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Booking Conditions
Please read the following notice as it is your contract with Explore Worldwide Ltd and clearly lays out what you have agreed with us.
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY: Explore Worldwide Ltd (the Company) accepts bookings subject to the following conditions: 1.YOUR HOLIDAY CONTRACT The contract is between the Company and the client, being any person travelling or intending to travel on a tour operated by the Company. The contract, including all matters arising from it, is subject to English law and the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts. No employee of the Company other than a director has authority to vary or omit any of these terms or promise any discount or refund. 2.TO SECURE YOUR BOOKING (Please refer to Section 16 Late Bookings) To secure a booking the Company or their agent requires a completed booking form and the necessary deposit. (Full payment for travel within 60 days.) Clients booking by telephone, on the website, by e-mail or facsimile will be deemed to have agreed to the following four conditions: a) they have read and accepted our Booking Conditions and general information pages, contained in our brochure and on our website. b) they appreciate, on behalf of all the people included in their booking, the risks involved in adventure travel. c) they or anyone else on their booking does not suffer (or has ever suffered) from any preexisting medical condition which may prevent them from actively participating in the tour. d) the person signing, or being deemed to sign, the attached booking form (which incorporates these terms) warrants that he/she has full authority to do so on behalf of all persons whose names appear thereon, and confirms that all such persons are fully aware of and accept these conditions. A booking is accepted and becomes definite only from the date when the Company sends a confirmation invoice. It is at this point that a contract between the Company and the client comes into existence. Before your booking is confirmed and a contract comes into force, the Company reserves the right to increase or decrease brochure prices.The Company or their agents reserve the right to decline any booking at their discretion. Where our allocation of air seats has been fully utilised or where it is not possible to offer an air seat from an allocation, we reserve the right to pass on any extra costs incurred. 3. PAYMENT FOR YOUR HOLIDAY The balance of all monies due, including any surcharges applicable at that time, must be paid to the Company or their agent not later than 56 days before departure. In the case of nonpayment of the balance by the due date the Company reserves the right to cancel your booking and cancellation charges will apply. Any monies paid by you to a travel agent for tours operated by the Company, are held by the agent on the Companys behalf.You can pay the deposit and full amount by cheque, credit or debit card. We accept Visa, Mastercard, Maestro/Solo. A credit card fee is not payable for the deposit payment and insurance. However a 1% fee is payable (£1 per £100) if your final balance (or the full amount) is paid to Explore by Credit Card.This fee does not apply if payment is made by Maestro/Solo Debit cards. 4. IF YOU CHANGE YOUR BOOKING a) An administration fee of £25 per booking plus any additional cost incurred will be charged if a confirmed booking is changed or transferred to a different departure date or tour, up to 56 days prior to departure. Thereafter all changes will be treated as cancellations and subject to the charges below. Changes are subject to availability. For an administration fee of £25 you can request a credit voucher.This must be redeemed within 3 months of issue and must be used against a new booking.The voucher is non transferable and cannot be exchanged for cash. b) If a client is unable to travel, in certain circumstances which the Company considers reasonable, the booking may be transferred to another suitable person, however the tour arrangements must remain the same and will only be allowed if all suppliers (eg. airlines etc.) agree to accept the name change. If a transfer is allowed an administration charge of £40 per person will be made if the Company is advised up to 56 days before departure or £100 per person if less than 56 days before departure, plus any extra charges levied by suppliers. 5. IF YOU CANCEL YOUR BOOKING Should the client wish to cancel, cancellation charges will be imposed.These are calculated from the day notification is received by the Company or their agent as a percentage of the total tour price, including surcharges, as shown below: a) 56 and more days before departure retention of deposit b) 55-42 days before departure 30% c) 41-28 days before departure 60% d) 27-14 days before departure 90% e) Less than 14 days 100% In addition to the above cancellation fees, the full insurance premium is also retained in the event of a cancellation. It is strongly recommended that full insurance is taken out, which includes cover, under certain circumstances, against the loss of deposit or cancellation charges. In the event of the cancellation of a booking and where the client is liable to pay to the company the cancellation charges set out above, the client cannot transfer the cost of those to another booking. 6. IF YOU HAVE A COMPLAINT Should the client have a complaint about any of the tour arrangements, the client must tell both the relevant supplier and the Companys representative at the time. It is only if the Company and the relevant supplier know about problems that there will be the opportunity to put things right. Failure to complain on the spot will result in the clients ability to claim compensation from the Company being extinguished or at least reduced. If the clients complaint cannot be resolved on tour they should notify the Company in writing within 90 days of their return from holiday. If the client has a dispute with the Company which the client is unable to resolve, the client may call upon the low-cost AITO Independent Dispute Settlement Service (details on request). Claims which exceed £2,500 per person or £10,000 per booking or claims which apply principally or exclusively in respect of (or as a consequence of) illness or physical injury are not admissible for settlement under the service. 7. PASSPORTS,VISAS AND VACCINATIONS Clients are responsible for arranging, and must be in possession of, a valid passport and any visas and vaccination certificates required for the whole of their journey. Information about these matters or related items (climate, clothing, baggage, personal gear etc) is given in good faith but without responsibility on the part of the Company. 8.TRAVEL AND CANCELLATION INSURANCE Travel Insurance is mandatory for all clients whilst on a tour organised by the Company. Clients together with their personal property including baggage are at all times solely at their own risk. Clients are wholly responsible for arranging their own insurance. Clients not taking out the Company's specially arranged Travel/Cancellation insurance are responsible for ensuring that they are in possession of private Travel Insurance with protection for the full duration of the tour in respect of at least medical expenses, injury, death, repatriation, cancellation and curtailment, with adequate cover. Clients making their own arrangements should ensure that there are no exclusion clauses limiting protection for the type of activities included in their tour. Clients should satisfy themselves that any travel insurance arranged through the Company is what they require and should arrange supplementary insurance if need be. Clients will be deemed to have read p28, entitled Insure with Explore. 9. CONSUMER PROTECTION The air holidays in this brochure are ATOL Protected, since we hold an Air Travel Organisers Licence granted by the Civil Aviation Authority. Our ATOL number is ATOL 2595. In the unlikely event of our insolvency, the CAA 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 the ATOL website at www.atol.org.uk.The company is also fully bonded and licensed by AITO Trust Ltd (Association of Independent Tour Operators) in respect of all holidays in this brochure sold in the UK or Ireland, which do not include air travel. Under the terms of the bonds, monies are secured by bank guarantees. 10. HOLIDAY PARTICIPATION Clients agree to accept the authority and decisions of the Companys employees, tour leaders and agents whilst on tour with the Company. If in the opinion of such persons the health, level of fitness or conduct of a client at any time before or after departure appears likely to endanger the safe, comfortable or happy progress of a tour the client may be excluded from all or part of the tour without refund or recompense. In the case of ill-health the Company may make such arrangements as it sees fit and recover the costs thereof from the client. If a client commits an illegal act the client may be excluded from the tour and the Company shall cease to have responsibility to/for them. If you are affected by a condition, medical or otherwise, that might affect you or affect other peoples enjoyment or active participation of the tour, you must advise us at the time of booking. No refund will be given for any unused services. 11. SURCHARGES Prices quoted in this programme are based on currency rates published in the Financial Times for 17 July 2007 (US$ 2.05/£; Euro 1.48/£).We reserve the right to vary the price of your holiday in relation to changes in transport costs, including the cost of fuel, dues, taxes or fees chargeable for services such as landing taxes or embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports or airports, government action such as increases in VAT or any other government imposed increase or the exchange rates applied to the particular package. We will not vary the price of your holiday less than 30 days before your departure date, but if variations occur before that time, we will absorb or retain an amount up to the first 2% (excluding insurance premiums and any amendment charges) of your invoiced holiday cost. For variations greater than 2%, we will still absorb the first 2% in the case of increases, but will not retain it from refunds. If we impose a surcharge which means paying more than 10% of your holiday price, you will be entitled to cancel your holiday with a full refund of all monies paid to us except for any premium paid for insurance and amendment charges. Should you decide to cancel because of this, you must exercise your right to do so within 14 days of the date of our surcharge invoice. 12. IF WE CHANGE YOUR HOLIDAY While the Company will use its best endeavours to operate all tours as advertised, it reserves the right to change any of the facilities, services, prices or itineraries described in this brochure and/or the website. If a major change is necessary or deemed advisable, the Company will inform the client as soon as reasonably possible, if there is time before departure. A major change does not apply to a change of carrier, transport or named accommodation, but is normally considered to be a major itinerary re-routing, a significant change in the duration of your holiday, a change of flight times of more than 12 hours for connecting group flights to/from London (not applicable to flights within a tour itinerary), or a change of
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Essential information about our tours see pages 20-31
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