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Our trips are open to all Sierra Club members. Membership is required for all trip participants 18 years or older. If you're not currently a member, you may include your membership application and dues with your reservation request. If you're using a credit card to make a reservation and you're not a member, you will be required to join at that time. Typically, a person under 18 years of age may join an outing only if accompanied by a parent or designated guardian and with the consent of the trip leader. We accept reservations on a first-come, first-served basis. Please give some thought to your interests and preferences. Some trips are moderate, while others are strenuous. A few are only for highly qualified participants. Be realistic about your physical condition and the trip's level of difficulty. Phone: You can register by using a Visa or MasterCard and calling 415-977-5522. Please have the trip number, your credit card information, and your membership number handy. Online: You can register over the Web using our secure and easy online reservation form. U.S. Mail: If you're registering for a trip via U.S.
mail, you should fill out
one
reservation form for each trip and
include all people who want to be considered as part of that
trip party. (If you're signing up for more than one trip, please
make copies of the reservation form.) The first person on the
reservation form is considered the primary applicant and will
be
the only party member to receive reservation information,
brochures, bills, and forms. Please include on a separate sheet
of paper any addresses that may be different from the primary
applicant's address. Mail your completed reservation to the
address listed on the form. Fax: You can fax your completed reservation form to 415-977-5795. You must include your credit card information on the fax. Every trip requires a deposit for each individual on the trip (including children). The amount of the deposit varies with the trip price:
We apply your deposit to the trip price when we confirm your
reservation. All deposits and payments are in U.S. dollars
($).
If you make your reservation less than 90 days before the
trip starts, the full trip fee is due when you register. When a space is available on a trip and you pay your trip
deposit, we reserve a confirmed spot for you and mail a
confirmation packet to the primary trip party participant. (If
you're registering alone, this is you.) Your confirmation
packet
includes three important forms for each person in the trip
party. Each participant needs to complete the three forms when
he/she receives them and return them to the trip leader
within 30 days to get approved. (Confirmation is subject to
approval by the trip leader: see
approval process for details.) If there isn't space available when you register, we place you on a waitlist, and your deposit holds your space there. As long as you remain on the waitlist, your deposit is fully refundable at any time. We assume you still want to participate if a space becomes available. We automatically move you onto the trip if an opening occurs.
Once you move off the waitlist and onto the trip, your
acceptance is still subject to approval by the trip leader (see
approval process). You should
complete all participant approval forms when you receive them
and return them to the trip leader, even if you are on the
waitlist. All trip reservations are subject to approval by the trip leader. We mail a confirmation packet to the primary party member, whether the party is confirmed on the trip or is on the waitlist. Included in the packet are three forms for each trip participant to complete: the participant approval form, the medical form, and the liability waiver. Each trip participant must promptly fill out and return these three forms to the trip leader (the trip leader's address is listed on the forms). You are subject to cancellation from a trip if you don't submit these three forms to the trip leader within 30 days of making your reservation. The trip leader reviews these forms and makes sure that each trip participant has the appropriate equipment, experience, and physical conditioning needed for the outing. The trip leader will contact you if you are not approved for the trip. If you are not leader-approved, we will refund any trip fee payments you have made to date, or we can transfer them to a more suitable trip. If you have any questions about your suitability for a trip, you should contact the trip leader directly. Full payment of your trip fee is due 90 days prior to the trip start date. If you pay your deposit by credit card, we will automatically charge that credit card for the final payment 90 days before the trip starts. If you pay your deposit by check or money order, you need to send final payments by the dates indicated in your confirmation packet. International trips require an additional interim payment of $300 per person six months (180 days) before the trip start date, and the billing methods are the same as previously described. Please note: Your payments are due at the times indicated, regardless of your approval status. If we don't receive your payment on time, we may cancel your reservation, in which case you forfeit your deposit. If you are waitlisted, no payment other than the required deposit is necessary. We will bill you when you make it onto the trip as a signed-up participant. If you made your deposit by credit card and you move off the waitlist within 90 days of the trip start date, we will automatically charge that credit card for the balance due at that time. If you decide to cancel within your grace period, we will refund you all trip fees paid to date. (See waitlist for grace period details.) Unless otherwise noted, adults and children pay the same prices. Separate child prices for family trips are indicated where applicable. International Trip Tier-Pricing Some international outings are tier-priced. This means a trip's price is dependent upon the number of participants. Two prices might be listed for a trip, showing the sign-up levels associated with each.Final billing is based on the sign-up level at 90 days prior to the trip start date. If, between final billing and trip start dates, the sign-up level goes up sufficiently to qualify for the low-tier price, we will apply the lower price and will process refunds on the trip start date for any differences in amounts paid. Once we lower a trip price, we will not increase it, even if sign-up levels drop. Cancellations from trips where the tier price has changed are subject to our reservation and cancellation policy. All regular cancellation fees will apply to these reservations. Our trip prices do not include travel to and from a trip's starting point. Travel to and from the starting point is your responsibility. The trip leader will provide trip rosters to assist participants in arranging their own carpools. On some overseas trips, you may be asked to make your travel arrangements through a specific travel agency. You must notify us directly if you need to cancel from a trip. You can contact Sierra Club Outings weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., PST, at 415-977-5522. The amount of your refund is determined by the date that you notify Sierra Club Outings of your cancellation. Trip leaders have no authority to grant or promise refunds. Sierra Club Outings regrets that it cannot make exceptions to the reservation and cancellation policy for any reason, including personal emergencies. The reservation and cancellation policy applies to all reservations, regardless of whether or not the trip leader has notified you of approval. Trips Cancelled or Changed by Sierra Club Outings On rare occasions, we must cancel or change trips. If this occurs, our responsibility is limited to a refund of any trip fees you've already paid. Sierra Club Outings is not responsible for airline tickets, other tickets or payments, or any similar fee penalties that you may incur as a result of any trip cancellations or changes. We strongly encourage you to purchase travel insurance to cover: cancellation fees associated with an Outing as well as airfare or other nonrefundable expense in the event you need to cancel a trip; medical expenses incurred on a trip; and the cost of a possible medical evacuation from a trip. We have made arrangements with USI Travel Insurance Services for you to purchase a comprehensive travel insurance plan online. Feel free to contact USI Travel Insurance Services if you have questions on this policy or its coverage as Sierra Club Outings is not equipped to provide specific answers to questions on the program.
Substitutions are not allowed. On select trips, you may be required to provide a physician's statement of your physical fitness. Special inoculations may be required for international travel. You should also check with a physician regarding immunization against tetanus, which we recommend for all backcountry trips and/or travel in developing countries. In the case of accident, illness, or a missing trip member, Sierra Club Outings—through its trip leaders—will attempt to provide appropriate first aid, and will try to arrange for search and evacuation assistance when the trip leader determines it is necessary or desirable. Please note that our trip leaders don't always carry communication devices (due to the remote nature of certain areas and lack of reception), and that emergency help or evacuation may be difficult to arrange. Costs of an evacuation and/or search (e.g., helicopter), and of medical care beyond basic first aid, are the financial responsibility of the ill or injured person. Backcountry medical aid is costly, and Sierra Club Outings does not provide this coverage for participants on any of its trips. Therefore, we advise you to obtain medical and evacuation insurance: you can usually purchase it as part of a travel insurance package. (See travel insurance.) At the trip leader's discretion, you may be asked to leave a trip if the trip leader feels that your further participation may be detrimental to you, the trip, or to other participants on the trip. Radios, sound equipment, phones, firearms, and pets (except for seeing-eye dogs and other service dogs) are not allowed on any Sierra Club Outings trips. In order to ensure your safety and that of others on the trip, you are responsible for the following: Providing accurate and complete personal information requested for approval; carefully reviewing all trip information provided, and understanding as thoroughly as possible the physical and mental demands of the trip, as well as possible risks; properly equipping yourself in accordance with recommendations of the trip leader and Sierra Club Outings; respecting the customs of the areas/countries visited, avoiding breaking any applicable laws, and refraining from antisocial conduct during the trip; following environmental guidelines and regulations in accordance with direction from the trip leader; and always respecting the rights and privacy of other trip members.
Sierra Club Outings reserves the right to take photographs
and/or videos during any Sierra Club trip, and to use those
photographs and/or videos for marketing purposes for the
Sierra Club. As a participant on one of our trips, you
therefore are agreeing to let your image be used in such
photographs and/or videos. Participants who do not wish their
images to be used in this manner should notify the trip leader
in advance. CANCELLATION FEES APPLY AS FOLLOWS: YOU WILL NOT PAY CANCELLATION FEES IF: |
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