Terms and Conditions - Elegant Getaways
BOOKING CONDITIONS WHERE WE ARE YOUR TOUR OPERATOR
The following Booking Conditions form the basis of your Contract with Elegant Getaways. It is your responsibility to read them carefully as they set out our respective rights and obligations. In these Booking Conditions, “you” and “your” means all persons named on the booking (including anyone who is added or substituted at a later date). “We”, “us” and “our” means Elegant Getaways of 7b High Street, Barnet, EN5 5UE. We have sold you a package holiday and we hold an Air Travel Organiser’s Licence issued by the Civil Aviation Authority (ATOL number 6153). We have created a package where we act as principal and where a single receipt is issued to you for the total package price. Once your package holiday has been confirmed by us, we will accept responsibility for it in accordance with these Booking Conditions as a Tour Operator.
- Your Holiday Contract
The person making the booking will be deemed to be the party leader. The party leader must be at least 18 years of age and guarantees they have the authority to accept and do accept on behalf of your party the terms of these Booking Conditions by all persons named on the booking. The party leader is responsible for making all payments due to us.
As soon as we receive all appropriate payments (see clause 3 below) we will confirm your holiday by issuing a confirmation which shall be by email unless no email address has been provided, in which case it will be sent to you by first class post, and a binding contract will come into existence between us. Please check your confirmation paperwork carefully as soon as you receive it. In particular, please check that all passenger names, titles and initials are correct and match the details in the corresponding passenger’s passport. Contact us immediately if any information on the confirmation or any other document appears to be incorrect or incomplete, as it may not be possible to make changes later. We regret we cannot accept any liability if we are not notified of any inaccuracy in any document within 7 days of receipt of your confirmation (5 days for tickets).
Your booking is 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 live there and wish to do so.
- Your Financial Protection
We provide full financial protection for our package holidays:
- For flight-based holidays this is through our Air Travel Organiser’s Licence number 6153 issued by the Civil Aviation Authority, Gatwick Airport South, West Sussex, RH6 0YR, UK,
telephone 0333 103 6350, email: claims @caa.co.uk. 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 will provide you with the services listed on the ATOL Certificate (or a suitable alternative). In some cases, where we aren’t 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 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.
A copy of the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 can be found at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/634/contents/made
- Your Holiday Price
Prior to confirming your booking, we reserve the right to increase or decrease the price/s of unsold arrangements at any time according to market fluctuations. We also reserve the right to make changes to and correct errors in advertised prices at any time before your arrangements are confirmed. The price of your chosen arrangements will be confirmed at the time of booking.
Where you are paying a deposit only, you must pay a deposit of £150.00 per person for a land-based holiday plus the cost of the flight in full where such payment in full is required by the flight operator; plus the cost in full for any discounted accommodation that is booked on a non-refundable basis, or any excursion where the supplier requires payment in full. If you have booked a cruise holiday, you must pay a minimum deposit of £250.00 per person which will be increased, dependent upon the cruise line concerned, to the full value of the deposit terms of the cruise line; plus the cost of the flight in full where such payment in full is required by the flight operator. In addition, you must pay for any ancillary arrangements e.g. travel insurance, airport parking, non-refundable accommodation, etc, according to the booking terms of the relevant supplier. You will be advised of all deposit details, holiday costs and costs of any additional services in addition to any third-party supplier costs which are either payable in full and/or non-refundable and non-changeable prior to booking. The balance of the price of your travel arrangements must be paid as cleared funds no later than the due date shown on your confirmation invoice. However, with any element of your booking, a supplier may ask for full balance payment at an earlier time than the Elegant Getaways balance due date (e.g. scheduled airline tickets) and, if this occurs, we will give you as much notice as possible and you will be advised of this possibility prior to booking. The additional amount paid will form part of your non-refundable deposit. If you would prefer, you can look at alternative arrangements rather than make an earlier payment (on the proviso that no cancellation charges would apply) but this could incur extra overall costs.
If any balance is not paid in full and on time, (including any surcharge where applicable), we shall cancel your travel arrangements and retain your deposit.
Please note that payment in full may be required at the time of booking for elements that are subject to the suppliers’ booking conditions, especially flights and heavily discounted accommodation. Once booked, such elements are non-refundable and non-transferrable and a 100% cancellation charge will apply should you wish to cancel. You will be informed at the time of booking if any part of your booking falls into this category.
Once the price of your chosen arrangements has been confirmed at the time of booking, then, subject to the correction of errors, the price of your travel arrangements may change after you have booked, but we will only increase or decrease the price in the following circumstances: A surcharge or refund (as applicable) will be payable, subject to the conditions set out in this clause, if transportation costs or dues, taxes or fees payable for services such as landing taxes or embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports or airports increase or decrease or our costs increase or decrease as a result of any adverse or favourable changes in the exchange rates which have been used to calculate the cost of your arrangements. However, there will be no change within 20 days of your departure. Price increases or decreases after booking will be passed on by way of a surcharge or refund. 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. If this means that you have to pay an increase of more than 8% 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 (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value) or cancelling and receiving a full refund of all monies paid, except for any amendment charges. If you choose to accept a refund, we will also charge an administration charge of £25 per person. Should you decide to cancel you must do so within 14 days from the date on your final invoice.
The price of flight-inclusive travel includes £2.50 per person which is the ATOL Protection Contribution we pay to the CAA for all U.K. passengers. This is included in our advertised price.
- Our Liability to You
(i) You must inform us without undue delay of any failure to perform or improper performance of the travel services included in this package. If any of the travel services included in your package is not performed in accordance with the contract, or are improperly performed, by us or the travel service suppliers, and this has affected the enjoyment of your travel arrangements, you may be entitled to an appropriate price reduction or compensation or both. We will not be liable for any injury, illness, death, loss (for example loss of enjoyment), damage, expense, cost or other sum or claim of any description whatsoever, or for any failure to perform or improper performance of the travel services which is due to:
You or another member of your party;
Or a third party unconnected with the provision of the travel services in the package and is unforeseeable or unavoidable;
Or unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances, which means a situation beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken.
(ii) Please note, we cannot accept responsibility for any services which do not form part of our contract. This includes, for example, any additional services or facilities which your hotel or any other supplier agrees to provide for you where we have not agreed to arrange them and any excursion you purchase in resort and/or during your cruise. In addition, regardless of any wording used by us on our website, or elsewhere, we only promise to use reasonable skill and care as set out above and we do not have any greater or different liability to you.
(iii) The promises we make to you about the services we have agreed to provide or arrange as part of our contract - and the laws and regulations of the country in which your claim or complaint occurred - will be used as the basis for deciding whether the services in question had been properly provided. If the particular services which gave rise to the claim or complaint complied with local laws and regulations applicable to those services at the time, the services will be treated as having been properly provided. This will be the case even if the services did not comply with the laws and regulations of the UK which would have applied had those services been provided in the UK. The exception to this is where the claim or complaint concerns the absence of a safety feature which might lead a reasonable holiday maker to refuse to take the holiday in question.
(iv) As set out in these booking conditions we limit the maximum amount we may have to pay you for any claims you may make against us. For all other claims which do not involve death or personal injury, if we are found liable to you on any basis the maximum amount, we will have to pay you is three times the cost of your travel arrangements paid by or on behalf of the person(s) affected in total unless a lower limitation applies to your claim under clause (vii) below. This maximum amount will only be payable where everything has gone wrong and you have not received any benefit at all from your holiday.
(v) Where any claim or part of a claim (including those involving death or personal injury) concerns or is based on any travel arrangements (including the process of getting on and/or off the transport concerned) provided by any air, sea, rail or road carrier or any stay in a hotel, the maximum amount of compensation we will have to pay you will be limited in accordance with and/or in an identical manner to (a) The contractual terms of the companies that provide the transportation for your travel arrangements (these terms are incorporated into this contract; and (b) any relevant international convention, for example the Warsaw Convention as amended or un-amended and the Montreal Convention for international travel by air and/or for airlines with an operating licence granted by an EU country, the EC Regulation on Air Carrier Liability No 889/2002 for national and international travel by air, the Athens Convention in respect of travel by sea, EU Regulation No 1177/2010 on the rights of passengers travelling by sea and inland water ways, EC Regulation No 392/2009 on the liability of carriers of passengers by sea in the event of accidents, 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. The most we will have to pay you for that claim or that part of a claim if we are found liable to you on any basis is the most the carrier, cruise line or hotel keeper concerned would have to pay under the international convention or regulation which applies to the travel arrangements or hotel stay in question. We are to be regarded as having all benefit of any limitation of the extent of or the conditions under which compensation is to be paid under these or any conventions. Please note: Where a carrier, cruise line or hotel would not be obliged to make any payment to you under the applicable International Convention or Regulation detailed above in respect of a claim or part of a claim, we similarly are not obliged to make a payment to you for that claim or part of the claim. Copies of the applicable International Conventions and Regulations are available from us on request. Please note: When making any payment, we are entitled to deduct any money which you have received or are entitled to receive from the transport provider or hotelier for the complaint or claim in question.
(vi) Please note, we cannot accept any liability for any damage, loss, expense or other sum(s) of any description (1) which on the basis of the information given to us by you concerning your booking prior to our accepting it, we could not have foreseen you would suffer or incur if we breached our contract with you or (2) which did not result from any breach of contract or other fault by ourselves or our employees or, where we are responsible for them, our suppliers. Additionally, we cannot accept liability for any business losses.
(vii) You must provide ourselves and our insurers with all assistance we may reasonably require. If asked to do so, you must transfer to us or our insurers any rights you have against the supplier or whoever else is responsible for your claim or complaint (if the person concerned is under 18, their parent or guardian must do so). You must also agree to cooperate fully with us and our insurers if we or our insurers want to enforce any rights which are transferred.
(viii) If you or any member of your party suffers illness, injury or death, through misadventure, as a result of an activity that does not form part of your contracted holiday arrangements, we will provide you with all reasonable assistance, in particular by providing information on health services, local authorities and consular assistance; and helping you to find alternative arrangements any necessary phone calls/emails You must pay any costs we incur, if the difficulty is your fault. If you are entitled to have any costs and expenses arising from such an incident or 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 the costs and expenses we spend in assisting you.
(ix) 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 publicized at EU airports and will also be available from airlines. However, reimbursement in such cases is the responsibility of the airline and 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 7. If any payments to you are due from us, any payment made to you by the airline will be deducted.
(x) If it is impossible to ensure your return as scheduled due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances, we will bear the cost of necessary accommodation, if possible, of equivalent category, for a maximum of three nights. The limit doesn’t apply to personal with reduced mobility and any person accompanying them, pregnant women and unaccompanied minors, or persons in need of specific medical assistance, provided that you notified us of these needs at least 48 hours before the start of your holiday. Please note: this entire clause 4 does not apply to any separate contracts that you may enter into for excursions or activities whilst on holiday.
- Changes You Make Before Travel
If, after your booking has been confirmed, you wish to change your travel arrangements in any way, for example your chosen departure date or accommodation, we will endeavour to assist but it may not always be possible to make the changes. Any request for changes must be in writing from the person who made the booking. You will be asked to pay an administration charge of £75.00 per person per change, plus any further costs incurred we incur in making this alteration, together with all costs or charges imposed by any suppliers. You should be aware that these costs generally increase significantly the closer to the departure date that changes are made, and you should contact us as soon as possible. Please note that most airlines do not permit name changes for any reason after confirmation. If you wish to make a name change, this will be treated as a cancellation and re-booking. You will have to forfeit the amount you have already paid for your flight and pay the full, current cost of the flight again. Your ability to rebook will be subject to a seat being available for a new reservation.
Note: Certain travel arrangements (e.g. instant purchase tickets and scheduled airline tickets) may not be changeable or refundable in any circumstances after a reservation has been made (which will be notified to you prior to booking) and any alteration request could incur a cancellation charge of 100% of that part of the arrangements. You can transfer you booking to another person, who satisfies all the conditions that apply to this booking, by giving us notice in writing as soon as possible and no later than 7 days before departure. Both you and the new traveller are responsible for paying all costs we incur in making the transfer.
You will be able to add extra elements or services to your confirmed booking so long as such extras are available. There will be a £25 administration fee for any extra or group of extras that are added to your booking.
- If You Cancel Your Holiday
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.
Notification sent to us by email will only be accepted if sent from the email address originally provided by the person who made the booking.
If your travel arrangements include (a) element/s that are non-refundable in the event of cancellation, e.g. flights from a flight supplier that operates a no refund policy or (b) discounted accommodation that has been purchased from a supplier as non-refundable or (c) have been purchased from a third-party voucher company for whom we act as a fulfilment agent, including (but not exclusively) Groupon, Wowcher, etc. then the cancellation charge for (a) these element/s or (b) the voucher cost, will be 100%.
Apart from non-refundable elements, cancellation charges will be applied at the rates shown below, unless the suppliers’ cancellation terms are different, in which case the suppliers’ cancellation terms will apply.
NB where the cancellation charge is shown as a percentage, this is calculated on the basis of the total cost payable by the person(s) cancelling excluding insurance premiums and amendment charges. Insurance premiums and amendment charges are not refundable in the event of cancellation.
Period before departure that we receive written notification to cancel: Amount of cancellation charge:
More than 91 days Deposit only
42-90 days 50% of holiday cost
16-41 days 75% of holiday cost
8-15 days 90% of holiday cost
7 days or fewer 100% of holiday cost
Please note: If the reason for your cancellation is covered under the terms of your Insurance policy, you may be able to reclaim these charges.
You can cancel your booking without paying cancellation charges if the performance of your package, or the carriage of passengers to your destination, is significantly affected by unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances. In such circumstances, we will arrange for you booking to be terminated and for you to receive a full refund. We will observe advice provided by the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office
- If we change or cancel your booking
Whilst we always endeavour to avoid changes and cancellations, we must reserve the right to do so.
Changes
Flight times given at the time of booking are for general guidance only and are subject to change. The latest flight times will be those shown when your check-in prior to departure. We require that you reconfirm your outbound journey with your airline (in accordance with the airline reconfirmation deadline) at least 48 hours prior to departure, to ensure there is not a late flight change.
We are not liable if there is any change to a departure or arrival time previously given to you or shown on your ticket.
Please note that a flight described as “direct” will not necessarily be non-stop. 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.
Whilst we take responsibility for your booking as your Tour Operator, we have no control over changes as a result of unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances as defined below. If the change is insignificant, we will ensure that you are notified about it. Examples of insignificant 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 or higher standard, changes of carriers.
If we are constrained by circumstances beyond our control to alter significantly any of the main characteristics of the travel services that make up your package you will have the rights set out below:
accepting the changed arrangements; or
purchasing alternative arrangements from us, of a similar standard to those originally booked if available. If the alternative is less expensive than the original arrangements, we will refund the difference. If the alternative is more expensive and the change occurs before we have received full payment for your booking, we may ask you to pay the difference; or
cancelling or accepting the cancellation in which case you will receive a full refund of all monies you have paid to us.
Please note, the above options are not available where any change made is a minor one.
(i) Flight Changes
Significant changes include the following:
Change of UK airport (except between London airports, or close regional airports)
Change of airport to a different resort (does not include airports in the same region or on the same island, in transferrable distance).
Change of outward departure time resulting in the overall length of time you are away being reduced by 24 hours or more. This does not include airport delays on the day of departure.
(ii) Accommodation Changes
Significant changes include the following:
Change of accommodation to that of a lower category
Change of Holiday Resort
Building work at your accommodation that we believe will affect the enjoyment of your holiday*
* NB We will advise you of any major building work outside your accommodation but nearby, if we are aware of it. We cannot be responsible for any general building or maintenance work in your resort that we do not know about, and we will not pay compensation should you encounter such work.
(iii) Cruise Itinerary Changes
Change of embarkation/disembarkation time by more than 12 hours
Missing two or more ports of call from your itinerary
Cancellations
If we have to make a significant change or cancel, we will pay you the compensation set out below subject to the following exceptions. We will not cancel less than 14 weeks before your departure date, except for unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances, or failure by you to pay the final balance, or because the minimum number required for the package to go ahead hasn’t been reached. Unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances mean a situation beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. The minimum number required will be provided to you with the holiday description, along with the time limit for us to tell you if the package has to be cancelled.
If your holiday is cancelled, you can either
Have a refund of all monies paid; or
Purchase alternative arrangements from us, of a similar standard to those originally booked if available. If the alternative is less expensive than the original arrangements, we will refund the difference.
In the event a refund is paid to you, we will:
Provide a full refund of your travel insurance premiums if you paid them to us and can show that you are unable to transfer or reuse your policy.
Pay compensation as detailed below except where the cancellation is due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances (see definition above).
SIGNIFICANT CHANGE TO OR CANCELLATION OF YOUR HOLIDAY
Time before departure that you are notified of compensation per person, except infants under 2 years: cancellation or a major change:
More than 42 days £nil
29 - 41 days £10
15 - 28 days £20
0 - 14 days £25