TERMS
& CONDITIONS
HOPS
TRAVEL TOURS BOOKING CONDITIONS
THESE BOOKING
CONDITIONS APPLY ONLY IF YOUR INVOICE SHOWS HOPS TOURS. AT ALL OTHER TIMES THE
TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE CRUISE LINE/SUPPLIER – TOUR OPERATOR APPLY.
IMPORTANT BOOKING
CONDITIONS – PLEASE READ
- CONTRACT
Your contract is with Hops Travel tours – a partner
ship with Mrs K Vine & Mrs H Thacker whose registered address is: 15 West St Mary’s Gate, Grimsby. DN31 1LB.
A contract will exist when we have accepted a deposit
and your booking is confirmed on the computer system. These booking conditions,
together with any other information brought to your attention before you booked
your package, form the basis of your contract.
Please read them carefully as they set out our
respective rights and obligations and all bookings are accepted by us subject
to these booking conditions. In these booking conditions references to ‘we’ and
‘us’ mean Hops Travel Tours and ‘you’ and ‘your’ include the lead-named person
on the computer system (who must be at least 18 years of age at the time of
booking) and all persons on whose behalf a booking is made.
- BOOKING
CONFIRMATION AND YOUR RESPONSIBILITY
As the majority of bookings are made over the phone,
there is a possibility that you or we could misinterpret what was said.
Consequently we will send confirmation directly to you by post, fax or email.
The confirmation will contain the names of the passengers, which MUST be
correctly spelt (including the initial or first name), the dates and time of
travel, departure and arrival cities and other relevant information.
As a condition of this contract, you are required to
carefully check your written confirmation to ensure that it is correct and
exactly matches what you have booked. If it is not you are required to contact
us within 24 hours of receiving your confirmation to inform us of any
inaccuracy, and take a note of whom you reported it to. If you do not follow
this procedure you have deprived us the opportunity of taking prompt corrective
action and any consequential loss shall be your sole responsibility.
- DEPOSIT AND
PAYMENT
A non-refundable deposit of 20% of full booking value
per person is required at the time of booking. Travel insurance must be paid
for in full at the time of booking in addition to the above deposit. Full payments
must be received at least 13 weeks before departure or 18 weeks if World Cruise
or sectors of World cruise. If the balance is not paid in time, we reserve the
right to cancel the booking and retain the deposit.
The cancellation charges set out in Clause 8 will
apply to the booking. All reservations made less than 13 weeks (18 if world
cruise or world cruise sectors) prior to departure require full payment at the
time of booking. Some promotional airfares will require full and non-refundable
immediate payment in which case you will be advised when booking.
- ABTA
We are a member of ABTA, membership number 77445. We
are obliged to maintain a high standard of service to you by ABTA’s code of
conduct. We can also offer you an arbitration scheme for the resolution of
disputes arising out of, or in connection with this contract. Further
information on the code and arbitration can be found at www.abta,com/consumer-services
- PRICES AND
SURCHARGES
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 agent’s 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 or cancelling and receiving a full refund of all
monies paid, except for any amendment charges and insurance.
- YOUR
FINANCIAL PROTECTION
We provide full financial protection for you through
ATOL and ABTA. In the unlikely event of our insolvency, the CAA or ABTA will
ensure that you are not stranded abroad and will arrange to refund any money
you have paid to us for an advance booking. For further information visit www.atol.org.uk and www.abta.com When you buy an ATOL protected air
holiday package (and/or flights) from us, you will receive a confirmation from
us (or via our authorised agent through which you booked) confirming your
arrangements and your protection under our Air Travel Organiser’s Licence.
(9691)
- CHANGES MADE
BY YOU
Should you wish to change any of the details of your
booking after we have confirmed it, we will do our best to help, however we may
not always be able to meet your request and we can not guarantee that we will
be able to do so. Requests for changes should be made by the person who made
the booking. Whenever requested changes are possible, the total itinerary costs
will be recalculated, taking into account any seasonal flight or occupancy
rates, cancellation charges or other supplements and a revised invoice will be
issued. Additionally we will charge you £25 per person, per change up to a
maximum of £100 per booking. Please note that changes to flights are often treated
as cancellations by airlines.
Dependent on the flights booked, you may not be able
to make any changes after we have confirmed the booking without you having to
pay the full cost of the tickets originally booked. Where we are unable to
assist you and you do not wish to proceed with the original booking we will
treat this as a cancellation by you and cancellation fees will be payable.
- CANCELLATIONS
MADE BY YOU
Notice of cancellation must be made in writing
directly to us. Your notice of cancellation will only take effect on the day it
is received in writing at our offices.
We recommend that you use recorded delivery, upon receipt of which the
following cancellation charges will apply:
World cruise and World cruise sectors
126 days or more Loss of
deposit
125 – 58 days 50% of
total arrangement
57-0 days 100%
of total arrangement
Other:
91 days or more Loss of
deposit
90-45 days 50% of
total arrangement
44-30 days 80% of
total arrangement
29-0 days 100%
of total arrangement
Refunds, were applicable, are subject to the immediate
return of all travel documents, such as tickets and vouchers. Unused services
such as, but not limited to, insurance premiums, certain airfares, partially
used car rental or accommodation, are NON REFUNDABLE.
In addition to the charges shown above, many air
tickets have no refund value whatsoever and therefore airlines may impose 100%
cancellation charges and the costs of a new ticket. You will also be liable for
these charges. We recommend that you take out appropriate travel insurance to
cover such charges as you may be able to claim back the cancellation fees if
the cancellation is covered by a suitable insurance policy.
- CHANGES AND
CANCELLATIONS BY US
On occasion it may be necessary to amend or cancel your
arrangements, which we reserve the right to do at anytime. ‘Minor’ changes, if
they occur, may not necessarily be advised and will not qualify for
compensation. In the case of ‘significant changes’ we will inform you as soon
as is reasonably possible, if there is time before your departure.
A major change is one that we will make to your
arrangements before departure, such as changing your departure airport (except
between Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton and Stanstead) dependant upon particular
circumstances, or a difference of more than 12 hours in departure times, or a
change in your cruise ship, resort area or an offer of a lower classification
cabin or hotel accommodation. In these cases you have a choice of:
A) Accepting the changed arrangements as notified to
you. B) Transferring to an alternative booking if we are able to offer one
(please note that the price may differ from the original booking) or C)
cancelling your arrangements and receiving a full refund.
You must notify us of your choice within 7 days of our
offer to the alternative booking arrangements. If you fail to do so we will
assume that you have chosen to accept the alternative booking arrangements.
In no case, except for reasons of force majeure or
failure on your part to pay the final balance, will your booking be cancelled
less than 13/18 weeks before departure. If, however, you booking is cancelled
less than 13/18 weeks before departure, compensation will be payable as set out
below. In addition, we will offer alternative arrangements of a comparable
standard if available, or return all monies paid. (18 weeks relates to world
cruise or world cruise sectors).
The above options are not available where any change
is minor or where the changes or cancellation by us arises out of alterations
to the confirmed booking request by you. In addition if we make a significant
change or cancel your booking within 91 days before departure we will pay you
compensation in accordance with the scale and provisions set out below, subject
to the following exceptions: no compensation can be paid where we are forced to
make a change or cancellation as a result of an unusual or unforeseeable
circumstance beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been
avoided even if all due care had been exercised. Such circumstances may
include, but are not limited to those listed under ‘force majeure’ at clause 12
below. Period before scheduled departure within which major change is notified
to you.
Compensation per person:
World Cruise and World Cruise Sectors Normal
126 days or more Nill 91
days or more Nill
125-58 days £20 90-30
days £20
57-0 days £30 29-0
days £30
- IDENTITY OF
CARRIER
In accordance with EU regulation 2111/2005 we are
required to advise you of the actual carrier operating your flight/connecting
flight/transfer. We can confirm the carrier as detailed on the confirmation
invoice.
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 for the purposes of clause 9 above.
- FLIGHTS
A) Details of the relevant
aircraft operator, routing and destination will be given to you where possible
before your booking is confirmed. Please note however, that it is sometimes
necessary to change the carrier, aircraft type, routing (e.g. from direct
non-stop to indirect with stops) after you book and, if this happens, you will
not be entitled to cancel without penalty nor will compensation be paid.
B) As between you and any
airline, the airlines standard conditions of carriage will apply which may
limit the airlines liability to you in certain circumstances. Airlines
rescheduling, flight timings and aircraft are subject to such matters as
regulatory control, maintenance requirements, weather conditions and the
ability of passengers to check in on time.
In the event of delay, responsibility for making
special arrangements will rest with the airline concerned and the company will
not be in a position to assist you. In extreme cases you may be entitled to
compensation under your insurance policy. You are strongly recommended to
contact the airline before commencing each flight to reconfirm its departure
time.
Please note that a flight described as ‘direct’ will
not necessarily be non-stop. All departure/arrival times are provide 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. We cannot be held
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 all clients are
required to reconfirm their flights, with the airline, 72 hours prior to
departure.
We are also unable to make any special arrangements
for the client if the client is delayed; these matters are in the sole
discretion of the airline concerned. When you receive your tickets and travel
documents you should check them carefully as times may have changed since you
made your booking.
You should also check for any errors. The information
on the ticket is deemed correct unless we are advised by you of any errors
within 72 hours of receipt. You must check in at least 3 hours before the
stated departure time. We will not be liable for any costs you have to pay if
you fail to meet this deadline.
- FORCE MAJEURE
We cannot accept liability, or pay compensation where
the performance and/or prompt performance of our contractual obligations to you
is prevented by or affected by ‘force majeure’. In these booking conditions
‘force majeure’ means any event which we or the supplier(s) of the service(s)
in question could not, even with all due care, foresee or avoid. Such events
are likely to include but are not limited to cancellation of a special event by
the organisers, industrial dispute, terrorist activity, natural, nuclear,
chemical or biological disaster, fire, adverse weather conditions, and all similar
events outside our control.
- PASSPORT,
VISA AND IMMIGRATION REQUIREMENTS AND HEALTH FORMALITIES
It is your responsibility to fulfil the passport, visa
and other immigrations requirements applicable to your itinerary. We can
provide general information about the passport and visa requirements for your
trip. Your specific passport and visa requirements and other immigration
requirements for you and your party are your responsibility and you should
confirm these with the relevant embassies and/or consulates.
We can provide general information about any health
formalities required for your trip but you should check with your own specific
circumstances. We do not accept any responsibility if you cannot travel, or
incur any other loss because you have not complied with any passport, visa,
immigration or health formalities. You agree to indemnify us in relation to any
costs which we incur as a result of your failure to comply with any passport,
visa, immigration requirements or health formalities.
Most countries now require passports to be valid for
at least 6 months after your return date. If your passport is in its final
year, you should check with the embassy for the country you are visiting.
Special conditions apply for travel to the USA, and all passengers must have
individual machine readable passports. Please check www.usembassy.org.uk
For further information contact the passport office on
0870 5210410 or visit www.passport.gov.uk
It is your responsibility to check visa requirements
for your destination. Up to date of travel advice can be obtained from the
Foreign and commonwealth office, visit www.fco.gov.uk
The foreign and commonwealth office (FCO) provide up
to date information on safety issues worldwide, visit www.fco.gov.uk/knowbeforeyougo
Non British citizens, including other EU nationals,
should contact the embassy, high commission or consulate of your destination,
for up to date advice on passport requirements.
- HOW TO MAKE A
COMPLAINT AND ARBITRATION
If you have a problem during your holiday, please
inform the relevant supplier (e.g. your cruise line or hotelier) or our local
agent/representative immediately who will endeavour to put things right.
Failing this please call us on +44 (0) 1472 349330.
If your complaint is not resolved locally, please
follow this up within 28 days of your return home by writing to our customer
services department 15 West St Mary’s Gate, Grimsby DN31 1LB, giving your
booking reference and all other relevant information. 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 our
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.
The arbitration scheme 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 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 of arbitration and statement of claim
must be received by IDRS 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 Medication 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
- INFANTS
Please note that in accordance with Air Navigation
orders, infants must be under 2 years of age on the date of their return
flight, to qualify as infants.
- OUR
OBLIGATIONS TO YOU
A) Subject to the clause
set out in this agreement, we accept responsibility for ensuring that your
travel arrangements, which you book with us, are supplied as described. If,
after departure, any part of your travel arrangements are not provided as
promised, due to the fault of our employees, agents or suppliers, we will pay
you appropriate compensation, if this has affected the enjoyment of your travel
arrangements. However, our liability in all cases shall be limited to a maximum
of twice the value of the element not supplied excluding flights. The level of
such compensation will taking into account all relevant factors including the
invoice price of the tour, any steps it was reasonable for the client to take
to minimise the inconvenience or damage suffered and the extent to which the
deficiency or improper performance can have affected the clients enjoyment of
the package.
B) Please note that we
will not be liable for any injury, illness, or death or consequent losses
suffered by you or any member of your party, unless you are able to prove that
such injury or illness was caused by lack of reasonable care and skill on the
part of ourselves or our suppliers in the performance of our obligations under
our contract with you. It is a condition of the payment of compensation that
you notify us of any complaint or claim strictly in accordance with clause 14
and, further, assign to us any rights that you may have against any third party
in connection with your claim. You must co-operate with us and our insurers in
this regard if you suffer a personal injury, death or serious difficulties as
the result of an activity which does not form part of the package you booked
with us – including for example any additional services or facilities provided
to you by a hotel or any other supplier which was not included as part of the
original contract between us – we will not be liable to pay any compensation
but will offer you such advice and guidance as is reasonable in all the
circumstances provided we are advised of the incident within 90 days of the
occurrence. We will not be responsible where you do not enjoy the holiday or
suffer any other problems because of a reason which you did not make us aware
of when the holiday was booked.
C) And in all claims of
whatever nature we will not be liable where the alleged loss or damage results
from any of the following:
1) the fault of the
person(s) affected or any member(s) of their party OR 2) the fault of a third
party not connected with the provision of your holiday which we could not have
predicted or avoided OR 3) an event of circumstances which we or the supplier
of the service(s) in question could not have predicted or avoided even after
taking all reasonable care OR 4) the fault of anyone who was not carrying out
work for us (generally or in particular) at the time.
Our liability will also 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.
(B) 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 these conventions from our offices, please contact us. In addition,
you agree that the operating carrier or transport company’s own ‘conditions of
carriage’ will apply to you on that journey. When arranging transportation for
you, we reply on the terms and conditions contained within these international
conventions and those ‘conditions of carriage’. You acknowledge that all of the
terms and conditions contained in those ‘conditions of carriage’ form part of
your contract with us, as well as with the transport company and that those
‘conditions of carriage’ shall be deemed to be included by reference into this
contract.
The promises we
give to you regarding the services we have agreed to provide or arrange as part
of the contract, and the laws and regulations of the country in which your
claim or complaint occurred, shall be used as the basis for ascertaining
whether or not the services in question have been properly provided. If the
services in question which caused the claim or complaint, with the local laws
and regulations applicable to those services at that time, the services shall
be treated as having been properly provided. Such shall be the case even if the
services did not comply with the laws and regulations of the UK which would have applied if those services had been provided in the UK.
17. PROMPT
ASSISTANCE IN RESORT
If the contract we
have with you is not performed or is improperly performed as a result of
failures attributable to a third party unconnected with the provision of the
services, or as a result of failures due to the 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, and you
suffer an injury or other material loss, we will offer you such prompt
assistance as is reasonable in the circumstances.
18. SPECIAL
REQUESTS
Requests for
adjacent or non-smoking rooms, etc. should be made at the time of booking.
Whilst making every effort to obtain such facilities, we cannot guarantee their
provision and such requests form no part of the contract. To eliminate error,
specific airline seating arrangements, meal requests and any wheelchair
requests should be made by passengers at the time of booking. It should be
noted that your air ticket provides you with transport from your city of
departure to the city of arrival and is no guarantee of a particular seat
onboard which the airline reserves the right to change, even after
confirmation.
19. INSURANCE
It is a condition
of your contract with us that you have insurance cover for the duration of your
trip, and that it is adequate for your needs and the type of activities you
will be undertaking as part of your holiday. We would be please to offer you a
policy but if you choose to arrange your own insurance, please ensure that it
provides adequate cover. We do not check insurance policies; however we reserve
the right to request written details (insurers name, policy number and
emergency contact number) of your policy. You are responsible for indemnifying
us in full in the event that we incur any losses or expenses arising out of
your failure to take out adequate insurance cover.
20. CUTTING
YOUR HOLIDAY SHORT (CURTAILMENT)
If you are forced
to return home early, we cannot refund the cost of any services you have not
used, but you may be covered by your travel insurance. If you cut short your
holiday and return home early in circumstances where you have no reasonable
cause for complaint about the standard of accommodation and services provided,
we will not offer you any refund for that part of your holiday not completed,
or assist with any associated costs you may incur. Depending on the
circumstances, your travel insurance may offer cover for curtailment and we
suggest that any claim is made directly through them.
21. BEHAVIOUR
All guests are
expected to conduct themselves in an orderly and acceptable manner and not to
disrupt the enjoyment of other guests. If in our opinion or in the opinion of
any other person in authority, your behaviour or that of any member of your
party is causing or is likely to cause distress, danger or annoyance to any of
our other guests or any third party or damage to property, we reserve the right
to terminate your booking arrangements with us immediately. In the event of
such termination our liability to you and/or your party will be required to
leave your accommodation or other service immediately. We will have no further
obligations to you and/or your party.
23. MEDICAL
PROBLEMS
If you or any
member of your party has any medical problem or disability which may affect
your stay, please provide us with full details before you confirm your booking
so that we can advise as to the suitability of your chosen arrangements.
24. DATA
PROTECTION
For the purposes
of the Data Protection Act 1998 we are a data controller. In order to process
your booking and to ensure that your travel arrangements run smoothly and meet
your requirements we need to collect certain personal details from you. These
will include, where applicable, the names and addresses of party’s members,
credit/debit card or other payment details and special requirements such as
those relating to any disability or medical condition which may affect the
chosen holiday arrangements and any dietary restrictions which may disclose
your religious beliefs.
If we need any
other personal details, we will tell you before we obtain them from you. We
must pass on your personal details to the companies and organizations who need
to know them so that your holiday can be provided (for example your airline,
hotels, transport companies, credit/debit company or bank). The information may
also be provided to security or credit checking companies, public authorities
such as customs/immigration if required by them or as required by law.
We have
appropriate security measures in place to protect the personal details you give
us. Where your travel arrangements are to take place outside the European
Economic Area (EEA), controls on data protections in your destination may not
be as strong as the legal requirements in this country. We will not however,
pass any information on to any company and/or organisation not responsible for
providing any part of your travel arrangements. Where you provide us with
personal details relating to any special requirements such as those mentioned
above, you consent to this information being passed onto any organisation or
companies responsible for any part of your travel arrangements whether in the
EEA or not.
If we cannot pass
this information to the relevant suppliers, we cannot provide your travel
arrangements. We are entitled to assume you do not object to our doing any of
the things mentioned above unless you tell us otherwise in writing. You are
generally entitled to ask is (by letter or email) what details of yours are
being held or processed, for what purpose and to whom they may have been
disclosed.
We will charge a
fee to respond to such a request. In limited circumstances we are entitled to
refuse your request. Except where expressly permitted by the Data Protection
Act 1998, we will only deal with the personal details you give us as set out
above unless you agree otherwise. Fro example, if we wish to use any of your
personal details for marketing purposes, we will tell you this when we ask for
your details and give you the opportunity to say no if you do not want us to do
so.
25.
JURISDICTION
These booking
conditions and any contract to which they apply are governed in all respects by
English law. Any dispute, claim or other matter which arises out of or in
connection with your contract or booking will be dealt with by the courts of England and Wales.
