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■Brochure Accuracy
We carefully check the information given in our brochure about accommodation
, itineraries etc to ensure that it is correct at the time of going to
press (January 2007). However , please bear in mind that hoteliers and
other service providers may wish to maintain or improve their facilities.
There may be changes to flight timings and optional excursion itineraries
may change as a result of local conditions. Circumstances such as these,
or weather conditions , time of year , etc may cause some of the amenities
we have described to be unavailable or different from those advertised
in our brochure.We reserve the right to change any of process, services
or other particulars contained in this brochure at any time before we
enter into a contract with you. If there is any change, we will notify
you before we enter into such
a contract.
■Validity
of the brochure
This brochure is valid for the period of 01 April 2007 through to 31
October 2007
■Providing
your Holiday
Your contract is with H.I.S. EUROPE LTD. We will arrange to provide you
with the various services which form part of your holidays. Before your
booking is confirmed and a contract comes into existence we reserve the
right to increase brochure prices.
■Holiday
Security
H.I.S. EUROPE LTD. Limited is a member of ABTA with membership number
JO629. We also hold an ATOL with number 5484. As such we are fully bonded
according to ABTA’s rules and abide by ABTA’s Code of Conduct. In order
to ensure that the monies you pay for your holiday are protected we will
issue a confirmation invoice showing the details of the services that
you have booked including the price and the amount of money paid by you.
You should check these details carefully and contact us immediately if
there are any discrepancies. Please go to www.abta.com for a copy of
the Guide to ABTA’s Scheme of Financial Protection. This arrangement
ensures that payments made by you for your holiday arrangements would
be refunded and/or that you that would be repatriated in the unlikely
event of our insolvency.
■Passport,
Visa and Health Requirements
It is your responsibility to make the necessary applications and to comply
with any regulations governing entry to your chosen country. If you do
not obtain a visa, where this is required, or your passport for any other
travel documentation is not in order and you are unable to travel as
a result, you will be liable to pay the cancellation charges set out
below. Furthermore, we will not accept any responsibility or refund any
money in cases where you are unable to travel because of an invalid or
mislaid visa or passport. Non British citizens should check with their
embassy or consulate to obtain details of the relevant equirements.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Travel Advice Office issues travel advice,
which is regularly updated, and which relates to political, economic
and other circumstances prevailing in countries throughout the world.
If you want any such advice, you should contact them. Their telephone
number is 0207 238 4503/4504, and details are also available on BBC2
CEEFAX page 470 and on the internet at www.fco.gov.uk.
Sources of information about health requirements include the Department
of Health’s free leaflet Health Advice for Travellers, which is available
by telephoning 0800 555 7777.
■Accommodation
We categorise all hotels in a star rating to give a general guide. However,
standards can vary between hotels of the same class in different countries.
In general, hotel rooms are available between noon and 3pm on your
day of arrival. Unless otherwise stated, rooms will have either a bath
or a shower and a wash basin.
Single rooms - although supplements are payable for single accommodation,
it should be noted that the standard and location of single rooms is
not always as good as that of twin/double rooms.
Triple rooms - are often available and will comprise a twin room with
an extra folding bed/couch unless otherwise stated, which may restrict
space. In the case of that there is no additional discount for a triple
room, the price charged will be the same as a Twin Room passenger.
Child reductions - When reductions are available, these are based upon
one child sharing a room with two full fare paying passengers. Children's
ages must be stated on the booking form to qualify for any reduction.
■What's
Included in your Holiday
1. Return Economy class flights/2nd class trains as specified in your
brochure
2. Accommodation in standard twin bedded rooms unless otherwise started
3. Government taxes and compulsory service charges for hotels.
4. All UK and European airport taxes and passenger charges
5. Meals as specified in the itineary
■What's
not Included in your Holiday
1. Travel Insurance
2. Hotel facilities, eg; sport and leisure equipment(if a charge is applicable)
3. Infant food, usually payable to the hotel
4. Passport, medical injections and certificates
5. Laundry, telephone calls and all other items of a personal nature
6. Transport between your home and UK departure airport
7. Optional excursions
■Tour
Prices
Changes in *transportation costs, including the cost of fuel, *dues,
taxes or fees chargeable for services such as landing taxes or embarkation
or disembarkation fees at ports and airports and *exchange rates mean
that the price of your travel arrangements may change after you have
booked. However there will be no change within 30 days of your departure.
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 the amount
over and above that, plus an administration charge of £1 per person together
with an amount to cover agents’ commission. 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 holiday if
we are able to offer one (if this is of equivalent or higher quality
you will not have to pay more but if it is of lower quality you will
be refunded the difference in price), or cancelling and receiving a full
refund of all monies paid, except for any amendment charges.
We will consider an appropriate refund of insurance premiums paid if
you can show that you are unable to transfer or reuse your policy. Should
you decide to cancel for this reason, you must exercise your right to
do so within 14 days from the issue date printed on your final invoice.
Should the price of your holiday go down due to the changes mentioned
above, by more than 2% of your holiday cost, then any refund due will
be paid to you. However, please note that travel arrangements are not
always purchased in local currency and some apparent changes have no
impact on the price of your travel due to contractual and other protection
in place."
The price of your holiday have been calculated in accordance with foreign
currency exchange rate.
■Booking
your Holiday
When you wish to confirm your holiday booking, you must pay a deposit
of £25 per person(excluding infants). If your are making the booking
within 31days of departure, you must make full payment at time of booking.
Booking may be made direct to our office. If you book direct with us,
we will immediately either issue a Confirmation Invoice or return your
deposit.
When you make a booking and pay a deposit or full amount, you are confirming
that you understand, and have accepted our Booking Conditions and the
General Information which form the basis of your contract and a legally
binding contract is made upon our acceptance of your payment.
■Payment
of Balance
You must pay the balance of your holiday cost within 10days of making
your reservations otherwise we shall be entitled to cancel your booking
in which case you will be liable for the cancellation charges detailed
under Cancellation by you.
■Tickets
Once we have received full payment, you will be sent your travel documents
approximately 7-10 days prior to departure. Your travel documents will
give the recommended check-in times for your flights. Should you fail
to check-in on time and miss your flight we do not have any liability
to your for this or its consequences.
■Complaints
Most problems can be sorted out straight away if we know about them.
Accordingly, if you have a complaint you must advise our representative/local
agent immediately as well as the relevant supplier(eg; hotel staff).
If you wish to follow up your complaint, you must write within 28 days
of your return from holiday to the following address:
H.I.S. EUROPE LTD.
14 Charles Ⅱ Street, London SW1Y 4QU
quoting your booking details. We will then investigate your complaint.
We regret that we cannot accept any liabilitiy in relation to any complaint
or problem if you fail to notify us strictly in accordance with this
paragraph. We certainly hope we can settle any holiday complains amicably,
however should this prove not to be the case you may refer any dispute
relating to this contract to an Arbitrator appointed by the Chartered
Institute of Arbitrators. The scheme provides for a simple and inexpensive
method of arbitration on documents alone with restricted liability of
the client in respect of costs. The scheme does not apply to claims for
an amount greater than £7500 per booking form, or to claims which are
solely or mainly in respect of physical injury or illness, or the consequences
of such injury or illness. An application
for arbitration must be made within 9 months of the date of return from
the holiday, but in special circumstances it may still be offered outside
this period.
■Changes/Cancellation
by H.I.S.EUROPE LTD.
(i) We
reserve the right to make changes to your holiday
arrangements after we have confirmed
your booking, and if we do so, we will use our best endeavours to inform
you before departure and make suitable alternative arrangements.
(ii) Any
change we make to your holiday will be either major or
minor. A major change includes a change of UK departure
airport (not including between airports in London), a change
of flight time by more than 12 hours, or a change to a
lower category of accommodation. Any other change is a minor
change. If there is a minor change, we will do our best
to notify you of this, but we are not under any obligation
to do so or to pay you compensation. If there is a major
change, we will advise you as soon as is reasonably possible.
You will then have the choice of accepting the change, taking an alternative holiday (and where this is of a lower price, we will refund
the difference, but where it is of a higher price, you
must pay the difference), or withdrawing from the contract
and accepting a full refund of all monies paid, excluding
any insurance premiums or amendment charges. In addition,
(on the assumption that the full balance has been paid)
we will pay you compensation which is reasonable given
the circumstances in question. Compensation will not be
considered appropriate, for example, in cases where a major
change has to be made as a result of force majeure or underbooking
(as defined below).
(iii) If
we have to cancel your holiday before
the date of departure, you will have
the choice of taking an alternative
holiday (and where this is of a lower
price we will refund the difference,
but where this is of a higher price,
you must pay the difference) or withdrawing
from the contract and accepting a full
refund of all monies paid, excluding
any insurance premiums or amendment
charges. In addition, (on the assumption
that the full balance has been paid)
and where such cancellation is not
due to force majeure or underbooking(as
defined below), we will pay you compensation
which is reasonable given the circumstances in question. Where such cancellation
is due to underbooking, we will inform
you before 35 days of the departure
date.
(iv) Underbooking
is the situation in which the minimum
number of bookings required to run
a holiday is not met. Force majeure
is unusual and unforeseeable circumstances
beyond our control, the consequences
of which neither we nor our suppliers
could avoid, examples of which are
war or threat of war, riots, civil
strife, terrorist activity, epidemic,
industrial disputes, natural or nuclear
disaster, fire or adverse weather conditions,
level of water in rivers or other similar
events beyond our control.
(v) In
the unlikely event that we become unable
to provide a significant proportion
of the services you have booked after
you depart, we will make alternative
arrangements for you to continue your
holiday at no extra charge, or, if
this is impossible, or you do not accept
these alternative arrangements for
a good reason, we will provide you
with transport back to your point of
departure. In addition, if appropriate,
we will pay you compensation of an
amount which is reasonable taking into
account all the circumstances. Compensation
will not be considered appropriate,
for example, in cases where a major change has to be made as a result of force majeure or
underbooking (as defined above).
■Cancellation/Changes
by you
If you wish to make any change to your holiday arrangements, we will
do our best to accommodate you. Any change is subject to availability,
and also to payment of an administration fee of £25 per person and any
associated costs of the change imposed by our suppliers. You should note
that airlines and rail companies in particular may treat a change to
a booking as a cancellation and new booking, and therefore charge a 100%
cancellation fee. Please note that, particularly after payment of the
final balance, it may be difficult to amend your booking.
Should
you wish to cancel your holiday, you may do so by telephoning us.
We may not receive your cancellation by letter, email or facsimile
so please bear in mind our business hours should you wish to cancel.
If you cancel, you will be liable to pay the following cancellation
charges:
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Period
before departure date
in which cancellation is made
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Charge
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More
than 56 days
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Deposit
(£25)
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43-56
days inclusive
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30%
of holiday price
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29-42
days inclusive
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45%
of holiday price
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15-28
days inclusive
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75%
of holiday price
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8-14
days inclusive
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90%
of holiday price
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0-7
days inclusive
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100%
of holiday price
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Please
note that any cancellation after the issue of airline or rail tickets
will nearly always result in that supplier imposing 100% cancellation
charges.
H.I.S. EUROPE LTD. will automatically issue tickets after 31days prior
to departure unless advised otherwise. Therefore, after we issue airline
or rail tickets earlier than usual under customer’s acceptance, or by
customer’s request, or depending on the airline’s regulations, we will
charge 100% of the holiday price.
Please bear in mind all airline and rail company regulations and ask
our sales staff if you have any questions, prior to booking.
■Transfer
of Bookings
You may change your booking within a reasonable time before departure
by transferring it to another person if you are unavoidably prevented
from travelling, and the transferee meets any conditions which may apply
to the booking. The right to transfer is subject to payment of an administration
fee of £25 per person (plus appropriate holiday insurance premium, if
applicable), together with all additional charges of whatever sort imposed
by the suppliers providing the component parts of the holiday.
■Transport
Delays
We have no control over the time flights and other transport departs
and therefore cannot guarantee that flights or any other transport will
depart at the time specified. In the event of any delay, we are under
no liability to you whatsoever to provide appropriate meals etc. Although
we will use our best endeavours to arrange for the air carrier or other
transport provider to do so, we will not make any such provision.
■Our
Liability to you
(i)Our
obligations, and those of our suppliers providing
any service or facility involved in your holiday,
are to take reasonable skill and care to arrange
for the provision of such services and facilities
and, where we or our supplier is actually providing
the service or facility, to provide them with reasonable
skill and care. Compliance with any applicable
regulatory requirements (such as, for example,
those of the Civil Aviation Authority) will be
proper performance of our, and our suppliers’,
obligations.
(ii)For
claims which do not involve death or
personal injury, we accept liability,
subject to paragraphs (i) above and
(iv) below, should any part of your
holiday not be as described in the
brochure. If we accept liability, we
will, subject to paragraphs (v) and
(vi) below, pay you compensation. The
maximum amount of compensation which
we will pay you in any circumstance
will be a refund of your holiday cost
(excluding any amendment charges or
insurance premiums), a refund of any
directly attributable expenses, and
a daily sum of £72 per person. We will
use the maximum sum to assess the appropriate sum due to you in the circumstances of your particular complaint.
Any sums received by you from suppliers
such as from airlines due to the Denied
Boarding Regulations 1992 (in this case sums paid by the airline constitute
the full amount of your
entitlement to compensation for all matters flowing from the airline’s
actions) will be deducted from
any sum paid to you as compensation by us.
(iii)For claims which
involve death or personal injury as a result of an activity forming part
of your holiday, we accept liability subject to paragraphs (i) above
and (iv) below. If we accept liability,we
will, subject to paragraphs (v), (vi) and (vii) below, pay you reasonable
compensation.
(iv)We
accept liability in accordance with paragraphs (i), (ii)
and (iii) above and subject to paragraphs (v) and (vi)
below except where the cause of the failure in your holiday
or any death or personal injury you may suffer is not due
to any fault on our part or that of our servants, agents
or suppliers, and is either attributable to you, or attributable
to someone unconnected with the trip and is unforeseeable
or unavoidable, or due to unusual or 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 neither we, nor our servants, agents or suppliers
could have foreseen or forestalled.
(v)Where
a claim (whether for personal injury
or non personal injury) arises out
of loss or damage
suffered during the course of air travel, rail travel, sea travel, road
travel or hotel accommodation, the
amount of compensation you will receive will be limited in accordance
with and/or in an identical
manner to the provisions of any relevant International Conventions, namely
the Warsaw Convention 1929 (including as amended by the Hague Protocol)
the Berne Convention 1961, the Athens
Convention 1974, the Geneva Convention 1973 and the Paris Convention
1962. For the avoidance of doubt, this means that we are to be regarded
as having all benefit of any limitations of compensation contained in
any of these Conventions or any other international conventions applicable
to your trip.
(vi)It
should be noted that our acceptance of liability in paragraphs
(ii), (iii) and (iv) above is conditional upon you assigning
any rights that you may have against any of our servants,
agents or suppliers which is in any way responsible for
the failure of your holiday or any death or personal injury
you may suffer. Finally, it is a condition precedent of
such acceptance of liability that you follow the procedures
for the notification of complaints set out in the clause
below relating to complaints.
(vii)Other
than as set out above, and as is detailed
elsewhere in these booking conditions,
we shall have no legal liability whatsoever
to you for any loss, damage, personal
injury or death which you suffer arising
directly or indirectly from any aspect
of your holiday.
■Unreasonable
Behaviour
If someone in authority such as the captain or pilot believes that you
are not fit to travel, he/she may refuse to allow you onto the aircraft,
train or ship. This will normally happen if they think you are likely
to disturb/harm other passengers. In this case, your contract with us
will end immediately and we will no longer be responsible for you. Additionally,
if your behaviour is such that the hotelier feels unable to accommodate
you, you may be asked to leave the hotel. In this instance, no refund
for lost nights accommodation will be made and the cost of any other
accommodation or travel expenses will be entirely your responsibility.
We will also hold members of your party jointly and individually liable
for any damage to the property, together with legal costs incurred in
pursuing the claim. We cannot be held responsible
for the actions or behaviour of other guests or individuals who have
no connection with your holiday arrangements or with us.
■Excursions
Please note that we do not provide excursions. Our local representatives
may, at your request, make arrangements for excursions locally on your
behalf. However, please note that if they do, the contract for the
provision of the excursion will be between you and the supplier of
the excursion and not between you and us. Therefore, when you purchase
an excursion locally, whether or not through our representative, your
contract is with the local company and we have no liability whatsoever
for anything which may go wrong on the excursion.
■Special
Requests
If you have any special requests, you should inform us of such requests
prior to departure. We will advise the relevant supplier of any such
requests but we cannot guarantee that they will be met. Furthermore,
we have no liability to you if such requests are not met.
■Suppliers’
Conditions
Airlines, railways, coach and shipping companies and other suppliers
have their own booking conditions or conditions of carriage, and you
will be bound by these as far as the relevant transport provider or supplier
is concerned. Some of these conditions may limit or exclude liability
on the part of the relevant transport provider or other supplier, and
they are often also subject to various international conventions. Where
relevant, copies of such conditions may be available for inspection at
our offices, or at the offices of the relevant supplier.
■Insurance
You are required either to take out our special holiday insurance arranged
by ‘Cosmos Risk Solutions’, ‘Primary Travel Insurance Services’, or
to arrange a policy yourself, which provides the same or greater cover
in all areas. The insurance provided by ‘Cosmos Risk Solutions’, ‘Primary
Travel Insurance Services’ are recommended as adequate cover for normal
requirements - you are responsible for arranging cover exceeding the
maximum amounts payable under the ‘Cosmos Risk Solutions’ , ‘Primary
Travel Insurance Services’ policy, or providing cover for additional
areas of liability if necessary.
■Law
and Jurisdiction
Your contract with us and any matters arising from it shall be subject
to English law and to the jurisdiction of the Courts of England and Wales.
If you are resident in Scotland or the Republic of Northern Ireland,
the Courts of Scotland or the Republic of Northern Ireland can deal with
any disputes.
Disputes
arising out of, or in connection with, this contract which cannot
be amicably settled may be referred to arbitration, if the customer
so wishes, under a special scheme arranged by ABTA, 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). The scheme does
not apply to claims for an amount greater than £5000 per person.
There is also a limit of £15000 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,
but the ABTA Code does not require such agreement.
■Assistance
If you or any member of your party suffer illness, injury or death, through
misadventure, as a result of an activity which does not form part of
your contracted holiday, we will, where appropriate, and subject to
our discretion, provide you with reasonable assistance. This may include
our making a contribution towards your initial legal costs in taking
action against the person(s) responsible, provided that you request
this within 90 days of the incident giving rise to the illness, injury
or death suffered. All assistance (financial or otherwise) is subject
to our discretion and a maximum total cost to us of £5000 per booking
form. If you are entitled to have any costs or expenses arising from
any relevant incident met by or from any insurance policy, or if you
obtain a costs order against anyone in relation
to the incident, you must repay to us all the costs and expenses we
incur on your behalf in assisting you.
■Data
Protection
We will provide your personal information, as well as any personal information
you provide in relation to the persons whose travel arrangements have
been requested by you, to suppliers and carriers that might be located
outside the UK and/or EU, to enable the operation of the services requested
by you. If you make special requests, which include, but are not limited
to, special dietary, religious, or disability related requirements which
constitute sensitive information, the relevant data will also be passed
to the relevant suppliers and carriers to enable provision of the services
requested by you.
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