TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Your Placement Price, Deposits, and Payments

When making your booking, you must pay a deposit of £300 per person. On receipt of your application form and deposit, we will begin processing your application. However, if you withdraw your application at any stage, as we will have already incurred costs in processing your application and searching for a placement, we regret that we cannot refund your deposit. We will, however, refund your deposit and any other fees paid to date if we cannot locate a placement for you.

We will send you written confirmation of your selected placement, which will detail the financial schedule. This will include the deposit you have paid and the deadlines for the balance due for your selected placement.

Payment Schedule:

At the time of booking: £300 deposit to secure your placement, plus any higher deposit demanded by the airline or overseas operator.

112 days before departure: 50% of the remaining balance due.

60 days or less before departure: Full payment of the placement fee.

Failure to meet the above payment schedule will result in the cancellation of your travel arrangements. If the balance is not paid in time, we shall retain all monies paid.

Cancellation Conditions:

If you cancel your booking, any monies paid will be forfeited according to the payment schedule outlined above.

Group Bookings and Cancellations:

If you are booked as part of a group and an individual within the group cancels their booking, resulting in a change in the overall group size, the remaining passengers may incur a cost increase. Any additional costs will be added to the cancellation charge and become payable by the individual cancelling.

We will absorb and you will not be charged for any increase equivalent to 2% of the price of your travel arrangements, which excludes insurance premiums and any amendment charges. You will be charged for any amount over and above that, plus an administration charge of £25.00 per person. If this means that you have to pay an increase of more than 10% of the price of your travel arrangements, you will have the option of:

Accepting a change to another placement (if we are able to offer one, of equivalent or higher quality, you will not have to pay more; if it is of lower quality, you will be refunded the difference in price).

Cancelling and receiving a full refund of all monies paid, except for any amendment charges.

You agree to take out suitable travel insurance to cover you for your experience, including emergency medical treatment, emergency medical evacuation and repatriation to the UK if necessary. Your insurance company may not agree to make immediate payment in respect of such claims, and in this event, you will have to make arrangements for the payment of these services, as we will not be liable for them and will not make payment on behalf of you or your insurance company. You further agree to supply us with a copy of this travel insurance policy. Our preferred insurance provider is True Traveller.

Your Financial Protection

When you buy an ATOL protected flight or flight inclusive holiday from us you will receive an ATOL Certificate. This lists what is financially protected, where you can get information on what this means for you and who to contact if things go wrong.

We, or the suppliers identified on your ATOL Certificate, will provide you with the services listed on the ATOL Certificate (or a suitable alternative). In some cases, where neither we nor the supplier are able to do so for reasons of insolvency, an alternative ATOL holder may provide you with the services you have bought or a suitable alternative (at no extra cost to you). You agree to accept that in those circumstances the alternative ATOL holder will perform those obligations and you agree to pay any money outstanding to be paid by you under your contract to that alternative ATOL holder. However, you also agree that in some cases it will not be possible to appoint an alternative ATOL holder, in which case you will be entitled to make a claim under the ATOL scheme (or your credit card issuer where applicable). 

If we, or the suppliers identified on your ATOL certificate, are unable to provide the services listed (or a suitable alternative, through an alternative ATOL holder or otherwise) for reasons of insolvency, the Trustees of the Air Travel Trust may make a payment to (or confer a benefit on) you under the ATOL scheme. You agree that in return for such a payment or benefit you assign absolutely to those Trustees any claims which you have or may have arising out of or relating to the non-provision of the services, including any claim against us, the travel agent (or your credit card issuer where applicable). You also agree that any such claims may be re-assigned to another body, if that other body has paid sums you have claimed under the ATOL scheme.

If you change your booking

If, after our confirmation invoice has been issued, you wish to change your travel arrangements in any way, for example your chosen departure date or accommodation, we will endeavour to meet your wishes to the best of our ability. An administration fee of £25 per alteration will be charged. You should be aware that these costs could increase considerably the closer to the departure date that the changes are made.

If you cancel your booking 

You, or any member of your party, may cancel your travel arrangements at any time. Written notification from the person who made the booking must be received at our offices, and cancellation is effective from the day we receive this notification. Since we incur costs cancelling your travel arrangements, you will have to pay the applicable cancellation charges up to the maximum shown below. If the reason for cancellation is covered under the terms of your insurance policy, you may be able to reclaim these charges.

Notified 61 or more days before departure-loss of deposit including any higher deposits as demanded by the overseas operators.

Notified 61-0 days before departure 100%

If you are booked as part of a group booking, should the number of passengers deviate from the original agreed number due to cancellation this may affect the individual price of remaining passengers as certain charges will still remain for the tour.

Alteration to arrangements whilst abroad by you

We regret that no credit or refund is possible for any unused services provided in the cost of the placement. If you decide to alter your travel arrangements whilst abroad this is your own responsibility and the Company or the Company’s agents are not responsible for any extra costs that are involved or for any difficulties that may arise with onward travel as a result of such alterations. No credit or refund is possible for any lost, mislaid or destroyed travel documents which should be the subject of a claim on your own insurance.

Alteration to confirmed booking by us

It is unlikely that we will have to make any change to your booking, but we do plan the arrangements many months in advance. Occasionally we need to make changes which we reserve the right to do at any time. Most of these changes are minor, and we will advise you or your travel agent at the earliest possible date. When a major change occurs (such as reduction in the standard of accommodation) you will have the choice of accepting the change of arrangements, accepting alternative arrangements from us, or cancelling your trip and receiving a full refund.

Important Note: Compensation will not be payable if we are forced to cancel or in any way change your placement due to war, threat of war, riot, civil strife, industrial dispute, terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, adverse weather conditions or other circumstances amounting to force majeure.

Cancellation of confirmed booking by us 

In the event of the company having to cancel your trip on or before the date when the payment of the balance of the price becomes due you will be offered the choice of an alternative placement of at least comparable standard if available and if this is not acceptable a full refund of all monies will be paid. In the unlikely event that we have to cancel after the date when payment of the balance of the price becomes due (always providing that the balance has been paid), compensation will be made as detailed below. In the event that your trip has to be cancelled for reasons of force majeure, i.e. the occasion of war, threat of war, riot, civil strife, industrial dispute, terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, adverse weather conditions, all monies paid will be refunded but it is regretted that there will be no compensation payable.

Cancellation within 61 days of departure:

43-61 days £20

29-42 days £30

15-28 days £50

00-14 days £60

Prompt assistance in resort

If the contract we have with you is not performed or is improperly performed as a result of failures attributable to a third party unconnected with the provision of the services, or as a result of failures due to unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised, or an event which we or our suppliers, even with all due care, could not foresee or forestall, and you suffer an injury or other material loss, we will offer you such prompt assistance as is reasonable in the circumstances.

Our Liability to You

If the contract we have with you is not performed or is improperly performed by us or our suppliers we will pay you appropriate compensation if this has affected the enjoyment of your travel arrangements. However we will not be liable where any failure in the performance of the contract is due to: you; or a third party unconnected with the provision of the travel arrangements and where the failure is unforeseeable or unavoidable; or unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised; or an event which we or our suppliers, even with all due care, could not foresee or forestall.

Brochure and Web site 

The Company reserves the right to make any changes that may be necessary to the particulars within this brochure at any time after publication. Where such changes occur, these will be subject to the rights as given under the appropriate headings in these Booking Conditions concerning cancellations and alterations. 

Weather 

World weather is becoming more erratic and unpredictable and we cannot be held responsible for any disruption caused to your placement because of bad weather conditions. 

Building & Development Work 

Many projects are continuing to develop. If we receive prior advice we will endeavour to inform you of any work that we consider may affect your placement. However it may be difficult to foresee the extent this activity will have at any particular time. 

If you have a complaint 

We do our best to give you an enjoyable, trouble-free trip but occasionally even the best laid plans can go wrong. If you have a problem during your placement, please inform the relevant authority (e.g. hotel, tour manager etc.) immediately who will endeavour to put things right. If your complaint cannot be completely resolved locally, please follow this up in writing within 28 days of your return home, giving all relevant information. It is therefore a condition of this contract that you communicate any problem to the authority in question whilst on tour. If you fail to follow this simple procedure our ability to investigate may be affected. 

Data Protection Policy 

In order to process your booking and to ensure that your travel arrangements run smoothly and meet your requirements we need to use the information you provide such as name, address, any special needs/dietary requirements etc. We take full responsibility for ensuring the proper security measures are in place to protect your information. We must pass the information on to the relevant suppliers of your travel arrangements such as hotels, transport companies etc. The information may also be provided to security or credit checking companies, public authorities such as customs/immigration if required by them, or as required by law. Additionally, where your placement is outside the European Economic Area (EEA), controls on data protection in your destination may not be as strong as the legal requirements in this country. We will not however, pass any information onto any person not responsible for part of your travel arrangements. This applies to any sensitive information that you give to us such as details of any disabilities, or dietary/religious requirements. (If we cannot pass this information to relevant suppliers, whether in the EEA or not, we cannot provide your booking. In making this booking, you consent to this information being passed on to the relevant persons)