Cancellation and Refund Policy

“Program Start” means the scheduled commencement of the Merci Baku programme on Day One of your confirmed departure. Cancellation is measured in whole calendar days between the date we receive your written cancellation and the Program Start date, using Baku local time — not from your flight, airport arrival, hotel check-in or an optional pre-night.

If BlackSea Inc. receives your written cancellation 16 or more whole calendar days before Program Start, you receive a 100% refund of the package amount paid.

If BlackSea Inc. receives your written cancellation 3–15 whole calendar days before Program Start, you receive an 80% refund of the package amount paid.

If BlackSea Inc. receives your written cancellation 0–2 whole calendar days before Program Start, you receive a 70% refund of the package amount paid.

At or after Program Start, or in the event of a no-show or voluntary abandonment, no refund of the package amount paid is due.

The Merci Baku programme formally begins at the scheduled Program Start Time on Day One. Guests may arrive before Day One or later on Day One according to their individual travel arrangements. Airport greeting and private transfer are included regardless of arrival date or time, subject to the guest providing complete flight information in advance. An additional hotel night before Day One may be arranged separately. Guests arriving after the commencement of the programme may join from the next scheduled experience; a later arrival is not a cancellation and no penalty is charged for it.

Scheduled programme elements — hotel nights, breakfasts, dinners, transfers, activities and other included services — missed as a result of a guest's arrival time, flight schedule or other personal travel arrangements are not refundable, credited or rescheduled unless Merci Baku expressly agrees otherwise.

After the Program Start Time the journey price is already non-refundable, so a guest who does not participate receives no refund of the confirmed journey price. If that guest then tells us they are arriving later and wish to take part, we will let them join the remaining programme wherever reasonably possible. We do not cancel the remainder of a booking simply because the opening of the programme was missed, unless the guest expressly cancels or operational or safety circumstances make participation impossible.

If BlackSea Inc. cancels your confirmed Merci Baku departure before it begins, and you are not in breach, you may choose either a full refund of the amount paid for the cancelled Merci Baku journey, or transfer of the full amount to another available Merci Baku departure. No cancellation fee is retained.

If an event outside BlackSea Inc.'s reasonable control affects the journey — severe weather, natural events, strikes, civil unrest, government action, border or airspace restrictions or public-health measures — we will first seek an appropriate substitution, rescheduling, postponement or other reasonable operational solution.

If the departure ultimately cannot operate and BlackSea Inc. cancels it, the same customer protection applies: a full refund of the Merci Baku journey, or transfer to another available departure, at your choice.

BlackSea Inc. is not responsible for consequential or independently purchased expenses, such as separately purchased airfare, travel insurance, independently booked accommodation, visa costs, personal transportation, lost vacation time or other arrangements not purchased from BlackSea Inc. This limitation does not affect your refund rights for the Merci Baku journey itself.

If an individual hotel, restaurant, venue or other itinerary element becomes unavailable, we will seek to provide an equivalent or higher-standard alternative. A reasonable equivalent substitution does not constitute cancellation of the entire journey.

Where a genuinely material downgrade occurs, or an essential component of the programme is lost and cannot be reasonably replaced, the protection for a departure cancelled by BlackSea Inc. applies to the affected journey.

Refunds under the schedule above are based on the package amount paid. Separately disclosed and accepted Special Commitment Items may have stricter non-refundable terms. Those terms are disclosed in writing before purchase and require separate acceptance.

Formula One tickets are not included in the standard package unless expressly stated. They are separately requested and priced, are subject to the ticket issuer's own terms, and once issued may be non-refundable where that has been clearly disclosed and accepted before purchase.

Cancellation must be made in writing. Email reservations@mercibaku.org, quoting your booking reference. You never need to telephone for a written cancellation to be valid.

We record when your request is received, determine the applicable whole-calendar-day window in Baku time, calculate the refund from the package amount paid, and send you a written cancellation confirmation with a cancellation reference.

Where payment was made by bank transfer, the refund is returned to the original payer and the originating account. We confirm in writing when a refund is initiated, and as a matter of Merci Baku policy refunds are released within 10 days.

Requests to change a departure date, occupancy or party size are considered individually, depend on availability, and take effect only once confirmed in writing. Any resulting difference in price is stated in writing before the change is made.

Comprehensive travel insurance covering cancellation, medical treatment, repatriation and baggage is strongly recommended for every guest. Travel insurance is not included in the package price.