Terms
These terms set out how avé works and the basis on which we arrange — and operate — your journey. By accepting a written proposal, you agree to them.
Last updated · June 2026avé arranges journeys in two ways, and which one applies changes who you are contracting with — so we say plainly, in every written proposal, which model governs the journey in front of you.
On some journeys we are an agent. We introduce and arrange a stay with an independent house, vessel or operator, and your contract for that stay is with the house — under its own terms. This is how our Resorts, Signature Journeys, the Concierge, the Matchmaker and our Collections work. On others we are the organiser. We assemble and sell the journey ourselves as a package, and your contract is with avé — we stand behind the journey as a whole, even where a third party performs part of it. This is how our Island Journeys and Private Charters work.
Where these two regimes would point to different answers — on cancellation, on liability, on who carries the risk — the model named in your proposal is the one that governs. Read it alongside these terms; the proposal sits closest to your journey and prevails on anything specific to it.
avé is a luxury travel concierge based in Malé, in the Republic of Maldives. We compose journeys across independent retreats, inhabited islands, private vessels and local operators — and we run the dual model described above, arranging some journeys as an agent and operating others as the organiser.
Because our role changes from journey to journey, we do not rely on a single blanket disclaimer. Each proposal carries a short capacity line that tells you, for that journey, whether avé is acting as agent or as organiser. That line, with these terms behind it, is the honest picture of our role.
In these terms, the lead traveller is the person who books and accepts the proposal on behalf of the party; a house is any independent resort, guesthouse, vessel or operator that delivers a service; and a proposal is the written quotation you accept to confirm a journey. References to avé are to avé, a travel concierge registered in the Republic of Maldives, contactable at sales@avejourneys.com.
On an arranged journey, the retreat or operator is an independent supplier and your contract for the stay, transfer or activity is with it — not with avé. The retreat’s own terms govern that booking: its deposit, its cancellation and refund rules, its amendment and transfer conditions, and any limits it places on its own liability. We set those terms out, or point you to them, in your proposal before you commit, and we ask you to read them.
Because the retreat performs the service, avé is not liable for its acts, errors, omissions or negligence, to the extent the law allows. We charge you no booking fee on an arranged journey. We are remunerated by the retreats, and we will never take a secret profit or let a commission steer our advice — our advocacy is for you.
What we are responsible for is the arranging — and that duty is real. We will:
On an operated journey — our Island Journeys and our Private Charters — avé is the organiser. We assemble the package and sell it to you ourselves, so your contract is with avé, and we are responsible for the proper performance of the journey as a whole, even where a third party carries out part of it — a boat’s crew, a guesthouse, a guide.
That responsibility is for the journey we have composed; it does not turn avé into the carrier at sea. A vessel and its crew remain governed by their own maritime law and conditions of carriage (see ‘At sea’ below), and an independent activity remains subject to its own operator’s terms — but it is to avé that you look for the package working as promised.
Here there is no ‘no fee’ line to draw: our margin sits inside the package price, not alongside it as a separate charge. You pay one quoted figure for the journey we have composed.
We keep only narrow carve-outs. We are not responsible for a failure that is caused by you, by an unconnected third party we do not control, or by an event beyond anyone’s reasonable control (see ‘Events beyond anyone’s control’ below). Within those limits, we remain responsible for our own reasonable care — and under Maldivian law we cannot, and do not, contract out of liability for our own fault.
An enquiry is not a booking. Telling us what you have in mind — even in detail — commits you to nothing. We answer it with a written proposal.
A journey is confirmed only when you accept that proposal and pay any deposit it sets out. Until then, nothing is committed beyond a courtesy hold with the house, which we will tell you about. A hold is provisional and carries an expiry; if the proposal is not confirmed by then, the hold lapses and rates and availability may change.
The lead traveller must be at least 18 years old. By accepting a proposal, the lead traveller confirms they have the authority to book for everyone in the party, and accepts these terms on behalf of every member of it — so the whole party is bound by them, and the lead traveller is responsible to us for the party’s payments and conduct.
Pricing is by quote. There is no published tariff; each journey is composed and priced for you, and the proposal is the figure. It itemises what is included — typically transfers, board, taxes and the named experiences — and what is not, so the number is clear before you commit.
Optional excursions, spa, dining upgrades and other add-ons arranged on the ground fall outside the contracted arrangements unless your proposal names them. Where they are delivered by a third party, that party’s terms apply to them.
We take care over every quote, but an obvious error can occur — a figure mistyped, a rate that has plainly been mispriced. Where a price is clearly wrong and you could not reasonably have taken it as right, we are not bound by it; we will tell you as soon as we notice, and you may take the journey at the corrected price or withdraw and have any deposit returned.
On an arranged journey we charge no booking fee; we are paid by the retreats. On an operated journey there is no separate fee at all — our margin is contained within the single package price you accept.
A deposit secures your journey; the balance is due by the date your proposal sets out. If you book close to travel — within the number of days before arrival stated in your proposal — full payment is due at the time of booking. Festive and peak dates are banded differently, with a larger deposit and an earlier balance date; your proposal will say so.
As a guide, our operated journeys typically take a deposit of around 20% with the balance due about 45 days before arrival, and band festive dates higher — but the figures that bind are the ones written into your proposal, not these.
Private Charters are staged. A holding deposit reserves the vessel and is non-refundable; on confirmation it converts into a commitment deposit against the charter. A charter proposal may also carry a refundable security or damage deposit, and a separate advance provisioning allowance (an APA line) covering fuel, provisioning and similar running costs, reconciled against actual spend.
Where tax applies, the rate charged is the rate in force at the time of supply — that is, when the service is invoiced or paid — not the rate quoted at enquiry. If a rate changes between quote and supply, the figure on your final invoice reflects the change.
How a cancellation is treated depends on which model governs your journey, and your proposal carries the exact figures.
On an arranged journey, the retreat’s cancellation tiers prevail and pass through to you in full — we have no power to waive them. They are set out in your proposal, and stricter charter, guesthouse or activity terms flow through in the same way; we advise you of these at the time of booking.
An amendment or name change is treated separately and carries an administration charge; after a cut-off stated in your proposal, a change can no longer be made as an amendment and is treated as a cancellation on the grid above. There is no refund for a no-show, an early departure, or services you choose not to use — including transfers we have already committed on your behalf.
On an operated journey, avé applies its own tiered grid, scaled to how far before arrival you cancel and published in full in your proposal. As a representative shape — the binding figures are those in your proposal — our land journeys typically retain the deposit on cancellation more than around 45 days out, rising through roughly 50% within about 30 days to the full price within about 14 days; our charters sit on a longer ladder. We keep separate land and water ladders because the commitments differ:
This section applies to operated journeys, where avé is the organiser. If we have to make a significant change to a confirmed journey before you travel, we will tell you promptly and offer a fair alternative of comparable standard, or a refund of what that part of the journey cost.
Prices can move after booking — fuel, in particular, on water-based journeys. We absorb a small rise without passing it on. Above the threshold set out in your proposal, if a surcharge would lift the price beyond the ceiling stated there, you may cancel the affected element for a refund rather than pay it. Within the final window before departure, stated in your proposal, your price is frozen and we will not surcharge it.
For a charter, if the named vessel becomes unavailable for reasons beyond our control, we may substitute a vessel of similar standard. If the substitute is of a lower standard or price, we refund the difference.
Neither avé nor a retreat is responsible for a failure to perform that is caused by an event that could not reasonably have been foreseen or avoided. In the Maldives these are real and recurring, and they include adverse weather and sea state, the closure or suspension of seaplane, airport or port operations, epidemic or pandemic, government or authority directives, and civil unrest.
When such an event affects your journey, our posture is practical rather than automatic. We will make reasonable efforts to re-arrange what we can, we may at our discretion offer a dated credit toward a future journey, and we will give you a clear, factual letter setting out what happened to support a claim under your own travel insurance.
Where a change is driven by safety or weather, we cannot return a cost that has already been committed and incurred on your behalf — a chartered vessel, a non-refundable transfer, a held room — and to that extent no compensation or cash refund is due for the part affected. Anything not yet incurred, we return. This is one of the central reasons we ask every guest to travel insured.
Travel insurance is not optional in spirit, whatever the model. For an arranged stay, we strongly recommend comprehensive cover from the moment you book — at least medical care, cancellation and curtailment, and emergency evacuation and repatriation, which in an island setting can be by sea or air.
For an operated, water-based journey — our private boats and charters — comprehensive travel insurance is a condition of travel, not a recommendation. Your cover must extend to medical evacuation at sea, and, where the journey includes diving or other water activities, to those activities too. We may ask to see evidence of cover, and we reserve the right to refuse travel to an uninsured guest without a refund, because the risk of carrying you uninsured is one we cannot responsibly absorb.
Your transfers are itemised in your proposal — which legs, by what craft, and at whose cost. Getting to and from a Maldives island is part of the journey, and it has its own rules.
Seaplanes fly in daylight only and are weather-dependent. To connect onward by seaplane on your day of arrival, your flight into Malé generally needs to land by around 15:00 (GMT+5); arrive later and you may overnight in Malé at your own cost, or be moved to a domestic flight where the route allows. Seaplane transfer charges, once committed, are non-refundable. Baggage allowances are tighter than on your international flight — roughly 20kg per guest on a seaplane and around 25kg on a domestic flight, with excess charged or carried on a later service.
On an operated journey, avé runs the transfer and stands behind it as part of the package. On an arranged journey, we arrange the retreat’s own transfer, which is delivered under the retreat’s terms.
On a charter or a private-boat day, the captain and crew hold final authority over routing, over which dive and snorkel sites are used, and over anchorage, and they exercise it for your safety and the vessel’s. There is no refund where a change of route, a change of site, or a missed stop is driven by safety, sea state or weather.
The vessel operates under the maritime law of its flag state and the international conventions that apply to it, and these govern matters of carriage and liability at sea. A charter carries a security or damage deposit; you agree to follow the crew’s safety briefings and instructions, and you are responsible — and indemnify avé and the operator — for damage you or your party cause to the vessel or its equipment beyond fair wear.
Where a charter is sold as dive- or water-activity-inclusive, any assumption-of-risk and insurance conditions attaching to those activities form part of your booking, and we will set them out before you travel.
Our Island Journeys take you onto inhabited islands — living communities in a Muslim country — and a few quiet courtesies are part of travelling well here. Out of respect to the islanders, we ask all guests to observe them, and on operated journeys they are terms of your booking.
In practice: dress modestly in public away from designated tourist beaches; alcohol and pork are restricted on inhabited islands and are not available outside licensed settings; during Ramadan, please be discreet about eating and drinking in public during daylight; and keep affection between couples discreet in public. Certain imports are prohibited and carry severe penalties under Maldivian law — alcohol, pork products, drugs, and material the authorities classify as contrary to Islam. Taking shells or coral is not permitted.
These are matters of Maldivian law, and responsibility for observing them rests with the guest; avé cannot answer for a guest’s breach of the law. A serious or repeated breach may mean exclusion from the journey, without refund.
You are responsible for travelling with a valid passport and for meeting the entry conditions that apply to you — including the requirements of the free visa on arrival, the Maldives Immigration travel declaration submitted through Imuga before arrival, and any vaccinations or health requirements in force for your route.
avé provides general information only as a courtesy. We neither control nor warrant that a visa or entry will be granted — that decision rests with the authorities, and a refusal at the border is not a failure of your journey by avé.
Please tell us of any medical condition, mobility need or dietary requirement relevant to your journey when you book, and satisfy yourself that you are fit for the activities planned — particularly water-based ones. Some experiences carry their own health and fitness conditions, which we will pass on.
We want every guest to feel at ease — which depends on everyone behaving with reasonable consideration for others, for hosts and crew, and for the places we travel through.
avé, a house, a host or a captain may refuse service to, or end the journey of, any guest whose behaviour is seriously disruptive, unlawful, or a risk to the safety or comfort of others. Where that happens, no refund is due and any cost of onward arrangements falls to the guest.
Throughout your journey you are bound by the house rules of the vessel or guesthouse you are in, and by the reasonable instructions of crew and hosts.
If something is not right, the best chance of putting it right is on the spot. Please raise it there and then — with the host, the operator, or the resort’s guest relations — so it can be addressed while you are still travelling. On a charter, raise it first with the cruise director or captain, who can usually resolve it at sea.
If it cannot be resolved on the ground, write to us at sales@avejourneys.com within 28 days of your return, quoting your booking reference, so we can investigate properly with the parties involved.
Raising a concern promptly genuinely matters: a problem we hear about during your journey can often be fixed, while one we hear about only weeks later frequently cannot — and on arranged journeys the retreat’s own complaints conditions may set their own time limits.
On an arranged journey, our duty is to arrange your journey with reasonable skill and care and to advocate for you. The retreat is responsible for delivering the service under its own terms. Where loss is caused by our own failure in the arranging, our liability is limited to the price of the booking to which the failure relates.
On an operated journey, as organiser we are responsible for the proper performance of the package, and our liability is limited to the total price you paid for the journey. Where an international convention governs part of the journey — for instance at sea — the limits and defences of that convention apply, and our liability is no greater than it would be under that convention.
In both models, nothing in these terms limits or excludes our liability for death or personal injury caused by avé’s own negligence, or for anything that may not lawfully be limited. We do not exclude liability for our own fault: Maldivian consumer and travel-agency law does not allow us to, and we draft to that standard rather than against it.
avé is not part of the United Kingdom’s travel financial-protection schemes — ATOL, ABTA and the like are UK statutory arrangements that do not apply to a Maldives concierge, and we make no claim to them. Instead, the money you pay is applied to meeting your journey and remitted to the retreats as the journey requires, and we ask you to travel insured so that your own cover stands behind you.
We would rather you saw these than met them at check-out, so your proposal itemises the statutory layer that travel in the Maldives carries. It comprises Goods and Services Tax on tourism (TGST), Green Tax charged per guest per night, and the customary service charge. TGST is currently 17%. Green Tax is USD 12 per guest per night at resorts and tourist vessels, and USD 6 at guesthouses of 50 rooms or fewer, with children under two exempt. The service charge — customarily 10% — is set and kept by the establishment rather than by the government, and we show it alongside the taxes for clarity.
Who collects these depends on the model. On an arranged stay, the resort sets and collects them under its own terms. On an operated journey, avé folds them into its own quote and collects them — our Island Journey guesthouses fall in the USD 6 Green Tax band, and our Charters, as tourist vessels, fall in the USD 12 band. We never quote a single flat Green Tax figure, because the band depends on what you are staying on.
Separately, a Departure Tax and Airport Development Fee apply to each foreign passenger leaving the Maldives, set by cabin class — from around USD 100 in economy, through the business and first bands, to around USD 960 for a private jet. These are collected by your airline at ticketing, not by avé or the resort, so they sit outside our quote.
The TGST and Green Tax rates are set by the Maldivian government and fixed by the time of supply; any new or increased levy is passed on to the guest. Rates and effective dates are current as at June 2026 and are subject to change.
To arrange your journey we collect what the journey needs — your name and contact details, passport and visa information, payment details, and the dietary, medical or accessibility notes you choose to share. We collect it to compose, book and deliver your journey, and for nothing incompatible with that; in handling it, avé acts as the controller of your data.
We share your information with the retreats, hosts, carriers and operators involved only to the extent they need it to deliver your journey — a resort needs your passport details to register you; a guide does not. We do not sell your data.
We handle your information with appropriate care and security, keep it only as long as we need it, and respect your rights to ask what we hold, to have it corrected, and to have it deleted where we are not required to keep it. Write to sales@avejourneys.com with any request about your data.
These terms, and any journey arranged or operated under them, are governed by the laws of the Republic of Maldives, and the courts of Malé have jurisdiction over any dispute. We would always rather resolve a concern in good faith and in conversation first, and we ask you to come to us before turning to a court.
For a charter, the maritime law of the vessel’s flag state and the international maritime conventions that apply to it also govern matters arising at sea, alongside Maldivian law.
If you are a consumer resident in the United Kingdom or the European Union, nothing in this section takes away the protections of your home jurisdiction that cannot lawfully be excluded; those remain available to you in addition to the above.
These terms, together with the proposal you accept, are the entire agreement between us for your journey, and they replace anything said or written beforehand. Where the proposal speaks to something specific to your journey, the proposal prevails; on everything else, these terms govern.
If any part of these terms turns out to be unenforceable — under Maldivian consumer law, or under the home-jurisdiction protections of a UK or EU guest — only that part falls away. The rest stands, and the unenforceable part is read down to whatever the law does allow.
We may update these terms from time to time as our journeys and the law around them evolve. The version that applies to your journey is the one current at the time you book — updating these terms does not change a journey already confirmed.
The date below reflects the most recent version. If anything here is unclear, or you would like us to walk you through how a particular journey would be arranged, write to us at sales@avejourneys.com, call +960 918 4585, or find us in Malé, Maldives. We would rather you asked.