FAQ

Caribou Travel is a Belgian travel agency specializing for over 35 years in organizing tailor-made tours in Canada and the United States. We also organize motorcycle tours: in North America, in Europe, and all over the World!

We work exclusively by appointment. Either at our offices in Uccle (south of Brussels), or by video call, via Teams, Zoom, Google Meet or WhatsApp. You can reach us by phone at +32 (0)2 375 35 39 or by completing the contact form via the dedicated tab.

Self-guided tours, i.e. without accompaniment, can be adapted, whatever the means of transport considered (car, motorbike, motorhome...). Parameters that can be modified include dates, duration, stops, or accommodation types, among others. 

It is possible that we may advise against certain changes due to constraints linked, for example, to the climate in the regions crossed at the time considered (roads closed due to snow, extreme heat, etc.), the intended duration and/or the mileage involved. But of course we will go through all of this together!

Guided tours cannot be adapted, whether they are motorcycle trips, coach tours, snowmobile trips, or a Mississippi cruise, for example. Dates, prices, accommodations and conditions are fixed.

No, flights are not included. Their price can change constantly until tickets are "issued" (i.e. paid to the airline), depending on factors such as travel dates and the aircraft load factor at the time of ticketing. 

This "dynamic" pricing principle is used by all airlines, low-cost or "regular". So it is impossible to predict the ticket price at a given moment and include it in the cost of your trip. Placing an option on tickets is not always possible and only guarantees seat availability at ticketing, not the price.

An exception: certain guided motorcycle tours, for which Caribou Travel negotiates in advance the price of a minimum number of tickets for participants.

Yes, we can of course book the flights. It's actually the first service to secure! We will propose one or more "flight plans" that offer the best balance of price and schedule. 

If you agree, we will send you a contract including the air tickets, along with an invitation to pay in full so that we can issue your tickets and therefore lock in the price. Note : see "payment methods"

Yes. We have no exclusivity. Our first priority is to find the best flights, at the best prices and with the best possible schedules. Rest assured, we won't send you to Vancouver, Los Angeles or Athens via Timbuktu or with Air Bardaf...

In principle, there is no problem. If you wish to pay for flights by redeeming your miles with a preferred airline (or an airline alliance: Star Alliance, One World or SkyTeam), that is actually the only option, because we can only credit miles to your program, not convert them.

That said, keep in mind that if you book flights on your own, this service is no longer linked to the others (i.e. the land services you book through us: accommodations, car or motorbike, transfers, assistance, activities, etc.). If there is an issue with your flights (delay, cancellation...), Caribou Travel cannot be held responsible for any financial impact on the other services. Good to know.

For these two destinations, you must first have a passport that is valid for the duration of your stay.

Then, if you hold a European passport or a passport from another member country of the Schengen area (Switzerland, United Kingdom, Norway, Iceland...), you must obtain an electronic travel authorization before departure, directly linked to your passport. A visa is therefore no longer required for tourist trips of up to 3 months. Except in certain cases*.

For Canada, this is the eTA (Electronic Travel Authorization). Current cost: 7 CAD per traveler.
For the United States, this is the ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization). Current cost: 40 USD per traveler.

* If you book your trip with Caribou Travel, we will of course provide all the useful information to complete these formalities.

It depends. For self-guided trips without accompaniment, the prices published on the website are indicative. They reflect an average price observed with our partner suppliers at the time the itinerary was updated. In very high season—especially if booking late—prices can be higher.

We work tailor-made, and therefore in real time. The services that make up a self-guided trip are subject to your prior approval. For an identical itinerary, the price shown on the website roughly corresponds to what will be communicated in the quote, with a possible margin of about 5 to 10% (estimate). 

For guided tours, published prices are fixed, whether or not they include flights. 

For air tickets, the general rule is that children aged 2 to 11 (at the date of the return flight!) pay a price about 25% lower than an adult. Babies aged 0 to 23 months (at the date of the return flight!) typically pay around 10% of the adult price. 

For hotel rooms, age doesn't change much because, as we've seen, the room price does not vary (or only slightly) depending on the number of occupants.

For the car, same story: the price doesn't change based on the number of occupants.

For activities, the price charged by a supplier for a child (age varies depending on the activity) may be lower than for an adult.

In conclusion: we can't really speak of a "child price", except for guided tours (by coach).

This is an important point. In the USA and Canada, room prices do not vary (or only very little) depending on the number of people. So, a room with 2 Queen (or Double) beds will cost roughly the same whether you occupy it alone, as a couple, with 3 people or with 4. You should factor this into your plans, because having 2 separate rooms will have a significant impact on the budget!

In large cities, such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Montreal, or Vancouver, a room with 1 bed (King, Queen or Double) can be cheaper than a room with 2 beds. Space has its price.

Most accommodations in the USA and Canada allow a maximum of 4 people per room. It is very rare for a property to allow an extra bed (and availability is never guaranteed anyway) in a room with 2 Queen or Double beds. 

However, it is more common to be able to obtain an extra bed (or rollaway) in a room with 1 King or Queen bed. The supplement, which varies, is not included in the trip price and must be paid on site.

You can book the flights on your own (see above). However, for consistency reasons, all land services must be booked through our intermediary, except of course for a few nights you may wish to spend with friends or family during the trip.

You can pay all or part of your travel services booked with Caribou Travel by bank transfer (fees at the sender's expense).

You can also pay all or part of these services by card. For this we work with Saferpay, Worldline's online payment platform. In practice, a payment link is sent to you by email for each transaction (deposit, balance...). Efficient, fast and 100% secure! 

Accepted cards are: Maestro, VISA, Mastercard & American Express*

* A surcharge of 0.75% of the amount will be added to each transaction made with American Express. For payments with a card issued by a bank outside the European Economic Area, please contact us.

For 35 years, Caribou Travel has taken out an annual insolvency insurance policy with a body approved by the Belgian authorities. This is a legal obligation designed to ensure the financial health of travel agencies and tour operators. In the unlikely event that Caribou Travel were to cease its activities before your trip, all amounts you have already paid are protected. 

If you have already departed, this body will ensure that you can either continue to enjoy your holiday or return home safely, without additional costs. 

Currently, this insurance is taken out with the Fonds de Garantie Voyages (see "Our partners"). This is one of the big advantages for clients of going through a reputable agency. You won't risk seeing your money disappear into the often tricky twists of the virtual world...

Caribou Travel can claim expertise built over more than 35 years. That's more than a generation dedicated to regularly traveling—back and forth—through the destinations we offer, designing itineraries that are both suited to our clients' expectations and to on-the-ground realities. It also means listening to and analyzing feedback from our many clients over all these years, to make the necessary adjustments. 

Today we are overwhelmed by information, more or less accurate, often partial or even biased, relayed in the media, on social networks, by influencers, or thanks to Artificial Intelligence... It can be very difficult to sort through it all. In an era where pseudo "specialists" are multiplying, it's reassuring to be able to rely on real specialists. In person!

We refer you to the previous question, namely: "what benefit do I get from using Caribou Travel?"... 

Would we imagine asking the same question to a caterer whose food we enjoy, or to the chef of a good restaurant? Basically, it's like asking them what price they buy their ingredients for and what their margin is... forgetting that their know-how is the result of hours and hours of tests and hard work, tastings and going back to square one to start again—before offering us the dish displayed in their window or on their menu. The comparison may seem bold, but it's relevant. 

If price is, today more than ever, an important factor in our purchasing decisions, let's remember that a dish—or a trip—is much more than the sum of ingredients or services simply put together.