Policies

Cancellation & Refund Policy

How cancellations, changes, partner refunds, travel credits, and the 10% Journey Management Fee work for Brighter Latitude-managed Costa Rica land journeys.

Website version 2.0, last updated 19 July 2026

At a glance

Core rule: There is no blanket 90% refund rule. We separate partner-delivered service funds from the Journey Management Fee.
Partner amounts: Refunds or credits depend on what the relevant partner returns under the terms disclosed in your proposal.
Management fee: The 10% Journey Management Fee pays for planning and coordination work and is generally non-refundable once detailed booking work begins.
Flights: Flights are booked directly by the traveller and are governed by the airline or booking platform, not this policy.

Our Cancellation Promise

Clear treatment of partner money and work already completed

When you ask Brighter Latitude to coordinate a journey, we invest time and may commit funds or reservation capacity with accommodation, activity, guide, and transfer partners. This policy explains how we calculate refunds without pretending every component has the same terms.

The simple version

If you cancel, we will try to recover the maximum practical value from partners. Partner-delivered service amounts are refunded or credited only to the extent the partner returns them. The separate Journey Management Fee covers work already performed and is generally non-refundable once detailed booking work begins.

What this policy covers: it applies to land services included in an accepted Brighter Latitude proposal and paid through Brighter Latitude, together with the Journey Management Fee. It does not cover flights, accommodation, activities, transfers, or other services you book and pay for independently.

Term	Meaning
Partner charge	The customer-facing price of an accommodation, activity, guide, transfer, or other service delivered by an independent partner.
Journey Management Fee	The separate 10% fee for detailed planning, partner coordination, booking administration, payment and confirmation management, final documentation, and agreed support.
Recoverable amount	Cash or credit the relevant partner actually agrees to return, less any non-recoverable partner charge or lawful disclosed processing cost.
Booking work begins	The point after you accept the proposal and authorise Brighter Latitude to begin detailed partner outreach, reservations, payment, or confirmation work.
Cancellation date	The date and time your written request reaches the Brighter Latitude inbox.
First land-service date	The first accommodation, activity, guide, transfer, or other component booked through Brighter Latitude. Flights are not included.

Two Parts of the Price

The refund calculation starts by separating the payment

1. Partner-delivered land services

Accommodation, activities, guides, transfers, and other partner services have their own deposits, deadlines, cancellation rules, and credit options.
We pass on the recoverable cash refund or usable credit that the partner provides for the affected component.

2. Journey Management Fee

The 10% fee pays Brighter Latitude for route finalisation, partner outreach, quotation, reservation work, payment administration, confirmation tracking, revisions, and trip documentation.
Once that detailed work begins, the fee is generally earned and non-refundable, subject to applicable law and any more specific proposal term.

Standard cancellation positions

When or why you cancel	Typical treatment
Before accepting a formal proposal	No booking fee or partner payment is due unless a separate, clearly disclosed service was requested.
After acceptance but before booking work begins	Uncommitted partner funds and any unearned Journey Management Fee are returned.
After booking work begins	The Journey Management Fee is generally non-refundable. Partner amounts are refunded or credited only to the extent recovered under each partner's terms.
Close to travel	Recovery is often limited because partners may have final commitments. We still ask for any available refund, credit, or date move.
No-show, missed transfer, unused activity, or early departure	The Journey Management Fee remains non-refundable and partner charges are normally not recoverable once the service was available.
Partial cancellation	We calculate recovery only for the cancelled components. Remaining services may need repricing because group size, route flow, or partner minimums changed.

No automatic 90% promise

Refunds are not calculated by retaining 10% of every payment. The 10% Journey Management Fee is a separate charge for Brighter Latitude work. Partner refunds are calculated from the actual terms and amounts of the affected services.

Partner Terms and Timing

Every journey can contain several cancellation clocks

Your formal proposal should identify known non-refundable items, payment deadlines, cancellation dates, or special partner rules before you pay. The closer a request is to travel, the less likely a partner refund becomes.

Component	How cancellation normally works
Accommodation	Hotels and lodges may require deposits or full payment and may use different deadlines by season, room type, holiday, villa, or group size.
Tours and activities	Private guides, permits, limited-capacity experiences, park tickets, and customised activities may become non-refundable once reserved.
Transfers and transport	Private drivers, shuttles, vehicle allocation, luggage logistics, and airport pickups may have change or cancellation deadlines.
Special requests	Buyouts, premium rooms, holiday dates, custom experiences, or high-demand periods may require stricter terms.
Flights	Not covered. You book flights directly, so airline or booking-platform rules control any refund, credit, name change, or date change.

Proposal-specific terms control: if a proposal identifies a stricter or more flexible partner term, that term applies to the relevant component. A general website summary does not override a clearly disclosed journey-specific condition.

Changes instead of cancellation

Request	What may happen
Date move	We ask partners whether the booking can move. New seasonal rates, availability, or change fees may apply.
Hotel, route, or activity change	The original component may be cancelled under its terms and the replacement quoted at current prices.
Traveller removed or added	Rooms, vehicles, transfers, and activities may need repricing. Some deposits or minimums may not reduce.
Confirmed flight changes	We can try to adjust land arrangements around your new flight timing. Partner availability, fees, and extra nights remain your responsibility.

Early notice gives the best chance of a date move, credit, or partial recovery. A change is not confirmed until the relevant partners accept it and any price difference or fee is paid.

Fee Treatment and Service Failure

When the Journey Management Fee becomes earned

The fee is not a penalty for cancelling. It pays for a defined coordination service that may be substantially completed before the travel date.

Work covered by the fee

Detailed route finalisation and itinerary logic.
Partner research, outreach, quote review, and availability checks.
Reservation requests and booking administration.
Payment schedule and confirmation tracking.
Customer and partner communication.
Reasonable revisions within the agreed scope.
Final itinerary and travel packet preparation.
Reasonable support for booked land components.

General fee rule

Once you accept the proposal and authorise detailed booking work, the Journey Management Fee is generally earned as the work is performed and is non-refundable after that work begins. If no relevant work has begun, an unearned amount will be returned.

If Brighter Latitude cancels the coordination service or cannot perform a material agreed responsibility for reasons within its reasonable control, we will return uncommitted partner funds and any unearned portion of the Journey Management Fee, subject to the proposal and applicable law.

If a partner cannot perform, we will first try to find a practical alternative. If no suitable alternative is accepted, we pass on the cash refund or credit recovered from the affected partner. The Journey Management Fee generally remains earned because the design, booking, communication, and recovery work has been performed, although we may make a fair adjustment where the circumstances and our own responsibility justify it.

Rights that cannot be excluded: nothing in this policy removes a refund, remedy, or customer right that applicable law says cannot be excluded or limited.

Disruptions, Credits, and Insurance

Recover value where cash is not available

Travel credits: when a cash refund is unavailable, a partner may offer a reusable credit, date move, voucher, or partial recovery. We pass that option on where practical. Credits may have expiry dates, blackout periods, name restrictions, destination restrictions, or price differences.

Good-faith recovery

We will make reasonable efforts to recover value, but we cannot guarantee that a hotel, activity operator, guide, transfer provider, or other partner will approve a refund, credit, or date change after its deadline.

Weather and events outside control: journeys may be affected by weather, road closures, illness, strikes, natural events, government action, local restrictions, partner operational issues, or other circumstances outside Brighter Latitude control. We will try to help adjust the route or find alternatives, but refunds depend on the relevant partner terms and recoverable amount.

Flight disruption: because you book flights directly, airline cancellations, delays, missed connections, baggage issues, and airline credits or refunds must be handled with the airline or booking platform. We can try to re-coordinate land services, but any partner fees, extra nights, new transfers, or price differences are additional costs unless a partner waives them.

Travel insurance: appropriate travel insurance is strongly recommended. Depending on the policy, it may help with cancellation, interruption, medical needs, baggage, delays, missed connections, or events that Brighter Latitude and its partners cannot refund.

Before buying

Check covered reasons, exclusions, pre-existing-condition rules, claim evidence, excess, limits, and whether supplier insolvency is included.

After an event

Keep confirmations, partner terms, receipts, cancellation emails, refund calculations, and evidence needed for a claim.

How to Cancel and How Refunds Are Processed

Written notice creates a clear record

How to cancel:

Item	What to provide
Send to	salazar.jose@brighterlatitude.com
Subject	Cancellation request, [Traveller name], [Journey dates]
Include	Traveller name, contact email, journey dates, proposal reference if known, components affected, and whether the request is full or partial.
Optional	Reason for cancellation. Do not send unnecessary medical details. Share only what is needed if you are asking a partner to consider an exception.

The cancellation is treated as received when it reaches the Brighter Latitude inbox. Send it as early as possible, especially near a partner deadline.

Refund calculation

Step	Effect
Recoverable cash returned by affected partners	+
Less any disclosed non-recoverable partner charges	-
Plus or minus any accepted travel credit or replacement arrangement	+/-
Journey Management Fee treatment under this policy	separate
Approved refund or credit to the traveller	calculated case by case

Timing and method: we aim to initiate an approved cash refund within 10 business days after the recoverable amount is final and, where relevant, after the partner has returned the funds to Brighter Latitude. Banks, card processors, and partners may take additional time. Refunds are normally sent to the original payment method where possible.

Refund statement

We will provide a reasonable breakdown showing the affected components, partner recovery, non-recoverable amounts, Journey Management Fee treatment, and any credit or replacement accepted.

Partial Cancellations, Disputes, and Short Version

One component can change the economics of the rest

Partial cancellations: removing one traveller, shortening the trip, dropping an activity, changing hotel nights, or cancelling a transfer may cause remaining services to be repriced. Accommodation, vehicles, private guides, and activities often depend on group size, dates, route flow, or minimum charges.

The Journey Management Fee may also need recalculation if the managed land-services subtotal changes before booking work is complete. Once detailed work has been performed, completed work remains earned.

Chargebacks and disputes: contact Brighter Latitude first so we can review the proposal, payment record, partner terms, cancellation date, and recovery options. Chargebacks can freeze funds, slow a legitimate refund, or create duplicate disputes with partners and processors. This does not prevent you from using rights available through your payment provider or applicable law.

Website short version

Partner services. Refunds and credits depend on what the relevant hotel, activity, guide, transfer, or other partner returns under the terms disclosed in your proposal.
Journey Management Fee. The separate 10% fee pays for planning and coordination work and is generally non-refundable once detailed booking work begins.
No fixed 90% rule. We do not automatically retain 10% of the full trip payment. Partner amounts and the management fee are treated separately.
Flights. You book flights directly, so airline cancellations, changes, credits, and refunds are outside this policy.
Our commitment. We will make reasonable efforts to recover the maximum practical value and explain the calculation.

Updates and contact: the version published when you accept your proposal applies unless the proposal states a more specific term.

Contact

For cancellation or refund questions, email salazar.jose@brighterlatitude.com or visit brighterlatitude.com.

This policy is subject to applicable law and to any rights that cannot lawfully be excluded. It should be reviewed by qualified counsel before live customer funds are accepted across multiple jurisdictions.

Questions about this policy? Write to reservations@brighterlatitude.com.

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