Travel Insurance

It is a pre-condition of participating in any overseas workshops with Astray that students take out travel insurance. This personal responsibility is in keeping with the recommendation of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. We recommend that students source travel insurance with a low excess payment to ensure that making any claims on medical expenses or cancelled flights are worthwhile.

We also strongly encourage students to read over the policy wording of their insurance provider extremely carefully, as some can be sneaky and won’t cover you in the case of a foreseeable natural disaster. Especially for Bali, we recommend policies that will cover for travel plans interrupted by volcano ash and eruptions. COVID coverage is now built into most policies by default, but it tends to be affected by how long before your trip you purchase a policy, so again: read the fine print!

Service Providers

During a workshop program, we endeavour to recommend tours, accommodation, activities and equipment hire that will meet your expectations. However, we take no responsibility for any matters that arise with regard to or during individual tours or arrangements with individual service providers. To the extent permitted by law, we will not be responsible to you for any loss, expense or damage that you may suffer during any particular tour, accommodation or travel, no matter the cause. These matters are the responsibility of each individual service provider and you agree that you will not hold us liable in any such circumstance.

Passports and Visas

It is a student’s responsibility to fulfill the passport, visa and other immigration requirements for all transiting and stopover destinations applicable to their workshop’s itinerary. The student should confirm these with the relevant high commissions, embassies and/or consulates. We do not accept any responsibility in the case of a student being unable to travel due to not complying with any such requirements.

Travel Advice and Vaccinations

Australian residents should refer to the travel advice posted by the Department of Foreign Affairs at www.dfat.gov.au or www.smartraveller.gov.au for the country you intend to visit: Indonesia, Japan or Spain. Overseas residents should check with their country’s relevant government department. Vaccinations may be required for some or all of the places you are intending to visit. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have arranged all necessary vaccinations for your itinerary.

Cancellation and Change of Mind Policy

If ever Astray has to cancel a workshop due to it not being able to go ahead — which we have had to do before during the COVID pandemic — all workshop expenses paid by students will be fully refunded, regardless of whether or not Astray is able to be refunded from the vendors.

If a workshop goes ahead, our cancellation and refund policy differs. In keeping with Australian consumer law, the initial deposit for any program is non-refundable as soon as it is paid. This is to cover the cost of admin and bank fees, as well as upfront fees we have to pay to reserve a student’s place (especially with regards to accommodation!).

Once the full cost of an overseas program has been paid, the trip is fully refundable less the deposit until 60 days before the program begins. Once the full cost of a domestic program has been paid, the trip is fully refundable less the deposit until 28 days before the program begins. After that, Astray has no change of mind policy and reserves the right to retain 100% of the program’s cost. This is because all program expenses are paid in advance on the date stipulated above by Astray, and the majority of our providers have no flexible refund policy. Furthermore, it would be impossible to secure a worthy replacement student at such short notice, even if reasonable attempts were made.

For cancellations closer to the start date, we recommend students contact their travel insurance provider.

This cancellation policy will apply in all cases where a workshop or program is able to run. For example, if a student is unable to start on time due to an “Act of God” (for example, a volcano has erupted and a student’s flight is cancelled) and the program still runs in the student’s absence, they will be unable to recover the cost of their trip. To combat the risk of this arising, we recommend booking flights (especially to Bali) with airlines that are not Australian owned — such as AirAsia, Garuda or Malindo Air — as these companies can usuallly reroute in case of an ash cloud, and are also known to divert flights to other nearby open airports (such as Surabaya) and make sure passengers still get to their intended destination. Garuda actually owns the airspace above Bali, and charge Australian airlines so much to reroute their flights that Australian airlines tend to not bother. To be super safe, we would say go with Garuda to Indonesia — but do check with them before you book to make sure!

Deposit Discount Offer

If you pull out of a program after having paid a non-refundable deposit, we are happy to slot you into a future program at a discounted rate. Contact gemma@astray.com.au for more information about this offer.

Waiver

Astray has comprehensive public liability insurance; however, all students are required to sign a waiver acknowledging and taking responsibility for the inherent risks that accompany participation in a Astray program. Students will need to agree to indemnify and hold harmless the releases against all liability for any personal injury or illness, loss or damage to property, or costs, including court costs and legal fees that may result from or arise out of their participation in our workshops. Furthermore, they must agree that Astray may capture and use video recordings and photographs of them over the course of the program and may use their name, image and written testimonial in all media, be it commercial, promotional or otherwise.