Booking conditions
1. Your holiday contract and financial protection
Your holiday contract is with Garland Hoff Ltd of 3 Delamore Park, Cornwood, Ivybridge, Devon PL21 9QP, registered in England no 2328857 ("the Company"). We are fully-bonded members of ABTA (W1080) and AITO. When you buy an ATOL protected air holiday package from us you will receive a confirmation invoice from us confirming your protection under our Air Travel Organisers' Licence number 3076. In the unlikely event of our insolvency the Civil Aviation Authority will ensure you are not stranded abroad and will arrange to refund any money you have paid to us in advance. For further information see www.atol.org.uk. As a member of the Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust Limited (ABTOT). Expressions Holidays has provided a bond to meet the requirements of the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package tours Regulations 1992. In the event of Expressions Holidays' insolvency, protection is provided for non-flight packages commencing in and returning to the UK and other non-flight packages excluding pre-arranged travel to and from your destination. Please note that packages booked outside the UK are only protected when purchased directly with Expressions Holidays. In the above circumstances, if you hae not yet travelled you may claim a refund, or if you have already travelled, you may claim repatriation to the starting point of your non-flight package. All bookings with the Company incorporate the Booking Conditions set out below and are deemed to have been accepted in full by you and all members of your party on whose behalf a booking is made. A contract is made when we send confirmation of your booking to you. We may not be able to confirm some arrangements immediately (e.g. Spa Experiences). Although, we may issue a Confirmation Invoice, a contract for any arrangements which have not been confirmed on that invoice will only be made when we confirm that those additional arrangements have been completed. If there are any changes to details discussed at the time of booking, before the Confirmation Invoice is issued, we will notify you. If anything on your Confirmation Invoice is incorrect you must immediately tell us or your travel agent. If there is an obvious error on the Confirmation Invoice we reserve the right to correct it as soon as we become aware of it. If this is unacceptable to you, you will be entitled to cancel your arrangements and receive a full refund provided you have not yet travelled. Your contract with the Company and any matters arising from it will be governed by English law and subject to the jurisdiction of the Courts of England and Wales, unless you are resident in Scotland or Northern Ireland, in which case you may choose those respective jurisdictions.
2. Payment
Your deposit payment (usually 10% per person but with £250 per person for holidays costing up to £2000 per person and £500 per person costing from £2000 to £5000 per person) must be received by the Company within 5 days of the booking application but if a booking is made within ten weeks of departure the total cost of the holiday must be sent to the Company. The person making the booking warrants that he/she has the authority of all other persons included in the holiday to make the booking on their behalf. Holidays including flights with advance ticketing deadlines and holidays to some hotels for certain times of the year may require a higher initial deposit level or staggered deposits or even an earlier date for the balance payment - this will be made known to you before you book. The deposit is accepted as part payment and the balance is due to the Company at least ten weeks before the date of your departure from the United Kingdom. However, before your balance payment is due you may receive a revised invoice taking into account any variations (such as an increase) in transportation costs or local dues or taxes. (See Clause 11 below). If, for any reason, the balance is not received by us by the date due, we reserve the right to cancel your holiday at that date, in which case you will forfeit your deposit payment. If you ask us to hold the booking pending payment and then you fail to pay, higher cancellation charges will apply, as the date of cancellation will be the date requested by you as the revised date for payment. All monies which you pay to a travel agent in respect of your holiday arrangements with the Company are held by the agent on behalf of the Company. Please note that all payments made by credit card (deposits and balances) are subject to a handling fee of 2% (but 3.5% for American Express cards) except that we will absorb the 2% charge for a credit card on deposit payments only of an amount up to £1000 in total.
3. Changes and cancellations made by you
Any cancellation by you of your holiday can be notified to us by telephone but must be followed in writing and signed by the person who made the booking. For your peace of mind you should use pre-paid recorded delivery or registered post. Cancellation will take effect from the date it is received at the Company’s offices. Cancellation only by telephone or e-mail is not acceptable. All cancellations are subject to cancellation charges as follows:
Amount of notice you give the Company before the scheduled departure date:Amount of cancellation fee expressed as a % of total holiday price:
More than 70 days Deposit monies paid
69-42 days 30% or loss of deposit monies paid (whichever is greater)
41-28 days 60%
27- 8 days 90%
7 days and less 100%
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 or transfer of your booking to another person, we will do our utmost to make these changes but it may not always be possible. Any request for changes must be in writing from the person who made the booking or your travel agent. You will be asked to pay an administrative charge of £30 per person, 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. Certain arrangements (eg some flight tickets) cannot be changed after a reservation has been made and any alteration, even a name change, may incur a 100% cancellation charge of the cost of the flight. Subject to this, if you are prevented from taking the holiday you have booked, you may transfer it to another person provided you authorise us in writing to make the transfer and the person to whom it is transferred agrees to comply with the terms of the existing booking and you remain liable for making payment to us of all monies due. No transfer can be made within 14 days of departure.
4. Abandonment of your holiday
If you choose, in the course of your holiday, to abandon the arrangements made by us on your behalf and instead to make your own arrangements, the Company accepts no liability and no refunds will be made for the services you choose not to take unless the Company is at fault. Abandonment of your holiday may also be deemed to have taken place if you miss your outward means of transportation through no fault of the Company although the Company will assist in whatever way it can to make new arrangements for you. You would have to pay for any costs incurred. Travel tickets and hotel or car-hire vouchers are only valid for the dates shown and cannot be transferred to different dates.
5. Our commitments to you for Package Holidays
The following clause applies where you buy a package holiday as defined by The Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992.
(i) Where you do not suffer personal injury or death, the Company accepts liability should any part of your package booked with us not be as described in the brochure or not be of a reasonable standard. Subject to (iii) below, the Company will pay you compensation. Our liability in all cases shall be limited to a maximum of 3 times the original cost of your travel arrangements.
(ii) Where you suffer death or personal injury as a result of an activity forming part of your package booked with us and paid for in the UK, we accept responsibility, subject to (iii) below, but where such death or personal injury arises in the course of air travel, sea travel, rail travel or hotel accommodation, the Company's liability and/or the amount of compensation you will receive will be limited in accordance with the provisions of any relevant International Conventions, and the Company will have the benefit of any limitation of compensation and/or liability contained in these conventions including the Warsaw Convention 1929 (as amended) and 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. Further, your journey will be subject to the carrier's conditions of carriage, some of which may exclude or limit liability. Copies of the International Conventions and Conditions of Carriage are available on request.
(iii) The Company accepts liability in accordance with (i) and (ii) above except where the cause of the failure in your holiday arrangements or any death or personal injury you may suffer is not due to any fault on the part of the Company or its servants, agents or suppliers, and was your own fault, or is attributable to the actions of someone unconnected with your holiday arrangements or due to unusual or unforeseeable circumstances or events which could not have been anticipated or avoided by the Company or its servants, agents or suppliers even with the exercise of all due care. These events include, for example: war, threat of war, riot, civil strife, political unrest, terrorist activity, industrial disputes, alteration to the schedules of flights by airlines, natural disaster, fire, weather conditions such as hurricanes and floods, acts of any port, airport, governmental or public authority, technical problems to transport, aircraft grounding, nuclear disaster, epidemic or outbreaks of illness.
(iv) It should be noted that acceptance of liability on the part of the Company referred to in (i), (ii) and (iii) above is subject to assignment by you of your rights against any individual or Company which is in any way responsible for the failure of your holiday arrangements or any death or personal injury you may suffer.
6. Our responsibility for arrangements not forming part of a Package
Where you do not buy a package holiday from us but book only one element of your holiday arrangements, such as accommodation or transport, our responsibility is solely to ensure that the element booked with us is as described by us and is of a reasonable standard. We shall have no responsibility for any arrangements which you make yourself.
7. Excursions and Activities not forming part of a Package
Where you book an optional excursion or activity whilst on your holiday, or where the Company makes excursion or activity arrangements as agent on your behalf, whether before departure or whilst in resort, and you make payment for this directly to the relevant supplier, your contract will be with that supplier subject to its terms and conditions and will be subject to the law and jurisdiction of the country where the supplier is situated. The Company accepts no liability for any negligence or breach of contract on the part of the excursion/activity supplier, nor for any failure in your excursion or activity arrangements, or any death or personal injury you may suffer. Some excursions/activities may contain an element of risk or require a good level of physical fitness and, if in doubt, you should make direct enquiries of the local supplier before deciding to buy and check that you are covered by your travel insurance policy. 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, 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. We limit the cost of our assistance to you or any member of your party to £5,000.
8. Our Brochure and Website
The Company confirms that information contained in this brochure and on our website is given in good faith and believed correct at the time it is given. If any facilities referred to are withdrawn, altered or restricted we will advise you before you book or as soon as the Company is notified by the supplier of the changes. Facilities may be withdrawn for maintenance purposes or because of public holidays or adverse weather conditions, without notice to us, and the Company does not accept liability for this.
9. Changes made by us
When you have made your contract with the Company, the Company will use its best endeavours to ensure that none of the components of your holiday arrangements has to be altered. However as the arrangements are planned many months in advance, sometimes changes may have to be made and we reserve the right to do so. Where a significant change (see below) is made, you will be informed as soon as reasonably possible, if there is time before your departure. You may then cancel and receive 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 addition, the Company will pay following minimum amounts of compensation:
Notification period
before departure Compensation per person
More than 10 weeks Nil
Between 4 and 10 weeks £50
Between 2 and 4 weeks £75
Less than 2 weeks £100
Compensation will not be paid where the change is caused because the minimum number of persons, on the basis of which your holiday arrangements are costed, fail to make bookings and the Company advises you in writing 70 days before your intended departure or where the company is forced to make changes because of unusual and unforeseeable events beyond the Company's control. Infants (under 2 years of age) do not receive compensation. A significant change includes a change of departure time by more than 12 hours for holidays of 13 nights or less and more than 24 hours (but not flight delay) for holidays of 14 nights or more or a change of accommodation to a lower grade than that booked.
You are obliged to inform the Company within 48 hours of receiving notification of the proposed changes of your decision. Your holiday may include the services of air carriers not owned or operated by the Company. Sometimes these services are delayed or re-scheduled. Responsibility for such delays or changes of schedule rests with the actual carrier and are subject to the terms and conditions of the carrier which may limit or exclude liability - see Clause 13 below.
10. Cancellations made by us
The Company reserves the right to cancel your holiday arrangements but will not do so less than eight weeks before your departure date except for reasons beyond our control or failure by you to pay the final balance. Should the Company cancel it will give you as early notification as possible and you will then be entitled to 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).
Compensation will be paid as in Clause 9, with exceptions also being as in Clause 9.
The Company reserves the right to terminate your holiday without any obligation to refund or make alternative arrangements where, in our reasonable opinion or that of someone in authority such as the captain of your aircraft, your behaviour is likely to cause danger or annoyance to others or where the Company does not receive your payment in accordance with Clause 2.
11. Our prices
All prices in this brochure and on our website are per person in £ sterling unless otherwise stated. We reserve the right to alter our prices and/or other particulars shown in our brochure or on our website. You will be advised of the current price of the holiday that you wish to take before you book. The prices of our holidays may go down or up. However, once you have paid your deposit there will be no changes in the price of your holiday except that, 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 fluctuating exchange rates may cause the price of your travel arrangements to change after you have booked. 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. 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 was calculated using exchange rates quoted in the Financial Times on 30 September 2010.
12. If you have a complaint
Any complaint regarding the holiday should in the first instance be reported to the owner or manager of the hotel or premises or the supplier of the services concerned immediately and should also be reported to the Company at the same time so that all reasonable steps can be taken to resolve the matter during your holiday. (Please note that overseas representatives are not employees of the Company and you should not merely report your complaint to them without informing the Company in London at the same time). The Company's right to be able to try to remedy the situation and put things right during your holiday forms part of this contract and it is therefore your obligation to inform us of any problem during your holiday and to continue to inform us so that we can remedy the situation for you. 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. If your complaint is still not resolved locally, notification should be made to the Company in writing and for your own peace of mind by pre-paid recorded delivery within 28 days of the date scheduled for the end of your holiday. If you have a dispute which you are unable to solve, you may refer it to Arbitration under a special scheme which is arranged by ABTA and administered independently by IDRS, part of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. It provides for a simple and inexpensive method of arbitration on documents alone with restricted liability on you in respect of costs. Full details will be provided on request or can be obtained from the ABTA website. 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. Your request for arbitration and Statement of Claim must be received by IDRS within 13 months of the date of return from 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 us 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.
13. Flights
In accordance with EU Regulation 2111/2005 we are required to advise you of the actual carrier operating your flight/connecting flight/transfer. We do this by listing carriers to be used or likely to be used in our brochure and/or on our website. 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. Such a change is deemed to be a minor change. Under EU law (Regulation 261/2004) 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. 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 www.auc.org.uk.
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.
Check in and flight times are local times based on the 24-hour system. They are for guidance only and may change, especially with regard to the individual country's daylight saving time policy. Your invoice will show the proposed flight details, and your flight tickets will show the actual details. Please check your flight details when you receive your tickets. It is recommended that you check in 3 hours before and a minimum of 2 hours before departure. Your initials and the spelling of your name must be identical on your ticket and in your passport.
14. Data Protection
To ensure that your holiday runs smoothly, we need to use information about you and members of your party such as names and addresses, special needs, dietary requirements, etc. We will apply appropriate security measures to protect this data. However, we must pass it to suppliers of your travel arrangements, including airlines, transport companies and hotels. We may also supply it to security companies, and to public authorities such as customs and immigration. If your flight is outside the European Economic Area (EEA), controls on data protection in your destination may not be as strict as in the UK. We will only pass data, including sensitive information regarding disabilities or dietary and religious requirements, to people responsible for your travel arrangements. If we cannot pass this information to the relevant suppliers, in the EEA or elsewhere, we cannot provide your holiday. When you make this booking, you and all members of your party consent to this information being passed to the relevant people. We can supply a copy of your information held by us; there is a small charge for providing this.
Please note that some or all of the Caricom States listed below have entered into an agreement with the USA whereby advance passenger data, required by and provided to Caricom States for border security purposes, will be passed to the USA Department for Homeland Security for processing on behalf of those Caricom States listed as follows: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, collectively members or associate members of 'Caricom'. The UK Information Commissioner's Office has accepted that this will not breach the Data Protection Act but we are required to bring this to your attention.
15. Special Requests
If you have any special requests, (e.g. vegetarian meals) please let us know at the time of booking. We will pass these on to the relevant supplier(s) but cannot guarantee your special request will be met as we do not have any direct control over the manner in which services are provided.
16. Passport, Visa and Health requirements
You require a valid 10 year passport to travel to countries featured in this brochure. Your specific passport and visa requirements, and other immigration requirements, are your sole responsibility and you should contact the relevant Embassies and/or Consulates before you book. You should also consult your doctor for advice on health precautions in good time before you travel. The Company accepts no responsibility if you cannot travel because you have not complied with any passport, visa, immigration or health requirements and no refunds or compensation will be paid in these circumstances.
17. Travel Insurance
It is absolutely essential that you and all members of your party are adequately insured (in case of illness abroad or cancellation/curtailment). If, however, you choose not to be insured you agree to indemnify the Company against all costs, losses and liabilities which the Company may incur and which are not the Company’s liability under this contract and which would have been avoided had suitable insurance cover been taken by you.