Cancellations and Refunds

This article explains, in plain terms, what happens to your money if you cancel a booking — or if the camp does.

The one thing to understand before you book

World Camps never charges your card when you send a booking request. Your card is only authorised (a hold, not a charge). Money only starts moving after the camp accepts your request.

Once a payment has actually been taken — your deposit, or a later instalment of the balance — that payment is not returned if you cancel. Cancelling only ever stops future, not-yet-taken payments from happening. It does not undo a payment that has already gone through.

If you cancel before anything has been charged

If you cancel within 24 hours of sending your request (or before the camp accepts, whichever comes first), nothing has been charged yet — your card was only ever held, never billed. Cancelling simply releases that hold. This is often described as "free cancellation", but the more accurate description is: nothing was ever taken from you, so there is nothing to give back.

If the camp starts within a week of your request, this 24-hour period does not apply — the first payment can be taken as soon as the camp accepts.

If you cancel after your deposit (or a balance instalment) has been charged

• Your deposit is gone for good. Once it is charged, it is not refunded under any self-cancellation.
• Any part of the balance already charged is also gone for good.
• Only the parts of the balance that have not yet been charged are cancelled — those future charges simply won't happen. This is not money coming back to you; it is money that was never going to be taken now not being taken.

Your camp's cancellation policy (Flexible, Moderate, or a custom schedule the camp has set) decides exactly when each part of the balance becomes due. The booking screen shows you the full schedule before you confirm, and your booking page keeps it available afterwards.

The two situations where money genuinely comes back to you

Everything above describes what happens when you cancel. There are two separate situations where an actual refund is issued:

1. The camp cancels a confirmed booking. If a camp walks away from a booking it already accepted, everything you were charged is refunded in full, including any platform fee — this is never your cost.
2. World Camps issues an exceptional refund. In rare cases — a genuine dispute, an error, or a situation our team reviews and agrees warrants an exception — our team can issue a refund. This is a case-by-case decision, not something you can request as routine, and every such refund is recorded with a written reason.

What to expect on your booking

Before you confirm, the Cancel booking dialog shows you exactly what has already been charged (and is not coming back) and what is still scheduled (and will simply not be charged). On a request the camp hasn't answered yet, the same control reads Withdraw request.