Crowned States of Europe

This captivating expedition is the perfect way to spend quality time with your partner or to treat yourself to an adventure you’ll never forget. Adults of all ages take our trips, sometimes with a companion and sometimes alone. You will meet fellow guests with a curiosity about the world and come away with unforgettable memories and special friendships. It can also help you memorably mark a special occasion, whether an anniversary, birthday, retirement, honeymoon or other milestone.

The minimum age to take our expeditions is 12, but we will consider younger guests on a case-by-case basis.

Shortly after booking, your guest services manager will email you more details about your trip. This dedicated professional will be your main point of contact. He or she will provide you with additional information leading up to your departure and is available to answer any questions via phone or email.

Before departure, you will receive a set of amenities for your trip. These may include a backpack, packing cubes and other useful travel items.

TCS World Travel is committed to maintaining the quality and safety of the expedition for all participants, as you travel from city to city, country to country and continent to continent. This allows you peace of mind and to be able to enjoy all of the wonderful experiences safe in the knowledge that our expeditions meet our high safety standards and protocols. As you would expect from a Private Jet Operator, we take the health and safety of everyone on our expeditions very seriously and we listen to customer feedback and use it to continually maintain and improve safety standards.

What to Expect During Your Journey:

• Uneven ground/frequent walking up to one mile at any given time
• Climbing stairs to board the jet, as many foreign airports do not have jetways
• Trip pace—one to three nights in each stop, including some late-night activities and early-morning departures
• Adjusting to time zone changes
• High altitude (depending on the expedition)
• Changes from your ‘normal’ routine: unique local cuisine, frequent packing/unpacking

Of course, travel is not without some inherent risks and the information below is designed to help ensure that you have a safe and enjoyable experience:

Excursions & Activities

Overall, our expeditions give you the freedom to set your own pace. Each destination on every itinerary offers a variety of options with different activity levels. In some, you may only be walking for short periods of time and have more downtime between excursions, while in others, you may spend the entire day touring or walking over uneven terrain. You may, of course, choose to have a day off and relax at any location. Our excursions and activities are graded internally based on established criteria and control measures.

Slips, trips and falls can occur at any time and we ask that you stay alert, be aware of your surroundings, wear appropriate footwear, choose routes that are well lit and avoid shortcuts.

Animal Welfare

Wildlife viewing, use of working animals and animal attractions have the potential to offer customers memorable and authentic experiences on their holidays, and they can play a vital role in education and conservation, as well as providing job opportunities and supporting the economy. However, these attractions require careful management to ensure animal safeguarding, and the physical and mental state of the animal is prioritized. TCS believes that none of the trips offered across its portfolio of brands should negatively impact the welfare of animals. We are committed to continuously assessing any animal interactions that take place on our trips, to ensure that animal welfare is prioritized, and not exploited. Therefore, TCS does not offer:

• Performances involving wild animals that require them to elicit unnatural behaviors, or where the training involves punishment or food deprivation and causes animal fear, injury or distress
• Physical interaction with wild animals such as holding, petting or taking photos where the animal does not have the choice of moving away or where there is no care requirement for the animal
• This includes, but is not limited to, it the following activities which we do not condone any participation in:
  • Elephant shows or rides for tourists
  • Experiences involving captive whales, dolphins or porpoises
  • Tourist contact or feeding of wild cats, crocodiles, great apes or bears
  • “Walking with” wild cats, such as lions, cheetahs, leopards, etc.
  • Ostrich riding
  • Animals being used for fighting, such as bull fighting, cockfighting, dog fighting, etc. 
  • Drugging of animals to subdue them 
  • Rodeo events that conduct calf-roping, team-roping, steer wrangling and other activities that are detrimental to the animals’ wellbeing
  • Hunting of any kind

Vehicle Standards

Standards can vary from country to country and seatbelts may not be provided on every seat, as it is not always a legislative requirement in that country. Seatbelts should be utilized where available, such as airport and activity transfers, Jeep safaris and game safaris.

Road Safety

The rules of the road can be very different to those we are used to; please be vigilant at all times and familiarize yourself with the direction of traffic and look both ways before crossing the road. In some countries traffic is not required to stop at pedestrian crossings.

On-Trip Safety

Before TCS travels to any destination, we vet it for safety. We and our consultant medical advisors, Dr. Thomas Burke and the BostonMD team, closely monitor all health situations. We monitor the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), the US Department of State, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and other third-party destination experts, and are consulting with our trusted local suppliers to evaluate travel to all locations featured on our expeditions. 

The beauty of private jet travel is the ease of pivoting. If we need to change an itinerary for any reason, we can use our contacts in countries worldwide to assist us with making alternate arrangements for our group. These changes could be made well in advance of arrival or even while we are in the air en route to a given location.

On-Trip Resources

On many expeditions, a trip physician will be available to consult with you at your request about general medical health issues such as upper-respiratory infections or gastrointestinal upsets, which are not uncommon on this type of trip. Should you become seriously ill en route, the trip physician will be able to liaise with local physicians at your request and, if necessary, your medical providers back home, to assist in determining what further care you may require.

On-Trip Activity Level

We will make reasonable efforts to accommodate participants with special needs; however, we cannot accommodate wheelchairs or walkers. If you require a slower pace, extra assistance, or the use of a cane or walking stick, arrangements can be made for private touring at each destination. Any extra cost for such arrangements will be the responsibility of the participant.

As part of our commitment to climate and nature action, we’ve joined our sister companies across the Travelopia Group^* to partner with Blue Marine Foundation.

Our objective is to help conserve the stunning coastlines and marine life that enrich your travel experiences and restore ocean ecosystems that are vital in tackling climate change. Together with our sister travel companies, we are supporting the conservation and restoration of thousands of hectares of vital marine ecosystems through projects across the globe.

*TCS World Travel is a member of the Travelopia group of travel companies which has come together to partner with Blue Marine Foundation.

Our luggage allowances are based on the type of aircraft on which the expedition is offered. On small aircraft, luggage typically is limited to two checked bags. Your luggage bags will be stored in the aircraft hold during our flights, but you will be allowed to take your backpack and other small personal items, such as purses and camera bags, along with you in the cabin.

Your dedicated expedition staff member handles your luggage throughout the journey. In many destinations, our staff will transfer your luggage directly from the plane to your hotel room.

We suggest you bring comfortable clothing that can be layered. One of your most important items is a pair of comfortable shoes for walking. Also, you will find slightly more formal dining options at many of the hotels where we stay. For this reason, you may want to bring a few nicer outfits. A more detailed packing list with specific clothing recommendations will be sent to you closer to the departure date. While you’re packing, please keep in mind that laundry services are available at most of our hotels. We also recommend you leave extra space in your suitcase to bring home souvenirs of your journey.

TCS World Travel is committed to safeguarding the security of its guests on every expedition. The company has implemented a set of security processes throughout the journey—from before guests depart to when they touch down in a destination. These processes have been fine-tuned over two decades and more than 300 private jet expeditions and thousands of custom trips to help ensure peace of mind for everyone involved.

All guests must have valid passports to participate in this program. Passports must be valid for at least 6 months beyond the end date of your expedition. If visas are required for the expedition, a visa kit will be sent to you approximately between 6 and 3 months prior to departure, depending on destination requirements. We work with an expediting service that helps make getting your required visas easier. Although you’re still required to fill out your visa forms and cover the application costs, they will review the application to make sure it’s complete and liaise with the necessary consulates and embassies to process your visas.

We pre-fill your customs and immigrations forms at every stop—all you have to do is sign. Where possible, our guests enjoy special privileges, such as expedited customs and immigration formalities. We may have a dedicated customs counter for our group and are occasionally allowed to go through without individual clearance.

The price of your expedition incorporates large items like the private air, hotels, transportation and meals, but it also includes many other things, such as activities, top-of-the-line guides, meals, beverages and gratuities (guides, restaurants, drivers, etc.). We also supply you with all the bottled water you can drink—all day, every day. We even provide you with postcards that we mail for you—all you have to do is write.

Your journey includes:

• Travel on a privately chartered aircraft
• First-class accommodations
• Ground transportation
• All meals and beverages, including select beer, wine and spirits aboard the jet and group lunches and dinners
• All sightseeing activities
• Special events and private access
• Top local guides and/or on-trip experts
• Gratuities (for all guides, drivers and restaurants)
• Luggage handling
• Bottled water

Your journey does not include:

• Commercial airfare between your home city and departure/arrival destination
• Optional and additional accident/baggage/cancellation insurance
• Passport and visa fees
• Personal expenses such as laundry, telephone and fax fees
• All beverages not mentioned as included above
• Hotel gratuities
• Hotel minibar charges
• Meals not scheduled by TCS World Travel
• Inoculation and medication costs of any kind

Reservation Process

To reserve your place on the Tour, you must complete and sign the Reservation Form and pay your deposit. The deposit can be made by wire transfer or by a major credit card such as American Express, Visa, MasterCard or Discover Card. To cover the cost of processing a credit or charge card transaction, and pursuant to applicable state regulations (including, with respect to Colorado, section 5-2-212, Colorado Revised Statutes), TCS charges a surcharge of 3.0% for credit card payments. This surcharge is not greater than our merchant discount rate for credit card transactions and does not apply to payment via debit card, ACH or check, or redemption of a gift card or to credit card payments with a billing address in Connecticut, Massachusetts or Puerto Rico. Your place on the Tour is not reserved until the deposit and signed reservation form are both received.

Cancellation Policy

If you cancel your reservation or change your plans, your right to receive a refund is limited, as set forth in the trip payment schedule. All cancellations will become effective as of the date of the postmark or email receipt. All requests for refunds must be sent to TCS World Travel in writing via mail, fax or email.

If you are traveling solo and prefer the privacy of your own room, you will be charged a solo traveler supplement. This ensures that individual travelers will get the same type and size rooms as our double occupancy travelers.

We strongly recommend purchasing insurance to protect your travel investment. We offer a best-in-class trip insurance program available exclusively to guests on our small group expeditions by private air. Our program provides unique benefits that you won’t find anywhere else in the insurance market, including:

• Insurance for your entire trip cost in a single streamlined plan
• The ability to purchase the plan and waive pre-existing conditions up until 21 days after deposit
• Flexibility to pay in installments and insure your trip as you go

Our insurance program also includes these additional benefits for your peace of mind:

• No-risk guarantee allowing you to cancel your plan within 10 days and receive a full refund
• Coverage for trip cancellation/interruption, baggage loss, emergency dental and more
• Option to add on Cancel For Any Reason (“CFAR”) coverage for up to 75 percent of your trip cost

If you would like a personalized quote, or have any questions about our insurance program, please contact our Guest Relations team at 800.454.4149.