The Japan Concierge
Booking Terms and Conditions
Please read the following Booking Terms and Conditions carefully, as they contain important information about your legal rights, remedies and obligations. You must not make any booking unless you understand and agree with the following Booking Terms and Conditions.
References to “us”, “we” and/or “our” in these Booking Terms and Conditions mean The Japan Concierge, a trading name of The Travel Concierge Group Pty Ltd (“TCG”), as set out in your quote, tax invoice and/or itinerary. References to “FCTG” mean Flight Centre Travel Group Limited and its wholly owned subsidiaries. References to “Envoyage” mean Travel Partners Holdings Pty Ltd (a wholly owned subsidiary of FCTG) trading as Envoyage, our host travel agency. References to “you” and “your” mean the customer.
By making any booking, you agree to comply with and be bound by these Booking Terms and Conditions. These Booking Terms and Conditions apply to any bookings you make with us, whether in person, over the phone or by email. The contract formed under these Booking Terms and Conditions is with us, and not with any other party, such as FCTG, Envoyage or any travel service provider (such as an airline). We are an independent travel business operating under a host agency arrangement with Envoyage, which provides us with industry accreditation, including IATA-accredited ticketing facilities. We are not owned, operated or controlled by FCTG.
We will rely on the authority of the person making the booking to act on behalf of any other traveller on the booking (regardless of whether other travellers have made separate payments), and that person will bind all such travellers to these Booking Terms and Conditions.
1. Passports & Visas
All travellers must have a valid passport for international travel. Many countries require at least six months' validity from the date of return, and some require a machine-readable passport. You must let us know if you have less than six months' validity on your passport, or if your passport is not machine-readable. Unless you tell us otherwise, we will assume all travellers on the booking hold a valid Australian passport valid for the relevant destination and transit point.
It is important that you have valid passports, visas, electronic travel authorisations and re-entry permits meeting the requirements of immigration and other government authorities. Any fines, penalties, payments or expenditure incurred as a result of documents not meeting those requirements will be your sole responsibility, except to the extent caused by fault on our part. We can provide general information only on visa and passport requirements. We can also obtain more specific information from an external visa advisory service provider on your behalf, if you wish, and fees will apply. We do not warrant the accuracy or suitability of information provided by any external service provider and accept no liability for loss or damage you may suffer in reliance on it, except to the extent caused by fault on our part.
If you are travelling to or transiting through the United States, see https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov for information on the compulsory Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). Australian passport holders cannot enter the United States without a valid ESTA or visa. Certain prior travel (including to Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Yemen, Libya, Somalia, Cuba or North Korea) may make you ineligible for ESTA and require a full visa application.
If you are travelling to or transiting through Canada, see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/eta.asp for information on the compulsory Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA). Australian passport holders arriving by air cannot enter Canada without a valid ETA, visa or permit.
If you are travelling to or transiting through the United Kingdom and do not hold British or Irish citizenship, see https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-an-electronic-travel-authorisation-eta for information on the UK's Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA). Australian passport holders cannot enter the UK without a valid ETA. If you hold British or Irish citizenship, you cannot apply for a UK ETA using an Australian passport and must travel on a valid British or Irish passport or Certificate of Entitlement.
If you are travelling to the Schengen Area (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland), see https://travel-europe.europa.eu/ees_en for information on the Entry-Exit System (EES). Non-EU nationals must register their passport and biometric data on first entry and verify identity at subsequent border crossings.
We urge you to confirm your ESTA, ETA or visa eligibility before booking if you have any concerns.
2. Travel Documents
Travel documents include airline tickets, hotel vouchers, tour vouchers or any other document, whether electronic or otherwise, used to confirm an arrangement with a travel service provider. Travel documents may be non-refundable, non-date-changeable, and/or subject to cancellation or change fees. They cannot be transferred to another person. All airline tickets must be issued in the name of the passport or photo identity holder, and your name must be identical across your passport, visa and other travel documents. An incorrect name may result in the booking being unusable or cancelled, and additional fees may apply.
Please review your travel documentation carefully and advise us immediately of any errors in names, dates or timings. It is your responsibility to collect, review and retain all travel documents supplied to you prior to travel, and to read them carefully for baggage allowance details, which vary by airline and country. Excess baggage costs are your responsibility. We are not liable for expenses, fees, penalties or losses associated with baggage allowances, except to the extent caused by fault on our part.
3. Travel Insurance
We strongly recommend appropriate travel insurance covering cancellation, medical and repatriation expenses, personal injury and accident, death, loss of personal baggage and money, and personal liability. Evidence of insurance should be produced to us on request. Cover offered by credit card companies or reciprocal medical agreements is often not comprehensive. Travel insurance is strongly recommended by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for all overseas travel.
For details of the services an insurer provides, including a quote, refer to that insurer's Combined Financial Services Guide / Product Disclosure Statement and Target Market Determination, which you should read before purchasing to ensure the product suits your needs and financial situation. If you decline travel insurance when booking through us, you may be asked to sign a disclaimer.
4. Health
You must be aware of any health requirements and recommended precautions relevant to your booking and carry all necessary vaccination documentation. Failure to present required documentation may deny you entry to a country. We recommend consulting your doctor, a travel medical service or a specialist vaccination clinic before travel. General health advice is available from DFAT at www.smartraveller.gov.au.
Whether medical requests, such as access to power, refrigeration or travel with mobility aids, can be accommodated is at the sole discretion of the relevant travel service provider and depends on factors including mode of transport and local standards. While we will pass on any medical request as a file note, we cannot guarantee it will be accommodated, and it is your responsibility to follow up directly with the provider where possible.
5. Prices
All prices are subject to availability and can be withdrawn or varied without notice, and are guaranteed only once your booking has been paid in full. Price changes may occur due to matters outside our control, including adverse currency fluctuations, fuel surcharges, taxes and airfare increases. Some prices are ‘Instant Purchase’ due to dynamic pricing and constantly changing availability, and can only be secured if paid in full immediately when quoted. Even after full payment, a price may not be able to be secured if it becomes unavailable in the short window between your payment being processed and the booking being confirmed in the provider's system. If this occurs, we will notify you promptly and offer reasonable alternatives or a refund. Please contact us for our most current prices.
6. Financial Arrangements
We receive remuneration through commissions, financial incentives, fees, rebates, transaction processing fees, merchant service fees or other payments (together, “financial arrangements”) from third party travel service providers, card issuers, payment service providers and/or other suppliers for booking travel and related products on your behalf. We are entitled to retain these amounts and are not required by law to disclose their nature or value.
7. Deposit and Final Payment
You will be required to pay a deposit or deposits when booking, the amount of which we will advise. Subject to your rights under the Australian Consumer Law, deposits are non-refundable for changes of mind or cancellations by you, or where the travel service provider's terms make the deposit non-refundable. A refundable deposit is subject to us receiving funds from, or being authorised to refund by, the travel service provider. A deposit will generally secure your booking, though quoted prices may change before final payment for the reasons outlined above. Final payment is required no later than six weeks prior to departure unless otherwise stated, and some products must be paid in full at the time of booking.
8. Our Change and Cancellation Fees
Subject to your rights under the Australian Consumer Law, any change and cancellation fees that apply to your booking are set out in your quote, tax invoice and/or itinerary, and as set out in sections 9 to 12 below. Payment of change or cancellation fees by credit card may attract the applicable surcharge. All bookings are made subject to the relevant travel service provider's terms and conditions. Where a provider applies a no-refund policy, we can only pass on the remedy the provider offers, which may include a travel credit.
9. Travel Service Provider Change and Cancellation Fees
Changed or cancelled bookings, for any reason including matters outside your or our control, may incur travel service provider fees of up to 100% of the booking cost, regardless of whether travel has commenced. Such fees may also apply where a booking is changed or documents are reissued. Where we incur liability for a provider's change or cancellation fee arising from your change or cancellation, you agree to indemnify us for that fee. Where a refund is due, we cannot pay it to you until we receive the funds from the provider, which may take twelve weeks or longer depending on the provider's processing time.
10. Change or Cancellation by You
If you change any aspect of your booking, we will do our best to accommodate the request, though this may not always be possible. Changes are subject to any applicable provider fees and our change fees, and you may be responsible for any resulting price increase.
If you cancel any aspect of your booking, you will forfeit your deposit and be responsible for any applicable provider fees and our cancellation fees, with the remaining funds (if any) refunded to you. Alternatively, we or the provider may offer a travel credit for the full amount paid, without applying provider or our cancellation fees. Refunds remain subject to us receiving the funds from, and being authorised by, the provider. For instant purchase or non-refundable bookings, no refund, credit or other remedy will be available. Any travel credit issued is subject to our Travel Credit terms in section 14 below.
11. Change or Cancellation by a Travel Service Provider
Except in the case of unavoidable or extraordinary circumstances (see sections 12 and 13), where a provider cancels your booking, they will generally offer alternative arrangements of comparable standard where available (refunding any price difference for a lower-value alternative), or a travel credit for the full amount paid. Alternatively, subject to the provider's policy, they may offer a refund of monies paid, less any unrecoverable costs and applicable fees.
“Unrecoverable costs” means all reasonable direct and indirect costs the provider and/or we have incurred in relation to your booking, including non-refundable amounts paid to other providers such as overseas in-destination tour or transfer operators. For instant purchase or non-refundable bookings, you may not be entitled to a refund, credit or other remedy if the provider cancels.
12. Unavoidable or Extraordinary Circumstances
A travel service provider may materially modify or cancel your booking in the event of unavoidable or extraordinary circumstances, meaning any cause outside the provider's reasonable control that could not have been prevented or avoided even with all reasonable measures. This includes, without limitation, war, riot, civil disturbance, industrial dispute, terrorism, epidemic or pandemic, natural disaster, nuclear incident, fire, adverse weather, airport or port closures, unavoidable technical or transport problems, transport disruptions or cancellations, travel or health advisories and restrictions, immigration law changes, rescheduling of transport, and changes to applicable laws or government mandates.
A material modification is one that has a serious impact on your booking and would cause substantial inconvenience, including a change of departure date, departure point or airport, or a departure time change of more than twelve hours.
13. Cancellation due to Unavoidable or Extraordinary Circumstances
If your booking is cancelled due to unavoidable or extraordinary circumstances, either the travel service provider will offer a travel credit, or we may, subject to any applicable hardship policy, offer a travel credit for the full amount paid. Any travel credit issued is subject to our Travel Credit terms in section 14 below.
14. Travel Credit
Where a travel credit is issued, the following terms apply:
(a) Your travel credit will be valid for the period notified to you in writing when it is issued (the “Term”), during which it may be redeemed with us.
(b) If, at the end of the Term, you are unable to use any portion of your credit and request a refund, we will action this, subject to us having received the funds from, and been authorised to refund by, the relevant travel service provider, and subject to any change or cancellation fees set out in your quote, tax invoice or itinerary.
(c) The credit is accessible only through us and may be used for one or multiple future bookings, with any balance carried forward under these terms.
(d) Booking fees may apply when redeeming a travel credit, along with any fees imposed by the relevant travel service provider. Once redeemed against a booking, these Booking Terms and Conditions apply to that booking as normal.
(e) Travel credits are non-refundable during the Term but refundable in full at its expiry; are non-transferable; are not cash, currency, a stored value or gift card product; cannot be combined with other offers; cannot be redeemed for cash except where required by law; and cannot be reissued past the Term except at our discretion. Credits remain our property until redeemed.
(f) If you initiate a chargeback or dispute with your card issuer for a booking, you will not be eligible for a travel credit for that booking, and we reserve the right to refuse, void or hold a credit for review in such circumstances, or where we believe it has been procured fraudulently or in violation of these terms.
(g) Subject to your rights under the Australian Consumer Law, accepting a travel credit releases us from claims relating to the underlying booking, its cancellation, and any refund or compensation you might otherwise be entitled to.
15. Emergency Assistance
We will let you know if Envoyage's Emergency Assist team is accessible in relation to your booking. Where it is, Envoyage's Emergency Assist team is available to help with urgent enquiries about your travel booking and Envoyage products outside of business hours, if we are unavailable to assist you personally. Fees apply for the provision of this assistance, and contact details and applicable fees are set out in your quote, tax invoice and/or itinerary. Payment of Envoyage Emergency Assist fees by credit card will attract the applicable card surcharge.
16. Currency and Payment Processing
We invoice in a range of currencies, including Australian Dollars, US Dollars, British Pounds, Euros, Singapore Dollars and New Zealand Dollars, and will confirm the applicable currency at the time of quoting. Payments are processed through our merchant service providers, and for transactions converted between currencies, the exchange rate applied will be the rate available through our payment provider at the time payment is processed. Exchange rates fluctuate, and any difference between the rate applied to your payment and the rate applied by your own financial institution to any related transaction on your account is not our responsibility.
17. Payments by Credit Card and Debit Card
Any credit card surcharge set out in your quote, tax invoice and/or itinerary will apply when paying by credit or debit card, in accordance with applicable law from time to time. You authorise us to charge all fees incurred in relation to our services to the card designated by you. If payment is not received from the card issuer for any reason, you agree to pay us all amounts due immediately on demand. If you choose to save your card details with us, they will be securely stored and may be used for future transactions, including those agreed by phone or email, and you may remove them at any time.
18. Payments by BPAY
BPAY payments take up to three business days to clear. If paying by this method, please make payment at least three business days before the due date and notify us once payment has been made.
19. Taxes
Airline taxes are subject to change and are confirmed at the time your airline ticket is issued. Local taxes may also apply at some airports.
20. Service Guarantees
Our booking and advisory services come with guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law that they will be provided with due care and skill, will be reasonably fit for the specified purpose, can reasonably be expected to achieve the desired result, and will be provided within a reasonable time. If we fail to meet any of these guarantees, you have rights under the Australian Consumer Law.
21. Agency
We hold industry accreditation, including IATA-accredited ticketing facilities, through our host agency arrangement with Envoyage. We act as an agent for, and sell travel-related products and services as agent on behalf of, numerous transport, accommodation and other service providers, such as airlines, coach, rail, cruise and tour operators, as well as our wholesalers. Any booking, advisory and other services we provide (such as processing a change or cancellation) are collateral to that agency relationship. We do not act as an agent for, and are not authorised to enter into any agreement with you on behalf of, FCTG or Envoyage.
Our obligation to you is to provide booking and advisory services, including making bookings on your behalf and arranging relevant contracts between you and travel service providers. We exercise care in selecting reputable providers, but we are not ourselves a provider of travel services and have no control over, or liability for, services provided by third parties. All bookings are made subject to the relevant provider's terms and conditions, including conditions of carriage, fare rules, and change and cancellation policies. Please contact us if you would like a copy of any provider's terms and conditions, or assistance understanding which terms apply to your booking.
Your legal rights in connection with the provision of travel services are against the specific travel service provider and, except to the extent a problem arises from our gross negligence, fraud, criminal conduct or wilful misconduct, are not against us. While we use due care and skill in performing our services, we cannot always verify, and do not guarantee, that information provided by a travel service provider is accurate, complete and correct. If we become aware that provider information is incorrect or incomplete, we reserve the right to correct it and amend your booking in consultation with you.
22. Liability
To the extent permitted by law, we do not accept liability in contract, tort or otherwise for injury, damage, loss (including consequential loss), delay, additional expense or inconvenience caused directly or indirectly by the acts, omissions or default of third party providers over whom we have no direct control, force majeure, insolvency, or any other event beyond our control or not preventable by reasonable diligence on our part.
Our liability is also limited to the extent that relevant international conventions, such as the Montreal Convention for air travel, the Athens Convention for sea travel, the Berne Convention for rail travel, and the Paris Convention for accommodation, limit the compensation claimable for death, injury or delay to passengers and loss, damage or delay to luggage. Where our liability cannot be excluded and may be lawfully limited, it is limited to the remedies required under applicable law, including the Australian Consumer Law. Nothing in these Booking Terms and Conditions is intended to limit any rights you have under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth).
23. Travel Service Provider Insolvency
Without limiting section 22, in the event a third party provider is unable to provide a booked product or service due to insolvency or external administration, subject to your refund and remedy rights under the Australian Consumer Law, we have no obligation to reimburse you for the cost of your booking or for any resulting loss or damage.
24. Special Requirements
Please let us know of any special requirements for your travel arrangements, such as meal or seating requests, room type or accessibility needs, and we will pass these on to the relevant provider.
25. Frequent Flyer or Other Loyalty Programs
Please let us know your frequent flyer or other loyalty program details for inclusion in your booking. We cannot guarantee that the relevant program will credit points or provide any other benefit, including status credits or lounge access, and it is your responsibility to check your booking's eligibility.
26. Schedule Changes
We recommend confirming your scheduled departure time directly with the relevant travel service provider 24 hours before departure.
27. Privacy Laws
We are committed to protecting your personal information and handle it in accordance with applicable privacy, data protection, data breach notification and anti-spam laws (“Privacy Laws”). By providing personal information to us, you consent to us collecting, using and disclosing it as set out in these Booking Terms and Conditions and in accordance with all Privacy Laws. You agree that, in certain circumstances, such as booking international travel, we are permitted to disclose your personal information to overseas recipients, including the travel service providers with whom you make a booking, who will generally receive it in the country in which they provide their services or in which their business is based.
We may also disclose your personal information to service providers, including technology platforms, who perform services for us within and outside Australia, including Envoyage and FCTG, in connection with facilitating your booking and enabling them to perform administrative and technical services on our behalf. Where we disclose your personal information to FCTG, it will handle that information in accordance with its privacy policy, available at www.flightcentre.com.au/privacy.
Where we disclose your personal information to a travel service provider or other recipient providing services directly to you, we are not required to ensure their compliance with Australian privacy laws, and your rights in relation to their handling of your information are governed by your contract with them, including their privacy policy. “Disclose” includes to transfer, share, send, or otherwise make available or accessible to another person or entity.
28. Monies Not Held on Trust
You acknowledge that monies paid by you to us are not held on trust for you, and we may hold such monies in any account as we see fit, including together with our own or other customers' funds. All monies paid by you will be a debt due and payable to the relevant travel service provider in accordance with our payment terms with that provider (net of any remuneration to which we are entitled). Payment is generally made to the provider before the related services are provided, though in some cases payment is made afterwards. Monies paid for flights with an IATA airline are held in accordance with the trust arrangements required under our host agency's IATA accreditation, held through Envoyage, and in accordance with our payment terms with the relevant airline. Where we hold your monies, we can only provide a refund once authorised by the relevant provider, subject to their change or cancellation policy.
29. Modifications of these Booking Terms and Conditions
We reserve the right to modify these Booking Terms and Conditions, including the Travel Credit terms, at any time without prior notice. Amended terms will be posted on our website and are effective on posting. The terms in effect at the time you make a booking, including a booking using a travel credit, are those that apply.
30. Governing Law
Any dispute arising between you and us will be governed by the laws of Australia. You irrevocably and unconditionally submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Australia and waive any right to object to an action being brought in those courts.
31. Acknowledgement
You acknowledge that you are 18 years of age or older and that you understand and agree with the above Booking Terms and Conditions.
These terms were last updated on 22 August 2026.