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Booking Terms & Conditions
HolidayGems.co.uk is a trading name of Holiday Gems Ltd (Company Registration Number. 5824929)
When you make a booking you guarantee that you have the authority to accept and
do accept on behalf of all members of your party, the terms of these booking conditions.
The first named person on the booking will be the party leader and will be responsible
for making all payments due to us.
Bookings made via this website must be paid for in full at the time of booking via credit/debit card. In the event that you book your holiday more than 12 weeks before departure and do not want to pay in full please contact our reservation team on 0871 911 0101 where payment of a deposit to book your holiday may be possible. Please note there is a 2% credit card charge for credit card payments. For flight only and/or accommodation only bookings all monies that you pay to us for your arrangements will be held by us on your behalf until such time as they are paid to the supplier. For financial protection for packages please refer to paragraph 19 of these terms and conditions. 3. CHANGES OR ADDITIONS TO YOUR HOLIDAYIf you wish to change any part of your holiday arrangements after the booking reference number has been issued, we will do our utmost to make that change, however, we would like to advise you that it may not always be possible. Any request for changes must be made in writing by the person who made the original booking. If it is possible to make the change, it will be subject to an administration charge which will be notified to you at that time together with any costs or charges incurred or imposed by any of our suppliers. You should be aware that there may be extra charges applicable dependent on the change you make. No Frills Airlines and/or Chartered normally regard name changes after tickets have been issued as a cancellation and rebooking, and any alteration may incur a 100% cancellation charge. Please note, it may not be possible to make changes within 28 days of your scheduled departure date without incurring 100% cancellation charges. We will however, do our utmost to accommodate your requested change or addition. 4. TRANSFERRAL OF BOOKINGSIf you are unable to travel, in certain circumstances which we consider reasonable we may allow you to transfer your booking to another party. Where a transfer to a person of your choice can be made, all costs and charges incurred by us and/or incurred or imposed by any of our suppliers as a result together with an amendment /administration fee which will be notified to you at the time must be paid before the transfer can be effected. 5. INFORMATION ACCURACY
Please note, advertised information and prices may have changed by the time
you come to book your holiday. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy
of information and prices when published, regrettably errors do occasionally occur.
You must therefore ensure you check all details of your chosen holiday (including
the price) at the time of booking. 7. FLIGHTS
There are varying types of flights that we may book as part of your package i.e.
Charter, No Frills, Full Published and Consolidated. Any flight element of your
holiday is provided by an independent supplier. Each supplier has their own terms
and conditions. Some of these terms and conditions may limit or exclude the supplier's
liability to you, usually in accordance with applicable International Conventions.
Copies of the relevant parts of these terms and conditions are available on request
from ourselves or the supplier concerned. 8. CHARTER FLIGHT CONDITIONSA charter flight is invariably where an ATOL licensed Tour Operator such as AVRO, Unijet, Thomson, Freedom Flights or Thomas Cook etc has "chartered" their own Aircraft. When we book a charter flight on your behalf, we will identify that Charter Operator on your ATOL receipt. Full terms and conditions relating to individual charter airlines may be found in the relevant charter airline brochures. Where copies of these conditions are not readily available, copies of these terms and conditions are available on request from ourselves or the supplier concerned. By booking with us, you are agreeing to these conditions. 9. NO FRILLS FLIGHT CONDITIONS
When we book a "No Frills" flight on your behalf, we will identify that "No Frills"
Airline on your ATOL receipt. It should be noted, that "No Frills" airlines operate
independently of each other and are normally quite inflexible. Furthermore, they
will invariably charge more for amendments once the booking has been made and levy
"severe" cancellation charges. 10. FULL PUBLISHED/CONSOLIDATED FLIGHT CONDITIONSA "Full Published/Consolidated" Flight is normally identified as a flight operated by a "National Carrier" such as British Airways, KLM, Air New Zealand , Cathay Pacific etc. When we book a "Full Published/Consolidated" flight on your behalf, we will identify that "Full Published/Consolidated" Airline on your ATOL receipt (identified as "BSP" OR "Global Airfares Consol"). It should be noted Full Published/Consolidated Airlines normally levy "severe" cancellation/amendment charges dependent on the type of ticket booked. 11. UPGRADING YOUR FLIGHT & FLIGHT SEAT REQUESTSUnless you have pre-booked your seats (where this facility is available), it may not be possible to obtain them together. Please bear in mind that even when you do pre-book seats, in most cases we will not be able to confirm the actual seat numbers or position on the aircraft. Where possible, we will offer you a further range of upgrade options designed to give you a more comfortable journey at a reasonable supplement. 12. DIRECT FLIGHTSThe flight routings used in connection with our holidays may be based on special fares which do not necessarily take the most direct route. Some itineraries require a change of aircraft on route. A flight that is described as direct is one where there is no need to change aircraft during the journey. However stops may be made en route for re-fuelling or to let passengers on and/or off. Details of any stops will be given on your itinerary. However, should you require this information at an earlier stage, please check with your Travel Agent and/or our Sales staff at the time of booking. 13. FLIGHT CHANGES
Unfortunately, Airlines may occasionally change the type of aircraft on a particular
flight without advance warning. Flight timings and days of operation are subject
to change and we will advise you of any significant change as soon as we ourselves
are informed by the airline. Minor timing changes will be shown on the flight tickets,
which you should check carefully when received. It is possible that flight times
may be changed even after tickets have been despatched - we will contact you as
soon as possible if this occurs.
14. FLIGHT DELAYS
In the event of a flight being delayed the flight provider will endeavour to arrange
for the following to be provided, whenever reasonably practical, and subject to
the airport being able to cater for this:- over 4 hours, an appropriate meal, and
for delays of at least 8 hours extending beyond midnight, overnight accommodation
will be provided whenever reasonably possible. However, this will depend on such
factors as the type of flights you have booked (please see FLIGHTS section) expected
length of delay, local availability of accommodation, immigration rulings etc. Where
long flight delays will result in lost holiday time, no refunds are given. Similarly
airlines do not offer compensation for flight delays. It is in recognition of the
above that your holiday travel insurance policy normally offers monetary compensation
for flight delays.
Please note where applicable transfer vouchers will be issued. Please make
sure that if you have booked transfers you take the transfers vouchers on holiday
with you to hand over to the relevant provider. Please note the transfer voucher
also provides details of the process to obtain the service which must be adhered
to. 17. BOOKING A ROOM FOR EARLY ARRIVAL OR LATE DEPARTUREGenerally, your accommodation will be available from 2pm on the date of arrival , and is to be vacated between 10 am and noon on the date of departure, irrespective of your arrival or departure times and unless we have stated otherwise. Should you wish your room to be ready prior to this time frame on your day of arrival or available after 10 am for an afternoon or evening departure, it may be possible to reserve the room at the time booking however this will be on a "subject to availability" basis. This could incur additional cost and is normally paid locally. Should we not be able to accommodate your request, you may also ask at reception (if applicable) on your date of arrival or at any time during your stay. 18. MEALS
Meals if included, are based on table d'hote menus, or a meal voucher system unless
specified otherwise. Holidays which include main meals generally commence with dinner
on the day of arrival at your accommodation, terminating with breakfast (on half
board) or lunch (on full board) on the day of departure. No refunds on meals "not
taken" can be given. Special diets of any kind (including vegetarian) can seldom
be catered for adequately within the constraints of a table d'hote menu and cannot
be guaranteed. We would therefore strongly suggest that anyone with special requirements
takes a holiday where no meals (or only breakfast) is included.
19. HOLIDAY INSURANCEYou MUST take out fully comprehensive travel insurance. It will normally cover you in the event of cancellation against loss of deposit or cancellation fees and for medical costs in the event of you becoming ill or having an accident whilst on holiday. There are some restrictions on insurance, for example pre-existing medical conditions and you should advise the insurance provider of these at the time the policy is taken out. It is your responsibility to ensure that the insurance cover you purchase is suitable and adequate for your particular needs. 20. BEHAVIOURIf we or any other person in authority is of the reasonable opinion that you or any member of your party is behaving in such a way as to cause or be likely to cause danger or upset to any other person or damage to property, we will be entitled to terminate the holiday of the person(s) concerned. The person(s) concerned will be required to leave the accommodation or other service and we will have no further responsibility to them including any return travel arrangements. No refunds will be made and we will not pay any expenses or costs incurred as a result of the termination. You will be responsible for making full payment for any damage or loss caused by you or any member of your party during your time away. Payment must be paid direct at the time to the service supplier concerned failing which, you will be responsible for meeting any claims subsequently made against us (together with our own and the other party’s full legal costs) as a result of your actions. 21. BOOKING IF YOU ARE UNDER 18It is a condition of our accepting your booking that the person who makes it is at least 18. We are entitled to assume that this is the case. Under no circumstances can we accept bookings from anyone who is under 16. At our discretion, we may accept a booking from someone who is 16 or 17 and not accompanied by an adult providing we have written confirmation from their parent or guardian that they may travel, that the parent or guardian will accept responsibility for the booking and that the party does not include anyone who is under 16. We are entitled to cancel any booking which is made in breach of any of these requirements. In this case, full cancellation charges will be payable. 22. IF YOU HAVE A COMPLAINT WHILE YOU ARE ON HOLIDAY
If you have cause for complaint whilst on holiday, you must bring it to the attention
of the local Representative or Agent (if there is one) and the establishment of
where you are staying who will do their best to rectify the situation and prevent
your holiday being spoilt. If there is no local Representative or Agent, you must
contact us on the Emergency Number as detailed on your accommodation voucher or
ATOL receipt. You should note that it is unreasonable to take no action whilst on
holiday, but to then write a letter of complaint upon return. If you remain dissatisfied,
you must write to us within 28 days of your return from holiday giving your booking
reference and full details of your complaint. If you fail to follow this simple
complaints procedure (in resort and on your return home), your right to any compensation
you may otherwise have been entitled to may be affected or even lost as a result.
If you wish to make a special request, you must do so at the time of booking using the special requests section on the secure payment page. We will pass any reasonable requests on to the relevant supplier but we cannot guarantee that requests will be met. The fact that a special request has been noted on your confirmation invoice or any other documentation or that it has been passed on to the supplier is not confirmation that the request will be met. Failure to meet any special request will not be a breach of contract on our part. If you or any member of your party has any medical problem or disability which may affect your chosen holiday arrangements, you must give us full details using the special requests section on the secure payment page. If we reasonably feel unable to properly accommodate the particular needs of the person(s) concerned, we will not confirm the booking or, if full details are not given at the time of booking, cancel when we become aware of these details. Cancellation charges will apply. 24. PASSPORTS, VISAS AND HEALTH REQUIREMENTS The passport, visa and health requirements applicable at the time of printing to British citizens for the arrangements are available to you at the time of booking from your travel agent. Passengers with a non- British passport must check passport and visa requirements with the Embassy or Consulate of the countries to or through which you are intending to travel. Requirements may change and you must check the up to date position in good time before departure. For European holidays you should obtain a completed and issued form EHIC prior to departure. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are in possession of all necessary travel and health documents before departure. We regret we cannot accept any liability if you are refused entry onto any transport or into any country due to failure on your part to carry correct documentation. If failure to have any necessary travel or other documents results to fines, surcharges or other financial penalty being imposed on us, you will be responsible for reimbursing us accordingly. You should take up-to-date health advice about the health precautions you will need to take prior to departure. Information on health is contained in the Department of Health’s leaflet (Health Advice for Travellers) which can be obtained by telephoning 0800 555 777. Further information can be obtained by visiting www.hpa.org.uk OR www.fco.gov.uk . You should also note that certain European Countries now require your passport and/or visa number together with any other relevant details in advance of travel 25. FORCE MAJEURE In these Booking Conditions, "force majeure" means any event which we or the supplier of the service(s) in question could not, even with all due care, foresee or avoid. Such events may include war or threat of war, riot, civil strife, actual or threatened terrorist activity, industrial dispute, natural or nuclear disaster, adverse weather conditions, fire and all similar events outside our control. Except where otherwise expressly stated in these booking conditions, we regret we cannot accept liability or pay any compensation where the performance or prompt performance of our obligations under our agreement with you is prevented or affected by, or you otherwise suffer any damage or loss (as more fully described in clause 13(1) below) as a result of force majeure. SECTION B – TERMS WHICH APPLY TO PACKAGES26. OUR LIABILITY
(1) We promise that your holiday arrangements will be made, performed or provided
with reasonable skill and care. This means that we will accept responsibility
if, for example, you suffer death or personal injury or your contracted arrangements
are not provided as promised or prove deficient and that is the result of the failure
of ourselves, our employees, agents or suppliers to use reasonable skill and care
in making, performing or providing your arrangements as applicable. Further,
we will only be responsible for what our employees, agents and suppliers do or do
not do if they were at the time acting within the course of their employment or
carrying out work we had asked them to do. It is your responsibility to show that
reasonable skill and care has not been used if you wish to make a claim against
us.
‑ the act(s) and/or omission(s) of the person(s) affected or any member(s) of their party or ‑ the act(s) and/or omission(s) of a third party not connected with the provision of your arrangements and which were unforeseeable or unavoidable or ‑ 'force majeure' as defined in clause 15 above. (3) We limit the maximum amount we may have to pay you for any claims you may make against us. The maximum amount we will have to pay you where we are found liable for loss of and/or damage to any luggage or personal possessions (including money) is £50 per person affected unless a lower limitation applies to your claim under this clause or clause 16(4) below. For all other claims which do not involve death or personal injury, the maximum amount we will have to pay you if we are found liable to you on any basis is twice the price (excluding insurance premiums and amendment charges) paid by or on behalf of the person(s) affected in total unless a lower limitation applies to your claim under clause 16(4) 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. (4) 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 on any stay in a hotel, the maximum amount of compensation we will have to pay to you will be limited. The most we will have to pay to 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 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 (for example, the Montreal Convention for international travel by air, the Athens convention for international travel by sea). Where a carrier or hotel would not be obliged to make any payment to you for any reason under the applicable International Convention or Regulation in respect of a claim or part of a claim, we will not be obliged to make a payment to you for that claim or part of the claim. 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. Copies of the applicable international conventions and regulations are available from us on request. In any circumstances in which the carrier is liable to you by virtue of the Denied Boarding Regulation 2004, any liability we may have to you under our contract with you, arising out of the same facts, is limited to the remedies provided under the Regulation as if (for this purpose only) we were a carrier; any sums you receive from the carrier will be deducted from any amount due from ourselves. (5) We will not accept responsibility for services or facilities which do not form part of our agreement or where they are not advertised on our website. For exampleany excursion you book whilst away, or any service or facility which your hotel or any other supplier agrees to provide for you. (6) The services and facilities included in your holiday will be deemed to be provided with reasonable skill and care if they comply with any local regulations which apply, or, if there are no applicable local regulations, if they are reasonable when compared to the local standards and customs. (7) This clause 16 is intended to set out our obligations to you as an organiser under the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992. We will not accept any further or different liability than these Regulations impose. In addition, regardless of any contrary representations made by us, we only promise to use reasonable skill and care as set out above and we do not have any further or different liability to you. (8) You must tell us and the supplier concerned about your claim or complaint as set out in clause 11 above. If asked to do so, you must transfer to us or our insurers any rights you have against whoever is responsible for your claim or complaint and provide ourselves and our insurers with all co-operation and assistance that may be reasonably required. (9) We do not accept liability for (1) any damage, loss, expense or other sum(s) of any description which, based on the information you gave us at the time of booking, we could not have foreseen you would suffer or incur if we breached our contract with you; (2) any business losses. 27. PRICES
We reserve the right to make changes to and correct errors in advertised prices
at any time before your holiday is confirmed. We will advise you of any error of
which we are aware and of the then applicable price at the time of booking.
28. CHANGES AND CANCELLATION BY US
We start planning the holidays we offer many months in advance. Occasionally, we
have to make changes to and correct errors in any marketing material and other details
both before and after bookings have been confirmed and cancel confirmed bookings.
Whilst we always endeavour to avoid changes and cancellations, we must reserve the
right to do so.
Please note, the above options are not available where any change made is a minor
one. 29. IF YOU WISH TO CANCEL YOUR HOLIDAYIf you or a member of your party needs to cancel your confirmed arrangements, the party leader must immediately advise us in writing. Your notice of cancellation will take effect when it is received at our offices. As we incur costs from the time we confirm your booking, we will levy the following cancellation charges. The percentage cancellation charge detailed is calculated on the basis of the total cost payable by the person(s) cancelling excluding amendment charges. Amendment charges are not refundable in the event of the person(s) to whom they apply cancelling.
Prior to 70 days: Total flight cost plus 15% of the total accommodation and other
elements 30. FINANCIAL PROTECTIONThe Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 require us to provide security for the monies that you pay for the package holidays you book with us, and for your repatriation in the event of our insolvency. We provide this security by way of a bond held by the Civil Aviation Authority under ATOL number 3973. This means that in respect of all arrangements including flights, in the unlikely event of our insolvency, the CAA will ensure that you are not left stranded abroad or will arrange to refund any money you have paid to us for an advance booking. For further information, visit the ATOL website at www.atol.org.uk] This means that in the event of our insolvency you will not be left stranded abroad or any money you have paid to us for an advance booking will be refunded except where your contracted arrangements with us do not include transport to and from the UK. In this case, if already abroad, you will be returned to the point where your contracted arrangements with us commenced. SECTION C – TERMS WHICH APPLY TO NON-PACKAGES31. FINANCIAL PROTECTIONWe provide security for the monies that you pay for the holidays booked with us. All money that you pay to The Global Travel Group plc is paid into a client account which operates the same way as a solicitors client account. Money held in this account is held on behalf of any third parties. In the unlikely event of failure of our Company this money will still be available to suppliers. 32. PRICESWe reserve the right to make changes to and correct errors in the prices of both advertised and confirmed non-packaged arrangements prices at any time. You will be advised of the current price of the arrangements that you wish to book before your contract is confirmed. 33. CHANGES BY US TO A NON-PACKAGE BOOKING
Because we begin planning the arrangements we offer many months in advance, we must
reserve the right to make changes to and correct errors in holiday details both
before and after bookings have been confirmed. We must also reserve the right to
cancel confirmed bookings.
If we have to make a significant change or cancel, we will tell you as soon as possible and if there is time to do so before departure, we will offer you the choice of the following options:-
(a) (for significant changes) accepting
the changed arrangements or The above options will not be available if we make a minor change or cancel as a result of your failure to make full payment on time. We regret we cannot pay any expenses, costs or losses incurred by you as a result of any change or cancellation. Very rarely, we may be forced by "force majeure" (see clause 15) to change or terminate your arrangements after departure. If this situation does occur, we regret we will be unable to make any refunds, pay you compensation or meet any costs or expenses you incur as a result.
35. CANCELLATION BY YOU OF ACCOMMODATION ONLY BOOKING If you or a member of your party needs to cancel your confirmed arrangements, the party leader must immediately advise us in writing. Your notice of cancellation will take effect when it is received at our offices. As we incur costs from the time we confirm your booking, we will levy the following cancellation charges. The percentage cancellation charge detailed is calculated on the basis of the total cost payable by the person(s) cancelling excluding amendment charges. Amendment charges are not refundable in the event of the person(s) to whom they apply cancelling.
Period before departure within which written
Cancellation charge per
43 days and above: 20% of accommodation value minimum charge of £20. 42-28 days: 50% of accommodation value Less than 28 days: 100% of accommodation value
36. CANCELLATION BY YOU OF FLIGHT ONLY BOOKING If you or a member of your party needs to cancel your confirmed arrangements, the party leader must immediately advise us in writing. Your notice of cancellation will take effect when it is received at our offices. The cancellation charge of flight only bookings will be 100% of the cost of the booking |
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