Participant Policies | Remote Year

2.1 Travel Alterations and/or Changes. Remote Year is a group travel experience. As such, we plan travel for groups of individuals rather than one individual. We do, however, understand that life happens and circumstances may alter your travel plans. We created Transition Options to add some flexibility into our group travel experience. These policies apply only to flights and buses; they do not apply to other forms of travel Remote Year may use. Please read below to learn more about the Transition Options you’ll have available during your program.

Remote Year is generally able to make changes to the group reservation 65 days or more prior to the scheduled day of travel.  Prior to the 65 day deadline of each travel day, you will receive your group’s Transition Options, if any, from the Travel Team. These will be a set of standard alternatives to the group travel that can be selected in the Marketplace.  Starting June 29th 2019, these Transition Options will be offered for every transition where Remote Year finds viable options, at its discretion. However, no alternatives will be offered for  the first leg of travel.  Below are the Transition Options currently available:

If you select the Credit option through the marketplace, the credit will be issued/reflected on the last bill you receive before the flight for which you selected the Credit. (For example, if you’ve selected the credit instead of taking the group flight on May 25th, you will see that credit deducted from the bill you receive on May 21st.)

Please note: If you decide to leave your Remote Year community, all future Remote Year Credits, and planned flights we may have booked for you will be cancelled. If possible, you may have the opportunity to purchase your changed flights from Remote Year for use after leaving your community, but you need to let us know as far in advance as possible.

Additionally, please recognize the following:

2.2 Important Airline Policies. If you have a multi-leg flight scheduled, and you only wish to take one leg, please check with the Travel Team at least 14 days in advance of the flight to ensure this possibility. In some situations, the airline cancels a second leg if the first is not taken. Additionally, some airlines do not allow you to collect your baggage midway through a multi leg itinerary.

Many airlines purposely overbook flights, as they expect cancellations. Unfortunately there is no way to protect against a situation where a Remote Year planned flight is overbooked and the airline chooses to “bump” people in a Remote Year program. Please note that Remote Year always has a Plan B for travel and accommodation in case these issues arise.

Many Airlines and/or airports require proof of exit information from the country to which you are travelling. If you’re traveling with your program this information is included in your Travel Day email. If you are not exiting the country with the program on the normal transition weekend, please ensure you have your exit information with you.

2.3 Luggage. On Remote year planned flights, Remote Year can guarantee that you’ll be able to bring the following at no extra cost: one piece of checked luggage up to 20 kg (44 lbs) and one piece of hand luggage up to  5kgs (11 lbs). (We wish we could guarantee more, but weight allowances for hand luggage and checked luggage vary greatly depending on the airline.) You are responsible for adhering to these limits. Should your luggage be over the limit allowed, you will be responsible for managing the weight of your luggage and paying any additional fees at the airports.

If you can not carry it, do not pack it! Our staff are helpful but Remote Year staff cannot and will not transport baggage for you under any circumstances.

If you are not planning to travel with the program on travel day please take your baggage with you! Remote Year staff and Remote Year participants are not able to transport baggage on your behalf. Remote Year accounts for the number of Remotes traveling with each program to determine how much space is needed (both for passengers and baggage). In other words, if you are not joining your program on travel day, don’t ask one of your friends in your program to take your suitcase, there may not be room for it!

3.1 General Workspace Policies. Whether it’s a Remote Year run coworking space or a third-party coworking space where Remote Year rents seats for participants, you’re expected to behave responsibly, respectfully, professionally, and in accordance with Remote Year’s Code of Conduct. Failure to do so may result in a loss of coworking space access privileges, or potentially removal from your Remote Year program. Please, always remember to:

3.2 Mail and Packages. Remote Year will do its best to ensure you receive any packages sent to you while on the program, but Remote Year is not responsible for any lost or unclaimed packages. If a package arrives in a city after your departure, you are financially responsible for any cost associated with forwarding the package. Please note that Remote Year will not pay fees associated with package deliveries and Remote Year will not facilitate the delivery of and will not accept responsibility or liability for any packages with illegal/illicit contents.

4.1 General SIM Procedures

4.2 SIM Card Frequently Asked Questions

4.3 Other Important SIM Card Notes

Remote Year will never knowingly or intentionally put a Remote in accommodations we believe are “unlivable”. However, sometimes situations arise that are out of our control. If any of the issues listed below arise, please report them immediately by sending an email to your Program Support address. If the issue is not resolved within 48 hours of your report, and if the issue was not the direct or proximate result of a Remote’s actions, Remote Year will move you to a new accommodation until the problem has been fixed. The following instances are included in and examples of this policy:

You are responsible for paying for lost items and/or damages incurred by you in your accommodations and workspace. All costs will be charged to you by Remote Year on your next billing cycle or in a separate invoice. If you would like to dispute any damage or lost item charges, you must do so within 7 days. For any lost or broken items, you will be charged the cost of repair/replacement and labor.

Please remember that you are living in other people’s homes that they are renting out to you. As such, you are expected to treat their property with care and respect. If you are removed from your accommodation due to disrespecting the property or policies (e.g. excessive noise/partying), you will be responsible for obtaining your own accommodation at your own cost. You may also be charged a fee if upon checkout you do not follow the checkout procedures that are given to you in each city.

Remote Year will charge Remotes the relevant building and/or landlord charges for replacement and/or repair. Prices will vary depending on how much it costs to repair the item. However, here are the most common damaged items and typical costs to repair them. (Note, the costs listed are average costs and you may need to pay more if the landlord or the building charges more.)

  • Headboard or Footboard replacement

    Desk/table damages (burns, scratches, etc.)

    Dining room chair replacement

    Apartment Cleaning (per room)

    Carpet Replacement (per room)

    Extra dirty/cluttered apartment

    Change of locks (if required when key is lost)

    Extreme fridge cleaning needed

Remote Year may provide you with access to Slack, Google Drive, various internet and wifi networks, hotspots, and other technology platforms (collectively “Remote Year Tech”). You may only use Remote Year Tech for legally allowed purposes. Remote Year assumes no liability for illegal uses of Remote Year Tech. Remote Year reserves the right to take action against those who misuse Remote Year Tech, including temporarily or permanently limiting their access to Remote Year Tech (by imposing strict permissions and bandwidth caps, or other methods), removing their access to Remote Year Tech completely, potentially removing them from a Remote Year Program, and/or reporting them to the relevant authorities. To be absolutely clear, you are expected NOT to use Remote Year Tech for illegal purposes. Additionally, you are expected NOT to use Remote Year Tech in any of the ways described below, which would be considered “misuse”. Examples of misuse include, but are not limited to:

Note that, we may review content to determine whether it is illegal or violates our policies, and we may remove or refuse to display content that we reasonably believe violates our policies or the law. But that does not necessarily mean that we review content, so please don’t assume that we do.