Cancellation Policy
Cancellation & Reschedule Policy
We never make exceptions to this policy.
Because we are under contract to pay our staff, should you have to cancel your trip plans, or seek to reschedule to a different trip, deposits and final payments are non-refundable. Alternate guests are always welcome to come in your place, at no charge. If we replace your canceled space(s) with other guests, a cancellation fee is charged - $50 per person for single day trips, and 50% of the total cost of any multi-day trip. If you feel you may not be able to make your trip please inform us as soon as possible and we can try to find alternate guests. You own spaces on our rafts because you've paid for them. As soon as a reservation is made we lose the right to sell that trip to someone else.
We price our trips at rates which ensure high quality and competitive wages for professional guides. We do this out of a legal and ethical commitment to running safer trips and compensate our employees fairly. Our guides wages are secured, just as your trip is secured, once the booking is made. If you do not make your trip, the guides wage, trip cost, local, state, and federal use fees, sales tax, and the booking amount, still have to be paid. We are required by law to pay our employees, even if you do not show up. If you book spots on our trips, the guides cannot be allocated to another river, and they are not allowed to find work elsewhere. As federal contractors, we are obligated to utilize the money from the bookings to pay our employees.
Our guides must focus their attention on our guests that have arrived, should you miss your trip. It is very important that we operate as one team. Even if you miss your trip, you can have an influence on the safety of others. In cases where someone gets stuck in traffic, has a medical emergency, or some other distressing situation, we can certainly empathize with you, but there is nothing we can do to help any situation which is beyond our control. Our guides are legally bound to focus their entire attention to the safety and well being of the guests who have arrived, once the trip time comes. We understand, and empathize that it is a helpless feeling to lose your booking investment. There is never a situation where we are happy that our guests miss a trip; we want you on the river with us.
Triad River Tours is under a legal and ethical obligation to treat its employees with respect and pay them fairly; and you as a customer are the most important part of that obligation as our guides are paid directly from the funds we receive when you make a booking. We must enlist guides to begin preparing for your river trip on the day that you make your reservation. We make a commitment to our employees as soon as you make your reservation, and they make a commitment to be your guide for that day. We believe that guides work best when they run the same river again and again with a consistent plan and execution. Guides work best when they are familiar with the team structure and personnel with which they are running the river. So, even if you cancel your trip, our guides run the trip together and follow the exact same safety protocol if you showed up or not. There is no difference, in terms of cost, between a trip which is ran with or without you; once you make a reservation, we put the plan in place. Adapting a safety protocol or changing it as a result of a cancellation is not safe, and we will not do it. We believe strongly that preparation, and early placement of the appropriate guides, is a key element to why our trips are some of the safest in the industry. We are proud of our safety record and we believe that our cancelation policy empowers safer trips.. If your group does not show up, we will run the exact same trip, just as we would have if you were there, in order to provide the same level of safety for our other guests. Note that it is not cheaper for us to run the trip without you. Your money went to the staff provided for that trip, who are guaranteed a wage, and are covered by law to be paid.
We promise that our guides are paid even if a trip is cancelled. It is a reflection of our commitment to safety and preparation on the river and a belief that the most qualified guides are going to require the most considerable compensation. In order for us to continue employing top quality professional guides, we find it necessary to ensure that they are guaranteed a fair wage for their efforts, even in the case of unavoidable trip cancellations for any reason whatsoever. Unlike other companies who leave a slew of undertrained guides always at the ready, we consistently pay our guides on time for every single trip. This commitment starts with the contract you engage in when you make a reservation, which results in our commitment to run a safe trip with the most thoroughly competent guides who demand and deserve a fair wage for their work.
Once you book a trip, we lose the right to sell your reserved space to other individuals or groups. The value of your trip is the amount you paid during your booking, plus gratuities that the guides often earn through their hard work.
Our number of trips and spaces per trip are limited by river management plans. We regret that we cannot make exceptions for personal emergencies.
We are committed to the safety of all people on the trip, and if you are late we reserve the right to adapt the trip to the lesser number, and run the trip without you.
Trip Cancellation Coverage
Please understand that we cannot insure your investment in river trip reservations. We strongly recommend the purchase of trip cancellation coverage, if available, or purchase third party trip insurance (link below).
Often, when booking your trip you have the option to purchase cancellation coverage for $10 per person. This will allow you to book without concern for changing your trip plans outside of 24 hours of the trip departure. This gives added flexibility for a small cost. To cancel or reschedule your trip outside of 24 hours please contact our office. The fees for cancellation coverage are $10 per person, and they are completely non-refundable.
Trip Insurance
Please click here to be directed to the website of a trip insurance provider. Cancellation and interruption insurance can include full refund should you cancel due to health, medical and other reasons. If you cannot afford to forfeit your reservation dollars, you should purchase trip cancellation insurance.
Final Payments
All payments are due at time of reservation.
Charter Trips
Check with us regarding "exclusive" charter trip reservations. Rates are typically around $500 per guided raft (seats up to 6-8 people).
Assumption of Risk
You will be required to sign an "assumption of risk agreement" in order to join a river trip with Triad River Tours.
Children and Minors (under 18)
Triad River Tours grants permission to minors on rafting trips on a case by case basis. In general, all Skagit River Scenic Float trips, such as the Eagle Watching and Wine Tasting, can take any child 50 lbs. and higher. Children weighing at least 50lbs are invited on the Upper Skagit River and should be prepared to swim in whitewater. Sauk River Whitewater is available for minors who have previous whitewater experience or have passed rescue tests the day of the trip. All Sauk River guests must weigh at least 90lbs or receive special permission (due to fitment into appropriate life jackets) at the time of booking (please feel free to call 360-510-1243). All Skykomish River guests must weight at least 90lbs and be at least 14 years of age with no exceptions.
If we cancel a trip
Sometimes trips do not meet minimum participant requirements, or due to river conditions (or otherwise) certain trips may occasionally fail to meet the safety thresholds of our protocol systems (these are available for you to read on the webpages of every trip). These safety protocols are independently audited by professional rescue agencies, and they constitute vital information which is part of our contracts with government agencies such as the National Parks Service, or the United States Forest Service. Breaking these protocols is only done when our river managers make special exceptions. If we ever cancel a trip due to conditions you will be given the opportunity to transfer your reservation to another river (if applicable). If we cancel a trip we we will refund your money immediately and in full, or if you would like you may forward the reservation to the next season or when the river is open.
Triad River Tours operates under strict safety protocols and reserves the right to move your reservation to a different section of river if conditions are even remotely unsafe. Typically this will involve a minor inconvenience, but in the interests of doing business safely, we cannot accept cancelations in the event of an itinerary change for safety reasons.
Fees
All transaction fees (typically 3%) and booking fees (typically 6%) are non-refundable to both Triad River Tours and our customer as once the transaction has been authorized by the customer, we cannot prevent this fee from being taken from you. In the case of fraud the fee can be recovered by way of your credit card company.
