Booking Terms & Conditions
Important Information
2011 Booking Conditions
1. PAYING DEPOSIT
When you make a booking you must complete a booking form, accepting on behalf of all your party the terms of our Booking Conditions and pay a deposit of £35.00 per person on all UK and Ireland holidays, £100 per person overseas holidays. All monies paid to your agent is held on your behalf until you receive our confirmation. Thereafter the agent holds the monies on our behalf. Deposits are none refundable or transferable. If your booking is made by telephone you will not need to complete a booking form, we will accept your verbal acknowledgement of the above. Telephone calls may be recorded and/or monitored for training and service quality purposes.
2. PAYING THE BALANCE
The balance of the price of your holiday must be paid via the office at which you made your booking at least eight weeks before the holiday departure date. If the balance is not paid in time we reserve the right to cancel your holiday, retain your deposit and apply cancellation charges as set out in paragraph 4 If you cancel your holiday. If you book within eight weeks of the departure date you must pay the full amount at the time of the booking.
We do not send reminders for final payments, please check your Confirmation/Invoice for balance due date.
3. IF YOU CHANGE THE BOOKING
If, after our confirmation has been issued, you wish to change any details relating to your holiday, we will do our utmost to make the changes, provided that notification is received at our offices, in writing, from the person who made the booking, or their agent. This must be accompanied by a payment of £10.00 to cover administration costs. Any alteration by you within six weeks of departure will be treated as a cancellation of the original booking and will be subject to the cancellation charges set out below. Other alterations such as the addition of a special request or changes of pick up points that require a new confirmation to be issued must be notified in writing and accompanied by a payment of £10.00 to cover administration costs relating to your booking.
4. IF YOU CANCEL YOUR HOLIDAY
You, or any member of your party may cancel your holiday at anytime provided that the cancellation is made by the lead person and is communicated to us in writing via the office at which your booking was made. Period before departure within which written notice of cancellation is received as, shown as a percentage of holiday price (less non refundable deposit).
More than 48 days Deposit
48 to 29 days 40%
28 to 15 days 50%
14 to 9 days 75%
8 to 1 day 100%
Departure date 100%
5. IF YOU HAVE A COMPLAINT
If you have a complaint during your holiday, please inform your hotel reception, our driver or courier immediately, who will do his/her best to help you there and then. If the matter cannot be put right on the spot you must notify us by writing within 28 days of the completion of your holiday, quoting your holiday booking reference number. It is therefore a condition of this contract that you communicate any problem to the supplier of the services in question and to our driver or courier whilst in the resort and obtain a written report form if necessary. If you fail to follow this simple procedure we cannot accept responsibility as we will have been deprived of the opportunity to investigate and rectify the problem. If you are not comfortable with arrangements made above, please call our office 0845 1303 321 from the resort.
6. STATUTORY AUTHORITIES
This brochure is issued subject to applicable acts of Parliament and Government regulations and the company reserves the right to modify itineraries to conform with request from the competent authorities in the United Kingdom and any other sovereign states through which tours may run.
7. CONDITIONS OF CARRIAGE
When you travel on an aircraft, train, coach or ship, the conditions of carriage of that carrier applies and are subject to National and International conditions which may limit or exclude liability. Your contract made under the terms of this Fair Trading Agreement is subject to English law and jurisdiction. Some coach journeys are operated by vehicles other than those that may be owned by InterChoice Limited and the specification may be different. Please note that facilities on board the coach may not be available from time to time (eg through mechanical defect), but be assured that under such circumstances we will do our utmost to ensure that wherever possible, facilities will be made available again as soon as practicable, bearing in mind that we would not wish to interrupt the overall tour itinerary. The Public Service Vehicle (Conduct of Drivers, Conductors of Passengers) Regulation as amended 1990, apply to all coaches throughout the holiday in the UK.
8. LOOK AFTER YOURSELF
Please do not travel on holiday if you feel ill. InterChoice Ltd will not carry passengers who have symptoms of Vomiting that may be transmitted to other passengers. If you experience feelings of sickness , stomach pain or diarrhoea DO NOT TRAVEL. If you decide to travel you will be in breach of paragraph 9 (below). Our decision will be final and you could prejudice your insurance policy. If in doubt please enquire with a member of staff at the time of booking.
9. RIGHTS OF REFUSAL
We must point out that InterChoice Limited reserve the unconditional right to refuse a booking or terminate a passengers holiday in the event of unreasonable conduct which, in our opinion, is likely to cause distress, damage, danger, or annoyance to other customers, employees, property or any other third party. This includes any passenger that fails to advise us of any medical condition or disability in accordance with Paragraph 10 (below). If you are prevented from travelling as a result of such termination, our responsibility for your holiday thereupon ceases. Full cancellation charges will apply and we will be under no obligation whatsoever for any refund, compensation or loss you may incur. Under no circumstances do we guarantee special requests verbal or written or seat numbers on any coach.
10. PASSENGERS WITH HEALTH CONSIDERATIONS
OR SPECIAL NEEDS
Our holidays may not be suitable for people with certain disabilities or medical conditions. If you have a disability coaches can be difficult to get on and off and some of our hotels do not offer ground/low floor accommodation or lifts/easy access. Should any member of your party suffer from any disability, medical condition or require special needs that may affect their holiday or that of others you must provide full written details at the time you book the holiday, including any specific requirements that person has. Additionally, at the time you book the holiday you must provide written confirmation that all assistance the disabled person requires will be provided by you. Please be aware that no outside assistance is available. In view of the nature of our holidays we regret that we must reserve the right to decline any bookings whenever we feel unable to accommodate the needs of any particular client or where, in our opinion, the medical condition or disability of the client concerned is likely to have a significant adverse affect on any other clients taking the same holiday. We further reserve the right to cancel any holiday and impose cancellation charges if we are not fully advised of any relevant disability or medical condition at the time of booking. Notwithstanding the above, InterChoice Limited cannot accept any liability regarding the suitability of individual holidays and we must reserve the right to decline a booking should it be considered that we will be unable to meet in full our contractual obligations to customers. Please Note: If you wish to take a folding wheelchair, you must notify us in advance. Due to space restrictions battery driven, or electric wheelchairs or vehicles cannot be carried on coaches. Special menus/diets may incur an additional charge which must be paid locally to the hotel . See paragraph 11 (e) Other Terms. We can carry Wheelchairs if advised and confirmed in writing but not Scooters, these can be hired at most destinations for a small charge.
11. OTHER TERMS
(a) Passengers must not bring a pet or any other animal (other than a Guide dog in UK and Eire and only by prior written agreement with us).
(b) Passenger must not play radios, mp3, TV or compact disc players on the coach, unless used with personal headphones.
(c) You are responsible for being at the correct departure point at the correct time, and we cannot be liable for any loss or expense suffered by clients because of their late arrival at any departure point for any reason.
(d) You must ensure that you have a valid passport and visas (if necessary) and we cannot be liable for any loss or expense suffered if you do not.
(e) Although our vehicles have large luggage compartments, we have to adhere to regulations concerning the overall weight of fully laden vehicles. We would, therefore, ask you to restrict your luggage to one medium sized suitcase – it is a condition of travel that any items over and above this are notified, in writing to InterChoice Limited and this includes collapsible wheelchairs. Note: Battery driven chairs cannot be accepted. It is your responsibility to make sure that your luggage is on board the coach not the driver, courier or any other representative. Our maximum liability to you for loss or or damage to luggage is £100 per person. Allowance 20kgs per passenger.
(f) Smoking is not allowed on any InterChoice holiday coach. If you ignore this and thereby cause inconvenience, distress or disappointment to other passengers you may be asked to leave the holiday. See Rights of Refusal. paragraph 9 (above).
(g) In the event of contact being made with InterChoice Limited, by the passenger on any subject whereby the information contained in our brochure is changed or additional information given, for any other reason, the passenger must ensure that the information given is confirmed to them in writing. No responsibility will be accepted for any loss, damage or disappointment if this procedure has not been followed.
(h) While every effort is made to adhere to the pick up times that we give to you, there could be circumstances beyond our control, such as weather and traffic conditions which may cause delays. We will endeavour to keep you informed of such conditions.
(i) Excursions are included free in the price of most holidays and refunds cannot be made for passengers not wishing to go on the excursions. Please note that reserve the unconditional right to change published excursions at any time.
(j) Pick up Points & Routes. Please note that reserve the unconditional right to change these at time we will always give you fair norice of such changes the may effect your holiday.
(k) Admission fees to buildings, grounds, etc and guided tours are not included in the price of your holiday unless otherwise stated.
(l) InterChoice Holidays is the trading name of InterChoice Limited.
12. MEALS
Please note that meal inclusive holidays commence with dinner on the arrival day and end with breakfast on your departure day.
13. DATA PROTECTION
Please be assured that we have measures in place to protect the personal booking information held by us. This information will be passed on to the principal and to the relevant suppliers of your travel arangements. The information may also be provided to public authorities such as customs or immigration if required by them, or as required by law.
14. HOLIDAY INTERPRETATIONS
3 day holidays (2 nights)
4 day holidays (3 nights)
5 day holidays (4 nights)
7 day holidays (6 nights)
8 day holidays (7 nights)
15 day holidays (14 nights)
EXCURSIONS (Minimum Duration)
Half Day 2 Hours
Full Day 4 Hours
15. HOLIDAY INSURANCE
You are strongly recommended to take out insurance against loss of or damage to baggage and personal effects, medical expenses, repatriation costs and personal liability etc. Your luggage and personal belongings are your responsibility. Clients who do not take out such insurance are advised that InterChoice Limited do not accept any responsibility for any such costs including cost for forward transportation of luggage or misplaced personal belongings.
16. HOLIDAYS OPERATED BY THIRD PARTY OPERATORS
All tour operators used by us are fully bonded. Any holiday which includes travel by air will be subject to ATOL license held by our chosen Tour Operator. You will be issued with an ATOL receipt at the time of booking. You will also be subject to the Booking Conditions of your chosen Tour Operator – Available on request.
17. WE RESERVE YOUR HOLIDAY
When we or your agent has provisionally confirmed that we have available space on the holiday of your choice, a confirmation/invoice will be forwarded to you, normally within seven days of receipt of your signed booking form or verbal telephone reservation. The contract is made between us when you received this confirmation. We do not send reminders for final payments , your balance and due date is printed clearly on your original confirmation/invoice. Pick-up times are confirmed ten days prior to departure.
18. YOUR HOLIDAY PRICE
The price of your holiday is guaranteed and will not be subject to any surcharges except those resulting from government action, including fuel increases, additional bonding, licensing requirements & VAT. In all cases we reserve the right to pass these charges on in full. Entrance fees, guiding fees, and optional excursions are not included in your holiday price. Holiday prices include all coach travel, hotel accommodation, meals as stated in the holiday description & VAT at current rate where applicable. Gratuities to hotel staff and drivers are discretionary.
19. IF WE CHANGE YOUR HOLIDAY
Arrangements for holidays are made many months in advance and although it is unlikely, it is possible, that circumstances may force us to make changes in the advertised holiday. Most changes are, however, very minor. Where significant we will notify you as soon as is reasonably possible before your departure date. A significant change would be regarded as change of departure date, departure point (over five miles from original booking), resort, quality of hotel (not single overnight accommodation on touring holidays) or a change in tour itinerary or reducing the specification of the coach. In the event of a significant change you may decide to:
(a) Continue with the holiday as amended.
(b) Accept an alternative holiday which we may offer you.
(c) Cancel your booking.
If you choose (a) or (b) we will pay compensation based on the scale below. If you choose (c) we will refund all monies paid by you, plus compensation based on the scale below. No other claims for compensation or expenses will be considered, this shall be the limit of our liability to you.
Change is notified to you or your agent. Compensation per person
More than 42 days Nil
42 to 29 days £5.00
28 to 15 days £10.00
14 to one day £15.00
20. IF WE CANCEL YOUR HOLIDAY
It is necessary for there to be a minimum number of passengers to operate a tour. If this minimum number is not achieved before the balance due date the tour could be cancelled. In certain circumstances, therefore, we may have to cancel your holiday, and if this should occur we will return to you all the money you have paid to us, or offer you a suitable alternative. However we will not cancel your holiday:
(a) Immediately prior to departure unless you have not paid for your holiday in full.
(b) After the balance due date, except as a result of hostilities, political unrest, war or threat of war, industrial dispute, epidemic or health risk, technical problems to third party transport, closure or congestion of parts and airports or other circumstances beyond our control. If we have to cancel your holiday at any time InterChoice Ltd is only liable for any monies you may have paid to InterChoice Limited at the time of cancellation and for the compensation payment as detailed above.
(c) Holidays operate under InterChoice Limited conditions of trading.
21. OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO YOU
We accept responsibility ensuring that all component parts of your holiday as described in our brochure is supplied to you to a reasonable standard and this includes optional excursions purchased through our representative or agents. If any such part is not provided in the advertised manner, we will pay you reasonable compensation unless non-provision was due to circumstances which we could not predict and which were beyond our control such as adverse weather conditions, road or traffic conditions or the matters in Paragraph 4.
(a). For all claims other than death or personal injury which results from improper performance of the contract by us in circumstances where you stay for whole or part of the holiday, liability is limited to the total cost of the holiday.
(b) We check and re-check the information about accommodation and resort, both at home and abroad, to ensure that it is correct at the time of going to press. However, circumstances such as weather conditions, the time of year, etc. may cause some of the amenities we have described to be temporarily unavailable. Such things are regrettably and beyond our control and we are unable to accept liability. However, when we are told of any significant or long-term changes, we will inform you at the time of booking, or, if you have already booked, you will be contacted if there is time before your departure. During local and national holidays and on certain days of the week, certain facilities such as theatres, art galleries, museums and shops may be closed. In these cases InterChoice Limited will try to minimize your inconvenience by altering itineraries slightly wherever possible.
(c) Excursion that includes the use of other forms of transport which can be affected by inclement weather, may have to be cancelled or changed. Whenever possible a suitable alternative excursion will be offered, if this is not possible the excursion will be cancelled. This will be deemed beyond our control and no refunds given.
(d) The published running times of coaches are estimates only and we will not be liable for any loss (howsoever caused) arising from delay or failings to operate services in an accordance with published times. Categories or star ratings is given as a guide only.
22. PERSONAL INJURY
(CONNECTED WITH ARRANGEMENTS MADE BY US)
InterChoice Limited has taken all reasonable and proper steps to ensure that proper arrangements have been made for all the holidays which are advertised in our brochure, including optional excursions offered by employees or agents, and that the suppliers of all the services are efficient, safe and reputable and that they comply with the local and national laws and regulations of the country in which they provide those services. While we have no direct control over the provision of services to you by suppliers, we will pay our clients the equivalent of such damages as they would be entitled to receive under English Law in a English Court for any personal injury to the client including illness or death, caused by the failure to perform or the improper performance of such services by the servants or agents of ourselves or any of our suppliers contracted or sub-contracted by us to provide any part of the arrangements for your holiday as described in this brochure where such failure or improper performance is due to the fault of such person and not an event which such person could not foresee or forestall even if they had taken due care.
Note: We will make payments as stated above provided
(a) that claims for personal injuries are notified to us within 28 days of the returning from holiday.
(b) the injured client(s) assign to InterChoice Limited any rights against a supplier or other person or party they may have relating to the claim.
(c) they agree to co-operate fully should we or our insurers wish to enforce those rights which have been assigned to us or to which we are subrogated and such payment is limited for transport by water or air to a maximum of such sums as would be obtained under the provisions of the appropriate International Conventions. The assignment is necessary to enable us to try to recover from suppliers any compensation we have paid to clients, and associated costs, arising from personal injury to clients caused by the fault of those suppliers.
23. PERSONAL INJURY
(UNCONNECTED WITH ARRANGEMENTS MADE BY US)
Where appropriate and subject to our reasonable discretion, we will afford general assistance to clients who through misadventure illness, personal injury or death while travelling with InterChoice Limited arising out of an activity which does not form a part of the advertised itinerary nor part of an excursion offered through the company, and which is the responsibility of a third party.
24. OTHER TERMS
(a) Our delay policy If a delay of more than six hours to the advertised times on any of our holidays, we will do our best to provide meals and accommodation as appropriate. However, all clients are strongly advised to take out holiday insurance offered by InterChoice Limited or its agent as it will contain a delay protection plan offering financial compensation.
(b) Holiday Excursions
The minimum duration of a half day excursion will be two hours while a full day will operate a minimum of four hours. Whilst we will try to allow suitable sight seeing halts on route, these may vary according to weather and traffic conditions. Other sightseeing tours and evening excursions are of varying lengths. Optional excursions operate subject to minimum number of passengers wishing to partake. We do not include any entrance fees or admission charges unless we state so on the relevant brochure page.
(c) Entertainment
Most hotels and resorts offer entertainment, the nature and frequency of the entertainment presented is at the discretion of the hotel and therefore not guaranteed and could be withdrawn.
(d) Special Requests
We cannot under any circumstances guarantee special requests or coach seat numbers that can be subject to change.
25. PAYMENT BY CREDIT CARD
Where Holidays are booked at any branch of InterChoice Holidays or directly with our reservation handling office a charge of 2.95% will apply where Mastercard and Visa cards are used. Charge cards such as American Express and Diners Club are not accepted. There is no charge for use of Maestro/Delta or other debit cards.
26. FINANCIAL SECURITY
In accordance with “The package Travel, Package Tours Regulations 1992″ all passengers booking with INTERCHOICE LIMITED are fully Insured for the initial deposit and subsequently the balance of all monies paid to us, including repatriation if required, arising from the cancellation or curtailment of your travel arrangements due to the insolvency of INTERCHOICE LTD. This insurance is arranged by Towergate Chapman Stevens through igi Insurance Company Ltd. In the unlikely event of these claims please refer to you’re booking confirmation for claims procedures.
Telephone calls may be recorded and/or monitored for training and service quality purposes.
