H.I.S. EUROPE LTD BOOKING CONDITIONS

 The following booking conditions form the basis of your contact with H.I.S. Europe Ltd trading as ViaJapan Holidays and/or No1 Japan Travel; 14 Charles II Street London SW1Y 4AU.

Please read them carefully as they set out our respective rights and obligations. All bookings are subject to these conditions

1. Your Holiday Contract

When you make a booking you guarantee that you have the authority to accept and do accept on behalf of your party the terms of these booking conditions. A contract will exist as soon as we issue our confirmation invoice. This contract is made on the terms of these booking conditions, which are governed by English Law, and the jurisdiction of the English Courts. You may however, choose the law and jurisdiction of Scotland or Northern Ireland if you wish to do so. Your Rights under this agreement are set out below. They depend upon whether we, H.I.S. EUROPE LTD, are acting as an agent or whether your contract is with us.

(a) Where we are an agent.

i. Where we act as an agent your contract is with that company and subject to their terms and conditions, a copy of which can be obtained from ourselves. Where you purchase your airline ticket and issue your ticket within 24 hours of making payment your contract is with the airline. The terms and conditions imposed by the airline apply to your contract, as well as their conditions of carriage.

ii. Complaint Procedure
Whilst, as stated, we are not liable in anyway for failing to perform or improper performance of the contract, we will do our best to help you resolve any complaint you might have against the principal.

(b) Where your contract is with us

When we act as a principal the following booking conditions will apply, as set out below in "your contract with us" and the following paragraphs. Note that for this purpose you are protected by ATOL number 5484. A contract will exist as soon as we issue our confirmation invoice.

2. Third party rights

A person who is not a party to these terms and conditions shall have no rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties Act 1999) to enforce any term of these booking terms and conditions. This paragraph does not affect any right or remedy of any person, which exists or is available otherwise than pursuant to that Act.

3. Your Holiday Price

(a) We reserve the right to alter the prices of any of the holidays advertised. You will be advised of the current price of the holiday that you wish to book before your contract is confirmed.

(b) When you make your booking you may be required to pay a deposit. The balance due date will depend of the airline booked or holiday tour operator used and your consultant will advise when you book the due date for payment to be completed by. If the deposit and/or balance is not paid in time, we shall cancel your travel arrangements. If the balance is not paid in time we shall retain your deposit.

(c) 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 £1.00 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.

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.

4. 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 do our utmost to make these changes but it may not always be possible. Any request for changes to be made must be in writing from the person who made the booking. You will be asked to pay an administration charge and any further cost we incur in making this alteration. You should be aware that these costs could increase the closer to the departure date that changes are made and you should contact us as soon as possible.

Note: Certain travel arrangements (e.g. Apex Tickets, Discounted tickets, Special Offers etc) may not be changeable after a reservation has been made and any alteration request could incur a cancellation charge of up to 100% of that part of the arrangements.

5. If You Cancel Your Holiday

You may cancel your travel arrangements at any time. Written notification from the person who made the booking must be received at the branch where the booking was made. Since we incur costs in cancelling your travel arrangements, you will have to pay the applicable cancellation charges, which could be up to 100%.

Note: If the reason for your cancellation is covered under the terms of any purchased insurance policy, you may be able to reclaim these charges.

6. If We Change or Cancel Your Holiday

It is unlikely that we will have to make any changes to your travel arrangements, but we do plan the arrangements many months in advance. Occasionally, we may have to make changes and we reserve the right to do so at any time. Most of these changes will be minor and we will advise you of them at the earliest possible date. We also reserve the right in any circumstances to cancel your travel arrangements. For example, if the minimum number of clients required for a particular travel arrangement is not reached, we may have to cancel it. However, we will not cancel your travel arrangements less than 10 weeks before your departure date, except for reasons of force majeure, pandemic or epidemic illness or failure by you to pay the final balance. If we are unable to provide the booked travel arrangements, you can either have a refund of all monies paid or accept an offer of alternative travel arrangements of comparable standard from us, if available (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value).

In accordance with EU Regulation 2111/2005 we are required to advise you of the actual carrier operating your flight/connecting flight/transfer.

Any changes to the actual airline after you have received your tickets will be notified to you as soon as possible and in all cases at check-in or at the boarding Gate.

Please note that carriers such as Airlines may be subject to change. Such a change is deemed to be a minor change. Other examples of minor changes include alteration of your outward/return flights by less than 12 hours, changes to aircraft type, change of accommodation to another of the same standard.

If we make a major change to your holiday, we will inform you as soon as reasonably possible if there is time before your departure. You will have the choice of either accepting the change of arrangements, accepting an offer of alternative travel arrangements of comparable standard from us if available (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value), or cancelling your booked holiday and receiving a full refund of all monies paid.

We will also pay appropriate compensation for SIGNIFICANT CHANGES or cancellation of your travel arrangements unless the change to or cancellation of your arrangements occurs by reason of unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control or that of our suppliers, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised such as war, a state of war, riot, fire, civil strife, industrial action, terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disaster, adverse weather conditions or other conditions amounting to force majeure. In these circumstances we will also not pay any resulting expenses or additional costs.

7. Flights and Flight travel documents

(a) Your ticket is your document of travel and the information on the ticket is deemed correct. It is your responsibility to check your air tickets and other documents immediately upon receipt. If any details are incorrect you must advise us immediately.
(b) Please note that a flight described in your flight ticket as "direct" will not necessarily be non-stop.
(c) All departure/arrival times on your flight ticket are provided by the airlines concerned and are estimates only. They may change due to air traffic control restrictions, weather conditions, operational/maintenance requirements and the requirement for passengers to check in on time.
(d) Save where your flight is purchased as part of a Package, we are not liable if there is any change to a departure/arrival time previously given to you or shown on your ticket. It is for this reason that you are required to reconfirm your flights with the airline in accordance with the airline's applicable reconfirmation deadline (usually 72 hours).
(e) We are unable to make any special arrangements for you if you are delayed; these matters are at the sole discretion of the airline concerned.
(f) In relation to flights, an infant must be under 2 years of age on the date of their return flight to be entitled to the infant fare level, which is usually 10% of IATA's published fare. In some circumstances airlines may require the infant to be under 2 years of age beyond the return to qualify to the infant fare.
(g) Please note that where a sector of a flight itinerary is not utilised without contacting the carrier directly any remaining sectors may be subject to cancellation without further notification. Where this situation arises we are unable to accept responsibility for any costs incurred.
Dispatch of documents may by in electronic (e-ticket) or paper form. You will be advised by your consultant, which of these formats your documents will take. Where we cannot issue e-tickets and we are required to post the tickets to you we will send them by special delivery post and charge the applicable fee for this service.

8. Airline Ticket Refunds

Tickets returned will be presented to the airline for assessment. As soon as we receive a refund from the issuing airline, we will forward it to you less any cancellation or administration charge. Please note that refunds for part-used/return halves of tickets are always less than the pro-rata rate and may have no refund value whatsoever. Refunds usually take 8-12 weeks but in isolated cases may take longer. Refunds will be processed via the original method of payment, except for cash transactions where refunds will be provided by cheque. Tickets returned more than one year from date of issue are classed as expired by the airline and generally have no refund value at all. If tickets are lost or stolen, certain airlines will not issue duplicates. New tickets may then have to be purchased locally, at the local fare. Even if replacement tickets are purchased, certain airlines will not issue refunds for lost/stolen tickets. A delay of up to 18 months is possible before we receive authority from the airline to make any refund. Please ensure that any tickets returned to H.I.S. Europe Ltd are sent by registered post.

9. If You Have A Complaint

If you have a problem during your holiday, please inform the relevant supplier (e.g. your hotelier) immediately who will endeavour to put things right. If your complaint is not resolved locally, please follow this up within 21 days of your return home in the first instance with the consultant who booked your holiday or the branch manager. Failing this you may write to us at H.I.S. Europe Ltd. 14, Charles II Street, London SW1Y 4QU giving your booking reference and all other relevant information within the time frame set above. Please keep your letter concise and to the point. This will assist us to quickly identify your concerns and speed up our response to you.

It is strongly recommended that you communicate any complaint to the supplier of the services in question as well as to tour operator representative without delay and complete a report form whilst in resort.

If you fail to follow this simple procedure we will have been deprived of the opportunity to investigate and rectify your complaint whilst you were in resort and this may affect your rights under this contract.

10. What Happens To Complaints

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 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).

The Scheme does not apply to claims for an amount greater than £5,000 per person. There is also a limit of £25,000 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 £1,000 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 nine 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.

For injury and illness claims, you may like to use the ABTA / Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Mediation Procedure. This is a voluntary scheme and requires your tour operator to agree for mediation to go ahead. The aim is to help you resolve your dispute in a quick and cost effective way. Details on request or from www.abta.com.

11. 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.

Our liability, except in cases involving death, injury or illness, shall be limited to 2 (two) times the total cost of your travel arrangements. Our liability will also be limited in accordance with and/or in an identical manner to:

The contractual terms of the companies that provide the transportation for your travel arrangements. These terms are incorporated into this contract; and any relevant international convention, for example the Montreal Convention in respect of travel by air, the Athens Convention in respect of travel by sea, the Berne Convention in respect of travel by rail and the Paris Convention in respect of the provision of accommodation, which limit the amount of compensation that you can claim for death, injury, delay to passengers and loss, damage and delay to luggage. We are to be regarded as having all benefit of any limitation of compensation contained in these or any conventions.

You can ask for copies of the transport companies' contractual terms, or the international conventions, from our head office at 14, Charles II Street, London SW1Y 4QU.

Under EU law you have rights in some circumstances to refunds and/or compensation from your airline in cases of denied boarding, cancellation or delay to flights. Full details of these rights will be publicised at EU airports and will also be available from airlines. However reimbursement in such cases will not automatically entitle you to a refund of your holiday cost from us. Your right to a refund and/or compensation from us is set out in clause 6. If any payments to you are due from us, any payment made to you by the airline will be deducted from this amount. If your airline does not comply with these rules you should complain to the Air Transport Users' Council on 020 7240 6061 http://www.auc.org.uk/

12. Personal Injury Unconnected With Your Booked Travel Arrangements

If you, or any member of your party, suffer death, illness or injury whilst overseas arising out of an activity which does not form part of your package travel arrangements or an excursion arranged through us, we shall at our discretion, offer advice, guidance and assistance. Where legal action is contemplated and you want our assistance, you must obtain our written consent prior to commencement of proceedings. Our consent will be given subject to you undertaking to assign any costs, benefits received under any relevant insurance policy to ourselves. We limit the cost of our assistance to you or any member of your party to £5,000.

13. Insurance

Under the Package Travel; Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 we are obliged to recommend suitable insurance to cover (as a minimum) the costs incurred if you make a cancellation and the cost of assistance, including repatriation, in the event of an accident or illness while you are abroad and it is your responsibility to ensure the insurance you purchase is suitable and adequate for your particular needs.

14. Passport, Visa and Immigration Requirements

Your specific passport and visa requirements, and other immigration requirements are your responsibility and you should confirm these with the relevant Embassies and/or Consulates. We do not accept any responsibility if you cannot travel because you have not complied with any passport, visa or immigration requirements.

Please be advised that should you have a criminal record, you may be refused entry by certain countries. It is your responsibility to confirm this with the relevant embassy/consulate. Children are generally required to carry their own passports.

Brochures Only

This brochure is our responsibility, as your tour operator. It is not issued on behalf of, and does not commit the airlines mentioned herein or any airline whose services are used in the course of your travel arrangements. Please note that in accordance with Air Navigation Orders in order to qualify for infant status, a child must be under 2 years of age on the date of its return flight.

Travel to the USA (or via and including transits)

i) All airlines that operate to the USA are now legally required to provide the US border control agencies (specifically the US Customs Service) with access to passenger information held by the airline. Any British citizen who was born in the US should contact the US embassy before travel, as additional documentation may be required.

ii) Many British citizens are eligible to enter (or transit via) the United States without a visa under the Visa Waiver Programme (VWP) provided they meet certain criteria. A US Visa is required however, for stays over 90 days. Please refer to www.usembassy.org.uk for full details of the programme.

iii) The US Visa Waiver Programme requires adults and children and infants to hold individual machine-readable passports or obtain a non-immigrant visa in advance. For further details contact the US Embassy, or either consult the US State Dept website www.travel.state.gov or the Foreign Office website www.fco.gov.uk.

iv) Passports issued on or after 26 October 2006 will need to contain biometric data (fingerprints etc) to qualify for the Visa Waiver Programme. You can check your passport with the UK Passport Office Advice Line, which is 0870-521-0410. Note Holders of UK passports with the endorsement British Subject, British Dependent Territories Citizen, British Protected Person, British Overseas Citizen or British National (Overseas) Citizen do not qualify for the Visa Waiver Programme.

v) In addition some travellers are not eligible to enter the United States visa free under the Visa Waiver Programme. These include, but are not limited to, persons who have been arrested and those with criminal convictions. The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act does not apply to US visa law. Contact the Embassy before travelling for further information. Arriving visitors will have to provide an accurate address of the place that they intend to stay on their first night in America and it is not acceptable to show 'touring' if on a fly drive holiday, or' staying with relatives'.

Special Requests

If you have any special requests, we will pass these on to the relevant supplier but we do not have any direct control over the manner in which the services are provided and cannot guarantee your special request.

Financial Security: your peace of mind

Air holidays and flights are ATOL protected. We hold an Air Travel Organiser's Licence ('ATOL') granted by the Civil Aviation Authority. Our ATOL number is 5484.
We are members of the Association of British Travel Agents ('ABTA') and as a prerequisite of our membership travel arrangements without air travel are protected by means of a secure bond held by the Association. Our ABTA number is J0629.

Pre-travel advice

The Foreign and Commonwealth Travel Advice Unit may have issued information about your holiday destination. You are advised to check whether or not such information has been issued on BBC Ceefax (page 470) or on the Internet under the address www.fco.gov.uk prior to the commencement of your Package or Other Holiday Arrangement. Alternatively, you can contact the ABTA Information Department on 0901 201 5050 (calls charged at 50p/minute).

Brochure accuracy

Brochures only: Our brochures are necessarily prepared many months in advance of the holiday season to which they relate and therefore some of the advertised facilities or products may be no longer available or may have been altered. As a result changes may be made to the particulars contained in the brochure at any time before your Booking is made. In such circumstances we will notify you of such changes prior to your Booking being confirmed. All photographs used are for the purposes of illustration only and should not be taken to be literal representations of actual facilities, accommodations or services offered unless otherwise advised.

Use of material in brochures or on our website

Brochures and Website only: All copyright and other intellectual property rights in any material, including text, photographs or other images contained in this brochure or displayed on our website, are either owned by us or have been licensed by the owner for our use. If you wish to use any of the information or material contained in this brochure or displayed on our website, you must first obtain our written permission, or that of the owner of the rights to the material, as the case may be.

Methods of Payment

PLEASE NOTE: If you intend to mail payment details or are arranging a bank transfer you should confirm the exact amount due with your consultant.

1. PERSONAL (AND COMPANY) CHEQUES: Payment for travel arrangements may be made by personal or company cheque. Cheques should be made payable to H.I.S. EUROPE LTD. Please note, however, that we require TEN WORKING DAYS FOR CHEQUE CLEARANCE before tickets can be issued. It is therefore advisable to confirm with H.I.S. Europe Ltd that there is sufficient time between cheque payment and any ticketing deadline. Foreign currency cheques are not acceptable.

2. BANK AND BUILDING SOCIETY DRAFTS: These are treated as cash if received at a time when the relevant bank or building society is open and able to verify the cheque.

3. CASH: Please note we advise clients not to post cash to us.

4. CARDS:
a) Maestro, Switch or Visa Delta debit cards are welcomed at no extra charge.
b) We also accept Visa, MasterCard, JCB, American Express and Diners Club. If telephoning PLEASE HAVE THE CREDIT CARD WITH YOU IN ORDER TO MAKE PAYMENT, WE MAY ALSO NEED THE REGISTERED ADDRESS OF THE CARD SO PLEASE HAVE THIS TO HAND. We may require written authorisation for the debit from the cardholder before tickets can be released. We may also in some cases require to see the actual card. A charge of 2% will be applied to Visa, MasterCard, JCB and American Express card bookings, a 4% charge will be applied to Diners Club card bookings.

5. DIRECT CREDIT/BANK TRANSFER: Please contact us for details

H.I.S. Europe Ltd must be notified of all direct bank payments. All payments must be identified by the passenger's name and booking number. Only when we have confirmation of cleared funds, will bookings be confirmed.