Earning Points

There are four ways to earn “Referral Points.”

(1) You earn 50 points per single rider referred, 70 points per couple referred (couples are any pair of people sharing the same room on the trip).  You earn an additional 10 points per week travelled beyond the first, per single person (15 points per couple).
Referal points are not generated by people you bring on charter or guest-initiated trips.

Example, if you refer a rider who travels on “Mozart and the Matterhorn” (trip length = 3 weeks), you would garner 70 referral points:  50 for the first week travelled, and 10 more for each additional week.  If a couple travelled, you would earn 100 points:  70 for the first week, 15 for each additional week).

(2)  If the person you refer then brings along other friends and acquaintences (beyond the person sharing his or her room), you receive 20 more points for each of those travellers, as well (regardless of their trip length).  The other travellers thus recruited by your friend earn points for you provided they sign up for their trips before the person you referred has travelled (regardless of whether they sign up for the same trip or not).  If they sign up only once your referral has travelled, they are considered his or her referral.

If your friend in example (1), above, travels with two other friends, you receive 110 points, total (70 for the friend, 20 more for each person s/he brings).

(3)  If you travel with your referral(s), you receive an additional 30 points per referral on the trip with you (45 points per couple of referrals).  This is true provided you spend at least the first week of your referral’s trip together (to help them adjust to our odd world).

Example:  your referral travels on Mozart and the Matterhorn.  If you travel on the “Italian Lakes” trip that comprises the first week of that “Mozart” trip, you receive 100 points instead of the 70 that you receive if your friend goes alone.  You receive the same 100 points if you take the whole “Mozart” trip.

(4)  If you put up flyers at your local gym, or give a talk to your spinning class, or send a company-wide e.mail... let us know where / when / how.  A simple e.mail will suffice.  You will receive 50 points for anyone who signs up citing that source, whether or not they name you.

The first person to claim a source receives credit for all bookings in that year from that source (and in subsequent years, unless and until the source is claimed by someone else).  If you "maintain" a source for multiple years (continuing to put flyers in your gym, for instance), you retain your claim to it.  But you must tell us each year that you are continuing your effort there.

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Spending Points

Points buy trip discounts.

10 points spent purchase a 1% discount on a one-week trip.
The price of the trip is considered to be the price of the trip alone (not including optional services such as baggage transfer, extra accommodation charges, etc.), after other discounts (if any) are applied.  If your statement is denominated in €, the discount also applies to any cycle rental and shipping.

• If you elect a 2-week trip, a 1% trip discount can be purchased for 12 points.
• If you elect a trip of 3 or more weeks, a 1% trip discount can be earned for 14 points.
  

Example: if you spend 110 points, and travel on A Week in Provence, you buy an 11% discount on the trip.  If you go on a 2-week trip such as Alpine Lakes, you receive a discount of slightly over 9%.  If you take Biking Transcontinental, your discount would be a bit under 8%.

Points may be spent on any trip to which you subscribe, in the year in which they are earned, or in subsequent years.  See the “Fine Print,” below, for details.

There is no limit to the number of points you may spend on a given trip, up to the value of the trip + baggage services (if any) + extra accommodation charges (if any) + equipment / intra-trip cycle renta and shippingl (if any).

This means that you may effectively claim a discount of over 100%, provided you have the points to do so.  Example:  your 1-week trip costs $2,000.  You additionally sign up for a single room and Daily Baggage Transfer, for an additional $600.  10 points spent provides a credit equivalent to a 1% discount on the trip price, or $20.  Your company-wide e.mail has resulted in 50 sign-ups, generating 2,500 points (good thing you work for Microsoft).  Spend the first 1,000 to pay for your trip, spend another 300 to pay for the extras... and start planning for next year!

Points may not be spent on things that we do not directly provide, such as “Access Packages” (where hotels and railroads generate the bulk of the costs).

Discounts obtained by spending points are cumulable with other discounts, such as “early sign-up” discounts, when offered. However, the percentage discount applies to the “net” cost of the trip, after other discounts are applied.

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Fine Print

Generalities

• For the purposes of this program, each trip is rounded to the nearest “whole week” to determine its length.  For instance, a trip comprising anywhere from 4 to 10 nights is considered to be a one-week trip.
• The terms for earning and spending points are subject to change without notice.
• The program is subject to termination without notice.  We will, however, try to give you ample opportunity to spend any accumulated points.
  
  

Qualifying for the Program

• To qualify for the program, you must have travelled on at least one of our cycle trips at the time your referral subscribes to his or her trip.
  
  

Earning Referral Points

• Points are earned from any new rider who lists you on the “How Did You Hear About Us?” line on the trip application form when it is originally submitted, whether you are aware of their signing up or not.  If you post a flyer, or send an e.mail, and make us aware of the effort, you will be credited with any rider citing that source (your gym, company cafeteria, wherever).
• Should a rider cite more than one informational source in the “How Did You Hear About Us” space on the trip application form, equal weight is assigned to each source.  So, for example, if two sources are cited, you receive half the usual number of points for that rider.  If the rider assigns a sequence (“John Westlake, then I looked you up on Google”), the first source in the sequence is considered to be the referral source.
• Points are earned only once the referree’s trip is completed.  We reserve the right to not accord points in the unusual case where your referree hates us, hates the trip, and makes everyone miserable.  Please do not refer wet blankets or fun vampires.  We will be the sole judge of whether or not your referee is a fun vampire, but it is not a term we use lightly.
• Only guests who have never travelled with us before qualify to earn you referral points.  You do not receive referral points for alums of our trips, even if they say that you are the one who initially told them about us, or who told them about the specific trip to which they are subscribing.
  
  

Using Referral Points

• Points not yet earned (for referrals already signed up, but travelling later in the season than you do, for example), may still be used, but you must pay for the trip as if this discount did not apply.  Once your referral(s) take their trips, you will receive a refund corresponding to the discount the earned points purchase.  Points earned for referrals travelling with you on a trip may be spent to earn a discount on that same trip.  In the event of a last-minute cancellation by the referree, however, the discount will be lost, and the difference must be paid prior to trip start.
• Points are personal.  They are not transferrable.
• Discounts purchased with Referral Points apply only to the trip itself, not to any optional extras, Access Packages, or other services.
• Fractional discounts (not an even percentage, but, for example 15.5%) are possible.  The prices they lead to are rounded to the nearest whole currency unit (dollar or euro...).
  
  

Program Maintenance

• Points do not expire, at least not until we do.  However, they have no financial value, and are not redeemable for anything but discounts on our trips.
• Points may be redeposited to your account without penalty if you are obligated to cancel a trip to which you have subscribed.  However, cancellation fees (if any) are based on the cost of the trip.  You may, at your discretion, choose to spend the points to lower the cost of the trip, and thus lessen the cancellation costs.
• Account statements will be sent annually (in the winter), if you have any accumulated points, and we have a current e.mail address for you.  You may contact us at any time (by e.mail only, info@bluemarble.org) to ascertain the number of points on your account.