Cancellation & Refund Policy

This policy is part of your agreement with Sarisara Lanka when you book a trip. You accept it when you tick the box before paying your deposit. "Your trip" means the whole itinerary you booked. "Partner" means a hotel, home stay, activity, Local Expert or driver on your trip. "Your guide" means the tour guide who planned it with you. All prices and refunds are in US dollars.

1. Paying for your trip

• A 20% deposit confirms your booking. It is not refundable, except in the cases in section 6.
• The remaining 80% is due 60 days before your trip starts. If you book closer than that, you pay the full price at once.
• A price we quote you is held for 7 days. After that, the price is checked again before you pay.
• If the balance is not paid by its due date, we remind you and give you a few working days. If it is still not paid, the trip is cancelled and the deposit is kept.

2. How to cancel

• Open your booking and press "Cancel tour". Before you send it, you see the refund you would receive and why. You can also write to bookings@sarisaralanka.com with your booking reference.
• This is a request. Your trip stays booked and every partner keeps your dates until a member of our team confirms the cancellation with you.
• We reply within 2 working days with your choices: move your dates (if section 4 allows it), take travel credit, or receive a refund.
• The days are counted from the day we receive your request to the first day of your trip.
• The Cancel tour button disappears on the day your trip starts.

3. What you get back if you cancel

The 20% deposit is kept. Of the balance you have paid, you get back:

When you cancel	Balance refunded
61 days or more before your trip starts	100%
31 to 60 days before your trip starts	50%
15 to 30 days before your trip starts	25%
14 days or fewer before your trip starts	0%

Example: Maria books a USD 2,000 trip. Her deposit is USD 400 and her balance is USD 1,600. She cancels 40 days before the trip, so 50% of the balance comes back: USD 800. To her bank she receives USD 775 after the bank charge of USD 25 (section 5). As travel credit she receives USD 840.

4. Changing your trip after you have paid

After your deposit, your dates, the number of travellers and the services are fixed. Your guide can open a change for you; you see the price before you agree. What is possible depends on how many days before your trip you ask:

When you ask	What can change
More than 60 days before	Anything. If a partner cannot take the change, we offer you a similar one to approve.
46 to 60 days before	Only if every partner already on your trip can take the change. Removing a service or a traveller counts as cancelling it (section 3).
45 days or fewer before	Nothing can be changed. If something serious happens, tell us and we will look at it.

• Moving your dates: allowed once, up to 365 days ahead, for a 5% fee on the trip price. The new dates are priced again; you pay any difference, or receive it if the new dates cost less.
• Adding a traveller: the extra cost for that person plus a 5% fee on the new trip price, if the partners have room.
• Removing a traveller: a 5% fee on the new trip price. That person's share is treated as a cancellation: their part of the deposit is kept and their part of the balance comes back on the scale in section 3.
• Adding a service: its price, the 10% service fee, and a 5% change fee on that service. It is added only when the partner confirms.
• Removing a service: more than 60 days before, its full price comes off your trip. From 60 days before, it is treated as cancelling that service (section 3).

5. Bank charge on refunds

Every refund is sent by bank transfer from Sri Lanka, which costs us a bank charge each time. A refund you ask for has a charge of 3% or USD 25, whichever is bigger. Travel credit has no charge. When we cancel, or a partner or your guide cannot provide your trip (section 6), we pay the charge. A refund for events beyond anyone's control has the bank charge taken off.

6. When we, a partner or your guide cannot provide your trip

• A partner can no longer provide a service: your guide offers you a similar replacement and it is added only when you agree. Your price never goes up; Sarisara pays any difference. If there is no replacement you accept, the price of that service and its service fee are refunded.
• Your guide can no longer lead your trip: we tell you, and you decide. We can offer you another Sarisara guide at the same price, or, if you prefer, refund everything you paid, including the deposit.
• Sarisara cancels your trip for a reason within our control: you receive 100% of everything you paid, including the deposit, with no bank charge.
• Events beyond anyone's control (natural disaster, an official government travel ban, war or serious civil unrest, or a serious disease outbreak, covered by an official travel warning for your dates; the airport closed or all flights into Sri Lanka stopped by the authorities; or a national shortage of fuel, or a failure of power or water, that makes the trip impossible): you receive back everything you paid, including the deposit, less the bank charge (section 5). If only part of the trip is affected, we first offer a similar replacement or travel credit; if you do not accept, that part is refunded. Please tell us within 72 hours of the event.

Not covered, and best handled by your travel insurance: your own illness, a family emergency, a missed or cancelled flight, a refused visa, or a change of plans.

7. If you do not arrive, or a service did not happen

• If your trip starts and you do not arrive or contact us, it is a no-show and 0% of the price is refunded.
• If a service on your trip did not happen at all, tell us within 14 days after your trip ends. We hold that partner's payment while we look at it.

8. Travel insurance

We strongly recommend travel insurance from the day you pay your deposit, covering cancellation, medical costs and bringing you home, baggage, and personal liability. We do not check it; it is your choice and your responsibility.

9. When refunds are paid

• Refunds are sent by bank transfer on our next refund date: the 10th or the 25th of the month. We ask for your bank details when needed.
• Money we owe you after a change to your trip is kept until 45 days before your trip, because the trip can still change until then. Anything you owe from a later change is taken from it first. The rest is sent once, with one bank charge.
• Travel credit is kept in your Sarisara account, with 5% extra, and can be used for a future trip.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy. The version you accepted when you paid your deposit is the one that applies to your trip.

11. Law and contact

This policy is governed by the laws of Sri Lanka, without taking away any consumer rights you have in your own country.

Sarisara Lanka (Pvt) Ltd
Address: Panadura, Sri Lanka
Phone: +94 774 731 731 · bookings@sarisaralanka.com

Effective date: 11 November 2026