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If you don't find the information you are looking for here, please check out our Frequently Asked Questions.
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How to Sign Up for a Tour
You can sign up for your tour online with your credit card. You may also mail or fax your order. From the tour list, choose your desired departure date and note the tour status message:
- Sign up Now!
You may request a seat for this departure date. Your reservation is not confirmed until we notify you by postal mail. Please do not book your airfare until you have received your written confirmation letter confirming you on tour.
- Filling Fast
The tour has up to four seats available. It is possible that the tour will be sold out by the time we receive your order. We strongly recommend that you add another tour in case we cannot confirm your first choice. If we cannot confirm you on a tour, we will contact you as soon as possible to discuss other options. Please do not book your airfare until you receive a written tour confirmation letter in the mail.
- Join Waitlist
The tour is currently sold out, but you may join the waitlist should we receive a cancellation. We also open additional tours based on demand. Please complete the online tour registration, so that we can confirm your tour if it becomes available. We allow a maximum of three waitlisted tours per person. No deposit is required for waitlisted tours.
Adding Tours and Changing your Tour Selection
You may sign up for more than one tour on a single order. Please do not create a separate tour order for additional tours. You can add another tour to your order using the link provided in your cart. If you choose the wrong tour, remove it from you cart and add another tour. Once you are happy with your selection, choose Continue checkout.
Single Supplements for Solo Travelers
We room solo travelers (of the same gender) in a room together, usually in pairs and on rare occasions in triple bedded rooms. We rotate roommates throughout the tour when there are multiple solo travelers and your guide will do his or her best to make the room assignments as fair as possible. In 2009, we offer optional, limited, extra-cost single supplements on each of our tours if you would prefer a private room of your own (prices currently range from an additional $325 - $925 depending upon the specific itinerary you select; refer to www.ricksteves.com for the most up to date tour and single supplement prices). If you would like to request a single room on one of our 2009 itineraries, please indicate that preference with your tour reservation. You can pay your single supplement with a credit or debit card on the Web. If you prefer to mail your tour and single supplement request, please send your check or money order to us with the 2009 tour application to:
Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door
Attention: Tour Department
P.O. Box 2009
Edmonds, WA 98020
If a single room is not available, we will contact you immediately.. In order to maintain our travel philosophy of staying in small, family-owned, centrally located hotels, we are only able to offer a limited number of single supplements on each of our 2009 tours.
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Alumni Discount
Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door tour alums receive a $50 discount for each tour taken prior to 2009. This discount is cumulative and may be applied to any tour departing in 2009. For example, a veteran of five Rick Steves tours would save $250 on her next tour. To qualify for your discount, please indicate on your tour application the country, month and year for each tour taken prior to 2009. We will deduct the tour discount from your final tour payment. Important fine print: The discount may be used on one tour per calendar year and is nontransferable (e.g., parents can't use kids'/spouses' discounts).
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Deposits, Payment, and Refunds
Deposits and Final Tour Payments
You must agree to the Terms and Conditions and pay a deposit of $400 per person to request a seat. You can pay your deposit online, by mail or by fax. We accept personal checks, money orders, bank drafts, and credit or debit cards (Master Card, Visa and American Express) for tour deposits and single supplements (if available).
Your final tour balance must be paid by personal check, money order or bank draft. We cannot accept credit cards for the final tour balance. Final tour payments are due 60 days before departure. We reserve the right to cancel your reservation if you fail to pay by the due date. To confirm a tour departing in less than 60 days full payment is required and the tour deposit is non-refundable.
2009 Tour Cancellations and Refunds
Tour deposits received prior to 12/17/08 are fully refundable until December 31, 2008. Your deposit is non refundable if you cancel your reservation after 12/31/08.
Deposits received after 12/17/08 are fully refundable for a two week period from the date we confirm your tour. Written notice of cancellation must be sent to the Tour Department by postal mail, fax, or email:
Rick Steves Europe Through the Back Door
Tour Department
PO Box 2009,
Edmonds, WA 98020
Email: tour@ricksteves.com
Fax: 425-771-0833
Your cancellation will be in effect on the date it is received by Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door. Please read the complete details of our 2009 Tour Cancellation/Interruption Coverage.
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Secure Ordering and Privacy
At Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door, we take security seriously. If any unauthorized, fraudulent charges are made to your credit card as a result of booking tours at www.ricksteves.com, you pay nothing.
We protect the transfer of sensitive information between your browser and our secure server using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). SSL creates an encrypted data transfer, and is compatible with Netscape, Internet Explorer, and AOL's browsers. Firewall technology keeps your information securely stored on our servers. Credit card numbers are stored using database encryption.
If you are still not comfortable using your credit card online, just complete the online tour signup form and choose to mail or fax your order to us. Instructions will be provided when you complete your online tour request. Don't forget to write your credit card number on your fax or mail order.
The Fair Credit Billing Act provides that your bank cannot hold you liable for more than $50 of fraudulent charges. If unauthorized use of your card resulted through no fault of your own from booking a tour online, and if your bank holds you liable for any of this amount, Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door, Inc. will cover the entire liability, up to the full $50. In the event of unauthorized use of your card, for this security guarantee to be valid, you must notify your credit card provider in accordance with its established reporting rules and procedures under your cardholder agreement.
Privacy Policy
All of us at Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door respect your privacy. We will never share your name, address, email address or purchase information with any third party.
When you place an order with us, we collect basic information including your name, address, email address and phone number. We use this information to confirm your order and to respond to any questions you may have.
Our online tour signup form requires the acceptance of cookies to keep track of the items in your shopping cart and complete the order. If items do not stay in your cart, see "How to Enable Cookies"). We never use cookies to store sensitive customer information such as names, addresses, passwords or credit card numbers. If you would like to place an order, but cannot (or choose not to) allow cookies, use our printable tour application.
If you have further questions about our Privacy Pledge, please email us at tour@ricksteves.com.
Contact Technical Support
If you have other questions about our website, please email our Tech Support department at support@ricksteves.com.
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Terms and Conditions
The Rick Steves' website and online tour signup form at www.ricksteves.com are owned and operated by Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door, Inc. If you use our website to gather travel information, correspond with us, or make purchases, you accept these Terms and Conditions. Please read them carefully.
Copyright and Trademarks
All content included on this site, such as text, images, graphics, logos, video clips, digital downloads and software, is the property of Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door, Inc. and protected by United States and international copyright laws. "Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door," "Europe Through the Back Door," "www.ricksteves.com," and "Rick Steves" are trademarks of Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door, Inc. and may not be used in connection with any travel-related information, products, or services that are not owned by Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door, Inc.
License and Site Access
Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door, Inc. grants you a limited license to access and make personal use of this site and not to download or modify it, or any portion of it, except with express written consent of Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door, Inc. The downloading of streaming video clips is permissible for personal use only. This license does not include any commercial or derivative use of this site or its contents. This site or any portion of this site may not be reproduced, duplicated, copied, sold, resold, visited, or otherwise exploited for any commercial purpose without express written consent of Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door, Inc. As a visitor to www.ricksteves.com you are granted a limited and revocable right to create a link to our site so long as the link does not portray our site, our products or services in a misleading, derogatory, or otherwise offensive matter. You may not use any content, logo or graphic from our site as a part of the link without express written permission. Any unauthorized use terminates any license or permission granted by Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door, Inc.
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Transactions
You agree to accept responsibility for all activities that occur in your name and/or with your credit card. If you are under 18, you may enter into transactions only with the consent of a parent or guardian. Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door, Inc. reserves the right to refuse service, terminate accounts, remove or edit content, or cancel orders. Prices for Eurail travel are based on available sources. Actual currency and currency exchange rates may vary.
When you order a tour online, send an email message to any address@ricksteves.com, or otherwise give us your email address, you consent to receive future email messages from us. You agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures and other communications that we provide to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing. Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door, Inc. will never share your email address with anyone else. For more on this, see our Privacy Pledge.
Risk of Loss
All items purchased from Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door, Inc. are made pursuant to a shipment contract. This means that the ownership of your purchases and the risk of loss are entirely yours once we pass the items on to the carrier.
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Product Descriptions
We try to be as accurate as possible. However, Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door, Inc. does not warrant that product descriptions or other content of this site is accurate, complete, reliable, current, or error-free. If a product offered by us is not as described, your sole remedy is to return it in unused condition for a refund, exchange or credit.
Disclaimer of Warranties and Limitation of Liability
TO THE FULL EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, RICK STEVES' EUROPE THRU THE BACK DOOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THIS SITE, ITS SERVERS, OR email SENT FROM OUR LOCATIONS ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OF ANY KIND ARISING FROM THE USE OF THIS SITE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTIAL, PUNITIVE, AND CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES. SOME STATE LAWS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES. IF THESE LAWS APPLY TO YOU, SOME OR ALL OF THE ABOVE DISCLAIMERS, EXCLUSIONS, OR LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU, AND YOU MIGHT HAVE ADDITIONAL RIGHTS. Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door, Inc. will, honor its return policy on merchandise purchased from it on this site, and it will honor individual product warranties that accompany merchandise purchased from this site.
Applicable Law
By visiting www.ricksteves.com, you agree that the laws of the state of Washington, without regard to principles of conflict of laws, will govern these Terms and Conditions and any dispute that might arise between you and Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door, Inc.
Disputes
Any dispute relating in any way to your visit to www.ricksteves.com or to booking a tour online shall be submitted to confidential arbitration by a single arbitrator in King County in the state of Washington. The parties first agree to try in good faith to settle the dispute by mediation administered by American Arbitration Association, Washington Arbitration and Mediation Services or Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services. If mediation is unsuccessful, arbitration under this agreement shall be conducted under the commercial arbitration rules of the American Arbitration Association. The initial administrative fees associated with mediation or arbitration shall be shared equally by the parties, subject to reallocation of fees and costs, if any, as determined by the arbitrator. The arbitrator's award shall be binding and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, no arbitration under this Agreement shall be joined to an arbitration involving any other party subject to this Agreement, whether through class arbitration proceedings or otherwise. An important exception: if you violate or threaten to violate Rick Steves' intellectual property rights, Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door, Inc. may seek injunctive or other appropriate relief in any state or federal court in the state of Washington, and you consent to exclusive jurisdiction and venue in such courts.
Policies and Changes
Please review our other policies, such as our Privacy Pledge, posted on this site. These policies also govern your visit to ricksteves.com. We reserve the right to make changes to our site, policies, and these Terms and Conditions at any time. If any of these conditions shall be deemed invalid, void, or for any reason unenforceable, that condition shall be deemed "severable" and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining condition.
Contact Information
If you have trouble with our online tour registration, please contact our Tour Department.
Telephone: 425-608-4217; email: tour@ricksteves.com
Our address:
Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door, Inc.
130 Fourth Avenue North
P.O. Box 2009
Edmonds, WA 98020
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