Terms & Conditions

1. Who You Are Contracting With

These Terms and Conditions apply to every booking made with Egypt Discovery (a trading name of Discovery Tours Egypt), which trades from 12 El Obour St., Saleh Salam, Cairo, Egypt. Our legal name is Discovery Tours. We are licensed by the ETAA under Licence No. 718, Category A (the highest grade given to Egyptian tourism companies, first issued in February 1988), and we are IATA accredited under No. 90255546. You can check both on the public registers; our licences page shows where.

Throughout these terms, "we", "us" and "our" refer to Egypt Discovery. "You" refers to whoever makes the booking and to each traveller named on it; the lead name takes responsibility for the whole party. A "supplier" is any hotel, Nile cruise vessel, dahabiya, airline, railway or other independent business providing part of your holiday.

By confirming a booking, whether in writing or by paying a deposit, you agree to these terms for everyone in your party. We'd ask you to read them before paying, not afterwards.

2. Which Terms Apply to You

These terms apply to travellers booking directly with us. Travel agents, tour operators and corporate buyers booking for other people are also bound by Part B below, which takes precedence wherever the two differ. Trade bookings are handled separately through dmcegypt.com.

3. Quotations

A written quotation stays open for up to 7 days after we send it. Over peak dates, and for anything in short supply (dahabiyas especially), a supplier may allow us only 24 to 48 hours; if so, the quotation will tell you the deadline and why. We never quote beyond 7 days, as the underlying rates are outside our control after that. A quotation invites you to book; it doesn't reserve anything, and nothing is held for you until your deposit arrives.

4. Booking and Confirmation

Your booking is confirmed with a deposit of 25% of the total holiday cost. The deposit rises to 50% for departures over peak dates (Christmas and New Year, Easter, Eid, and the days either side of the August 2027 solar eclipse in Luxor and Aswan) and whenever your itinerary includes domestic flights or sleeper-train berths, as those can't be refunded once they're ticketed. Now and then a supplier with very limited space will want payment in full on acceptance; that's their requirement, not ours, and we'll make it clear before you commit.

Your booking stands once your deposit has reached us and we've sent written confirmation. Please look over that confirmation closely (names exactly as in your passports, dates, room and cabin types) and let us know in writing within 48 hours if anything needs correcting. Changes after that may bring supplier charges that we're unable to cover.

5. Prices, Inclusions and Exclusions

Prices are shown in pounds sterling (£) and include Egyptian VAT where applicable. Your itinerary sets out exactly what's included. Unless it states otherwise, prices don't cover international flights, visa fees, travel insurance, tips, drinks not listed, optional excursions, personal spending, or anything described as an add-on.

Once we've received your deposit your price is fixed, save for one exception: most Egyptian cruise and hotel contracts allow government rises in fuel, taxes and entrance fees to be passed on. Should that happen, we'll let you know before anything is added and send you the supplier's own notice, rather than just raising the invoice.

6. Payment

Your balance is due a month before you arrive in Egypt, and your confirmation shows the exact date. If you book within that month, the full amount is payable when you book. Should a balance go past its due date we'll be in touch before doing anything; if it still isn't paid we may treat the booking as cancelled, with the cancellation charges in section 9 applying.

You can pay by bank transfer or by Visa or Mastercard; we don't take American Express. Card payments carry a 3% fee, charged by our payment provider and passed on at cost. We don't charge for bank transfers, but any SWIFT charges from your own bank are yours to pay, and if the amount arrives short the difference is still owed. Our provider can take pounds sterling, euros or US dollars, and the amount is shown on the payment page before you authorise it.

7. Changes You Make

If you'd like to change anything, email info@egyptdiscovery.co.uk. Once your booking is confirmed it's final, but we'll gladly ask the suppliers involved whether the change can be made and come back to you with the answer. Fees may apply; we'll always tell you what they are before anything is altered. Moving dates, reducing the number in your party or downgrading accommodation shortly before arrival may be handled as a cancellation and new booking under section 9, and we'll tell you if that's the case before acting on it.

8. Changes We Make

Egypt is a working country, and itineraries sometimes shift. Small changes (a different hotel of the same standard, sightseeing days swapped round, a vessel replaced by one of the same class) we make when we have to, and we'll let you know. We expressly keep that right, including for reasons of safety, weather, river conditions and site closures.

If a change is significant (accommodation of a noticeably different standard, an itinerary substantially reworked, or a different arrival or departure day), we'll tell you as soon as we know and let you choose: accept it, take an alternative we suggest, or cancel with a full refund of everything you've paid us. We stand by that whatever the reason.

If a Supplier Cancels or Cannot Deliver

Now and again a supplier lets us down: a vessel is withdrawn for repairs, a sailing is cancelled, a hotel overbooks. It doesn't happen often, and when it does, it's for us to sort out, not you.

Usually the supplier will offer a replacement, which we'll only accept if it's the same category or better. If their offer isn't good enough, or they offer nothing, we'll find the alternative ourselves through suppliers we already hold contracts with; that's the real benefit of booking with a company on the ground rather than a reseller overseas. Either way, you'll hear from us what's changed and why before you arrive.

A like-for-like replacement will never cost you more. If the only comparable option is of a higher standard, we'll cover the difference. If a replacement is genuinely of a lower standard (and we'll say so honestly, not call it "similar"), we'll refund the difference. If nothing comparable can be found, you can choose between an alternative we suggest and a full refund for that part of your holiday.

If it happens while you're already travelling, the same rule applies, only faster: our office in that city arranges the replacement directly, and you'll hear about it from us, not from the hotel reception.

9. Cancellation by You

Please send any cancellation to us by email. It takes effect once we've acknowledged it in writing; if you haven't heard back within 24 hours, email us again or send a WhatsApp message instead of assuming it's arrived. If a request goes missing on our side and you can show when you first sent it, we'll treat the cancellation as effective from that date.

It's your choice: a refund, or credit towards a future holiday. Credit is always worth more. It's valid for 12 months from your original travel date, can be put towards any of our holidays, and can be passed on to family or friends if you ask us. If your new holiday costs more, you simply pay the difference. Credit that isn't used can't be paid out as cash.

Day tours, excursions and transfers booked on their own have shorter terms (72 and 24 hours), which you'll find on our cancellation and refund policy page.

One Set of Terms for Your Whole Holiday

The schedule above covers your whole holiday: the touring and transfers we run ourselves, and the Nile cruise cabin, dahabiya berth or hotel room we book for you. You choose a refund or credit at the step that applies, whichever part of the holiday it is.

If you need to cancel, email us and we'll confirm it in writing the same working day. We can also give you a written note of the cancellation and any charges, which is normally what your insurer will want to see when you claim.

10. Cancellation by Us

Cancelling on our side is rare, and only happens for one of three reasons: non-payment (section 6), force majeure (section 12), or minimum numbers.

A private holiday, which most of ours are, goes ahead whether there are two of you or twelve, and we'll never cancel it for lack of numbers. Some arrangements do need a minimum to run sensibly: shared day tours, scheduled group departures, some excursions and certain seat-in-coach transfers. If anything you've booked carries a minimum, it's stated on your quotation and again on your confirmation, so you'll have seen it beforehand.

Should we need to cancel for that reason, we'll let you know as early as possible and no later than 20 days before arrival for a holiday longer than six days, 7 days for one of two to six days, and 48 hours for anything shorter. You can then take an alternative we suggest (at the same price if it's of a similar standard, or with the difference refunded if not) or have everything you've paid us refunded in full. We'd always sooner find you another way to travel than return your money, and we usually manage it.

11. Refunds

Refunds are sent by SWIFT bank transfer, so we'll need your bank details even if you paid by card. Under Egyptian rules, refunds have to be handled in person at the bank with supporting paperwork, which means a card payment can't be reversed from our end. We'll send you a form to fill in, and that form becomes the payment instruction we take to the bank. The outgoing SWIFT charges, any receiving fee from your bank and the 3% card fee already kept by the payment provider are deducted, as we can't recover any of them.

Every refund is sent within 10 working days.

12. Force Majeure

Neither side is responsible for failing to perform where the cause is truly beyond reasonable control: war, civil unrest, terrorism, an epidemic or pandemic, natural disaster, extreme weather, strikes, or government restrictions on travel. If such an event stops your holiday going ahead, 100% of what you've paid us is kept as credit for future dates, under the credit terms in section 9.

13. Passports, Visas and Entry

It's your responsibility to hold a passport valid for at least six months after your date of entry, to get the right Egyptian visa, and to meet any health or document requirements in force when you travel. We'll share what we know and help where possible, including organising visa-on-arrival where that's available, but we can't be held responsible if entry is refused or a document falls short. Please check the latest the FCDO at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice advice before you go.

14. Health, Fitness and Access

Egypt's archaeological sites mean uneven ground, steps without handrails, heat and long days on your feet. Please tell us when you book about any medical condition, reduced mobility, dietary need or anything else that could affect your holiday, so we can plan properly rather than improvise on the day. We'll be honest if part of an itinerary isn't suitable. If relevant information is kept from us, a service may not be deliverable safely, and in that case no refund is due.

15. Travel Insurance

We strongly recommend that every traveller holds comprehensive travel insurance covering cancellation, curtailment, medical expenses, emergency repatriation and personal belongings, from the day you book rather than the day you fly. Check that your policy covers the activities in your itinerary, including any cruise or desert travel.

16. Conduct

We ask you to respect Egyptian law, local customs and the rules at the monuments that your guide will explain. We may refuse to carry, or remove from an itinerary, anyone whose behaviour puts themselves or others at risk or seriously disrupts other travellers. No refund is due in that case, and any onward travel costs are your own. It's a clause we've practically never used and hope never to.

17. Our Responsibility to You

We're responsible for arranging and providing the services set out in your confirmed itinerary with reasonable skill and care, and for choosing suppliers with reasonable care. If something within our control goes wrong, we'll put it right or compensate you fairly.

Other than as set out in the next paragraph, our total liability for any booking is capped at the amount you've paid us for it. We aren't liable for indirect or consequential losses, for loss, damage or delay caused by an airline, hotel or other supplier acting independently of what we arranged, or for events beyond our reasonable control as set out in section 12.

18. Flights and Financial Protection

We arrange the ground element of your holiday — guiding, transport, hotels, cruises and transfers. Where a package includes flights, those are arranged through ATOL-bonded UK partner agencies and the ATOL certificate is issued in that agency's name, not ours: we do not hold an ATOL, and you should ask whoever issues your ticket what protection applies to the flight. Our IATA accreditation concerns airline ticketing and settlement; it is not financial protection for land arrangements, and we would rather say so than let the badge imply more than it does. What stands behind the ground arrangements is a contract with a licensed Egyptian company trading since 1988 at a verifiable registered address — and your own travel insurance.

Part B — Terms for Travel Agents, Tour Operators and Corporate Buyers

This part covers bookings you make with us as a business: as a retail agent, tour operator, incentive house or corporate travel buyer. It runs alongside Part A and takes precedence if they conflict. Consumer protections intended for individual travellers don't apply to business bookings.

19. Agency and Responsibility

When you book for a client, you contract with us as principal unless we've agreed something different in writing. You're responsible for paying us whether or not your client has paid you. You confirm that you're authorised to act for everyone named on the booking, that the passenger details you supply are correct, and that you've passed on these terms (and any supplier terms we give you) to your client before taking their payment.

20. Trade Rates and Confidentiality

Net and trade rates are provided for your business use and must be kept confidential. Please don't publish them, pass them to another operator or show them to the public as net prices. Rates apply for the stated contract period and the specific dates quoted; a rate given for one series doesn't transfer to another. We may withdraw trade rates if they're disclosed or used outside the agreed channel.

21. Groups, Series and Allocations

Group and series bookings each have their own contract, and the payment, release and cancellation terms in that contract override the schedule in section 9. Rooming lists are due with the balance and must show full names exactly as in passports, along with flight details. Names sent late, or changed after ticketing or after a rooming list has reached a vessel, may incur supplier charges, which we'll pass on at cost.

22. Marketing and Content

You're welcome to use our itinerary descriptions and images to sell our holidays, as long as prices and inclusions are shown accurately. Please don't present our services as your own operation in a way that misleads the traveller about who's running things on the ground, and please leave our safety and protocol wording as it is.

23. If Something Goes Wrong

Let your guide or our local office know at the time, while there's still a chance to put it right. It's the most useful thing you can do, and most problems are fixed the same day. Our operations desk is on +20 10 9021 5031, with a duty officer available day and night. If something isn't sorted out on the spot, write to info@egyptdiscovery.co.uk within 28 days of getting home, quoting your booking reference and including any photos or receipts. We aim to acknowledge within 5 working days and give you a full reply within 28 days.

24. Your Personal Information

We look after your personal data as set out in our privacy policy, and only share with suppliers what they need to deliver your holiday, usually names, dates and anything relevant to your safety or comfort.

25. Changes to These Terms

We may revise these terms from time to time. Your booking is governed by the version published when you confirmed it, and we'll send you a copy if you ask.

26. Governing Law

Egyptian law governs these terms, and any dispute we can't resolve between us goes to the Egyptian courts. None of this takes away rights you hold under the law of the country you live in that can't be signed away, including your rights as a consumer.