Updated on October 5, 2026
The four policies we found
We read the no-aurora wording in operator listings for Reykjavík, Tromsø and Fairbanks on 4 October 2026, and in the 34 Civitatis listings shown on this site on 5 October 2026. Four models cover everything we saw.
1. A free retry, no refund
This is the Reykjavík standard. Reykjavik Excursions lets you "rebook free of charge as many times as needed", with a rebooking ticket valid for two years. Guide to Iceland's small-group tour lets you join another tour for free.
Nine Civitatis listings follow the same model:
- Reykjavík, coach tour: an alternative viewing opportunity is provided, but "refunds will not be available".
- Reykjavík, Golden Circle combo: "another opportunity to see them at no additional cost".
- Reykjavík, Blue Lagoon combo: "a complimentary return for another attempt".
- Abisko, photo tour: a chance to return on another day, and "refunds are not available".
- Akureyri, minibus tour: "an alternative opportunity to view them", and "refunds will not be available".
- Akureyri, private tour: "another opportunity to see them on the next tour".
- Akureyri, whale watching combo: an option to reschedule for another date if you see neither aurora nor whales.
- Whitehorse, minibus tour: if you contact the operator, "the opportunity to repeat the tour".
- Rovaniemi, bus tour: see model 3.
A retry is not always like for like. A Tromsø small-group operator listed on Visit Tromsø (maximum 8 people, 2,400 NOK) offers its free retry on a coach tour. The warranty is valid only in the season you booked, and it "cannot be claimed as a refund".
2. A discount on a second booking
- Tromsø, Civitatis coach tour: "a 50% discount on your next activity, subject to availability".
- Rovaniemi, Civitatis photo tour with barbecue: you can rebook "with a 50% discount within one week", depending on availability.
- Tromsø, a bus chase listed on Visit Tromsø at 1,295 NOK: another evening at 50% off.
You pay again, so this is the weakest of the offers that exist.
3. A refund, in a few "guaranteed" options
The only refund wording in the Civitatis listings is on the Rovaniemi bus tour, and only if you pick its guaranteed option: "repeat the tour for free the next day (subject to availability) or receive a 50% refund". That is half your money, not all of it.
Some Rovaniemi chases on other marketplaces advertise a full money-back guarantee. We could only see those terms in search snippets, so we cannot confirm the wording. Before paying for one, check how a cloudy night is treated (it may be rescheduled, not refunded) and what counts as a sighting.
4. Nothing
Twenty-three of the 34 Civitatis listings say nothing about a night without aurora, including all three in Fairbanks, the one in Yellowknife, both boat cruises and every listing in Kiruna, Levi, Saariselkä and Luleå. Nine of the 23 are snowmobile, snowshoe or similar outings, sold as an activity with the aurora as a possible extra. Read silence as no compensation. One Tromsø minibus operator states only that "sightings cannot be guaranteed", and a Fairbanks tour we found on a reseller states no refund if the aurora does not appear.
Why "guarantee" usually means a retry
An empty seat on tomorrow's bus costs an operator almost nothing. A refund costs the full fare. So the offer you see most is the one that is cheapest to give, and it comes with conditions: subject to availability, the next day only, within one week, this season only.
All of those conditions assume you are still in town. A two-year ticket in Reykjavík is worth something if you plan to come back, and little if you fly home in the morning.
How to plan around it
- Book the tour for your first night. Every retry and discount depends on having nights left.
- Stay long enough for the sky to give you a chance. In Tromsø in January, 43% of three-night stays had at least one usable night (two dark hours in a row with half the sky or more free of cloud), and 57% of five-night stays did. Our page on how many nights to book has the figures for each place and month.
- Read the cancellation window, which is your own way out. On Civitatis it was 24 or 48 hours for half of the listings, but 5 days for the two Luleå tours, 7 days for the three Fairbanks and the three Kiruna tours, 8 days for the two Abisko tours and 14 days for a Rovaniemi snowmobile trip and the Whitehorse tour. Three Saariselkä listings showed no free cancellation window at all. Inside that window a bad forecast no longer gets your money back.
- Prefer a listing that states its policy. The tour types guide and the tour cards on each destination page show which ones do.
What to do on a cloudy night
Check the hourly cloud forecast before you write the night off. Our Tonight page shows the best two-hour gap for each of the twelve places, and a short gap is all you need. NOAA puts the best viewing "within an hour or two of midnight", so a sky that clears at 11 pm still counts.
If the cloud is solid for hours in every direction, a tour will not find a hole in it. Use the retry if you have one, or save the money for a clearer night. And if you are still choosing where to go, the surest protection is a place with a better sky record. See the twelve places compared, and our view on when a tour is worth it.