All
arrangements made between Travelink Group Limited trading as Travelink,
Airborne Holidays or Star Tours & Holidays (hereinafter called the
Company) and you, the client, are subject to the following conditions.
1.
MAKING YOUR BOOKING
1. When making a booking, the first named person on the booking ("the
party leader") who must be at least 18 must submit a booking form
signed on behalf of all members of the party accepting these booking
conditions. The "party leader" is responsible for ensuring that the
payment of any sums due in respect of that booking are duly made to
the Company.
In
order to confirm your chosen holiday, a deposit of £100 per person
or such other amount as specified at the time of booking (or full
payment if booking within 8 weeks of departure) must be paid at the
time of booking. If you wish to purchase the insurance policy we offer,
all applicable premiums must also be paid at the time of booking (you
must be insured - see clause 12). For some flight inclusive arrangements,
the full cost of the flight element must be paid at the time of booking,
as well as a deposit for all other arrangements you may wish to also
book. For these bookings, you will be advised at the time of booking
of all monies due.
All
bookings are subject to availability. For all bookings other than
telephone bookings (by which we mean you book and pay for your holiday
by credit or debit card over the telephone), a binding contract between
you and the Company only comes into existence when the Company despatches
its written confirmation of the booking to you or your travel agent.
For telephone bookings a contract will come into existence when you
or your travel agent receives verbal confirmation from the Company
over the telephone.
All
monies paid to a travel agent in respect of a booking with the Company
will be held by the travel agent on the Company's behalf until the
monies are paid to the Company or refunded to the client.
2. The Company reserves the right to decline any bookings.
3.
The Company is not under any obligation to deliver any tickets, coupons,
vouchers or documents until full payment of the booking has been received
by the Company. Please check your confirmation invoice and any other
documents carefully as soon as you receive them. Contact us immediately
if any information which appears on them appears to be incorrect or
incomplete as it may not be possible to make changes later. (We regret
the Company cannot accept any liability if we are not notified of
any inaccuracies in any documents within 5 days of our sending it
out).
4.
The total cost of any booking must be received by the Company not
later than eight weeks prior to the scheduled departure date of the
holiday. In the event that payment is not received by the Company
by that date, the Company reserves the right to treat the booking
as cancelled by the client. In this event, the cancellation fees listed
below shall apply.
5.This
contract and all matters arising out of it shall be governed by English
law and shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English
Courts. No servant or agent of the Company can vary the conditions
of the Company and any such purported variation shall be of no effect
unless if has been signed by a director of the Company
2. CANCELLATION BY THE CLIENT
A client who wishes to cancel a booking must notify the Company in
writing. The cancellation charges set out below will be payable from
the date the Company receives the notification of cancellation. These
charges are calculated as a percentage of the total holiday cost excluding
insurance premiums and any amendment charges which are non refundable
in the event of your cancellation. Please note, the Company and/or
our suppliers may impose different cancellation charges from those
stated above depending on the particular package in question and/or
method of transport and/or type of ticket booked (for example Apex
tickets.) These may be higher than those set out above. Where different
cancellation charges apply to your chosen arrangements, we will advise
you of these at the time of booking".
42 days and above - Deposit only |
Cancellation
Charge deposit only
|
Prior to 42 days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . Deposit only
41-29 days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . 45%
28-15 days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . 60%
14 days or less . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . 100% |
3.
CHANGES BY THE CLIENT
Should you wish to make any changes to your booking after it
has been confirmed, you must notify us in writing as soon as possible
and the Company will endeavour to assist. Where it can, a fee of £30.00
per person (maximum £50 per booking) per occasion an amendment is
made will be payable together with any charges incurred or imposed
by any of our suppliers for making the change (where applicable).
Please note, for flight inclusive bookings, you must pay the charges
levied by the airline concerned. As most airlines do not permit any
changes after tickets have been issued (and in some cases where bookings
have been confirmed) for any reason, these charges are likely to be
the full cost of the flight. The Company reserves the right to treat
alterations requested less than 2 months before departure or a change
of lead name requested at any time as a cancellation incurring the
cancellation charges set out in clause 4 above which must be paid
in addition to any charges incurred or imposed by any of our suppliers
for making the change (where applicable). Cancellation charges will
not however, be payable where the change requested is to substitute
a party member where the original person is prevented from travelling
provided we receive not less than 14 days notice. In this situation,
the person who is prevented from travelling may transfer their booking
to someone else introduced by you without incurring cancellation charges
although the amendment fee of £30.00 together with all additional
costs incurred by us as a result of the transfer will be payable (including
any charges incurred or imposed by any supplier). Where any agreed
alteration involves a change in the number of persons booking, the
price will be re charged on the basis of the new accommodation/party
see. A new confirmation invoice and/or final invoice will be issued.
4.
CHANGES AND CANCELLATION BY THE COMPANY
We start planning the holidays we offer many months in advance.
Occasionally, we have to make changes to and correct errors in the
brochure and other details both before and after bookings have been
confirmed and even cancel confirmed bookings. Whilst we always endeavour
to avoid changes and cancellations, we must reserve the right to do
so. However, we promise we will only cancel your confirmed booking
8 weeks or less before departure where you have failed to comply with
any requirement of these booking conditions entitling us to cancel
(such as paying on time) or where we are forced to do so as a result
of circumstances outside our control/"force majeure" as defined in
clause 5. We will not cancel after this date for any other reason.
Most
changes are minor. Occasionally, we have to make a "significant change".
"Significant changes" include the following changes when made before
departure; a change of accommodation to that of a lower official classification
or standard for the whole or a major part of the time you are away,
a change of accommodation area for the whole or a major part of the
time you are away, a change of outward departure time or overall length
of time you are away of twelve or more hours, a change of UK departure
point to one which is more inconvenient for you, the closure of the
only or all advertised swimming pool(s) at your accommodation for
an extended period and, in the case of tours, a significant change
of itinerary missing out one or more major destination substantially
or altogether
If
we have to make a significant change or cancel, we will tell you as
soon as possible. If there is time to do so before departure, we will
offer you the choice of the following options:
(a)
(for significant changes} accepting the changed arrangements or
(b) purchasing
an alternative holiday from us, of a similar standard to that originally
booked if available (if the chosen alternative is less expensive then
your original one, we will refund the difference but if it is more
expensive, we will ask you to pay the difference) or ~
(c) cancelling or accepting the cancellation in which case you will
receive a full and quick refund of all monies you have paid to us.
Please note, the above options are not available where any change
made is a minor one. If we have to make a significant change or cancel
8 weeks of less before departure, we will pay you compensation subject
to the following exceptions. Compensation will not be payable and
no liability beyond offering the above mentioned choices can be accepted
where we are forced to make a change or cancel as a result of unusual
and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences
of which we, could not have avoided even with all due care.
No compensation will be payable if we cancel as a result of your failure
to comply with any requirement of these booking conditions entitling
us to cancel (such as paying on time).
In
all cases our liability for significant changes and cancellations
is limited to offering you the above mentioned options and, where
applicable, compensation payments. We regret we cannot pay any expenses,
costs or losses incurred by you as a result of any change or cancellation.
No compensation is payable for minor changes or where we make a significant
change or cancel more than 8 weeks before departure.
Very
rarely, we may be forced by "force majeure" (see clause 5) to change
or terminate your holiday after departure but before the scheduled
end of your time away. This is extremely unlikely but if this situation
does occur, we regret we will be unable to make any refunds (unless
we obtain any refunds from our suppliers), pay you any compensation
or meet any costs or expenses you incur as a result.
Period
before departure, a significant
change or cancellation is notified to
you or your travel agent. |
Compensation
per person (excluding infants) |
|
More than
56 days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . .. . . . . . . . Nil
56-29 days
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . £10.00
28-14 days
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . £15.00
13 days-departure.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . £20.00
|
5. IMPORTANT
NOTE - FORCE MAJEURE
Except where otherwise expressly stated in these booking conditions,
we regret we cannot accept liability or pay any compensation when
the performance or prompt performance of our contractual obligations
is prevented or affected by "force majeure". In these Booking Conditions,
"force majeure" means any event which we or the supplier of the service(s)
in question could not, even with all due care, foresee or avoid. Such
events may include war or threat of war, riot, civil strife, terrorist
activity, industrial dispute, natural or nuclear disaster, adverse
weather conditions, fire and all similar events outside our control.
6.
THE COST OF YOUR HOLIDAY
The prices set out in our brochures were calculated on the date
specified in the relevant brochure on the basis of known costs and
exchange rates then prevailing as set out in The Financial Times'
"Guide to World Currencies" and which appear in the relevant brochure.
The Company reserves the right to increase or decrease the price of
unsold holidays and travel arrangements at any time. You will be given
the correct current price at the time of booking.
Once
the price of your chosen holiday has been confirmed at the time of
booking then, subject to the correction of errors, we will only increase
the price in the following circumstances. Price increases after booking
will be passed on by way of a surcharge. A surcharge will be payable
if transportation costs increase (e.g. fuel, scheduled airfares and
any other airline surcharges which are part of the contract between
airlines (and their agents) and the tour operator/organiser increase)
or exchange rates suffer adverse fluctuations or dues, taxes or fees
chargeable for services such as, landing taxes or embarkation or disembarkation
fees at ports and airports increase. Even in these cases, the Company
will absorb increased costs up to a total amount equivalent to 2%
of the holiday price excluding insurance premiums and any amendment
charges. Only amounts in excess of this 2% will be surcharged but
where a surcharge is payable there will be an administration charge
of £0.50 per person together with an amount to cover Agents' commission.
If this means paying more than 10% on the holiday price, (excluding
insurance premiums and any amendment charges) the client will be entitled
to cancel his holiday with a full refund of all monies paid to us
except for my premium paid for holiday insurance and amendment charges.
Should the client decide to cancel because of this, the client must
exercise his right to do so within 14 days of the issue date printed
on the invoice. No surcharges will be applied within 30 days of departure.
Any surcharge is payable by the client with the balance of the holiday
cost or within 14 days of despatch of an invoice from the Company
for that sum if levied after the final balance falls due whichever
is the later.
We
reserve the right to correct errors in both advertised and confirmed
prices. We will do so as soon as we become aware of the error. Please
note, changes and errors occasionally occur. You must check the price
of your chosen holiday at the time of booking.
7.
CONDITIONS OF SUPPLIERS
The provision of transport accommodation and other services is
subject to the conditions of the relevant carrier/supplier some of
which may limit or exclude their liability to you often in accordance
with international conventions (please see clause 8(3) below). Copies
of these conditions are available on request.
8.
THE COMPANY'S LIABILITY TO YOU
(1) We promise to make sure that all parts of the holiday we have
agreed to arrange, perform or provide as part of our contract with
you are performed or provided with reasonable skill and care. We will
accept responsibility if any death, personal injury, failure or deficiency
of your holiday arrangements is caused by any fault of ours, or our
agents or suppliers. When we talk about "fault" above, this means
failure by ourselves or our agents or suppliers (as applicable) to
use reasonable skill and care in performing or providing the service
in question. Please note it is your responsibility to show that reasonable
skill and care has not been used if you wish to make a claim.
We
will not be responsible for any injury, illness, death, loss (for
example loss of enjoyment), damage, expense, cost or other sum or
claim of any description whatsoever which results from any of the
following: -
In addition, we
will not be responsible where you do not enjoy your holiday or suffer
any problems because of a reason you did not tell us about when you
booked your holiday or where any problems you suffer did not result
from any breach of our contract or other fault of ourselves or, where
we were responsible for them, our suppliers or agents or where any
losses, expenses, costs or other sum you have suffered relate to any
business.
Please note, we
cannot accept responsibility for any services which do not form part
of our contract. This includes, for example, any additional services
or facilities which your hotel or any other supplier agrees to provide
for you where the services or facilities are not advertised in our
brochure and we have not agreed to arrange them.
(2) The promises
we make to you about the services we have agreed to provide or arrange
as part of our contract - and the laws and regulations of the country
in which your claim or complaint occurred - will be used as the basis
for deciding whether the services in question had been properly provided.
If the particular services which gave rise to the claim or complaint
complied with local laws and regulations applicable to those services
at the time, the services will be treated as having been properly
provided. This will be the case even if the services did not comply
with the laws and regulations of the UK which would have applied had
those services been provided in the UK. The exception to this is where
the claim or complaint concerns the absence of a safety feature which
might lead a reasonable holiday maker to refuse to take the holiday
in question.
(3) Where any
claim or part of a claim concerns or is based on any travel arrangements
(including the process of getting on and off the transport concerned)
provided by any air, sea, rail or road carrier or any stay in a hotel,
the maximum amount of compensation we will have to pay you will be
limited. The most we will have to pay you for that claim or that part
of a claim if we are found liable to you on any basis is the most
the carrier or hotel keeper concerned would have to pay under the
international convention which applies to the travel arrangements
or hotel stay in question (for example, the Warsaw Convention as amended
for international travel by air and/or for airlines with an operating
licence granted by an EU country, the EU Regulation on Air Carrier
Liability for national and international travel by air, the Athens
convention for international travel by sea). When making any payment,
we are entitled to deduct any money which you have received or are
entitled to receive from the transport provider or hotelier for the
complaint or claim in question.
(4) You must provide
ourselves and our insurers with all assistance we may reasonably require.
If asked to do so, you must transfer to us or our insurers any rights
you have against the supplier or whoever else is responsible for your
claim or complaint (if the person concerned is under 18, their parent
or guardian must do so). You must also agree to cooperate fully with
us and our insurers if we or our insurers want to enforce any rights
which are transferred.
(5) It is a condition
of our acceptance of liability as set out in this clause that you
notify the Company and the supplier in question of any claim you and/or
any member(s) of your party has in accordance with clause 11 "Complaints
and problems".
9.
BEHAVIOUR
When you book with the Company, you accept responsibility for
any damage or loss caused by you or any member of your party. Full
payment for any such damage or loss must be paid direct at the time
to the accommodation owner or manager or other supplier. If you fail
to do so, you will be responsible for meeting any claims subsequently
made against the Company (together with our own and the other party's
full legal costs) as a result of your actions
The
Company reserves the right in its absolute discretion at all times
to cancel or terminate holiday arrangements or require any person
to withdraw from a holiday if in our reasonable opinion, or in the
reasonable opinion of any other person in authority, you or any member
of your party behaves in such a way as to cause or be likely to cause
danger, upset or distress to any third party or any damage to property.
In these circumstances, no refunds will be made and we will not pay
any expenses or costs incurred as a result of the termination. We
will have no further responsibility toward such person(s) including
any return travel arrangements. The Company shall in addition be entitled
to impose cancellation fees. 10. UNUSED SERVICES OR ACCOMMODATION
No refund or compensation will be made or given for any unused accommodation
or any unused services or feature of the holiday, nor will such accommodation,
services or feature be exchangeable for other accommodation services
or features or be transferable to other persons.
10.
UNUSED SERVICES OR ACCOMMODATION
No refund or compensation will be made or given for any unused accommodation
or any unused services or feature of the holiday, nor will such accommodation,
services or feature be exchangeable for other accommodation services
or features or be transferable to other persons.
11.
COMPLAINTS AND PROBLEMS
Any complaint concerning the services we provide must be reported
to our local representative (or if there is no local representative
to the Company direct) and the supplier of the service(s) in question
immediately. Clients must in addition set out any complaint in writing
to the Company within 28 days of their return from holiday. No liability
will be accepted by the Company for any complaint not so reported.
Disputes arising out of, or in connection with this contract which
cannot be amicably settled may be referred to arbitration if you so
wish under a special scheme arranged by the Association of British
Travel Agents and administered independently by the Chartered Institute
of Arbitrators. The scheme provides for a simple and inexpensive method
of arbitration on documents alone with restricted liability on the
customer in respect of costs. Full details will be provided on request
or can be obtained from the ABTA website (www.abta.com). This scheme
does not apply to claims for an amount greater than £5,000 per person.
There is also a limit of £15,000 per booking form. Neither does it
apply to claims which are solely in respect of physical injury or
illness or their consequences. The Scheme can however deal with compensation
claims which include an element of minor injury or illness subject
to a limit of £1000 on the amount the arbitrator can award per person
in respect of this element. The application for arbitration and statement
of claim must be received by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
within 9 months of the date of return from the holiday. Outside this
time limit arbitration under the Scheme may still be available if
the Company agrees, although the ABTA Code does not require such agreement.
12.
INSURANCE
It is a condition of this agreement that you take out suitable insurance.
Details of the policy the Company offers are available on request.
If you decide not to take the insurance we offer, you must take out
another suitable insurance policy which provides comparable or greater
cover than that offered by the Company. Unless you include full details
of on alternative policy on your booking form, the appropriate insurance
premium(s) for the insurance offered by the Company will automatically
be added to the price payable by you. Insurance cover will however
only be effective once the Company receives payment of all applicable
premiums.
Please
read your policy details carefully. It is your responsibility to ensure
that the insurance cover you purchase is adequate for your particular
needs. We do not check alternative insurance policies.
13.
FLIGHTS
The Company may not be in a position to confirm the airline(s), aircraft
type(s) and airport(s) of destinations which will be used for your
holiday arrangements at the time of booking. Where this information
is provided, any subsequent amendment will not be a "significant change'
entitling you to cancel or transfer to another holiday without paying
our normal charges. The flight timings given on booking are for general
guidance only and are subject to change. The latest timings will be
shown on your confirmation invoice. However, the actual flight times
will be those shown on your tickets which will be despatched to you
approximately two weeks before departure. You must accordingly check
your tickets very carefully immediately on receipt to ensure you have
the correct flight times. It is possible that flight times may have
changed even after tickets have been despatched we will contact you
as soon as possible if this occurs.
14.
SPECIAL REQUESTS
If you have any special requests, you must ensure they are advised
to the Company or your travel agent at the time of booking and clearly
noted on your booking form. Whilst the Company will endeavour to pass
any such requests to the supplier(s) concerned, the Company cannot
guarantee that any requests will be met and failure to do so will
not be a breach of contract on the Company's part.
15.
GROUPS
Our tours assume a minimum of 16 people (unless specified otherwise)
and if less, or because of local prevailing conditions, e.g. Jewish
Festivals, itineraries may be withdrawn or subject to amendment. A
supplement will apply if a group size falls below the specified minimum
required.
16.
FINANCIAL SECURITY
We are a member of the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA
number V7117). We also hold an Air Travel Organiser's Licence issued
by the Civil Aviation Authority (ATOL number 1886.)This means the
air holidays in this brochure are ATOL protected. In the unlikely
event of our insolvency, the CAA will ensure that you are not left
stranded abroad and will arrange to refund any money you have paid
to us for an advance booking. For further information, visit the ATOL
website at www.atol.org.uk If your holiday does not include flights,
ABTA will financially protect your holiday in the same way.
17.
PRICES AND BROCHURE ACCURACY
Please note, the information and prices shown in our brochure, adverts
and website and may have changed by the time you come to book your
holiday. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the
brochure and prices at the time of printing, regrettably errors do
occasionally occur. You must therefore ensure you check all details
of your chosen holiday (including the price) with us or your travel
agent at the time of booking.
This
web site / brochure is our sole responsibility. It is not issued on
behalf of and does not commit any independent organisation/carriers
whose services are featured in it.
18.
DELAY
We regret we are not in a position to offer you any assistance in
the event of delay at your outward or homeward point of departure.
Any airline concerned may however provide refreshments etc.
19.
SAFETY STANDARDS
Please note, it is the requirements and standards of the country in
which any services which make up your holiday are provided which apply
to those services and not those of the UK. As a general rule, these
requirements and standards will not be the same as the UK and may
sometimes be lower.
20.
PASSPORTS, VISAS AND HEALTH REQUIREMENTS
The passport, visa and health requirements applicable at the time
of printing to British citizens for the holidays we offer are available
on request. A full British passport presently takes approximately
5 weeks to obtain. Requirements may change and you must check the
up to date position in good time before departure. Information on
health is contained in the Department of Health leaflet T6 (Health
Advice for Travellers) available from your local Department of Health
office and most Post Offices. For European holidays you should obtain
a completed and issued form E111 (details in leaflet T6 referred to
above) prior to departure.
It
is your responsibility to ensure that you are in possession of all
necessary travel and health documents before departure. All costs
incurred in obtaining such documentation must be paid by you. We regret
we cannot accept any liability if you are refused entry onto any transport
or into any country due to failure on your part to carry correct documentation.
If you or any member of your party is not a British citizen or holds
a non British passport, you must check passport and visa requirements
with the Embassy or Consulate of the country(ies) to or through which
you are intending to travel. If failure to have any necessary travel
or other documents results to fines, surcharges or other financial
penalty being imposed on us, you will be responsible for reimbursing
us accordingly.
21.
CONSUMER PROTECTION
The air holidays and flights on this web site are ATOL Protected,
since we hold an Air Travel Organiser's Licence granted by the Civil
Aviation Authority. Our ATOL number is ATOL 1886. In the unlikely
event of our insolvency, the CAA will ensure that you are not stranded
abroad and will arrange to refund any money you have paid to us for
an advance booking. For further information, visit the ATOL website
at www.atol.org.uk.
1886
60919 V7117 © Copyright TRAVELINK GROUP LTD
October 1999 BOOKING CONDITIONS