Our Booking Process Explained

This is where we explain the sequence of events that will allow you to reserve your place on one of our ChinaJourneys

Browsing

In the initial stages you will simply browse our site. Hopefully you will find enough of interest to make you want to check out our range of holidays in China.

When you have found the China Journey that you like and are ready to reserve your place then you need to proceed with the following stages:

Stage 1: Start the Ball Rolling

On the page for your chosen journey you will find a tab that takes you to the available Dates and Prices. If you have not taken a look at this before then now is a good time.

(Please note: Do not worry if you do not see the date you would prefer. Since our minimum number to run a departure is just 2 we can usually open up new dates as required; we just need to check availability with our own service providers first. Contact Us for more details. We offer to run departures for Solo travellers on payment of the 'Single Supplement' AND a 'Solo Traveller Supplement'. Of course, if you have a departure of your own then you are free to request changes.)

Normally you can reserve your place simply by paying the deposit. Clicking on an orange date box will take you through to the Shopping Basket with the date and amount entered automatically.

When a departure is within 60 days the date box will turn green and the amount due will be the full cost of the journey. This is in accordance with our Booking Conditions

We do not normally accept bookings within 30 days and therefore the date box for such departures will be coloured grey with no price information. This is because we can no longer guarantee services and you may not have time to obtain your visa and complete your other preparations.

Prices are calculated on the basis of two people sharing. If you are travelling alone then you will need to pay the 'Single Supplement'. You can choose to pay this now or leave the box unticked and pay later. Similarly, you can also choose to pay the full amount of the journey now by ticking the 'Balance' box.

When you have decided on a date and ticked any boxes that apply Click the date box and you will be taken to the next stage.

From here on the process is powered by our Shopping Cart provider - RomanCart

Stage 2: Add Extra Services

In most cases there will be extra services that are relevant to your chosen journey. These will be displayed on the next screen so that you can add any that are appropriate. You may want to extend your jouney with one of our Reviews or Extensions, or with specific travel services. Those relevant to any journey are shown on the Extensions and Extras tab.

On arrival you should see a list of items already in your Basket. Normally this is just the one journey that you have selected.

Below this you are invited to review other relevant products.

Reviews and Extensions: You can choose to pay either the full amount or simply the deposit by ticking the appropriate box.

Specific Travel Services: Given that these are best arranged after further consultation these are added to your Basket at not cost. This will trigger an automatic email confirmation to you and to our sales team who will then contact you.

Don't worry if you make a mistake - you can change quantities and remove items in the next stage

Stage 3: Change Quantities and Items

This is your chance to review your basket and check that the items and quantities are what you want.

The items in your basket will all be listed with quantities and prices, giving a total which is the amount that you are committing to paying later in the process. Nothing has been charged yet.

Check that the items are showing as Deposit or Full payment as appropriate.

Check that you have the correct quantities for each item. You may get a message if one or more items is 'Out of stock'. That is, our limit of 15 travellers has been reached. If this is the case then contact us to see if we can open up another departure.

Please click the 'Recalculate' button after making changes.

Stage 4: Enter Your details

Before taking payment we need to be sure that we have sufficient information to accept your booking.

You must confirm that you have read, understood and accept our Booking Conditions to proceed. If you do have any query here then you should contact us and resolve that before continuing.

We need personal details such as your name, address, email and telephone number in order to contact you about your travel arrangements. We also need the full names of all travellers as shown in their passports so as to be able to reserve services in China on their behalf.

On this page you will also see:

• Marketing Information: We ask just one question. How did you hear about us? Please - do tell;
• Mailing List: You may opt out of this here;
• Remember Details: For your convenience the system will remember your details for subsequent visits and save you re-typing these. If you prefer NOT to have these saved then ensure this box is not ticked;
• Return to Basket: This will take you back to the previous stage if you did not mean to continue or if you decide to make further changes;
• Continue Shopping: This will take you back to our site if you want to continue looking at other products so that you can pay for all at once;
• Footer: Our standard website page footer with our company details and links to pages that may be of interest before you proceed including: About Us, Booking Conditions and Privacy Policy.

From here on the process is hosted on the SECURE server of our Shopping Cart provider - RomanCart

You should see the URL change to 'https:' with a green bar indicating that the security has been verified; in this case by Verisign. You can check the SSL certificate by following the link at the bottom of our home page.

Stage 5: Payment

You can now select a payment method and enter your details. This should all be standard.

At the end of this you will be returned to our site.

You can then continue browsing. Now would be a good time to check out the Practical Information and Useful Chinese

Stage 6: Receive Confirmation

You should receive an automatic confirmation from our system thanking you for your booking. If you do not, please Contact Us. You could try again; we will always refund duplications whenever we are notified or discover them for ourselves.

Our Sales Team will be notified at the same time and one of these will contact you (normally within 24 hours) to then handle your booking personally.

At this stage we are in touch and will guide you through the final preparations and until you are safely home again thoroughly satisfied.