Guide

Deposit, Balance, Cut-Off: The Payment Timeline on a Package Tour

2026-09-22 · TourFax editorial team

Deposit, Balance, Cut-Off: The Payment Timeline on a Package Tour

Photo: Charles J (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Almost every package tour follows the same money timeline: a deposit at booking, the balance some weeks before departure, and a sliding scale of penalties if you cancel. The figures below come from four operators' published booking conditions, read November 3, 2026.

The deposit

All four set a non-refundable deposit, and none of them sets it the same way.

Intrepid charges USD 400 per person per trip. G Adventures charges USD 250 on its 18-to-Thirtysomethings and Roamies styles and USD 350 on Classic and Active.

Explore takes a minimum of 10 percent of the trip price. Exodus takes at least 25 percent with a USD 500 minimum, rising to a USD 2,000 minimum on polar voyages.

Non-refundable does not always mean gone. Intrepid holds the deposit as a Deposit Credit if you cancel 56 days or more out, and G Adventures holds it as a Lifetime Deposit, which its terms say has no expiry.

The balance due date

This is the line to circle, and the four dates are not close together.

Intrepid: 56 days before departure. G Adventures: 60 days. Explore: 70 days for bookings confirmed from January 1, 2023. Exodus: at least 120 days, and more where an airline wants paying up front.

Once the balance is paid, cancellation penalties jump. Insurance should be in place well before this date, not after.

The cancellation scale

There is no common shape. Each operator writes its own table, so read the one you are booking under. All four below are from the published conditions, read November 3, 2026.

  • Intrepid: deposit held as a credit 56 days or more out; 30 percent of the booking cost at 31 to 55 days; 60 percent at 30 to 15 days; 100 percent at 14 days or fewer.
  • G Adventures: the deposit becomes a Lifetime Deposit and the rest is refunded 60 days or more out; half the rest refunded at 30 to 59 days; no further refund inside 30 days.
  • Explore: loss of deposit 70 days or more out; 30 percent, or loss of deposit if higher, at 69 to 42 days; 60 percent at 41 to 28 days; 90 percent at 27 to 14 days; 100 percent inside 14 days.
  • Exodus: loss of deposit up to and including 90 days out; 50 percent at 89 to 52 days; 75 percent at 51 to 31 days; 100 percent at 30 days or less. Polar voyages run on a separate, earlier table.

Note what counts as the cancellation date. Intrepid says a cancellation is only effective when it receives written confirmation from you. Explore calculates its charges from the day written or verbal notice reaches it or its agent.

What the operator cancels

Read which word the terms use, because refund and credit are not the same thing.

Intrepid says that if it cancels you can transfer amounts paid to another departure date, or take a refund or credit.

If a force majeure event is the cause, that narrows to a 100 percent credit of monies paid, or a refund minus unrecoverable costs.

Explore's conditions say you are entitled to a full refund if Explore is not able to operate your trip.

Weather, strikes and closures

A grounded balloon flight, a closed bay, a blocked mountain pass: these usually fall under force majeure.

Explore's clause 12 defines it as any event beyond its control whose consequences could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken, and lists weather conditions that make safe travel impossible.

Where that clause applies the itinerary changes, and there is normally no refund for the missed element unless the terms say so. Ask before booking what happens if the highlight cannot run.

A checklist

  • Deposit amount and whether it is held as a credit if you cancel
  • Balance due date
  • Cancellation scale, with the dates that trigger each step
  • What happens if the operator cancels: refund, credit, or transfer
  • How weather cancellations of included activities are handled
  • Whether the price is locked. Intrepid may add surcharges up to 56 days out, absorbs the first 2 percent, and lets you cancel for a full refund within 14 days if a surcharge exceeds 10 percent of the trip price.
Destination checklists

Sources