Your next trip starts here.
Your cart is empty. Choose a destination to get started.
Browse destinationsIn this guide 6 sections
Put the return offer into the actual itinerary
A complimentary whale-watching ticket sounds reassuring until you realise the next free afternoon belongs to a different country. For Australians travelling through Iceland, the useful question is not simply whether a tour offers another attempt. It is whether you could use that attempt without dismantling the rest of the holiday.
Elding and Gentle Giants both publish a free return ticket for a trip without whale or dolphin sightings. That is different from getting your money back, and it does not necessarily repeat the boat experience you originally bought. Choose the initial trip on its own merits. Give the return offer extra weight when you can see a realistic place for it in the itinerary.
What the return offer includes
The following comparison reflects the operators’ published terms checked on 21 October 2026.
| Detail | Elding | Gentle Giants |
|---|---|---|
| Trigger | No whales or dolphins encountered on Classic or Premium whale watching | No whales, including dolphins, seen |
| Return product | Classic Whale Watching from Reykjavík or Akureyri, even after a Premium original trip | GG1 Whale Watching, including after a GG2 original trip |
| Passenger | Original returning passenger; bring the voucher and matching ID | Passengers on the original booking |
| Validity | Two years | Published as unlimited |
| Cash instead | No cash value or refund instead of the complimentary ticket | No ticket refund for the no-sighting outcome |
| Practical condition | Obtain the ticket in the saloon before disembarking and use its stated service | Subject to available space; the voucher cannot be booked in advance |
Sources: Elding terms and Gentle Giants FAQ.
A dolphin sighting matters here. A trip without the particular large whale you hoped for is not the same as a trip that meets the published no-sighting condition. Nor does a distant encounter automatically become a refund claim because the photograph was disappointing. Buy a wildlife outing with that uncertainty in mind, rather than treating the word “guarantee” as a specific animal order.
A return ticket is not necessarily a repeat of your original boat
If the appeal of your original purchase is a premium boat trip or a RIB speedboat outing, price that first outing as the experience you are choosing. The complimentary return is the product in the table, not an unrestricted credit to spend on another premium departure.
If you would enjoy the stated classic tour, the return could be welcome. If the premium format is the reason you are buying, do not count the voucher as a second helping of that experience.
The ports matter too. Elding’s two departure locations give an itinerary that already includes both places another possible opportunity. That does not make the voucher valid with an unrelated operator elsewhere in Iceland. Gentle Giants’ return remains its own GG1 tour from Húsavík. Neither arrangement should persuade you to treat every whale boat on the island as interchangeable.
Test it against the holiday you are actually taking
Consider these three itinerary shapes before paying:
| Your itinerary | How the return fits |
|---|---|
| Your first outing is early in a stay, with another uncommitted day at the relevant port | Useful potential backup. Keep the spare day flexible, but do not assume another departure will operate or have space. |
| You sail on the final afternoon before leaving the area | Little immediate value. Choose the tour only if you want the original outing on its own. |
| You are driving onward and would need to cancel accommodation or backtrack for another attempt | Compare the actual extra transport and accommodation cost with your desire to try again. The boat ticket being free does not make the extra travel free. |
For Gentle Giants, a spare day is an opportunity rather than a reservation. Its voucher cannot secure a departure in advance, so cancelling a non-refundable commitment elsewhere would leave you paying for an opening in the diary without a confirmed second seat.
For a couple taking a one-off trip from Australia, long validity can be less useful than one free afternoon now. Do not count a hypothetical future Iceland visit as money saved today. If you do return, the voucher may be welcome; until then, it is a possibility, not cash sitting in the holiday budget.
This also argues for putting a priority wildlife outing earlier in a stay where practical. It creates room to respond without making the rest of the trip dependent on a second attempt. It does not improve a sighting forecast or guarantee better weather the next day.
Cancellation is a separate question
An operator cancelling the sailing is different from a sailing that takes place without sightings. Elding’s direct terms offer a full refund for its weather cancellation and direct refund requests to elding@elding.is. Its third-party, group and combination bookings may have different conditions. Gentle Giants offers a refund or an available alternative departure after a weather cancellation; bookings made through an agency or platform have their refunds administered by that seller. Elding cancellation terms, Gentle Giants weather policy.
Keep the booking confirmation and seller’s name together. If the sailing is cancelled, use the cancellation/refund route for that purchase. If it runs without qualifying sightings, use the complimentary-ticket process. If you decide not to attend, that is your cancellation, not an operator cancellation or an unsuccessful-sighting claim. Do not silently skip the departure and expect the same remedy.
Sort the messages on land
Keep the operator’s update email, booking number and any return voucher easy to find. Our Iceland phone-data setup guide covers the phone preparation for operator updates and land-based rebooking. Save the voucher and passenger details as well; reception at sea is not established by a country data plan.
The best use of a return offer is a second opportunity you would enjoy taking. It should not leave you paying for an unwanted hotel night just to avoid “wasting” a free ticket. That is a fairly expensive way to win an argument with a voucher.
