Booking Deposit
To confirm your booking with Discovery Tours Egypt, we ask for a deposit of 25% of the total vacation cost. Your booking is not confirmed until the deposit has reached us and we have sent you written confirmation.
A 50% deposit applies in two situations. The first is departures over the peak dates, when our own suppliers require the same of us: Christmas and New Year, Easter, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, the days around the total solar eclipse over Luxor and Aswan in August 2027, and the dates that fall in a particular market's main holiday season — Egypt takes visitors from all over the world, and the busy weeks are not the same for everyone. The second is where your itinerary includes domestic flights or sleeper-train berths. We book those once your payment has reached us, and from the moment they are ticketed they cannot be refunded at all — which is precisely why we need more of the cost in hand before we commit to them on your behalf. Occasionally a particular vessel holds limited space on terms that require payment on acceptance instead; that is the supplier's condition rather than our preference, and we will say so plainly. Whichever applies to your vacation, you will hear it from us while you are still deciding — never for the first time in the message that asks you for money.
Balance Payment
The balance falls due one calendar month before you arrive in Egypt. We put the actual date on your confirmation rather than leaving you to work it out, and an automated reminder reaches you when it comes round. If you book within a month of arrival, the full amount is payable at the time of booking. If a balance goes unpaid past its due date we may treat the booking as canceled and the deposit as forfeited — but we will always contact you before that happens.
How Long a Quotation Holds
A written quotation holds for up to 7 days from the date we issue it. On busy dates that window gets shorter, sometimes as little as 24 or 48 hours — over Christmas and New Year, Easter, Eid, and whichever national holidays matter to the part of the world travelling that month. The same applies to anything in genuinely short supply, dahabiyas most of all, because each one has only a handful of cabins and they are spoken for quickly.
Where a shorter deadline applies we tell you what it is, and why, at the moment we send the quotation — it is never something you discover by missing it. We do not quote for longer than 7 days in any case, because beyond that we no longer control the rates underneath the price, and a number we cannot honour is worth nothing to you.
Accepted Payment Methods
- Bank transfer (SWIFT/IBAN — details sent with your confirmation)
- Visa or Mastercard, credit or debit, through our secure payment page
American Express is not accepted — our payment provider takes Visa and Mastercard only.
Card Fees and Bank Charges
Which route costs less depends on the sum. On a large balance a transfer usually wins comfortably. On a small deposit, 3% is often less than the SWIFT charges a bank will levy on an international transfer — so we would rather point that out than let you assume the transfer is always the cheaper option.
Currency
Your vacation is contracted and invoiced in U.S. dollars ($). Our payment provider can also process US dollars, euros and pounds sterling if one of those suits you better — ask and we will send the figure at our own exchange rate. The exact amount is always confirmed on the payment page before you authorise anything. If you pay by card in a currency other than your own, your bank may add its own foreign-transaction charge, which is outside our control.
Secure Payment Processing
Card payments are processed via CyberSource, a Visa company. Your card details are never stored by Discovery Tours Egypt, and all transactions use SSL encryption.
If a Price Changes After You Book
Once your deposit is paid the price of your vacation is fixed, with one exception we would rather state than bury. Most Egyptian cruise and hotel contracts reserve the right to pass on government increases to fuel, taxes and entrance fees. If that ever reaches us we will tell you before anything is applied to your booking, and show you the supplier's notice rather than simply issuing a higher invoice.