Refund Policy

A legal disclaimer

Cancellation and Refund Policy

Capitalised terms in this document have the meaning assigned to them, or otherwise as set out in the Terms.

This Cancellation and Refund Policy is incorporated into and forms part of, the Terms that govern the Booking Services provided to our customers ("customer", "you" or "your") by Lubov Travel.

Nothing in this Cancellation and Refund Policy is intended to limit, exclude or modify or purport to limit, exclude or modify any of your rights or remedies under the Australian Consumer Law or in respect of any Consumer Guarantees.

Please note that in administering this policy we will predominantly deal with the Account Holder who placed the order in respect of a specific Travel Offer. However all travellers on the order over the age of 18 will be Authorised Contacts.

This Cancellation and Refund Policy is effective on and from 20 November 2024 (updated on 14 December 2024).

1. Important Information about your booking

By placing a booking with us, you acknowledge the following important information:

we act as your booking agent; Lubov Travel is a Booking Services provider, and curates the Travel Offers offered to our customers. We act as your booking agent, and we receive payment for the Booking Services as part of the booking price, however, we do not provide any of the Travel Services (flights, accommodation, tours or other products or services) included in your booking – the Travel Services are provided by a number of third party Travel Suppliers.
each booking is unique; our Travel Offers are made up of a variety of different components and are, during the booking process, uniquely tailored to suit your requirements, for example, departure dates and ports, flight and room upgrades, tour inclusions, etc.
changes/modifications to your booking may not be possible; once your booking has been made, changes or modifications may not be possible, and where possible, may incur a fee. It is important to ensure that you have all of the required information available at the time of booking (or shortly thereafter), the information you provide during the booking process is accurate and up to date, and that you read the Travel Offer carefully before placing your order.
Travel Offers are a package; our Travel Offers have been curated into package offerings and must be used as a package – individual components cannot be used independently of the full package offering.
our Travel Offers are generally non-refundable for change of mind: in order to provide great value Travel Offers, we work with a variety of Travel Suppliers to find the best deals – this often means the Travel Suppliers’ offerings are non-refundable for change of mind to ensure the best price. We recommend that you do not place an order with us until you are ready to commit to your selected travel arrangements and you obtain travel insurance as soon as you make a booking with us.

2. Cancellations for change of mind or failure to make an instalment payment

Unless expressly provided otherwise in our Terms, or the Supplier Terms applicable to your booking, and subject to your right to a refund at law, your booking is non-refundable for change of mind.

Should you seek to cancel your booking due to a change of mind or fail to make an instalment payment and your booking is cancelled in accordance with our Terms, your cancellation will result in two different charges: cancellation fees charged by Lubov Travel for the Booking Services and charges from the Travel Suppliers in your booking, such as an airline, tour operator, hotel or other travel service providers.

How much Lubov Travel will charge will depend on:

the portion of our Booking Services that have been provided up to the point of cancellation;
costs we incur in curation of the Travel Offer;
losses suffered as a result of cancellation e.g. tours moving under minimum booking numbers which may result in extra costs to us for other travellers if tour numbers drop below minimum commitments, all of which is unique to each booking.

Any amounts charged by Travel Suppliers for cancellations will be according to their Supplier Terms and may be different to the Travel Suppliers’ publicly available Terms, including that they may be more prohibitive or limited. The amounts charged by a Travel Supplier may be applicable immediately after placing your booking and may be up to 100% of the booking price allocated to that Travel Service. To the extent that you are entitled to a refund from one of the Travel Suppliers, we will provide you with any refundable amounts that we receive on your behalf. These amounts will be refunded to you in the form provided to us (refund or credit) and you will not receive any amounts until we receive them from the Travel Suppliers.

The fees charged by Lubov Travel and the relevant Travel Suppliers combined may be up to 100% of the booking price paid – this means that you may not receive a refund at all in the event of a cancellation for change of mind.

Fees Charged by Lubov Travel:

365 days or more prior to departure - up to 10% of the booking price
364 days or less prior to departure - up to 20% of the booking price

Cancellation of your booking for change of mind includes any of the following circumstances:

if you change your mind after you have purchased a Travel Offer for whatever reason (including a failure to read the Offer Details, our Terms, Website General Terms of Use, Flight, Cruise, Privacy, Cancellation & Refund Policy or the Important Information set out on our website for your Travel Offer);
if you are unable to travel due to a medical condition or any other personal reason. See clause 8 for further information about medical conditions; or
if you miss or are a ‘no-show’ for a flight or cruise and your flight/cruise, ticket, accommodation, transfer or other Travel Offer component is cancelled for whatever reason (please see clause 5 – cancellation during travel).

3. Hotel or Cruise Only cancellations

Notwithstanding clause 2 of this policy, in relation to our Hotel only or Cruise Only Travel Offers, and subject to your right to a refund at law, your right to a refund in the event of cancellation for change of mind will be specified in the additional terms and conditions applicable to your Travel Offer, which can be found on the relevant Travel Offer’s home page. Any cancellation fees charged by Lubov Travel for the Booking Services will also be detailed on the relevant Travel Offer’s home page.

4. Cancellations made by us

As specified in our Terms, certain circumstances may arise whereby we will cancel your Travel Offer after booking and prior to travel.

We will provide you with a refund, in accordance with our refund process set out in clause 11 of this policy, if we cancel your booking in the following circumstances:

where an allocation system error results in an oversold departure date under our inventory allocation system, and as a consequence we cancel your booking;
where the minimum number requirements of a Travel Offer (as specified on the Travel Offer page) are not met and we cancel your booking;
we have made a mistake in advertising a travel offer that fundamentally misstates the product or service that is the subject of the travel offer, and we cannot supply what was stated;
there is a pricing error or mistake that is reasonably obvious in a Travel Offer;
an order is placed in contravention of an applicable child traveller policy and we cancel the booking;
we reasonably believe there has been, or will be, a breach of our Customer Code;
an arrive early/stay behind or flight upgrade option is requested and is unavailable due to flight availability after purchase and we cancel the upgrade portion of the booking (this will result in a partial refund for the upgrade component);
prior to travel, a key Supplier of the Travel Offer ceases trading or ceases to provide the goods or services that are the subject of the Travel Offer; or
the price of your Travel Offer has materially increased (more than 10% increase) after you make your booking but prior to travel, in accordance with our ‘Cancellation due to price increase’ section below, and our Terms generally.

5. Cancellation during Travel

Voluntary cancellation

If you voluntarily cancel, are a no-show, or otherwise leave your Travel Offer once travel has commenced, any unused portion of your Travel Offer, including unused flights, will be cancelled with our Travel Suppliers. Once travel has commenced, it is unlikely any amounts for the unused portion of your booking will be recoverable and Lubov Travel cannot guarantee any refund where cancellation occurs once travel has commenced. If you are entitled to a refund of amounts paid due to the circumstances of your cancellation, any refundable amounts will be nominal and are likely to be limited to airline taxes on unused flights. If you have cancelled your Travel Offer after travel has commenced due to special circumstances or reasons of hardship, any partial refund would be subject to clause 8 of this policy.

Removal from tour

As specified in our Terms, Lubov Travel may remove any person from a tour where Lubov Travel determines that a breach of the Customer Code has occurred, or reasonably suspects that a breach will occur.

Any person removed from a tour for a breach of our Customer Code will not be entitled to a refund of any unused portion of the booking price. Any additional costs associated with your removal from the tour are your responsibility and not the responsibility of Lubov Travel.

We may also remove any person(s) from a tour where we reasonably believe the customer is unable to undertake the requirements of the tour, including as a result of physical or mental impairments, or other medical reasons. In such circumstances, any partial refund would be subject to clause 8 of this policy.

6. Bookings paid with a deposit

Where a Travel Offer is eligible to be booked by paying in instalments, the Travel Offer will provide instalments as a payment option and will detail the payment schedule applicable to that Travel Offer. Not all Travel Offers are eligible to be booked by paying in instalments. Bookings made by paying in instalments are subject to a non-refundable administration fee of $150 in addition to the cost of the Travel Offer.

If you have purchased a Travel Offer by paying in instalments and notified Lubov Travel that you wish to cancel your booking, Lubov Travel will cancel all future scheduled payments for that Travel Offer.

You acknowledge and understand that the payment schedule for each Travel Offer has been determined by Lubov Travel with reference to the performance by Lubov Travel of the Booking Services, and the timing of non-refundable payments required to be made by Lubov Travel to Suppliers. Once a payment instalment has been made, that payment is generally non-refundable in the event of a cancellation unless you are entitled to a refund under the Australian Consumer Law or in accordance with clause 2 of this policy.

If you fail to make an instalment payment when due, and your booking is subsequently cancelled by us in accordance with our Terms, all payments received up until the point of cancellation are generally non-refundable in accordance with clause 2 of this policy.

7. Cancellation due to price increase

This provision does not apply to increases arising from a request, action or omission of the customer or any person travelling or intending to travel on the order or any of their agents or representatives (including but not limited to changes to travel arrangements, optional extras, surcharges and other customisations and additions, for example, request for specific airlines, class of air travel or standard of cruise cabin or accommodation).

The price payable for a Travel Offer or a requested upgrade within a Travel Offer is subject to a number of factors outside of Lubov Travel's control, including currency fluctuations, fuel surcharges and airfare increases. Where the cost of a Travel Offer, or a requested upgrade within a Travel Offer, increases by 10% or more between the time of booking and the time of travel, we reserve the right at our election to either charge you an additional amount to reflect this cost increase, or cancel your booking. Where we cancel your booking in full, you will receive a full refund. Where we cancel a requested upgrade to your booking, we will refund the amount paid for the optional upgrade. Subject to any law which cannot be excluded, including the Australian Consumer Law, in the event that we elect to cancel your booking, we will not be liable to you for any amount in excess of the booking price paid.

If we chose to charge you an additional amount to reflect this cost increase, then you will have the right to accept the price increase and continue with your travel plans, or to cancel your booking for a full refund. In the event that you elect to cancel your booking, subject to any law which cannot be excluded, including the Australian Consumer Law, we will not be liable to you for any amount in excess of the booking price paid.

8. Best efforts refund due to hardship

Notwithstanding clauses 2 and 3 of this policy, and provided you are not in breach of the Terms & Conditions or the Customer Code of Conduct, we will use commercially reasonable efforts to seek a refund on your behalf from the relevant Travel Supplier even where the Supplier Terms do not entitle you to a refund, if:

you are permanently or temporarily unable to travel due to medical reasons, verified in writing by appropriate medical evidence from a qualified medical specialist that confirms the medical condition arose after the date of booking and prohibits travel in accordance with the booking;
you suffer financial hardship, verified with reasonable and appropriate evidence (including in writing by your employer, accountant or financial adviser) that confirms the hardship arose after the time of booking;
there is a Force Majeure Event which prevents the relevant Travel Service from being provided;
subsequent to booking, there is a change of travel permissions at the local destination (for instance, the imposition of a new travel restriction or requirement, including as to vaccination requirements for entry), which prevents you from using the relevant Travel Services.

However, it is important to note that where the Supplier Terms do not entitle you to a refund, we cannot guarantee a refund will be provided, and we recommend that you speak with your travel insurer as soon as your circumstances change.

9. Submitting a refund request

A request for cancellation can be submitted via emailing Lubov Travel. Lubov Travel will then email the Account Holder a cancellation form. Immediately upon submission of this cancellation form, you are authorising Lubov Travel to cancel all elements of the Order for the passenger(s) provided within the form. All cancellations are considered non-reversible once received by Lubov Travel and subject to the refund circumstances listed above.

Lubov Travel may, in its absolute discretion, refuse a cancellation or refund request where it is not made by the Account Holder or an authorised person where we reasonably believe the request to be fraudulent. Please note that any fraudulent, abusive or otherwise suspicious activity will be immediately referred to the relevant authorities.

Partial Cancellations and Consequences: Any refund for a cancelled passenger will be processed according to our Cancellation and Refund policy. Please note that we may not be able to recover funds for some components of the tour if they are being utilised by the remaining passenger(s) on the booking (for example, shared accommodation).

10. Change to policy

Lubov Travel may change this policy at any time at our absolute discretion by posting the revised policy on this website. Such changes will only apply to bookings made after the date of the change. It is your responsibility to review the terms of this policy. By visiting and using the Lubov Travel website you agree to abide by the terms of this policy as amended.