FAQ
Most frequent questions and answers
We require a deposit of 50% of the White Bears & Colored Lights package cost at the time of booking, and the other 50% is due at 90 days out from the date of your arrival in Bettles. These are non-refundable deposits and we highly recommend that you purchase travel insurance that will cover you in case of a weather delay or cancellation. We accept personal checks or credit cards for deposits and payment, and can take your credit card info over the phone. We accept visa, master card, and discover card.
Reservations cancelled will be charged the entire deposit, and due to the logistics of this special tour, this is a non-refundable deposit.
We highly recommend carrying travelers insurance in case of weather cancellations as the coastal weather can be very cloudy or windy. There are many different companies that sell travel insurance, please make sure that your travel insurance covers weather cancellations, and out of pocket expenses – here is one example: http://www.travelguard.com/
For travelers who reside outside of the United States or seeking more information on travelers insurance take a look at this link: ]http://www.globespots.com/travelinsurance.php
Here are two links that the guides in Kaktovik provided to us and ensure the insurance covers the boat tour / land tour in Kaktovik, which is included in your purchase price. Generally, insurance providers have several policies to choose from and some policies only cover tours if operations shut down for at least 24 hours, and others cover the tours no matter the amount of time (see Gold Plan and One Trip Prime plans below).
The following two companies cover everything including out of pocket expenses due to trip interruptions/cancellations:
Travel Guard – http://www.travelguard.com (Gold Plan)
Allianz – https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com (One Trip Prime Plan)
Before traveling to remote locations such as Bettles, we suggest that you double check with your health insurance provider to make sure you are covered for the steep expenses associated with medevac, in case the unthinkable happens. If not, two options are below.
The nearest Hospitals and Doctors are 180 air-miles away in Fairbanks Alaska. Guardian/Apollo and Lifemed are the two medevac providers based out of Fairbanks International Airport. If you don’t have medevac insurance, and a serious health problem arises, your cost to get back to Fairbanks hospitals quickly, could be as high as $30,000.
Year round or travelers medevac insurance is very inexpensive and easy to sign up for, below are the two links.