from this experience stronger as individuals, as a team and as a company. There is much to look forward to, as most of our customers booked on 2020 tours have made it a point to let us know of their intent to return to Europe and carry out the cycling and travel experience that they’ve longed for. We’ve been also thrilled to see so many people now talking about cycling as a preferred mode of travel (and so many cities and urban areas throughout the world are adapting to make cycling a part of daily life!). We have all learned much over the last few months, and we are now more convinced than ever that travel, and the human and cultural connections that it can create, will be more important than ever in the coming years.
That said, we also understand how unpredictable circumstances have become over the last months, and we have updated our Terms and Conditions for the remainder of the 2020 and 2021 seasons, so as to give our travelers more flexibility while planning their travel and booking a tour with us. Please read our FAQs below, or visit our revised Terms and Conditions page for more details.
Because of the uncertainties associated with COVID-19 and large groups, we are confident that our small group tour style, as well as our self-guided tour format offer travelers a safe and comfortable alternative, now more than ever. On our self-guided tours, for example, you have the independence and freedom to participate solo, with a friend or partner, or family – you’ll be traveling only with people you know, with the independence to start every cycling day at your leisure, and to stay on the suggested route or veer off at your whim.
We are also specialists in Private and Tailor-Made tours and itineraries. Over the years we’ve worked with families and groups, large and small, making many a cycling holiday dream come true throughout the continent. From multi-generation family holidays to groups of friends coming to Europe, in itinerant hotel-to-hotel or centrally-based (think Italian villa or French châteaux) packages, if you are ready to start planning your trip, drop us line – this is our specialty and we are ready to help!
When deciding what type of bike tour to take, there are lots of things to consider beyond whether it is guided or self-guided. We’ve been organizing cycling tours in Europe since 1972 and we truly believe the best way to discover the magic of Europe is by bike as that helps you slow down to experience culture, food, landscapes and people as they come to life before you. Based in Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany, Italy, we leverage decades of experience in designing both guided group tours and self-guided tours throughout Europe. We offer well curated routes and hotels, and we take care of the myriad planning details, so that all you need to pick is where, when, and how.
Updated Terms FAQ
We know many of you are itching to travel again and we’ve made our booking and cancellation terms more flexible to accommodate travel decisions in a more uncertain world. We have also closely monitored the COVID-19 situation in Italy and wherever we operate in Europe, from the beginning of the outbreak, and have taken various measures to ensure we are creating and following the best safety policies for your future trips. Among other things, our staff (from our Director of Tours down to our Tour Managers, Garage staff and Bike Mechanics and on the ground Partners) now follow internal guidelines and safety policies. Cycle Europe has also been actively involved in both working with and leading active travel industry associations, including Active Italy and Adventure Travel Trade Association, two collectives of the leading tour operators in Italy, Europe and throughout the world.
Yes. To point out, among others:
Our booking and cancellation/postponement policies have changed. For the remainder of 2020, as well as for 2021, the deposit amount required to book a place on tour is now only €100 per person, and the balance due payment date is much closer to the tour start date to allow for any last-moment changes in travel plans. We have also reduced the fees or penalties associated with refunds. Most importantly, a customer requesting a postponement or rebooking for COVID-19 travel restrictions will no longer be charged a fee – we offer 100% Money on Account credit, to be used through 2022 and with other flexible ways to use the credit, like transferring to family, friends or any other person without a fee. For details, please see our recently-updated Terms and Conditions webpage
Please note that we address tours booked for 2020 and cancelled or postponed prior to March 20, 2020 in our Amended Terms & Conditions due to Coronavirus COVID-19 (click on the link.)
Should COVID-19 travel restrictions continue or recur in 2021, in the destination country or in your country of origin, and force Cycle Europe to cancel a tour we will extend the 2020 Amended Terms & Conditions due to Coronavirus COVID-19 into the future.
If COVID-19 travel restrictions persist or return, in the destination country or your country of origin, and force you to cancel a tour, our revised Terms and Conditions now address your options. Most importantly, Cycle Europe will credit the traveler’s full payments towards the tour, rental or service, without fees or penalties, for use through the next two years. Please see our detailed Terms and Conditions webpage.
Our Terms and Conditions webpage addresses cancellation, rebooking and refund scenarios if you cancel for reasons not related to COVID-19; the conditions are different for Tour Packages and Rentals or Services – please see the webpage for details.
Travelers who cancel and rebook their tours, or whose tours are cancelled by Cycle Europe can have their payments credit for future use as Money on Account (MOA). Our updated Terms and Conditions webpage now specifically addresses the issue of Money on Account. Most importantly:
- When MOA is issued for COVID-19 related issues, we will credit your full Tour or Rental payments, without penalties or fees. At date of publication of this blog, MOA can be used through the end of 2022. If COVID-19 restrictions re-emerge in 2021, we will extend the dates through which you can use your MOA by another two years.
- MOA can be used by the traveler originally booking the Tour or Rental, or this traveler can transfer their MOA credit to anyone else (with written, express authorization).
- MOA cannot be applied to other travel-associated costs, like transportation or hotel costs outside of our Tour or Rental package. We will only apply credit for the funds payed by the traveler towards their booked Cycle Europe Tour or Rental.
- Once a new Tour or Rental is booked by the traveler with MOA credit, and if that traveler has to cancel again due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, or if Cycle Europe has to cancel due to COVID-19 issues, where a customer rebooked and applied their MOA, we will extend the MOA for another two years.