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THE AITO QUALITY CHARTER AITO is an association of independently minded companies specialising in particular areas or types of holiday and sharing a common dedication to high standards of quality and personal service. AITO defines `quality' as "providing a level of satisfaction which, based upon the holiday information provided by the tour operator, aims to meet or exceed a customer's reasonable satisfaction, regardless of the type of holiday sold or the price paid". The Association Of Independent Tour Operators Please visit www.aito.co.uk for details.
www.coxandkings.co.uk
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INFORMATION: BOOKING CONDITIONS
Advice section for full details, or seek the advice of our travel consultants. Please note: requirements may change and you must check the up to date requirements in good time before departure. A full British passport presently takes approximately 2 to 6 weeks to obtain. If you or any member of your party is 16 or over and haven't yet got a passport, our recommendation is that you should apply for one at least 6 weeks before your holiday. The UK Passport Service has to confirm your identity before issuing your first passport and from October 2006 will ask you to attend an interview in order to do this. Please also see clause (d) below. (c) Health: Recommended and mandatory inoculations for travel are set out in our Documents & Health section. We will notify you of any changes in these, which occur before your confirmation invoice is issued. However, further changes may occur at any time and you should consult your doctor in good time before you depart. Health requirements for your holiday destination are outlined in the Department of Health leaflet entitled `The Travellers Guide to Health' (T7), available from ABTA travel agents, most post offices, by telephone on 0870 1555455 or via the Department of Health website www.dh.gov.uk. If you have any medical condition / disability that may affect your ability to enjoy and pursue fully your arrangements you must notify us in accordance with cl 3. Cox & Kings reserves the right, where appropriate, to ask you to provide written certification of your medical fitness prior to departure. It is your responsibility to ensure that you obtain all necessary inoculations, take all necessary medication and follow all medical advice in relation to your holiday. (d) Documents: It is your responsibility to ensure that all members of the party are in possession of all necessary travel and health documents and have all necessary vaccination certificates before departure. All costs incurred in obtaining such documentation or vaccinations / certificates must be paid by you. We regret we cannot accept any liability if you or any member of your party are refused entry onto any transport or into any country due to failure on your part to carry correct documentation or have the correct vaccinations/certificates. If failure to have any necessary travel or other documents results in fines, surcharges or other financial penalty being imposed on us, you will be responsible for reimbursing us accordingly. If you are refused a visa we cannot accept any liability. If you are unable to travel as a result you will be liable to pay our normal cancellation charges. You are also responsible for ensuring that you and every member of your party has adequate travel insurance (see clause 5 above). (e) Behaviour: You must not behave in a way that may cause distress or annoyance to others or which may cause danger or damage to property. When you book with us, you accept responsibility for any damage or loss caused by you or any member of your party. Full payment for any such damage or loss must be paid direct at the time to the accommodation owner or manager or other supplier. If you are subject to arrest, or are prevented from travelling at the discretion of an airline or other transport or cruise providers, or if you are evicted from a hotel at the discretion of the hotel management, we will not refund any portion of the cost of your holiday, nor will we have any further responsibility towards you including the provision of any return travel arrangements or pay you any compensation whatsoever. If we incur any expense as a result of your behaviour, you will be obliged to compensate us for that expense. (f) Travel advice: For up to date travel advice from the UK Government, visit www. fco.gov.uk/knowbeforeyougo. 12) Our Liability This clause 12(a) does not apply where your contract is with a Third Party Supplier (a) (1) We promise to make sure that the holiday arrangements we have agreed to make, perform or provide as applicable as part of our contract with you are made, performed or provided with reasonable skill and care. This means that, subject to these booking conditions, we will accept responsibility if, for example, you suffer death or personal injury or your contracted holiday arrangements are not provided as promised or prove deficient as a result of the failure of ourselves, our employees, agents or suppliers to use reasonable skill and care in making, performing or providing, as applicable, your contracted holiday arrangements. Please note it is your responsibility to show that reasonable skill and care has not been used if you wish to make a claim against us. In addition, 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 (for employees) or carrying out work we had asked them to do (for agents and suppliers). (2) We will not be responsible for any injury, illness, death, loss (for example loss of enjoyment), damage, expense, cost or other sum or claim of any description whatsoever which results from any of the following: 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 holiday which were unforeseeable or unavoidable or `force majeure' as defined in clause 8. (3) 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, cruise provider or any other supplier agrees to provide for you where the services or facilities are not advertised in our brochure and we have not agreed to arrange them and any excursion you purchase in resort. Please also see clause 16 "Excursions/Representatives and Agents". In addition, regardless of any wording used by us on our website, in any of our brochures 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. (4) 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 the 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. (5) 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. Where we are found liable for loss of and/or damage to any luggage or personal possessions (including money), the maximum amount we will have to pay you is £1,500 per person affected unless a lower limitation applies to your claim under this clause or clause 12(a)(6) below. 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 a refund of the cost of the holiday (excluding insurance premiums and amendment charges) paid by or on behalf of the person(s) affected in total, a refund of any directly attributable expenses incurred by that person and a daily sum of £72 unless a lower limitation applies to your claim under clause 12(a)(6) 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. (6) 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, rail, sea or road carrier or any stay in a hotel, the maximum amount of compensation we will have to pay you will be limited. 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, except as otherwise expressly set out in the booking conditions, 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 Warsaw Convention as amended or unamended 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 for international travel by Sea and the Berne Convention for travel by rail). Please note: Where a carrier or hotel would not be obliged to make any payment to you under the applicable International Convention or Regulation 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. You are not entitled to make any claim against us which concerns or is based on any travel arrangements provided by any air, rail, sea or road carrier or any hotel if such a claim is not expressly permitted to be brought against the carrier or hotel by the International Convention or Regulation which applies to the travel arrangements in question. 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. NB. The Athens Convention limits the maximum amount the carrier has to pay if found liable in the event of death or personal injury. This limit for UK carriers is presently approximately £250,000.00 per person. The Athens Convention also limits the maximum amount the carrier has to pay if found liable in the event of loss or damage to luggage and also makes provision for valuables. The maximum the carrier would have to pay you if found liable for any damage, delay or loss in respect of cabin luggage under The Athens Convention is currently approximately £750.00 per guest. Once on board ship, all valuable and important items should be deposited with the purser or in the mini-safe in your cabin if available. The carrier cannot accept any responsibility or liability for any valuable or important items, which are not deposited with the purser for safekeeping. For items which are deposited with the purser for safekeeping, the maximum the carrier would have to pay you if found liable for any item(s) lost or damaged (for any reason) whilst deposited is the maximum which is payable under The Athens Convention in this situation (currently approximately £1,000.00 per guest). (7) 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. (8)You must provide ourselves and our insurers with all assistance we may reasonably require. You must also tell us and the supplier concerned about your claim or complaint as set out in clause 14 below. 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. (b) Clauses 12(b) (1) and (2) below apply only if your contract is with a Third Party Supplier. (1) As we act only as an agent for the Third Party Supplier concerned we accept no liability in relation to the arrangements provided by that Third Party Supplier or for the acts or omissions of the Third Party Supplier concerned itself. The terms and conditions of the Third Party Supplier will apply to your contract (copies available on request from us). (2) However, in the event that we are found liable in respect of any Third Party Supplier arrangements on any basis whatsoever, we are entitled to rely on the limitations and exclusions of liability and defences set out in clause 12(a). We do not exclude or limit any liability for death or personal injury which arises as a result of our negligence or that of our employees whilst acting in the course of their employment. 13) Transportation Air, rail, road and other departure times are supplied by the carriers. They are subject to, inter alia, air traffic control restrictions, weather conditions, the need for constant maintenance and the ability of passengers to check in on time. Cox & Kings does not have any liability to you for any delays that may arise. Any arrangements in the event of a delay will be at the sole discretion of the airline or other carrier involved. In accordance with EU Directive (EC) No 2111/2005 Article 9, we are required to bring to your attention the existence of a "Community list" which contains details of air carriers that are subject to an operating ban within the EU Community. The Community list is available for inspection at http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/ air/safety/flywell_en.htm. In accordance with EU Regulations we are required to advise you of the carrier(s) (or, if the carrier(s) is not known, the likely carrier(s)) that will operate your flight(s) at the time of booking. Where we are only able to inform you of the likely carrier(s) at the time of booking, we shall inform you of the identity of the actual carrier(s) as soon as we become aware of this. Any change to the operating carrier(s) after your booking has been confirmed will be notified to you as soon as possible. We are not always in a position at the time of booking to confirm flight timings. The flight timings shown in this brochure and detailed on your confirmation invoice are for guidance only and are subject to alteration and confirmation. The latest timings will be shown on your tickets which will be despatched to you approximately two weeks before departure. You must accordingly check your tickets very carefully immediately on receipt to ensure you have the correct flight times. 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. Any change in the identity of the carrier, flight timings, and/or aircraft type will not entitle you to cancel or change to other arrangements without paying our normal charges except where specified in these conditions. If the carrier with whom you have a confirmed reservation becomes subject to an operating ban as above as a result of which we/ the carrier are unable to offer you a suitable alternative the provisions of clause 7 will apply. If your flight is cancelled or delayed, your flight ticket is downgraded or boarding is denied by your airline in circumstances which would entitle you to claim compensation against the airline under EC Regulation No 261/2004 - the Denied Boarding Regulations 2004, you must pursue the airline for the compensation due to you. All sums you receive or are entitled to receive from the airline concerned by virtue of these Regulations represent the full amount of your entitlement to compensation or any other payment arising from such cancellation, delay, downgrading or denied boarding. This includes any disappointment, distress, inconvenience or effect on any other arrangements. The fact a delay may entitle you to cancel your flight does not automatically entitle you to cancel any other arrangements even where those arrangements have been made in conjunction with your flight. We have no liability to make any payment to you in relation to the Denied Boarding Regulations or in respect of any flight cancellation or delay, downgrading of any flight ticket or denial of any boarding as the full amount of your entitlement to any compensation or other payment (as dealt with above) is covered by the airline's obligations under the Denied Boarding Regulations. If, for any reason, you do not claim against the airline and make a claim for compensation from us, you must, at the time of payment of any compensation to you, make a complete assignment to us of the rights you have against the airline in relation to the claim that gives rise to that compensation payment. If your airline does not comply with these rules you should complain to the Air Transport Users' Council on 020 7240 6061 www.auc.org.uk. 14) Complaints and Problems If you have a complaint about any of the holiday arrangements booked with or through Cox & Kings, you must tell the relevant supplier / Third party Supplier straight away. You must also tell Cox & Kings' local representative or agent on site immediately (if available) or use the Cox & Kings emergency contact telephone number with which you will be supplied before your departure. That number will put you in contact with one of our employees who will take all reasonable steps to help you. It is only if you do this that Cox & Kings has the opportunity to put matters right on the spot. If you fail to do this, any right to compensation, which you may have, will be extinguished or reduced. Baggage is deemed to have been delivered undamaged to you unless Cox &
Kings receives written notice in the case of apparent damage immediately upon arrival or re-delivery. If your contract is with a Third Party Supplier, as we act only as agent we cannot accept any liability for the arrangements provided by that Third Party Supplier. Any assistance provided in resolving a complaint in relation to any bookings of this type is provided on a goodwill basis and in our capacity as agent. 15) Arbitration If you have a complaint please write to us within 28 days of your return to the United Kingdom. Your complaint will be investigated and a full reply sent to you as soon as possible. As our investigations often involve obtaining information from overseas, it may take a few weeks. In the unlikely event that we do not reach an amicable settlement, the dispute, if you so wish and subject to the Note below, may be referred to arbitration under a special scheme devised by the Association of British Travel Agents but administered quite independently by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. It provides for a simple and inexpensive method of arbitration on the basis of documents alone, with restricted liabilities on the customer in respect of costs. Full details will be provided on request or can be obtained from the ABTA website www.abta.com. Alternatively, AITO's Independent Dispute Settlement Service may be called upon by either side to bring the matter to a speedy and amicable solution. Whichever option you choose, neither scheme applies to claims for an amount greater than £5,000 per person or £25,000 per booking form, or to claims which are solely or mainly in respect of physical injury or illness, or the consequences of such injury or illness. Note. If your contract is with a Third Party Supplier and not us it may not be possible for any dispute arising out of or in connection with the contracts to be referred to arbitration under the schemes mentioned above. 16) Excursions / Representatives and Agents (a) The information contained in our brochure is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of the brochure going to print. We may provide you with information (in our brochure and/or when you are on holiday) about activities and excursions which are available in the area you are visiting. We have no involvement in any such activities or excursions which are neither run, supervised nor controlled in any way by us. They are provided by local operators or other third parties who are entirely independent of us. They do not form any part of your contract with us even where we suggest particular operators/other third parties and/or assist you in booking such activities or excursions in any way. We cannot accept any liability on any basis in relation to such activities or excursions and the acceptance of liability contained in clause 12(a) of our booking conditions will not apply to them. We do not however exclude liability for the negligence of ourselves or our employees resulting in your death or personal injury. Many of the services which make up your holiday are provided by independent suppliers. Those suppliers provide these services in accordance with 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 (see clause 12(a)(6)). Copies of the relevant parts of these terms and conditions are available on request from ourselves or the supplier concerned. 17) Financial Security We are a member of the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA number 2999). We also hold an Air Travel Organiser's Licence issued by the Civil Aviation Authority (ATOL number 2815.) This means if you have a contract with us for flight inclusive arrangements then these arrangements are ATOL protected. In the unlikely event of our insolvency, the CAA will ensure that you are not left stranded abroad and 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. If you have a contract with us for arrangements which do not include a flight(s), ABTA will financially protect your holiday in the same way 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. Please go to www.abta.com for a copy of the guide to ABTA's scheme of Financial Protection. 18) Law Your relationship (and any contract you may have) with Cox & Kings or with any Third Party Supplier and any dispute or other matters arising from it shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law and will be dealt with under either of the Arbitration schemes referred to in clause 15 or by the courts of England and Wales. NB. This clause applies to European Union residents only. Non-EU residents should contact Cox & Kings for further details. Date of Issue September 2007 DATA PROTECTION STATEMENT For the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998, we are a data controller. 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 relevant suppliers of your arrangements / any Third Party Supplier / any other third party who needs to know them so that your holiday can be provided. The information may also be provided to public authorities such as customs or immigration if required by them, or as required by law. Certain information may also be passed on to security or credit checking companies. These third parties may be outside the EU, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein where controls on data protection may not be as strong as the legal requirements in this country / the European Economic area. This applies to any sensitive information that you give to us such as details of any disabilities, or dietary/religious requirements. If we cannot pass personal information to the relevant suppliers, whether in the EEA or not, we will be unable to provide your booking. In making your booking, you consent to this information being passed on to the relevant persons. Full details of our data protection policy are available upon request. ABTA and ABTA members help holidaymakers to get the most from their travel and assist them when things do not go according to plan. We are obliged to maintain a high standard of service to you by ABTA's Code of Conduct. For further information about ABTA, the Code of Conduct and the arbitration service available to you if you have a complaint, contact ABTA, 68-71 Newman Street, London W1T 3AH Tel: 020 7637 2444 or www.abta.com The above applies only to services supplied by Cox & Kings Travel Limited and does not apply to services featured in this brochure which are provided by any Third Party Supplier where you enter into a contract with the Third party Supplier.
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