Orthodox Tours

Participation

1.      What do I need to do to participate in your tour?

You need to contact us and indicate which pilgrimage you want to take and how many people are in your party. You will need to make the appropriate deposit in a form of a check, money order or PayPal electronic transfer to Palomnik, LLC at 53 Baxter Street, Binghamton, NY 13905.

2.      Can you please explain non-refundable deposit?

Deposits are non-refundable unless the pilgrimage is cancelled by Palomnik, LLC. If Palomnik has to cancel the tour, you will receive a full refund, including the deposit, which will be issued to you in the form of a bank check or bank money order.  To avoid any financial losses, please purchase trip insurance. We are happy to direct you to an appropriate agency that sells trip insurance.

3.      Do your tours ever get cancelled?

There have been cases when we had to cancel a tour due to the insufficient number of participants registered, but this is very rare. Unfortunately, our cancellations have usually occurred because people have waited too long to commit and we have had to release the opportunity to lead a tour at our affordable advertised price. Keep in mind that if you commit to a tour this encourages others to participate and ensures that we have sufficient numbers to carry out our plans together. If we have to cancel a tour, you lose nothing because Palomnik will issue you a full refund. Please help make a pilgrimage possible by making an early commitment!

4.      When do you know if your tour is a “go”?

We can guarantee departure as soon as we have the minimally acceptable number of participants. Early commitments are essential because if we do not have enough participants 90 days prior to departure we must postpone our journey or cancel the group arrangement.

5.      Can I still go if I don’t have a roommate?

Our prices are based per person but determined by double occupation, i.e. with a roommate. However, if you do not have a roommate you can still go under one of two options. 1. You can pay a single supplement; 2. You may be able to avoid paying single supplement if we can you a roommate – someone who also wants to go, but does not have a find roommate. Although we cannot guarantee you a roommate, you can send your deposit with a stipulation that you will participate on the condition that a roommate becomes available.  We usually will not be able to confirm a roommate for you until near the deadline date. If no roommate is found by that time, your deposit will be refunded, but your initial commitment helps us to find a roommate for you.

6.      Single supplement seems a bit hefty; do I have to pay it?

If you do not have or do not want to have a roommate, there is no way to avoid single supplement surcharges. Admittedly, the single supplement is expensive, but tour arrangements are not like booking a hotel room based solely on the number of occupants. You are paying a supplemental surcharge for occupying a place by yourself that is normally provided as a two-person space in the tour package.

7.      How intense are your journeys?

Our tours and pilgrimages are very intense. Please see above where this issue is fully addressed.

8.      Do you take care of air tickets?

If there are more than 10 people traveling together we can reserve air tickets. In other situations we can refer you to an agency where you can purchase tickets for individual travel. Please note that with group rates your bonus miles or any other benefits are not applicable. At times, you may be able to find airfare that is more reasonably priced than a group rate. We do not mind if you travel separately to our destination, but we prefer that our tour group travels together for many reasons: it ensures we meet at appointed gathering places at the same time, promotes camaraderie and provides group support for travel to exotic destinations.

9.      Your tours originate in the US, but I am from Europe. Can I join you at the country of your destination?

Over the years we had many people join us from various countries and continents. It is perfectly acceptable to travel from any place of origin as long as you meet us at our point of destination at the same time that the rest of the group gathers.