About us
Terms & Conditions
Plain English. No surprises. Last updated September 2026.
A Note on Our Name
Throughout this website you will see the brand name TibetTravel.com . The registered company behind this website is Tibet Skyline International Travel Service, Inc. — a government-licensed tour operator based in Lhasa, Tibet. Both names refer to the same organisation. All invoices, permits, bank-transfer beneficiary names, and legal documents will carry the registered company name Tibet Skyline International Travel Service, Inc. — please do not be surprised when you see it.
Our Commitments to You
The same promises, in plain language, are set out on our Why Us page.
No Deposit — Ever
Your seat is reserved with a free inquiry. No payment is required until we begin processing your Tibet Travel Permit.
Cancel Free Before Your Permit Is Issued
If you cancel at any time before your Tibet Travel Permit is issued, we refund every dollar you have paid — no questions, no penalty.
Full Transparency on Every Cost
No hidden fees. Where third-party costs apply — such as airline cancellation penalties — we pass them on at cost with full documentation.
By making an inquiry and using TibetTravel.com’s services, you agree to be bound by the full terms below. If you have any questions before booking, please contact us — we are happy to explain anything in plain language.
1. Booking & Reservation
To reserve a place on a tour, simply submit a free inquiry via our website or email. No payment is required at this stage. We will confirm availability, discuss your preferred itinerary and dates, and hold your seat while we finalise the details together.
Your booking is considered confirmed once both parties have agreed in writing on the tour itinerary, group composition, and departure date, and you have given us the go-ahead to begin your Tibet Travel Permit application (reconfirmation). At that point, the USD $100 per-person permit service fee becomes due.
Substituting one traveller for another after reconfirmation is treated as a cancellation and re-booking for the departing traveller. Depending on the stage of permit processing, partial fees may apply.
2. Payment Schedule
All prices are quoted in US Dollars. Payments may be made by bank transfer, PayPal, or credit card. Credit card payments may carry a small processing surcharge, which we will advise you of in advance. The tour price is fixed at the rate confirmed in writing at reconfirmation — we do not apply surcharges after confirmation.
3. Tibet Travel Permit
A Tibet Travel Permit (TTP) — also called the Tibet Entry Permit — is required by Chinese law for all foreign visitors to the Tibet Autonomous Region. It is issued by the Tibet Tourism Bureau in Lhasa and must be presented at Chengdu (or any other mainland gateway) before you can board a flight or train to Lhasa.
We handle the entire permit application on your behalf. You do not need to contact any government authority directly. We coordinate the submission, liaise with the Tibet Tourism Bureau, and deliver your permit electronically before departure.
The USD $100 per-person permit service fee covers our application process, government handling, and coordination. Processing normally takes 10–15 working days once we receive your reconfirmation. We will notify you as soon as your permit is issued.
For tours that include destinations outside Lhasa — such as Everest Base Camp, Shigatse, Gyantse, or Mount Kailash — an additional Aliens’ Travel Permit (ATP) is also required. We arrange this on your behalf at no extra charge; it is included in our service.
4. Itinerary Changes
Before reconfirmation: Changes to your itinerary, tour dates, or group composition are welcome at no charge. We will revise your proposal and confirm the updated arrangement.
After reconfirmation (once permit processing has begun): We will do our best to accommodate changes. Some alterations may incur third-party costs — such as hotel rebooking fees or airline change fees — which we pass on to you at cost with full documentation. For permit-related changes, the impact depends on the nature of the change:
Minor administrative changes — such as the gateway city through which the permit is delivered, the tour entry date into Tibet, or the itinerary route — are handled within a few days at no extra charge.
Personal information corrections after your Tibet Travel Permit has already been issued — such as a digit transposed in a passport number (for example, the numeral 0 mistaken for the letter O), or a name spelling error caused by an unclear passport photograph — are treated as an urgent revision to the issued permit. We process the correction as a priority, typically within 7 working days, but an additional service charge applies to cover the re-submission and re-issuance work.
Traveller substitution or complete personal information changes where application documents have already been formally submitted to the Tibet Tourism Bureau but the permit has not yet been issued: in this case, the original application must be withdrawn and restarted from the beginning. A new 10–15 working day processing period begins from the date the corrected documents are resubmitted. No additional charge applies for this restart.
If TibetTravel.com needs to alter your itinerary — due to road closures, permit restrictions, weather, or other factors outside our control — we will notify you immediately, propose the best available alternative, and honour your right to cancel with a full refund if the alternative is not acceptable to you.
5. Travel Documents
You are responsible for holding a valid passport with at least six months’ validity beyond your tour’s end date. You are also responsible for obtaining a valid Chinese visa before arrival in China. We are happy to provide a formal invitation letter to support your visa application on request.
We handle: Tibet Travel Permit, Aliens’ Travel Permit, Military Area Permit (where applicable for routes near border zones), and Frontier Pass (where applicable). These are all arranged by us as part of your tour package.
TibetTravel.com bears no liability for travel disruption caused by a traveller’s failure to hold valid personal documentation — including but not limited to passport expiry, visa refusal, or entry denial by Chinese immigration authorities.
6. Health & Altitude
Tibet sits at high altitude. Lhasa is at 3,650 m (11,975 ft); Everest Base Camp is at 5,200 m (17,060 ft); Mount Kailash kora reaches 5,630 m (18,471 ft). Altitude affects everyone differently, and prior trekking or mountain experience does not guarantee immunity to altitude sickness.
Before confirming your booking, please consult a physician if you have any history of cardiovascular conditions, high blood pressure, respiratory conditions, diabetes, severe anaemia, or any condition that may be aggravated by reduced oxygen levels. We reserve the right to request a doctor’s certificate confirming fitness to travel at high altitude.
We take altitude acclimatisation seriously and build rest days into our itineraries. Our guides are trained to recognise altitude sickness and to arrange descent or medical assistance when necessary. However, TibetTravel.com bears no liability for altitude-related illness, hospitalisation, or evacuation costs. This is why comprehensive travel insurance — including medical evacuation cover — is essential.
7. Travel Insurance
Travel Agency Liability Insurance (旅行社责任险) is included in all tour packages as required by Chinese law. This policy is mandatory for all licensed travel agencies operating in China. It covers losses, injuries, or damages for which TibetTravel.com is legally responsible — for example, where an incident results from our negligence, a failure of our equipment, or an error by one of our guides or staff.
It does not cover: accidents or losses caused by your own actions; illness or injury arising from pre-existing conditions; natural disasters or force majeure events where the agency bears no legal liability; or any incident in which TibetTravel.com has no legal fault. In plain terms: if something goes wrong that is our fault, this insurance covers it. If something goes wrong that is not our fault, it does not.
This is therefore not personal accident or travel insurance, and it is not a substitute for your own travel insurance policy. We strongly recommend that every traveller purchases comprehensive personal travel insurance before departure. A good policy for Tibet should cover: emergency medical expenses and hospitalisation; emergency medical evacuation (which can be extremely costly in remote plateau areas); trip cancellation and curtailment; personal baggage and belongings; and personal liability. Please confirm that your policy explicitly covers high-altitude destinations if your tour includes Everest Base Camp, Mount Kailash, or any trekking activity — some standard policies exclude altitudes above a certain threshold.
The two types of insurance are complementary: our Travel Agency Liability Insurance covers incidents that are our fault; your personal travel insurance covers incidents that are not. Together they provide proper protection for your journey.
8. Luggage
Domestic flights within China operate under regulations set by the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China. Standard free baggage allowances are: 20 kg checked luggage for economy class, 30 kg for business class, and 40 kg for first class, plus cabin baggage within airline limits. Excess baggage fees are your responsibility and are charged by the airline at check-in.
Chinese aviation regulations require that all checked suitcases have a functioning lock. Bags without a locking device may be refused at check-in. We recommend a TSA-approved lock for flexibility at international connections.
On road tours (Lhasa to Everest Base Camp, for example), luggage is carried in the tour vehicle. On trekking components such as the Kailash kora, a personal day pack of no more than 8–10 kg is recommended; porter and yak support can be arranged at an additional charge.
9. Our Liability
TibetTravel.com is not liable for loss, injury, death, damage to property, itinerary alterations, or tour cancellation caused by events beyond our reasonable control, including but not limited to: natural disasters, extreme weather, avalanche or landslide, earthquake, flooding, border closures, permit policy changes by the Tibet Tourism Bureau or Chinese government, civil unrest, pandemic or epidemic, strikes, or any other force majeure event.
In such circumstances, we will make every reasonable effort to find the best available alternative. Refunds in force majeure situations will be limited to amounts we are able to recover from third-party suppliers (hotels, airlines, etc.) on your behalf.
If TibetTravel.com cancels a tour for reasons within our control — not force majeure — before it commences, we will refund all payments in full, including the Tibet permit service fee.
Our total liability to any one client shall not exceed the amount paid by that client for the tour in question.
10. Your Conduct
Travelling in Tibet carries a responsibility to respect the place and its people. We ask all travellers to: dress modestly when visiting monasteries and religious sites (shoulders and knees covered), follow your guide’s instructions at sacred sites and checkpoints, avoid any form of political demonstration or politically sensitive photography, and behave with courtesy toward local communities, fellow travellers, and our staff.
TibetTravel.com reserves the right to remove from the tour — without refund — any traveller whose behaviour endangers other group members, brings the tour into conflict with local authorities, or causes serious offence to the local community.
The use of illegal drugs is strictly prohibited. Tibet operates under Chinese law, and penalties for drug-related offences are severe.
11. Complaints
If something is not right during your tour, please tell your guide or contact our Lhasa operations team immediately. Most issues can be resolved on the spot, and early notification gives us the best chance of putting things right without disrupting your journey.
For formal complaints or compensation claims, please email us at info@tibettravel.com within 21 days of your tour’s end date. Please include a written description of the issue, the date and location, and any relevant photographs or receipts. We will acknowledge receipt within 3 business days and respond in full within 14 business days.
Claims received after 21 days from tour completion, or without supporting documentation, may not be considered.
12. Communications
We aim to respond to all inquiries within 12 hours during Lhasa business hours (UTC+8, Monday to Saturday). If you have not received a reply within 48 hours of submitting a booking request, itinerary change, or cancellation request, please email us directly at info@tibettravel.com to ensure your message has been received.
All cancellation requests must be submitted in writing — by email to info@tibettravel.com. Verbal cancellations (by phone or messaging app) are not accepted as formal notice. The date on which we receive your written cancellation request is the date used to determine your refund entitlement.
13. Cancellation & Refund
If you cancel before your Tibet Travel Permit is issued
You may cancel for any reason, at any time, before your Tibet Travel Permit is issued — with no penalty. We will refund every dollar you have paid us, including the USD $100 permit service fee if the permit has not yet been issued. No cancellation fee. No administrative charge. Full refund.
To cancel, send a written request to info@tibettravel.com. The date we receive your email is the date used to determine your permit status at the time of cancellation.
If you cancel after your Tibet Travel Permit has been issued
- ✕ Tibet permit service fee (USD $100 per person) — non-refundable. Once your permit has been issued by the Tibet Tourism Bureau, the fee covers a completed government service and cannot be recovered.
- ✓ All other tour payments — refunded in full, except for any airline cancellation penalties applied by the carrier on tickets we purchased on your behalf. We pass these on at cost, at the airline’s official published rates, with full documentation. We do not add any markup or fee of our own.
- ✓ Refunds are processed within 7 business days of receiving your written cancellation request, by the same payment method used for the original payment (bank transfer, PayPal, or credit card).
If you cancel after the tour has started
Once a tour has commenced, no refund is available for any unused days, services, accommodation, or activities — regardless of the reason for early departure. If you choose to leave the tour early, we will assist with logistics but cannot refund the unused portion of your tour.
If TibetTravel.com cancels your tour
If we cancel your tour before it commences for reasons within our control, we will refund all payments in full — including the Tibet permit service fee. If cancellation results from a force majeure event (see Section 9 — Our Liability), we will refund all amounts we are able to recover from third-party suppliers on your behalf, as promptly as possible.
Questions About Our Terms?
Our team is happy to clarify anything before you book. There are no hidden clauses — what you see here is exactly how we operate.
Write to us any time at info@tibettravel.com — we answer every message within 12 hours, Monday to Saturday.
Frequently asked questions
Is a deposit required to book?
No — there is no deposit required. You can reserve your tour without paying up front.
Can I cancel free of charge?
Yes — you can cancel free before your Tibet Travel Permit is issued. The full cancellation and refund policy is set out in section 13 of these terms.
What is included in the price?
The price and inclusions are confirmed in your itinerary and quotation. We keep every cost transparent, so you know what is included before you commit.
When do I pay?
The payment schedule is set out in section 2 of these terms and confirmed with your booking. There is no deposit, and the balance is settled according to the schedule for your tour.
We answer within 12 hours, Monday to Saturday.