Refund & Cancellation Policy

1. What this covers

This policy applies to holiday packages, hotel bookings, transport and activities booked directly with Journey Aura. Flights, trains and visa fees are governed by the airline, railway or consulate concerned, and their rules override this policy for those components.

2. How to cancel

All cancellations must reach us in writing — by email to our official address, or on WhatsApp to our booking number. A cancellation takes effect from the date and time we receive that written request, not from the date you decided to cancel. Requests received on a Sunday or a public holiday are treated as received on the next working day.

3. Cancellation charges

Unless your confirmation voucher states otherwise, the following charges apply to the total tour cost:

• 30 days or more before departure — 10% of the tour cost
• 29 to 15 days before departure — 25% of the tour cost
• 14 to 8 days before departure — 50% of the tour cost
• 7 to 4 days before departure — 75% of the tour cost
• 3 days or less before departure, or no-show — 100% of the tour cost

Peak-season travel — including Kashmir during the tulip season, and Christmas and New Year across all destinations — often carries stricter supplier terms. Where that applies, the charges are set out on your quotation and confirmation voucher before you pay.

4. Costs we cannot refund

Some parts of a trip are paid to suppliers the moment they are confirmed and cannot be recovered once booked. These are refunded only to the extent the supplier refunds us:

• Air and rail tickets, which follow the carrier's own fare rules
• Visa fees and visa service charges, once an application is submitted
• Non-refundable and advance-purchase hotel rates
• Confirmed permits, entry tickets and pre-booked activities
• Payment gateway or bank charges already deducted on your original payment

5. No-show and unused services

If you do not arrive for a booked service, or you leave a trip part-way through, no refund is due for the unused nights, transfers, meals or activities. The same applies if you are denied boarding or entry because your documents are incomplete.

6. Changing a booking instead of cancelling

We will always try to move your dates rather than cancel outright. Date changes are subject to availability and to whatever the hotels and transport partners charge us, plus any difference in seasonal rates. Ask us early — a change made well before departure usually costs far less than a cancellation.

7. Refund timelines

Once the cancellation charges are settled, we process approved refunds within 7 to 14 working days. Money is returned to the account or payment method you originally paid from; we cannot refund to a different account. Your bank may take a few additional working days to credit it.

8. If we cancel your trip

If we have to cancel a confirmed trip for a reason within our control, you may choose either a full refund of everything you have paid us, or an alternative trip of similar standard with any difference in cost settled either way. This is our full liability in that situation.

9. Circumstances beyond anyone's control

Where a trip cannot go ahead because of weather, landslides, roadblocks, strikes, curfews, government orders, airline or railway disruption, natural disaster, epidemic or similar events, we will recover whatever we can from hotels and transport partners and pass it back to you after deducting amounts they have already retained.

In these situations we usually offer a credit towards future travel, valid for 12 months, as suppliers are far more willing to move a booking than to refund it.

10. Complaints

If something goes wrong during your trip, tell us and the hotel or driver straight away so we can fix it while you are still there. Complaints raised after you return are much harder to resolve. Any claim should reach us in writing within 30 days of your return date.